McGahee Bought Insurance Policy

Miami tailback Willis McGahee took out a $2.5-million insurance policy two weeks before he was injured in the Fiesta Bowl and can collect after a year if the injury prevents him from returning to football, a Florida newspaper reported.

Insurance agent Keith Lerner of Gainesville told Florida Today that the policy was signed and put into effect just prior to the national championship game, the newspaper said in a story for today’s editions.

The sophomore rushed for a school-record 1,686 yards and 27 touchdowns this season, and was projected to be a top NFL draft pick had he turned pro early.

McGahee suffered torn ligaments in his left knee in the fourth quarter of the Hurricanes’ 31-24 loss to Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl on Friday.

McGahee had surgery Sunday. Doctors are hopeful he will play again.

The coverage officially started Dec. 20. The final medical forms were sent to Lloyd’s of London the day of the Fiesta Bowl, Lerner said.

McGahee’s premium was about $20,000, paid for with a loan taken out by McGahee’s family, Lerner said.

“The ironic thing about it is that he waited so late in the season to get it that he got a lot more coverage than he could have at the beginning of the season,” Lerner said.

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Iowa State Coach Dan McCarney received a contract extension through 2010 that will pay him $925,000 per year.

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Rutgers quarterback Ryan Cubit has left the university. Cubit reportedly plans to attend Western Michigan.

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The state attorney’s office in Florida said there’s insufficient evidence to launch a formal investigation into allegations made by Notre Dame safety Chad DeBolt that Jacksonville police officers injured him.

DeBolt, who was in Jacksonville with the Fighting Irish to play in the Gator Bowl, was arrested and charged with refusing to leave a nightclub Dec. 27.

Soccer

United States standout Earnie Stewart will play next season in Major League Soccer with D.C. United or the Dallas Burn after playing the last six years with Dutch team NAC Breda.

Stewart, 31, played in the last three World Cups for the U.S., scoring the winning goal in a 2-1 victory over Colombia in 1994.

Nigeria and Tunisia have joined South Africa, Morocco, Libya and Egypt in an initial bid to play host to the World Cup when it is held in Africa in 2010.

Golf

Tiger Woods, who won five tournaments last year, including two majors, was selected the 2002 PGA Tour player of the year for the fourth consecutive season.

The award is decided by a vote of the players.

Jonathan Byrd was voted rookie of the year and Gene Sauers was the comeback player of the year for picking up his first victory in more than 13 years.

Hale Irwin was voted Senior PGA Tour player of the year and Patrick Moore was the Buy.com Tour player of the year.

Miscellany

Janne Ahonen of Finland won ski jumping’s Four Hills Tour with a fourth-place finish in the final leg at Bischofshofen, Austria.

Defending champion Sven Hannawald of Germany was second overall and Adam Malysz of Poland was third.

Andreea Raducan, 19, who was stripped of her Sydney Olympics all-around gold medal for taking an over-the-counter cold medicine that contained a banned substance, is retiring from gymnastics to pursue a career in TV and business opportunities.