Abdur-Rahim Changes Mind, Won’t Leave Cal For NBA

California freshman forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim, who declared himself eligible for the NBA draft May 7, will announce today that he has changed his mind and will return to school, ESPN and a San Francisco radio station reported.

When he made his announcement to leave school early for the NBA, Abdur-Rahim emphasized he wouldn’t sign with an agent.

“If I do get out there and I don’t like the way the situation is, I still have the opportunity to come back to the University of California,” he said.

Abdur-Rahim, a likely lottery pick, was the first freshman to be named Pacific 10 Conference player of the year after averaging 21.6 points and 8.7 rebounds per game.

*

UCLA will play Tulsa in the first round of the Preseason NIT on Nov. 20 at Pauley Pavilion. It will be the teams’ first meeting since Tulsa eliminated the Bruins, 112-102, in the first round of the 1994 NCAA tournament.

Other first-round matchups have St. Joseph’s of Pennsylvania at Duke, St. Mary’s at Oklahoma State, Valparaiso at Vanderbilt, Princeton at Indiana, Arkansas Little Rock at St. Louis, Iona at Seton Hall and Drexel at Evansville.

Second-round games are scheduled for Nov. 22-23 at sites to be announced. The winners advance to the semifinals Nov. 27 at Madison Square Garden, with the finals and consolation game Nov. 29.

College Baseball

Mark DeMenna hit a three-run home run in the eighth inning to lead William Paterson to a 6-5 victory over Cal Lutheran in the NCAA Division III championship game at Salem, Va. William Paterson finished 39-5-1; Cal Lutheran 34-14-1.

Jurisprudence

The judge in Michael Irvin’s drug case has ruled that Irvin confidant-turned-informant Dennis Pedini remains a witness in the case and thus is subject to a gag order.

State District Judge Manny Alvarez upheld a ruling he made after Pedini, who secretly recorded video of Irvin after two alleged cocaine buys, was paid $6,000 by a Dallas TV station for broadcast rights. Irvin’s attorney said if the gag order were lifted, he feared Irvin’s reputation would be further sullied while Pedini made the talk-show rounds.

Pittsburgh Steeler running back Bam Morris, scheduled to stand trial on drug charges in July, won’t be invited to the team’s five-day mini-camp beginning Sunday.

A former University of Tennessee defensive back has been charged in a drug-related, fatal shooting of a man in his apartment complex. Roderick L. Lewis, 24, was charged with criminal homicide in the shooting of James Taylor Adams, 21, who was shot once in the head while reportedly trying to collect a drug debt from Lewis.

College Golf

Arizona State’s Pat Perez tied the course record with a 68 to lead Stanford’s Tiger Woods by one shot, and the Sun Devils shot two-under par to take the first-day team lead in the NCAA golf championships at the Honors Course in Ooletwah, Tenn. Rory Sabbatini of Arizona, Slade Adams of Kansas, Tim Clark of North Carolina State, Tag Ridings of Arkansas and Grant Masson of Oklahoma all were in at two-under 70.

Track and Field

Kenya’s Christopher Koskei ran the fastest time in the world this year in the 3,000 meter steeplechase, 8 minutes 17.71 seconds, at a meet in Bratislava, Slovakia. Sam Shemkororia of Kenya set another best time this year in the 10,000 meters, 27:30.37.

Names in the News

The Kings signed centers Jason Morgan and Chris Schmidt and free-agent goaltender Brad Guzda. . . . UCLA track Coach Bob Larsen, who led the Bruins to a 10-0 dual-meet record and the Pac-10 title, has been named the District VII men’s coach of the year. The Bruins men’s and women’s team were ranked No. 1 in dual meets. . . . Long Beach State guard James Cotton, the Big West Conference’s leading scorer last season, has been invited to tryouts for the 22-and-under national basketball team May 31 through June 2 at Colorado Springs, Colo. . . . Jeff Tisdel, has been named football coach at Nevada, succeeding Chris Ault. Tisdel, a former Nevada quarterback, has been an assistant at the school since 1988.