NCAA Increases Sanctions, but Doesn’t Ban Texas Tech

The NCAA on Tuesday criticized Texas Tech for a lack of institutional control and a failure to monitor its programs, but applauded the stiff penalties the school had imposed on itself in April and added to them only slightly.

The NCAA put Texas Tech on a fourth year of probation and took away extra scholarships from the football, baseball and men’s and women’s basketball teams. But there was no ban on postseason play or television coverage.

Besides the scholarship cuts, Texas Tech forfeited every victory in which an ineligible athlete participated in the six sports mentioned, as well as men’s tennis and women’s volleyball.

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The NCAA gave Purdue a third deadline extension to respond to allegations of possible recruiting violations in its men’s basketball program.

The school has until Sept. 25 to answer charges that assistant coach Frank Kendrick gave a high school recruit a ride from Mackey Arena to his hotel in June 1996, during a designated period when coaches were not to have any contact with prospective athletes.

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The Western Athletic Conference, reeling from the defection of eight of its 16 members, got more bad news when Holiday Bowl directors exercised a contract clause and severed their affiliation with the WAC.

San Diego State is one of the schools leaving the WAC after this season and the Holiday Bowl feared local interest would decline.

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Weber State men’s basketball Coach Ron Abegglen, who spent the last three weeks on administrative leave after being accused of abusing his wife, was reinstated by the Ogden (Utah) school. But Abegglen also announced that he plans to retire after the 1998-99 season.

Tennis

Alex O’Brien, who qualified for the main draw when Thomas Enqvist withdrew, upset Gustavo Kuerten, 6-3, 7-6 (7-2), at the $2.4-million du Maurier Open at Toronto. O’Brien had to retire during qualifying Sunday because of cramps, but when No. 12-seeded Enqvist pulled out, O’Brien made the field as the top-ranked qualifying loser.

In other matches, No. 9-seeded Alberto Costa of Spain defeated Jason Stoltenberg of Australia, 7-5, 6-4 and No. 15 Fabrice Santoro of France downed Martin Damm of the Czech Republic, 6-1, 6-4.

Hicham Arazi of Morocco was thrown out of the Grolsch Open at Amsterdam, Netherlands, for unsportsmanlike conduct during a first-round match with Sweden’s Magnus Norman. Arazi had been warned by the umpire twice for throwing his racket and when he tried to hit the ball wildly out of bounds in an apparent attempt to lose the second set, Arazi was given a third warning and automatic disqualification.

Brian Tobin, president of the International Tennis Federation, accused Primo Nebiolo, the head of track and field’s governing body, of making “uninformed and groundless” charges about drug-testing in tennis.

In a statement released last week, during drug scandals at the Tour de France, Nebiolo specified tennis, volleyball and cycling as sports that had refused to sign an Olympic accord for harmonizing anti-drug programs.

Soccer

Columbus defeated the New York-New Jersey MetroStars, 1-0, to advance to the final of the U.S. Open Cup at New Orleans. The Crew will play the Chicago Fire, a 3-2 winner over the Dallas Burn.

The French policeman beaten by German hooligans during the World Cup soccer championships has emerged from a six-week coma, hospital officials at Lille, France, said.

Daniel Nivel, 43, had been in a deep coma since the attack June 21 outside a stadium in the northern town of Lens, where Germany was playing Yugoslavia.

Miscellany

Efforts to attract a pro sports team to Birmingham, Ala., were dealt a setback when voters rejected $697 million in construction projects, including a domed stadium.

Spanish cyclists pulled out of next week’s women’s Tour de France at Paris. The Spanish cycling federation said it was protesting the “poor treatment” accorded the men cyclists from Spain during the race that ended Sunday.

The NBA was dealt another setback by arbitrator John Feerick, who ruled he has jurisdiction to hear a grievance filed on behalf of players with guaranteed contracts who are not being paid during the lockout.

Spain defeated Lithuania, 86-80, in overtime, and Russia defeated Canada, 81-72, in the second round of the World Basketball Championships at Athens, Greece, improving their records to 5-1 going into Friday’s quarterfinals.

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Randy Harvey has the day off.