Rucker Is Charged With Battery

Former USC defensive end Frostee Rucker has been charged with two misdemeanor counts of spousal battery and two counts of vandalism, a spokesman for the Los Angeles City Attorney’s office said Wednesday.

Rucker, who was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals in the third round of the NFL draft in April, was charged on Tuesday, said Frank Mateljan, a spokesman for the city attorney’s office. Mateljan said Rucker’s former girlfriend filed the complaint a few months after an incident that allegedly occurred at a party last August.

Mateljan said the woman suffered minor injuries during the incident, and that her cellphone and Blackberry were damaged.

If convicted, Rucker, 22, faces up to one year in jail for each of the battery charges and six months for each of the vandalism charges, Mateljan said.

The city attorney’s office said it sent Rucker a letter informing him of a July 13 arraignment in Los Angeles Superior Court.

Rucker could not be reached for comment. USC Coach Pete Carroll said, “It would be inappropriate to comment at this time because I don’t have enough information.”

Rucker transferred to USC from Colorado State in fall 2002. In April of that year, he was charged in Colorado with sexual assault and indecent exposure. He eventually accepted a one-year deferred sentence on a misdemeanor harassment charge.

-- Gary Klein and Sam Farmer

Former UCLA running back Tyler Ebell pleaded not guilty to an assault charge stemming from an alleged attack on a man at a restaurant in April.

TENNIS

Federer and Nadal Get Top Seedings

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are seeded Nos. 1 and 2 for Wimbledon, which took past performances on grass into account to determine its seedings. The formula still left Nadal ahead of Andy Roddick, seeded third despite finishing runner-up to Federer the last two years.

Australian Open champion Amelie Mauresmo, U.S. Open winner Kim Clijsters and French Open champion Justine Henin-Hardenne are seeded 1-2-3.

Mario Ancic beat wild-card Raemon Sluiter, 6-7 (7), 7-5, 6-2, to reach the quarterfinals of the grass-court Ordina Open in Den Bosch, Netherlands. Second-seeded Tommy Robredo was upset, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4, by Florent Serra.

Top-seeded Mauresmo lost, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, to Nathalie Dechy in the Hastings Direct grass-court event in Eastbourne, England.

BOXING

De La Hoya: I’m Not Ready to Retire

As expected, Oscar De La Hoya announced that he was canceling what had been a tentative plan to fight Floyd Mayweather on Sept. 16. However, De La Hoya said he is not yet ready to retire.

He said in a conference call from Puerto Rico that he is leaning toward a final match against Mayweather in May 2007.

De La Hoya said he couldn’t enjoy his victory over Ricardo Mayorga last month “because I had to think about the deadline” to commit to a September fight.

De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions will use the Sept. 16 date to stage a rematch between super featherweights Marco Antonio Barrera and Rocky Juarez.

-- Steve Springer

Laila Ali will fight Aug. 5 in Cape Town, South Africa, against an unidentified opponent. Ali is the women’s World Boxing Council champion.

COLLEGES

USC’s Cromwell to Have Surgery

USC freshman forward RouSean Cromwell is scheduled to undergo arthroscopic surgery next week to remove irritated scar tissue from his left knee. Junior center Abdoulaye N’diaye underwent surgery May 26 to remove a cyst from his right knee. Both players are expected to be ready for the start of practice in October.

-- Ben Bolch

As expected, Montana men’s basketball coach Larry Krystkowiak resigned to take an assistant coaching job with the Milwaukee Bucks of the NBA, and assistant Wayne Tinkle was named the new head coach of the Grizzlies.

Northwestern women’s soccer coach, Jenny Haigh, resigned after her team was recently reprimanded for hazing.

USC’s Virginia Powell, who won the Pacific 10 Conference titles in the 100-meter dash and 100-meter hurdles, was named the Pacific 10 Conference female track athlete of the year.

Ron Allice, USC’s track and field director, was named the conference’s men’s coach of the year.

The finalists for the Honda-Broderick Cup, given to the collegiate female athlete of the year are Seimone Augustus of Louisiana State (basketball); Mary DeScenza of Georgia (swimming); Ashley Miles of Alabama (gymnastics); Cat Osterman of Texas (softball) and Christine Sinclair of Portland (soccer).

MISCELLANY

NHL Approves Sale of Blues, Coyotes

The NHL board of governors approved the sale of the St. Louis Blues to a group headed by Dave Checketts, the former president of Madison Square Garden. The board also approved the sale of the Phoenix Coyotes by Steve Ellman to Jerry Moyes at its annual end-of-season meeting.

Coach Ed Hodgkiss will return for his sixth season with the Avengers of the Arena Football League after the team exercised an option in his contract for next year.

UCLA’s Hannah Jun shot a one-under-par 71 for a share of the lead in stroke-play qualifying for the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship at Pueblo, Colo.