Minnesota Counselor Is Fired

Alonzo Newby, the academic counselor for the Minnesota men’s basketball team and a key figure in the academic fraud inquiry, was fired Friday.

Newby, was terminated for “refusing to cooperate with independent investigators looking into charges of academic fraud and other violations in the university’s athletic department and for participating in violation of NCAA rules,” the university said in a statement.

Newby could provide information linking Coach Clem Haskins to alleged improprieties in the program.

Newby allegedly gave $3,000 in cash to Jan Gangelhoff, the former academic counseling office manager who said she wrote more than 400 papers for Gopher players from 1993 to 1998. Gangelhoff has said the money was from Haskins.

Gangelhoff has described Newby’s job as doing “whatever it took to keep kids eligible.”

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The NCAA supports a proposed ban on betting on college sports events, even as it acknowledged legal bookmakers’ help in catching point shavers.

Bill Saum, the organization’s director of agent and gambling activities, also renewed the NCAA’s call for media outlets to stop publishing point spreads on college games.

“When the media publishes point spreads in any state other than Nevada, it encourages illegal sports betting,” he said. “We at the national office are not going to give in on this.”

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The Pacific 10 Conference agreed to accept Washington’s self-imposed penalties for football recruiting violations since Rick Neuheisel took over as coach.

At issue were “quiet period” violations, contacts between Washington coaches and student-athletes at another school without a written release and violation of the tryout rule.

Tennis

Tommy Haas of Germany upset top-seeded Richard Krajicek of the Netherlands, 7-6 (7-3), 1-6, 6-4, in the quarterfinals of the Heineken Trophy grass-court tournament at Den Bosch, Netherlands. On the women’s side, American Kristina Brandi, ranked 57th, reached today’s final by defeating Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria, 6-7 (7-4), 6-3, 6-3. . . . Cedric Pioline of France upset top-seeded Greg Rusedski of Britain, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), to reach the final of the Nottingham Open grass-court tournament in England. . . . Third-seeded Nathalie Tauziat of France overcame a 5-1 deficit in the third set to beat Anna Kournikova of Russia, 6-4, 4-6, 8-6, and reach the final of the Eastbourne grass-court tournament in England.

Miscellany

Mike Tyson’s advisor said that as far as he’s concerned, talk about a Tyson-George Foreman fight is just that--talk. Shelly Finkel also said that Tyson probably will fight in September or October, and that two fighters being considered as an opponent were Axel Schulz of Germany and Brian Nielsen of Denmark. . . . Former heavyweight champion Larry Holmes, 49, stopped James “Bonecrusher” Smith, 46, in the eighth round at Fayetteville, N.C., as part of the inaugural card of the Legends of Boxing series.

The Glendale Civic Auditorium will host a boxing show tonight at 7. Former Olympian Pepe Reilly (12-3, nine knockouts) will fight Antonio Gonzalez (4-9-4, four knockouts) in the main event, a 10-round welterweight match. In an eight-round featherweight bout, William Abelyan (9-3-1, five knockouts) will fight Israel Correa (6-1, one knockout).

Sterling Marlin broke the track qualifying record at Pocono International Raceway, winning the pole for the Pocono 500 at Long Pond, Pa. He won his first pole since July 1995 by taking his Chevrolet around the 2 1/2-mile triangular oval at 170.506 mph. Dale Jarrett got his Ford up to 169.952, and will start Sunday on the outside of the front row. . . . Richie Hearn won the provisional pole for Sunday’s Budweiser-G.I. Joe’s 200 at Portland, Ore. . . . Greg Biffle passed Ron Fellows in the closing laps to win the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Grainger 225 at Portland.

All-pro cornerback Deion Sanders signed a contract extension with the Dallas Cowboys reported to be worth $51 million over five years. . . . The Pittsburgh Steelers started construction of their $233-million stadium on a riverfront site. . . . Tailback Harvey Williams, who rushed for 1,114 yards for the Oakland Raiders four seasons ago but was shuttled between tight end and fullback the past two years, was cut as the team opened mini-camp. . . . The Arizona Cardinals released fullback Larry Centers, a two-time Pro Bowl selection. . . . The Baltimore Ravens bolstered their pass-catching corps, signing free-agent wide receiver Billy Davis.

A former sports management company head pleaded guilty in Camden, N.J., to swindling $342,000 from the bank accounts of two NFL players who hired her to manage their finances. Therese Jose, 44, admitted in federal court that she pilfered the money from the accounts of Lester Holmes and Leonard Renfro.

Channel 5 has signed Channel 22’s Claudia Trejos as a sports reporter and weekend anchor. Trejos, who replaces Ed Arnold, starts at Channel 5 on July 1.