Report: Jones’ Coach Was Source of Syringe

The former coach of three-time Olympic champion Marion Jones was the mystery man who gave anti-doping officials a used syringe filled with a new steroid, touching off the scandal now clouding preparations for the Athens Games, a newspaper reported Saturday.

In a story posted on its website, the San Jose Mercury News said that five sources identified Trevor Graham as the coach who submitted a vial of the steroid THG to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency in June 2003. The newspaper said the sources spoke on condition of anonymity.

Graham’s lawyer, Joseph Zeszotarski, did not respond to phone messages left Saturday night by Associated Press. In the past, he has said: “Trevor Graham has never distributed steroids or any illicit substance to anyone, and is in no way involved in any such matters.”

Graham has been questioned by federal agents as part of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative case, which has led to indictments against four men and doping allegations against several top athletes -- including Jones and baseball’s Barry Bonds, both of whom repeatedly have denied drug use.

Jones has not been formally charged by USADA but remains under investigation for possible drug use. She is entered in the U.S. Olympic track and field trials that begin Friday in Sacramento.

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Pro Basketball

New York Liberty Coach Richie Adubato was fired after leading the team to three Eastern Conference championships in 5 1/2 seasons.

Assistant Pat Coyle was appointed interim coach of the Liberty, which is 7-9 and tied for fifth place in the conference. The Liberty also fired assistant Jeff House.

Adubato, hired as coach of the Liberty in December 1998, had a record of 100-79 and led New York to conference titles in 1999, 2000 and 2002. The Liberty was defeated in the 1999 and 2000 finals by the Houston Comets, and by the Sparks in 2002.

Adubato was an NBA head coach with the Detroit Pistons, Dallas Mavericks and Orlando Magic.

Lauren Jackson had 32 points to lead the host Seattle Storm past the Sacramento Monarchs, 75-61, in a WNBA game in front of 7,467.... Katie Smith scored 27 points and the Minnesota Lynx defeated the Detroit Shock, 78-70, in front of 4,786 at Minneapolis.... Tamika Catchings had 19 points and 13 rebounds, and the Indiana Fever defeated the Phoenix Mercury, 61-60, in front of 8,917 at Indianapolis.... Dawn Staley and Allison Feaster each scored 16 points to help the Charlotte Sting defeat the host Houston Comets, 62-55, in front of 7,012.

The Toronto Raptors signed first-round draft choice Rafael Araujo, a 6-foot-11 center from Brazil who last season was the Mountain West Conference co-player of the year at Brigham Young.

The Boston Celtics signed draft picks Al Jefferson, Delonte West and Tony Allen.

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Hockey

The Philadelphia Flyers signed free-agent right wings Mike Knuble and Turner Stevenson to three-year contracts.

Knuble, 6-3 and 230 pounds, had 21 goals and 25 assists in 82 games last season for the Boston Bruins.

Stevenson, 6-3 and 220, had 14 goals and 13 assists and 76 penalty minutes in 61 games for the New Jersey Devils.

Boxing

Former World Boxing Assn. super-featherweight champion Joel Casamayor, a native of Cuba, won a unanimous decision over Daniel Seda of Puerto Rico in a 10-round lightweight bout at Miami.

Casamayor (31-2) floored Seda with a left and combinations to the head in the fifth round. But Seda (20-1-1) survived the knockdown and later in the fifth knocked down Casamayor.

In the undercard, Eliseo Castillo unanimously outpointed two-time heavyweight champion Michael Moorer.

Castillo (18-0-1) frustrated the slower Moorer (46-4-1) in the 10-round bout. Moorer had a 251-215 weight advantage.

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Miscellany

South Carolina signed men’s basketball Coach Dave Odom to a two-year contract extension. Odom was the 2003-04 Southeastern Conference coach of the year.

Olympian Clint Jones set a hill record to win the Summer Ski Jump at Lake Placid, N.Y., for the second year in a row.

Jones, of Steamboat Springs, Colo., took advantage of strong winds and soared 104 meters, beating the previous mark of 101.5 meters by Alex Glueck. Jones won the event with 236.5 points.

Five U.S. crews, including two from Harvard, reached today’s finals of the Henley Royal Regatta in England.

In the Grand Challenge Cup for international eights, Harvard’s top varsity boat -- undefeated in college racing this year -- held off England’s Cambridge University. Harvard won by one-third of a length and is facing a Dutch Olympic team in the final.

A 20th anniversary dinner commemorating the 1984 Olympics, featuring Peter Ueberroth, Janet Evans, Edwin Moses, Evander Holyfield, Mark Spitz and Olympic filmmaker Bud Greenspan, will be held Monday night in the Long Beach Convention Center. Details: (213) 365-7965.