Florida Sophomore Miller Chooses NBA Over NCAA

Sophomore Mike Miller, who helped lead Florida to its first NCAA championship game, will make himself available for the NBA draft.

Miller had been weighing whether to return to Florida next season since the Gators’ 89-76 loss to Michigan State in the championship game April 3.

Miller said he made “the hardest decision of my life” after a late-night meeting with Florida Coach Billy Donovan.

“We went over some things at his house late last night and we just came to the conclusion that this is the best thing for me right now,” Miller said at a news conference at Gainesville.

The forward averaged 14.1 points last season and led the team in rebounding in Southeastern Conference games. In his two-year collegiate career, Miller averaged 13.3 points and six rebounds.

Donovan said he and Miller, a 6-foot-8, 218-pounder from Mitchell, S.D., spoke with several sources and expect Miller to land between No. 7 and No. 13 in the June 26 draft.

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Michigan State Coach Tom Izzo probably will receive a seven-year contract worth $1.1 million a year, including incentives, Fred Poston, the school’s vice president for finance and operations, told the Lansing State Journal. Izzo’s current contract is worth about $725,000.

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Brandon Brooks, a 6-foot point guard from Jefferson High in Portland, Ore., signed a letter of intent with Arizona State, passing up UCLA and Oklahoma. . . . Nevada Las Vegas guard Kenny Dye will transfer to a Division II school before the start of next season, Rebel assistant coach Glynn Cyprien said. . . . Nolan Richardson III, son of Arkansas Coach Nolan Richardson, agreed to coach Tennessee State. Richardson, 35, has served as an assistant under his father since 1991.

Tennis

Monica Seles overcame an erratic performance in the clay-court Family Circle Cup at Hilton Head, S.C., to defeat ninth-seeded Elana Likhovtseva of Russia, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (5). Also, Ruxandra Dragomir of Romania, seeded 11th, upset 1999 runner-up and sixth-seed Anna Kournikova of Russia, 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-3. . . . Hungary’s Katalin Marosi breezed past top-seeded Sylvia Plischke of Austria, 7-5, 6-1, in the second round of the Budapest Ladies Open clay-court tournament. . . . Ninth-seeded Alex Corretja, coming off his recent victory at Indian Wells, defeated Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina, 6-3, 6-3, to reach the quarterfinals of the Monte Carlo Open.

Pro Football

San Diego Charger cornerback Fakhir Brown lost control of his car rounding a curve adjacent to the mostly empty parking lot of the San Diego Union-Tribune early Thursday, became airborne, cleared a chain-link fence and crashed into three other vehicles. There were no injuries. . . . Former Florida State wide receiver Peter Warrick, drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals last week, completed part of his community service in connection with his petty theft conviction in September by picking up trash along a Florida highway. . . . The Carolina Panthers traded running back Fred Lane to the Indianapolis Colts for linebacker Spencer Reid. . . . Pittsburgh Steeler linebacker Mike Vrabel signed with the team. Terms were not released.

Dwight Adams, credited for much of the Buffalo Bills’ draft success during the past decade, was promoted to vice president of player personnel. Adams had been the Bills’ director of player personnel since he joined the team in July 1991. . . . The Atlanta Falcons claimed wide receiver Kamil Loud, who was waived by the Bills. . . . Defensive tackle Russell Maryland, released by the Oakland Raiders on March 31, signed a three-year, $8.3-million contract with the Green Bay Packers. Also, the Packers waived defensive end Jon Harris.

Miscellany

The New Orleans city attorney refused to prosecute Mike Ditka on a criminal charge filed by a former casino pit boss who claims the former Saint coach hurled a lighted cigar into his face during a dispute over a craps throw.

The March 16 incident, which was confirmed by state police, resulted in Ditka being barred from the casino for three months.

According to state police, the altercation occurred at a craps table in a high-rollers area when Ditka became angry by a call made by pit boss Randy Curtis on some tilted dice.

Former heavyweight contender Ike Ibeabuchi will spend time in a Nevada mental health facility to determine if he is competent to stand trial before facing charges he sexually assaulted a stripper who was sent to his hotel room in Las Vegas. Ibeabuchi, 26, faces multiple felony charges stemming from the incident last July at the Mirage involving the dancer, who testified earlier that she was sexually assaulted after she was sent to strip for him in his room.

Brian Viloria and Dante Craig earned berths in the Sydney Olympics with victories in an Olympic boxing qualifier at Tijuana. Viloria, 106 pounds, defeated Domenic Filane of Canada, 10-2, and Craig, 147, beat Yovanny Lorenzo of the Dominican Republic, 16-3, in the semifinal round of the second of three Olympic qualifying tournaments.

Rachelle Kunkel edged Jamie Watkins to win the one-meter title in the U.S. National Indoor Diving Championships at Minneapolis. . . . Slav center Zeljko Rebraca scored 20 points to lead Panathinaikos Athens to a 73-67 victory over Maccabi Tel Aviv at Thessaloniki, Greece, to win the European basketball championship. . . . Saying that the hire does not fall under the University System of Georgia nepotism policy, Georgia announced that Coach Jim Donnan’s son, Todd, a graduate assistant for two years, will become one of his father’s nine on-field assistant football coaches.

Costa Rica will play Mexico today at 9 a.m. and the United States will play Canada at 5 p.m. at the Eldorado Polo Club in Indio in the second round of the International Polo Federation Zone A playoffs.