Former Student Guilty of Trying to Fix Game

A 12-member federal jury Tuesday convicted Kelly Hunter, 27, a former basketball student manager at Central Florida, of trying to get players to shave points in a 1990 game against Stanford at Orlando.

Hunter was accused of approaching three Central Florida starters and a reserve to hold down the score so Stanford could win by more than the 15-point betting spread. The Cardinal won, 70-61.

The most damaging testimony came from team captain Ross Breunig, who said he turned Hunter down three times.

Hunter faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine at sentencing on Sept. 7.

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Police cleared former New Orleans Saint Bennie Thompson of his ex-wife’s Feb. 5 murder, saying four young men apparently killed Tangie Thompson and two other people during a holdup.

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The trial of former Baylor women’s basketball coach Pam Bowers’ $4-million discrimination and harassment lawsuit against the school has been postponed until Sept. 5. She was fired in 1994 after compiling a 168-257 record in 15 years. Before she was fired, she exposed alleged irregularities in the men’s basketball program that led to federal indictments of former Baylor men’s basketball coach Darrel Johnson and three assistants.

Boxing

Tickets go on sale today for Mike Tyson’s return to the ring, against Peter McNeeley on Aug. 19, and they will be expensive. Ringside seats at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas will be $1,500, and the cheapest ticket will sell for $200. The recommended pay-per-view television price will range from $45.95-$54.95.

After winning a 10-round decision from Ray Mercer and passing heart tests at the Mayo Clinic and Emory University Medical Center in Atlanta, former heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield says he will agree to take an International Boxing Federation physical if the IBF will rank him No. 1.

Bob Lee, the IBF president, said the organization guarantees no ranking, regardless of the result.

Football

The Houston Oilers cut Cody Carlson after the veteran quarterback failed to pass a physical because of a knee injury suffered last season.

Carlson, who has been with the Oilers for seven years, was plagued with injuries last season, the first in which he was the starter.

Bill McCartney, the former Colorado football coach with Michigan roots, has not ruled out a return to coaching in 1996, but he says he will not seek the Wolverine job held by friend and interim coach Lloyd Carr. Carr replaced Gary Moeller, who resigned in the wake of a drunken confrontation with police.

Las Vegas bid $1 million a year for two years and beat out Dallas and El Paso to play host to the Western Athletic Conference football championship game, beginning Dec. 7, 1996. . . . Though he has yet to coach his first game at Colorado, Rick Neuheisel could get as much as a $4,716 raise on his $256,000 contract under a budgeted increase for athletic department employees. . . . The Atlanta Falcons reached an agreement on a two-year contract with veteran defensive tackle Jumpy Geathers. . . . The Miami Dolphins signed kicker Pete Stoyanovich and free safety Gene Atkins to contract extensions.

Golf

Former PGA champion John Mahaffey was among the final sectional qualifiers who filled out the 156-player field for next week’s U.S. Open. Former Masters champion Craig Stadler failed to qualify. . . . The LPGA has named Jim Ritts of Channel One, the education channel, to succeed Charles S. Meachem, who retires as commissioner on Jan. 1, 1996, after a five-year run.

Miscellany

Top-seeded Jason Stoltenberg of Australia was eliminated in the first round of the Beckenham Open in England by little-known South African Lan Bale, 6-7 (7-3), 6-3, 7-6 (7-3).

Women’s soccer will become a championship sport in the Big West Conference beginning in the fall of 1996. A round-robin schedule will be played and the top four teams will advance to a conference tournament.

World Cup champion Brazil got two goals from Zinho and one from Roberto Carlos in a 3-0 victory over Japan in the four-nation International Challenge in Liverpool, England.

South Africa’s James Dalton lost his appeal against his 30-day suspension for fighting to become the second Springbok player thrown out of the Rugby Union World Cup in 24 hours. The first was Pieter Hendriks.

Greg Hobson, a cricket player in Vancouver, Canada, who took off his helmet because of the heat, died when hit in the head by a pitch.

Names in the News

Boston Bruin defenseman Don Sweeney has been signed to a five-year contract. . . . The Kings traded Jeff Mitchell, an unsigned 1993 draft choice, to the Dallas Stars for a fifth-round pick in this year’s draft. . . . M.L. Carr, director of basketball operations for the Boston Celtics, said he expects to talk with former Celtic star Dave Cowens and with George Washington Coach Mike Jarvis about the vacant Celtic coaching job.