Another Prep Player to Take Shot at NBA

Ellis Richardson, a 6-foot-4 senior guard from Polytechnic High in Sun Valley who is not even listed among the top 100 high school players in the state by several recruiting publications, has notified NBA officials that is declaring himself eligible for the June draft.

Richardson averaged 25 points and eight rebounds for the Parrots, who went 11-15 last season in the Los Angeles City Section’s Valley Pac-8 Conference.

Richardson said he failed to meet the NCAA’s academic requirements.

Television

Sara White, the wife of Reggie White, said CBS was “too scared” to hire her husband as a football commentator because of his controversial speech before the Wisconsin State Assembly.

White, the Green Bay Packers’ defensive lineman who retired and unretired last week, used ethnic stereotypes and called homosexuality “one of the biggest sins” in the Bible in his remarks last month.

“They were too scared of the sodomite community is what they said,” White told ABC’s “20/20,” according to excerpts of the interview to be broadcast tonight. “Well, you know what? Shame on them! I feel sorry for them because they can’t stand the truth.”

CBS had been talking to White about becoming an analyst, but the network said outside groups had no bearing on their decision to not hire him.

Tennis

Jim Courier, defeated top-seeded Michael Chang, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, to win the U.S. Clay Courts championship at Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

Spain’s Virginia Ruano-Pascual won her first title of the season, defeating Italy’s Silvia Farina, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, in the final of the Budapest Lotto Ladies Open clay-court tournament at Hungary.

Carlos Moya won the Monte Carlo Open with a 6-3, 6-0, 7-5 victory over Cedric Pioline at Monaco.

Jimmy Connors defeated Andres Gomez of Ecuador, 7-6 (11-9), 6-3, in the semifinals of the Trigon Champions senior tournament in Richmond, Va. Connors will play Frenchman Mansour Bahrami, who beat Johan Kriek, 6-3, 6-3.

Miscellany

UCLA, receiving an at-large berth, will join Pepperdine, Lewis and Princeton this week in the NCAA men’s volleyball tournament at the University of Hawaii.

Lisa Leslie scored 33 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in leading the U.S. world championship team to an 89-74 victory over China in the four-nation International Women’s Basketball Competition at Tokushima, Japan.

Wayne Lukas returned to the Los Alamitos winner’s circle for the first time in almost two decades as the 10-1 longshot Bee Secret won the eighth race.

Jeff Agoos’ shootout goal gave D.C. United a 2-1 victory over the Columbus Crew in a Major League Soccer game at Washington amid rumors that MLS would sell United’s Marco Etcheverry to a French club for $5 million.

Antawn Jamison will announce today whether he will apply for the NBA draft or stay for his senior season at North Carolina, a school official said.

Jeremy Freitas broke a 12-12 tie in the eighth inning and USC scored four more runs in the ninth in a 17-12 victory over UCLA at Jackie Robinson Stadium.

Donovan Bailey, running on a sore left foot, was defeated by Chile’s Sebastian Keitel in a 100-meter race at Sao Leopoldo, Brazil. Keitel, South America’s 100-meter record holder, won in 10.10 seconds to Bailey’s 10.13.

Wrestling competitively for the first time since the 1996 Olympics, Matt Ghaffari won the national championship in the Greco-Roman 286-pound division for the sixth time at the U.S. national championships with a 2-0 overtime decision over defending champion Rulan Gardner in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Ghaffari was sidelined because of knee surgery.