Kareem Resigns After Winning Title

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the former Laker center, resigned Tuesday after one season as coach of the Oklahoma Storm, which he guided to the United States Basketball League championship.

Abdul-Jabbar, a Hall of Famer, stepped down so he could seek another coaching position in college or the NBA, USBL spokesman Dennis Truax said.

It was the first head coaching job at any level for Abdul-Jabbar, the leading scorer in NBA history. He had been an assistant with the Clippers.

The USBL season ended Sunday with Oklahoma’s 122-109 victory over Kansas City in the championship game. The Storm had a 20-13 record.

“It was a great run this year and I am glad that I got the chance to come to Enid and Oklahoma City,” Abdul-Jabbar said after Sunday’s game.

Abdul-Jabbar set nine NBA records, including most points (38,387). He won six league championships, six most-valuable-player awards and played in 18 All-Star games.

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The Philadelphia 76ers signed 6-foot-11 Greek center Efthimios Rentzias, a former first-round draft pick who has played in the Spanish League the last five seasons.

The 76ers acquired the rights to the 25-year-old Rentzias from Atlanta during last week’s NBA draft, sending two future second-round picks to the Hawks.

Rentzias will attempt to join Jake Tsakalidis of the Phoenix Suns and Antonis Fotsis of the Memphis Grizzlies as the only Greek players in the NBA.

Rentzias was selected by the Denver Nuggets with the 23rd overall pick in the 1996 draft but didn’t play in the NBA. Denver traded his rights to Atlanta the following year. Rentzias averaged 9.2 points and 3.5 rebounds in 51 games for Barcelona last season.

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Former Missouri point guard Wesley Stokes said he plans to transfer to San Diego State, becoming the third major-college player to join the Aztecs this off-season.

After he sits out the 2002-03 season, Stokes will have two years of eligibility remaining. He averaged 5.8 points last season and led the Tigers with 147 assists.

Other players who have transferred to San Diego State during this off-season are guard Travis Hanour from Arizona and center Chris Manker from Oregon State.

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Maryland and Indiana will play Dec. 3 at Indianapolis, highlighting this year’s ACC-Big Ten Challenge with a rematch of the NCAA title game.

On the same day, Ohio State will play Duke at Greensboro, N.C.