Sprewell’s No-Contest Plea Results in Home Detention

Latrell Sprewell was sentenced to three months of home detention Monday after pleading no contest to a reckless driving charge in Martinez, Calif.

Sprewell, who was originally suspended for one year and had his $24-million contract terminated by the Golden State Warriors last season for choking Coach P.J. Carlesimo, also was placed on two years probation, fined $1,000 and ordered not to have a gun in his possession.

Sprewell, who could have been sentenced to six months in jail, told KGO-TV he agreed to plead no contest in order to put the case behind him. “It’s just been unfortunate,” Sprewell said. “I’m just trying to move on. It seems like every day it’s something new again.”

Sprewell swerved out of an exit-only lane on a Walnut Creek, Calif., freeway on March 1 and struck another car, injuring a couple.

The couple have said they intend to sue Sprewell in civil court.

Goodwill Games

Mia Hamm scored both goals and the United States beat China 2-0 to win the gold medal in the debut of soccer at the Goodwill Games at New York. The U.S. women’s soccer team also won the first gold medal at the Olympics and the world championships. The United States had an 11-2 advantage in shots on goal over China and extended its domestic winning streak to 38 games before a crowd of 11,307 at Mitchel Field. It was the largest crowd so far at a Goodwill Games event.

In boxing, light-flyweight Jose Navarro of Los Angeles lost, 9-2, to world championship silver medalist Roel Velasco.

In diving, Dmitry Sautin won the platform gold to repeat the three-meter/platform double he had at the ’98 World Championships. The Russian finished with 665.49 points.

Pro Football

Chicago Bears first-round draft pick Curtis Enis has been accused of sexual assault and is the subject of a grand jury investigation, police in Irving, Tex., confirmed. “This is one of those situations where it’s a ‘he said-she said,’ ” Sgt. Tim Kelly said. “It was referred to the grand jury because of the lack of evidence one way or the other.”

The Miami Dolphins signed nine-year pro Michael Timpson to a one-year contract to bolster their wide receiver corps. . . . New England Patriot tight end Ben Coates returned to practice after pleading not guilty to domestic assault and battery. Coates was freed on $1,000 bail after allegedly shoving the mother of one of his children to the ground.

Sale Isaia, projected to be the Baltimore Ravens’ starting left guard this year, will miss the season with a torn Achilles’ tendon. . . . . The Carolina Panthers lost another offensive tackle when Todd Stewart sustained a broken ankle.

Pro Hockey

Defenseman Sean O’Donnell, one of three Kings to play in at least 80 games last season, agreed to terms on a three-year contract. O’Donnell, 26, had two goals and 15 assists for a career-high 17 points in 80 games last season. He also had 179 penalty minutes--second most on the team. Defenseman Rob Blake and right wing Glen Murray also played in 80 or more games, both appearing in 81.

The New York Rangers agreed to terms with right wing Stefan Cherneski, their first-round pick in the 1997 NHL draft.

Jurisprudence

Washington State football player’s Taeao Salausa has been arrested for investigation of rape, burglary and theft. Salausa, 21, a 6-foot-5, 284-pound defensive tackle from Long Beach, Calif., was taken into custody Sunday and released Monday after an appearance in Whitman County District Court. Prosecutors have 48 hours to file charges. Salausa was suspended from the team. A police report said a 29-year-old woman student at Washington State told officers Salausa entered her home and raped her July 11, after which she found some of her possessions missing. The report said they were acquainted.

A hearing scheduled for today on whether former Notre Dame coach Joe Moore, 66, should receive his pay besides the damages he won in an age-discrimination suit against the school was canceled at South Bend, Ind. Attorneys for Moore and the university will file their arguments with U.S. Judge Allen Sharp rather than hold an open hearing, they said.

Miscellany

Cody Koch, a heavyweight boxer known as the “Alaskan Assassin,” died after an argument at Shields, Mich. The body of the 25-year-old fighter was found early Sunday outside Shooters Bar by sheriff’s deputies. An autopsy was scheduled.

Curtis Jones, Missouri’s assistant football coach and father of Corby Jones, the Tigers’ starting quarterback, died at Columbia, Mo., of a massive heart attack. He was 55.

Five of the six spectators injured at the U.S. 500 at Jackson, Mich., have been released from the hospital, and the sixth, Doris Shuman, 70, remains in good condition at Foote Hospital.

NASCAR driver Jeff Purvis was suspended for four races and fined $5,000 for an altercation with another driver at a Busch series race last weekend at Daytona Beach, Fla. Purvis said he would appeal, allowing him to race next weekend.

The United States defeated the Czech Republic, 10-0, for its eighth consecutive shutout in the Women’s World Softball Championship at Fujinomiya, Japan.