Hall of Famer Gola Is in Coma

Basketball Hall of Famer Tom Gola, who sustained a head injury in a fall last month, remained comatose and in serious condition Monday in Philadelphia.

His wife, Caroline, told the Philadelphia Inquirer that the 70-year-old Gola fell on July 25 and had been in a coma since at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Gola, college basketball’s leading rebounder who led La Salle to the NIT title in 1951-52 and the NCAA championship in 1953-54, lost his balance and hit his head on a curb while walking to a restaurant with his wife and two other couples, Caroline Gola said. Gola, who finished his college career with 2,201 rebounds, played on teams that won NIT, NCAA and NBA championships.

He was a three-time college All-American and a five-time NBA All-Star with the Philadelphia Warriors and New York Knicks. Gola also coached La Salle from 1968-70 and finished with a record of 37-13.

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College Football

USC players will report to training camp today and begin practicing Wednesday for their opener at Auburn on Aug. 30.

Players will check into their dorms this morning, undergo physicals and meet as a team this afternoon. Practices are closed to the public.

Alabama linebacker Brooks Daniels has withdrawn from school and will sit out his senior season for undisclosed medical reasons. Daniels became the first Alabama player to record 100 tackles in consecutive seasons and was a first-team preseason All-Southeastern Conference pick.

Alabama asked a judge to dismiss former coach Mike Price’s $20-million lawsuit, contending that courts have held universities as state agencies and immune from suit. Price filed the lawsuit in Birmingham federal court on July 14, contending denial of due process, violation of civil rights, breach of contract, wrongful termination and fraud. He contends that Alabama’s actions are not protected by governmental immunity.

Alabama State’s president said that the school had started the process to fire Coach L.C. Cole after an internal investigation revealed violations in the program. More than a dozen players planned to sue the university to keep Cole, said their attorney, Julian McPhillips. Cole, his brother and assistant coach Johnnie Cole, and assistant coach Richard Freeman were suspended with pay. A report Alabama State submitted to the NCAA on July 22 alleges that Cole played ineligible players and paid strippers to entertain recruits and that assistant coaches had improper contact with potential recruits.

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Tennis

Top-seeded Andre Agassi breezed into the second round of the Tennis Masters Canada tournament at Montreal with an easy victory over Canada’s Frederic Niemeyer, 6-4, 6-2, in 1 hour 4 minutes. In other matches, fourth-seeded Carlos Moya of Spain lost to Arnaud Clement of France, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-3, and Simon Larose of Canada stunned 13th-seeded Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil, 7-5, 7-6 (2). James Blake beat Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic, 7-6 (3), 6-4.

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Golf

Chris Botsford of USC, who won the Western Amateur at Benton Harbor, Mich., on Sunday, will be among the favorites in the Pacific Coast Amateur, which begins today in Vancouver, Canada. The 72-hole stroke play Pacific Coast Amateur will be played at Capilano Golf & Country Club in West Vancouver.

Ian Woosnam, whose father died July 27, has withdrawn from next week’s PGA Championship. *

Miscellany

Forward Pavol Demitra of the St. Louis Blues was awarded the second-largest NHL arbitration payout and will earn $6.5 million next season.

In the WNBA, Sheri Sam scored 13 of her 18 points in the second half to help the Minnesota Lynx hold off the Phoenix Mercury, 61-56, in front of 5,223 at Minneapolis. Minnesota is 15-11. Phoenix is 5-20.