Wright to Take Job at Villanova

Jay Wright, who led Hofstra into the last two NCAA tournaments, has accepted the job as coach at Villanova, a university source told the Associated Press on Monday.

Villanova has scheduled a news conference for today.

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Steve Lappas, the coach Wright will replace at Villanova, was hired as coach at Massachusetts. . . . Jim Baron, the former St. Bonaventure coach, has been hired at Rhode Island. . . . Rick Majerus, Wisconsin’s No. 1 choice, will not be going to Madison. Wisconsin Athletic Director Pat Richter said he’d met with the Utah coach and “mutually agreed that the timing is such that he could not seriously consider our position.” . . . The University of Oregon announced the hiring of a Kansas City law firm to conduct an investigation into the troubled women’s basketball program.

Miscellany

NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said the league is not inclined to change its tampering policy prohibiting teams from interviewing coaches from other teams before their seasons end.

The policy was criticized after the Super Bowl when defensive coordinators Marvin Lewis of the Baltimore Ravens and John Fox of the New York Giants failed to get head coaching jobs.

Dr. Barry Myers, a Duke University crash expert, viewed images from Dale Earnhardt’s autopsy as part of a compromise between the driver’s widow and the Orlando Sentinel. He spent two hours inside the Volusia County (Fla.) medical examiner’s office and said he would issue a report on the cause of death and type of head injuries Earnhardt suffered within weeks.

Serena and Venus Williams advanced to the quarterfinals of the Ericsson Open at Key Biscayne, Fla., and remain on course for a showdown in Saturday’s final. Serena, seeded fifth, won the first set in 16 minutes, beating No. 11 Kim Clijsters of Belgium, 6-0, 6-2. Venus, seeded third, needed more than two hours and 10 match points to defeat Tathiana Garbin of Italy, 7-5, 7-6 (2). Top-seeded Martina Hingis of Switzerland beat Magui Serna of Spain, 6-3, 6-4, and No. 2 Lindsay Davenport defeated No. 13 Sandrine Testud of France, 6-3, 6-1. In men’s play, No. 3 Andre Agassi eliminated David Prinosil of Germany, 6-1, 6-3, and top-seeded Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil made another early hardcourt exit, losing to Swede Thomas Johansson, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.

Olympic champion Ian Thorpe broke the 800-meter world record by more than four seconds at the Australian swimming championships at Hobart. The 18-year-old was timed in 7 minutes 41.59 seconds, bettering the mark of 7:46.00 set by Kieren Perkins in 1994.

A Chicago Bear proposal to add a corporate sponsor to the name of historic Soldier Field in Chicago as part of a renovation project has outraged some veterans. The Bears, the stadium’s main tenant, say the Soldier Field name will remain but the team reserves the right to add a corporate name for a hefty fee.

NASCAR fined Tony Stewart $10,000 and placed him on probation until Aug. 29 for intentionally running into Jeff Gordon’s car following Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol, Tenn.