Fresno State Goes on Probation

Fresno State put its basketball team and athletic department on probation for two years Friday for numerous NCAA rules violations that included payments from agents to players.

The actions came after a two-year probe by the university and NCAA that dogged the final years of basketball Coach Jerry Tarkanian’s career and cast a shadow over the program he rebuilt.

One of the violations included gifts that one of Tarkanian’s former players, Houston Rocket guard Tito Maddox, accepted from an agent. He was dismissed from school after accepting airline tickets, and he recently told the Fresno Bee that he received $30,000 from an agent.

But the actions Friday were in response to problems across other fields of play that included major violations and judgment errors, said university President John Welty. The NCAA said in a letter to the school that it found a lack of control over the department.

*

Jackson Vroman’s three-point play with 19.8 seconds remaining broke the final tie and helped Iowa State defeat Iowa, 73-69, in a men’s nonconference game at Iowa City.... Lindsay Whalen scored 21 points to help No. 12 Minnesota defeat Missouri Kansas City, 88-53, in a women’s game at Minneapolis.