Self Takes Over as Kansas Coach

Bill Self is back where his career began.

He was introduced Monday as the new men’s basketball coach at Kansas, which lost Roy Williams to North Carolina a week after losing the NCAA championship game.

Self talked about smoothing over the bitterness stirred by Williams’ departure -- and similar feelings at Illinois, where Self coached for three years.

“I stand before you with mixed emotions,” he said. “There’s been a lot of things said, a lot of feelings have been hurt, a lot of things happen in the last seven or eight days at two wonderful institutions. Nobody picks the timing.”

His first college coaching job was as an assistant to Larry Brown at Kansas in 1985, and Self called his new post “the most prestigious act in all of college basketball.”

About 300 people were at Hadl Auditorium on campus for the news conference, greeting Self and chancellor Robert Hemenway with a standing ovation as they entered.

Hemenway said his school’s search focused only on Self, who won two Big Ten regular-season titles and one conference tournament championship with the Illini.

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Four years after being let go as coach at Iowa, Tom Davis was hired to rebuild the downtrodden program at Drake. The university called a news conference to introduce him today at Des Moines

The 64-year-old Davis had the most victories at Iowa, compiling a 269-140 record in 13 seasons. But he was told before the 1998-99 season that his contract would not be renewed at its end.

He has been out of coaching since.

Horse Racing

Needing to work five furlongs in a minimum time of 1 minute 3 seconds, Buddy Gil easily cleared that Kentucky Derby hurdle at Churchill Downs, reeling off the opening five-eighths of a mile of a longer workout in :59 3/5.

The workout cleared the way for Buddy Gil to run in the Derby on May 3. The gelding was on the veterinarians’ list in California when he was found to have bled slightly from the nostrils after winning the Santa Anita Derby on April 5. Buddy Gil had been treated with Salix, an anti-bleeding medication, before the Santa Anita Derby.

Buddy Gil didn’t bleed in Monday’s workout. Ridden by Gary Stevens, who will also ride him in the Kentucky Derby, Buddy Gil was given an official 1:11 4/5 time, the fastest of seven horses that worked six furlongs.

Tennis

Second-seeded Andy Roddick got off to an impressive start in his quest for a third consecutive U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships title by defeating Jeff Morrison in only 51 minutes, 6-3, 6-1, at Houston.

Third-seeded James Blake had to battle but finally overcame Alexander Waske of Germany, 6-4, 6-4 in another first-round match.

The Newport Beach Breakers will play seven of their 14 World TeamTennis matches at home beginning July 8. Lindsay Davenport will lead the Breakers in their first home match that night against the Sacramento Capitals at Palisades Tennis Club.

Auto Racing

Winston Cup champion Tony Stewart reiterated he will not race in the Indianapolis 500 because he is focusing on winning another NASCAR title. Stewart had earlier said he wouldn’t participate in the race May 25.

Stewart was mentioned most recently as a possible replacement for Dario Franchitti, who will sit out next month’s race because he injured his back in a motorcycle accident.

A.J. Foyt IV is the youngest driver in Indianapolis 500 history to pass his rookie test. The 18-year-old grandson of four-time Indy 500 champion A.J. Foyt passed the four-step rookie orientation program. Foyt IV and five other drivers earned a chance to qualify for the 33-car field.

Miscellany

Attorneys for the WNBA and its players’ union worked to complete a new collective bargaining agreement at New York.

“It’s a complex and complicated document,” WNBA spokeswoman Traci Cook said. “They’re still working on it.”

The union said Friday the sides had an agreement in principle on a five-year deal.

The shooting death of a home intruder by former basketball player Fennis Dembo was under investigation, although police at San Antonio said the man appeared to be a burglar.

Dembo, 37, played at Wyoming, was selected in the second round of the 1988 NBA draft and played one season for the Detroit Pistons.

A state judge at San Jose dismissed a suit by the Oakland Raiders seeking to prevent the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Carolina Panthers from wearing their uniforms for games in California because they allegedly violate the Raiders’ trademark rights.