Big Losses for World Basketball

The FIBA World Basketball Championships were costly off the court too.

Two weeks after the United States’ embarrassing sixth-place finish, the Indiana Sports Corporation reported an expected loss of $2.69 million on the tournament at Indianapolis.

“We experienced a financial shortfall on the event, but we are optimistic about identifying ways to eliminate the deficit and we continue to be very upbeat about future events coming to this community,” ISC President Dale Neuburger said Wednesday.

With USA Basketball President Tom Jernstedt acknowledging during the tournament that tickets were grossly overpriced, the event averaged 6,414 spectators for 31 sessions at Conseco Fieldhouse and the RCA Dome.

Ticket prices ranged from $10 to $58 for the first round, $12 to $66 for the second round, $24 to $110 for the quarterfinals, $65 to $135 for the semifinals and $95 to $190 for the gold-medal game. Tickets for the title game were later discounted.

The U.S. won its first five games to improve to 58-0 when using NBA players in international competitions, then lost three of its final four games to Argentina, Yugoslavia and Spain. The sixth-place finish is the worst by a U.S. men’s team in a major international competition.

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The Lakers signed free-agent forward Guy Rucker. Terms were not disclosed.

Rucker averaged 14.7 points and 5.9 rebounds last season for Debreceni Vadkakasok of the Hungarian A division. He played at Iowa from 1996-99.

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Lisa Leslie scored 20 points and Sheryl Swoopes had 19 to lead the U.S. over Cuba, 87-44, in the Women’s World Basketball Championship at Changzhou, China.

The defending champions are 4-0 as the tournament entered the second round. They play South Korea today.

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Former WNBA All-Star Brandy Reed, whose career was sidetracked by behavioral problems, was jailed in Hattiesburg, Miss., on outstanding warrants after her arrest on disorderly conduct charges.

Reed, the Phoenix Mercury’s top scorer in 2000 at 19.0 points per game and a former Southern Mississippi star, was arrested when officers, investigating burglaries, stopped her on a street to ask for identification, police said. Reed used a different name and was taken to the county jail.

Police said Reed cannot post bond on the disorderly conduct charge until she pays outstanding fines on old charges that ranged from possession of marijuana to not having a driver’s license and driving on the wrong side of the road.

Reed sat out most of last season because of behavioral problems and was suspended June 18 for conduct detrimental to the team.

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Utah Jazz announcer Rod Hundley, 67, was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving Friday night, the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Department said. Hundley was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail and was released Saturday morning. Hundley could not be reached for comment and the Jazz had no comment.

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Alabama Huntsville women’s assistant Lindsay Floyd, 23, was killed and Coach Andy Blackston was injured in a car wreck during a recruiting trip to Memphis, Tenn. Blackston was in stable condition at a hospital in Corinth, Miss.

Pro Hockey

Montreal signed left wing Richard Zednik, its second-leading scorer last season with a career-high 22 goals and 22 assists, to a two-year contract. Financial terms were not disclosed.... Forward Jiri Novotny, Buffalo’s first-round pick in last year’s NHL draft, signed a multiyear contract with the club. Novotny, 19, spent the last two seasons in the Czech Senior League.

Miscellany

A Houston Northbrook High School football player collapsed and died in the dressing room after telling teammates he was blacking out. Blaine Omoruyi, a 17-year-old senior offensive lineman, was taken to Memorial City Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The cause of death had not been determined.

Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., said it will hold a truck series race during The Winston, NASCAR’s All-Star event. The truck series will make its debut at the track May 16, following qualifying for The Winston.

Scott Volkers, the Australian swimming coach who trained Olympic medalists Susie O’Neill and Samantha Riley, was cleared of indecent assault charges at Brisbane, Australia.

Volkers was committed to stand trial in July on seven counts of indecent dealing with three girls under the age of 16, but officials said all charges were dropped because they wouldn’t stand up in court.