Milbury Will Try Again With Islanders

Mike Milbury is back coaching hockey again and this time the New York Islanders hope he sticks around for a while.

Milbury walked away from his last two coaching jobs, one after two years with the Boston Bruins, the other after two months with Boston College. He will be introduced today as coach of the Islanders, equipped with a multi-year contract. Milbury replaces Lorne Henning, who was fired after one season after the Islanders finished last in the Atlantic Division.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity,” Milbury said. “It’s exciting and I look forward to the challenge.”

It is the second NHL coaching job for the Milbury, the former defenseman who played 11 seasons with the Bruins. He coached the Bruins to consecutive 100-point seasons and Adams Division titles in 1990 and 1991, losing in the Stanley Cup finals in his first year and in the semifinals a year later.

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Goaltender Martin Brodeur of the Stanley Cup champion New Jersey Devils and goal-scoring stars Peter Bondra of the Washington Capitals and Cam Neely of the Bruins lead the list of restricted Group II free agents. If a team offers a free agent a contract, the player’s former club has the right to match the offer or receive compensation in the form of draft picks.

Among the other Group II free agents are three Mighty Ducks--Todd Ewen, Jason Marshall and Joe Sacco and three Kings--Philippe Boucher, Eric Lacroix and Chris Snell.

Vancouver forward Geoff Courtnall leads the Group III free agents, which include King goaltender Grant Fuhr. The classification, which was among the hardest-fought points of negotiation between owners and players during last season’s lockout, includes players who are older than 32 and have at least four years of NHL experience.

College Basketball

An assistant basketball coach at Louisville apparently made improper phone contacts with at least two top Kentucky high school juniors, The Courier-Journal reported. The story comes just five days after the school announced it had completed an internal investigation of the program and found no violations. According to telephone records obtained by the newspaper, assistant coach Larry Gay apparently made the phone calls during the 1994-95 school year.

According to NCAA bylaws, coaches can’t call prospects or their parents before July 1 following the completion of the prospect’s junior year in high school. Records of calls billed to Gay’s extension indicate he called the Bowling Green office of Charles Fishback, father of Greenwood star Daymeon Fishback, in January and the Hopkinsville home of University Heights Academy star Lamont Barnes in March, the newspaper said. Both were still in their junior year.

Both calls were made shortly before Louisville Coach Denny Crum was to scout the players.

Gay, who joined Louisville’s staff in 1989, and Crum could not be reached for comment.

Charles Fishback said he initiated contact with Louisville and the school was responding to his interest. However, NCAA rules do not allow return calls. The records show Gay talked with Charles Fishback for 31 minutes.

Soccer

No Romario. No Bebeto. Brazil instead will display the latest in its seemingly endless line of young talent at the Copa America, the 12-nation tournament opening today. The United States, which last month beat Mexico and Nigeria in the U.S. Cup, is grouped with Argentina, Bolivia and Chile, opening Saturday against Chile at Paysandu. Chile will be Spanish League scoring leader Ivan Zamorano, who is skipping the tournament.

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Stan Collymore became the most expensive player in British soccer history when he completed his $13.6 million transfer from Nottingham Forest to Liverpool. The deal for the 24-year-old English striker broke the English record of $11.2 million paid by Manchester United for Newcastle’s Andy Cole.

Golf

Tiger Woods said the two-week layoff from a wrist injury that forced him to withdraw from the U.S. Open cleared his mind and helped his game,

“I feel like I’m playing better now,” said the reigning U.S. Amateur champion, who will play in the Western Open, which starts Thursday.

Names in the News

Alabama tackle Kareem McNeal was hospitalized with head injuries following a car accident. McNeal, 22, was a passenger in a car that crashed Sunday night on U.S. 29 in Macon County, state troopers said. He was listed in stable condition. . . . South Africa’s Simon Morolong, who finished fourth a year ago, won the 10-kilometer Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta. His unofficial time was 27:59. Joan Nesbit of Chapel Hill, N.C., won the women’s competition in 32:19. . . . A shortened course expedited Robby Unser’s seventh victory in the Pikes Peak Hill Climb. Unser, second in the last year’s super-truck division, beat 1994 winner Leonard Vahsholtz by less than three seconds. Japan’s Nobuniro Tajima defeated Rod Millen of Newport Beach in the Unlimited Division by seven-tenths of a second. . . . John Kluge, one of the investors in the proposed Major League Soccer, at $5.9 billion is the wealthiest person in sports, according to a list in the July 17 issue of Forbes. . . . USC’s Jacque Jones hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning and added a run-scoring single in the sixth to give the United States a 3-2 exhibition baseball victory over Canada in Homestead, Fla.