Minnesota Hires Gonzaga’s Monson

Dan Monson was hired Saturday as men’s basketball coach at Minnesota, a month after the school bought out the contract of former coach Clem Haskins following an academic fraud scandal.

Monson, 37, led Gonzaga to a 52-17 record and consecutive West Coast Conference titles in two seasons as coach. His last Gonzaga team eliminated Minnesota from the NCAA tournament last season.

Monson will receive a seven-year base salary of $150,000 per year and an outside package worth an additional $340,000 annually.

“I’ve always said that it would take an incredible opportunity for me to leave Gonzaga, and Minnesota has presented me with the opportunity of a lifetime,” said Monson, who walked away from a 10-year contract he signed in April.

Tennis

Silvia Farina of Italy tied the Fed Cup semifinal against the United States at 1-1 with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 victory over Monica Seles at Ancona, Italy. Earlier, Venus Williams defeated Rita Grande, 6-2, 6-3. . . . Teenager Jelena Dokic led Australia to a victory over the Netherlands and a berth in the Fed Cup World Group, defeating Kristie Boogert, 7-5, 6-2, at Amsterdam, Netherlands. . . . Tommy Haas of Germany beat Alex Corretja of Spain, 6-4, 6-4, and Magnus Norman of Sweden defeated Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic, 6-1, 6-2, in the semifinals of the Mercedes Cup clay court tournament at Stuttgart, Germany.

Motor Sports

Defending Formula One champion Mika Hakkinen had to switch to a spare McLaren-Mercedes in qualifying but still captured the pole position for today’s Austrian Grand Prix at Spielberg with a lap of 1 minute 10.954 seconds and 136.127 mph.

Andy Santerre won for the first time on the NASCAR Busch Grand National series, capturing the NAPA AutoCare 250 at Fountain, Colo.

Greg Biffle held off several challenges late in the goracing.com 200 at Michigan Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich., picking up his second consecutive victory in NASCAR’s Craftsman Truck Series, third in the last four races and fourth in his last six.

The fastest drivers in a very fast field expect today’s U.S. 500 at Michigan Speedway to be a lot like the race that produced a CART FedEx Series record 62 lead changes last July, when the race was marred by the death of three spectators.

“I’ll be surprised if I lead the first lap,” said Jimmy Vasser, who won the pole with a lap of 229.606 mph.

Last year’s exciting race became nothing more than a footnote after a tire and other debris from a crash by Adrian Fernandez flew into the grandstand, killing three spectators and injuring six others.

Miscellany

Defenseman Dmitri Tertyshny of the Philadelphia Flyers was killed when he fell out of a boat and was slashed by the propeller while vacationing in Canada. He was 22.

Tertyshny, a Russian who was a rookie last season, was on the boat with two players from the minor-league Philadelphia Phantoms, Francis Belanger and Mihail Chernov, when the accident occurred Friday night on Okanagan Lake near Kelowna.

The Detroit Lions agreed to terms with first-round draft choices Chris Claiborne and Aaron Gibson. Claiborne, a linebacker selected ninth overall from USC, will get a $2-million signing bonus in a contract worth $7.62 million for four years. Claiborne, who left the Trojans after his junior season, won the Butkus Award last season as the nation’s top linebacker. Gibson was the 27th pick from Wisconsin. He got a $3.9 million deal, including a signing bonus of $1.675 million.

First-round draft pick Champ Bailey, a cornerback and wide receiver at Georgia last season, signed a five-year, $9.64-million contract with the Washington Redskins.

Bailey will also receive a $5.2-million signing bonus and has additional incentives up to $2.56 million.

Kick returner-defensive back Tremain Mack, in trouble with the NFL for a series of alcohol-abuse arrests, will be allowed to play at least part of the upcoming season, the NFL has told the Cincinnati Bengals.

NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue met with Mack for two hours in New York on Friday to review the player’s status under the league’s substance-abuse policy.

With jurors in Rochester, N.Y., seemingly deadlocked on assault charges against him, one-time junior welterweight champion Charles Murray pleaded guilty to punching a police officer during a street brawl.

Terronn Millett (22-1-1) stopped fellow American Virgil McClendon (21-2) in the 12th round to retain his International Boxing Federation junior-welterweight title in Las Vegas. In a World Boxing Assn. welterweight title bout, American James Page (25-3) stopped compatriot Freddie Pendleton (44-24-4) in the 11th round to keep his belt.

Dawn Ellerbe smashed the meet record in the women’s hammer throw with a heave of 214 feet 5 inches on her final attempt, capturing the first gold medal in track and field at the Pan American Games at Winnipeg, Canada.

Earlier in the day, Canada edged the United States in women’s team gymnastics. Cuba did the same to the U.S. men. Americans finished 1-2 in the men’s shot put, as Brad Mears won at 65-4 3/4, followed by Jamie Beyer at 62-2 1/4.

Keala Kennelly of Hawaii won the $25,000 E11even U.S. Open surfing competition for women before 40,000 at Huntington Beach Pier, defeating Serena Brooke of Australia, 16.75 points to 16.50.