Basketball

Unsure of their immediate future in the NBA, Denver point guard Anthony Goldwire and rookie forward Ryan Bowen have decided to take their games overseas.

Goldwire, who started 32 games for the Nuggets last season but was unsure of his situation because of their trade for Nick Van Exel, has signed a contract to play with Olympiakos in Greece, and Bowen recently finished training camp with Oyak Renault in Turkey.

Bobbi Olson, 63, the wife of Arizona Coach Lute Olson, was in fair condition after surgery for ovarian cancer.

Business

The University of Florida has agreed in principle on a five-year, $9-million apparel contract with Nike for its football and basketball teams beginning in July 1999. The deal includes cash, apparel and marketing promotions and was built around football Coach Steve Spurrier’s new contract. Signed last year, the contract will pay Spurrier nearly $2 million per year through 2003, and half of the $1.8 million-per-year Nike deal will go toward Spurrier’s apparel bonus from his restructured contract.

The Nike contract also will pay annual apparel bonuses to men’s basketball Coach Billy Donovan ($150,000) and women’s basketball Coach Carol Ross ($50,000), both of whom also recently signed contract extensions.

Hockey

Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Alexander Selivanov is expected to undergo wrist surgery and will be out up to 12 weeks after tearing cartilage in a recent workout.

The Carolina Hurricanes bought out the final year of the contract of right wing Steve Rice, who had played the last four years with the franchise but had only two goals and four assists in 47 games last season, sitting out six games because of injury and 29 games as a healthy scratch.

NHL independent arbitrator John Sands has been fired after one year on the job, Bloomberg News reported.

Names in the News

UCLA shotputter and discus thrower Nada Kawar of Montrose has been named the 1998 NCAA woman of the year for California. . . . Dennis Helsel, an associate athletic director at Syracuse, was hired as athletic director at Akron, replacing Michael Bobinski, who left in July to become athletic director at Xavier.