UCLA in Wooden Classic Again

UCLA and Kansas, both of which participated in the inaugural John R. Wooden Classic, will take part in the college basketball doubleheader at the Pond of Anaheim on Dec. 5.

In the first game between the teams since a 1995 Final Four meeting, which UCLA won on its way to the national title, the Bruins will face Oklahoma State. Kansas will meet Pepperdine.

This is the fourth time UCLA will play in the five years the event has been held--missing only last year’s event. Kansas defeated Massachusetts in its only previous appearance in the Wooden Classic, in 1994. Oklahoma State and Pepperdine are appearing for the first time.

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USC is in violation of Title IX, the federal law guaranteeing female athletes equal rights on the playing field, the Orange County Register reported.

But a school spokeswoman countered statements in the report, saying it lacked balance and perspective.

According to the newspaper, only 11.1% of the $4 million spent by USC in athletic operating expenses during the 1996-97 academic year was spent on women’s teams, though women made up 42.5% of all student-athletes.

In addition, the Register said, documents show that female athletes received only 34% of the $5.5 million the school awarded in athletic-related financial aid in 1996-97.

According to the newspaper, USC ranks last in the Pacific 10 in gender equity. The Register reported the budget for women’s sports at USC is $3.6 million; the men’s budget is $11.9 million.

Lisa Love, USC senior associate athletic director, said the Register’s story did not present a balanced look at the strides the school has made in Title IX compliance, and it did not include a complete perspective of the NCAA numbers.

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College athletes tend to binge drink and get into more alcohol-related trouble than other students, a study shows.

The study, the largest yet linking participation in college sports to increased alcohol use, appears in the May issue of the Journal of American College Health.

The survey covered 51,483 students on 125 campuses. It found that college athletes consumed an average of 7.34 drinks a week--78% more than did students who were not athletes, who averaged 4.12 drinks.

Tennis

Venus Williams and her younger sister, Serena, won at the Italian Open in Rome and took another step toward a possible meeting in the quarterfinals.

Venus Williams beat Maria Antonia Sanchez Lorenzo, 6-1, 6-4. Serena Williams advanced when Joannette Kruger retired because of a back injury while trailing, 5-1.

Top-seeded Martina Hingis beat Fang Li, 6-3, 6-0, but second-seeded Jana Novotna lost to Alexandra Fusai, 2-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3, and third-seeded Amanda Coetzer was beaten, 6-2, 6-2, by Ruxandra Dragomir.

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Looking to regain his No. 1 ranking and playing for the first time in five weeks, Chilean Marcelo Rios was beaten, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, by South African Wayne Ferreira at the German Open in Hamburg.

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Top-seeded Jason Stoltenberg, the two-time defending champion, was beaten, 6-4, 7-5, by fellow Australian Andrew Ilie in the second round of the America’s Red Clay Championship at Coral Springs, Fla.

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The United States will face Belgium at the Indianapolis Tennis Center, July 17-19, in the Davis Cup quarterfinals.

Boxing

Former World Boxing Assn. heavyweight champion Bruce Seldon admitted he gave marijuana to a 15-year-old girl and took part in “sexual activity” with her at his house last November.

Seldon pleaded guilty in Superior Court in Camden, N.J., to two counts of endangering the welfare of a child.

In exchange for his plea, prosecutors agreed to dismiss a more serious charge of sexual assault, as well as drug and weapons offenses.

The boxer could face a maximum five-year prison sentence on each of the endangerment counts.

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Former junior-flyweight champion Michael Carbajal claims he was beaten and choked by an off-duty Chandler, Ariz., police officer and was unlawfully arrested during a 1997 fight at a service station.

Miscellany

Ivan Zamorano scored in the fifth minute and Internazionale of Milan went on to beat Lazio of Rome, 3-0, in a soccer match in Paris to win the UEFA Cup for the third time in 10 years. . . . A championship game between Croatia’s top basketball teams was called off after fans stormed the court and assaulted the referee in Zadar. . . . Volleyball player Heidi Anderson of Bentley College (Mass.), who battled back from leukemia, was awarded the Honda Inspiration Award.