Rice Player Dies After Collapse

A Rice freshman football player died Monday at Houston, one day after collapsing during a light workout.

Dale Lloyd, a 19-year-old defensive back, collapsed on the field Sunday afternoon but was conscious when taken to a hospital by ambulance. He died Monday morning, school officials said.

“I just can’t describe the pain we’re feeling right now and the shock,” Rice Athletic Director Chris Del Conte said. “It will take a long time to digest. The coaches are crushed. This is a tough time for all of us.”

Del Conte said Lloyd collapsed while the team was doing some light running. Although he didn’t complain of anything specific, he told team trainers he didn’t feel right.

“No one knows what happened,” Del Conte said. “It’s a mystery.”

An autopsy was pending.

Coaches met with the team Monday afternoon to talk about Lloyd’s death.

“He was a tremendous student who happened to play football,” Del Conte said, fighting back tears. “His smile just lit up the room.”

Lloyd played in Rice’s season opener against Houston but didn’t play the last three games. The team planned to redshirt him.

Rice is scheduled to travel to face Army on Saturday. Del Conte said he hasn’t made a decision on the status of that game.

“The Rice Owl family has suffered a devastating loss,” Rice Coach Todd Graham said in a statement. “Dale was a tremendous person with the heart of a champion.”

Lloyd played football and baseball at Houston’s Lamar High, was selected to the Who’s Who Among American High School Students and volunteered with the Mayor’s Youth Council.

He is survived by his parents, Dale and Bridgette Lloyd, and two brothers.

Virginia Tech defensive end Chris Ellis and split end Josh Morgan have been suspended for violating team rules and will sit out against No. 24-ranked Georgia Tech on Saturday, Coach Frank Beamer said.

Michigan State officials said they are sending a video to the Big Ten Conference related to a call officials made during the Spartans’ 40-37 loss to No. 12 Notre Dame on Saturday.

Notre Dame Coach Charlie Weis said after the game that he was slapped during a sideline skirmish in the second quarter. Michigan State contends that no Spartan player hit Weis.

Officials at Michigan State, which received a penalty during the skirmish from the Big Ten officiating crew, said the tape was sent to the conference because the Spartans believe the situation was mismanaged.

Utah State (0-4) offensive coordinator Mike Santiago resigned, two days after the Aggies failed to score on offense for the fourth consecutive game.... Receiver Shawn Tucker of No. 23 Rutgers is out indefinitely after breaking an ankle against Howard on Saturday.... Conference USA suspended an unidentified instant replay official who overturned a fumble by Houston’s Jeron Harvey in the second quarter of the Cougars’ victory over Oklahoma State.

HOCKEY

Red Wings Appoint Yzerman Vice President

Steve Yzerman joined the Detroit front office, becoming the vice president of the Red Wings.

Yzerman, the former captain, helped guide Detroit to Stanley Cup victories in 1997, 1998 and 2002. He retired in July.

“After retiring as the longest-serving captain in NHL history and the on-ice leader of our franchise for 23 years, it is only fitting that he join our management team,” Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch said in a statement.

Pittsburgh Penguins rookie Evgeni Malkin will not need surgery on his dislocated left shoulder but still could be sidelined up to six weeks.

Malkin, expected to team with Sidney Crosby to give the Penguins one of the NHL’s top center combinations, was injured during his first exhibition game Wednesday. Malkin collided with teammate John LeClair behind the net.

The team did not set a timetable for Malkin’s return, saying only that he will continue to rehabilitate. A common recovery time for an injury of Malkin’s nature is four to six weeks, though athletes have returned earlier from less severe separations.

TENNIS

Hantuchova Advances

to Second Round

Former top-five player Daniela Hantuchova defeated Tatiana Golovin, 7-6 (1), 6-3, to open the Fortis Championships at Luxembourg. Doubles specialist Samantha Stosur defeated wild-card Anne Kremer, 6-1, 6-4, and will next play top-seeded Elena Dementieva.

Albert Montanes advanced to the second round of the Palermo International in Sicily, when Luis Horna retired because of a right shoulder injury.

Second-seeded Mario Ancic defeated Igor Kunitsyn, 6-3, 6-2, at the ATP Tour’s inaugural Mumbai Open at Mumbai, India. Bjorn Phau routed wild-card Karan Rastogi, 6-0, 6-3.

Catalina Castano cruised into the second round of the Korea Open with a 6-3, 6-2 win over teenager Sanja Ancic at Seoul.

PRO BASKETBALL

Lakers Sign Free-Agent Guard Devin Green

The Lakers have signed free-agent guard Devin Green, it was announced. Terms of the agreement were not released. Green, who played limited minutes in 27 games as a rookie with the Lakers last season, was originally signed as a free agent by the Lakers in September 2005.

Awvee Storey, who played for the Washington Wizards last season, will not face charges of refusing to obey a police order during an incident in Miami Beach during Memorial Day Weekend.

The 29-year-old forward, who is a free agent, had been blocking traffic when an officer told him to get back to the sidewalk, but he did not obey the officer and was arrested, the police report said.

MISCELLANY

Fragment Removed From Duquesne Player

Doctors in Pittsburgh removed a bullet fragment from the head of Sam Ashaolu, the most seriously injured of five Duquesne basketball players shot on campus.

The fragment, initially believed to be an intact slug, was removed from behind his left ear, Duquesne officials said. The player’s medical team now believes Ashaolu has three bullet fragments remaining in his head.

It’s too early in Ashaolu’s rehabilitation to tell whether he will move normally or play basketball again, but his improvement has been rapid and dramatic.

The agent for jockey Patrick Valenzuela said he expects a decision from the California Horse Racing Board today on whether Valenzuela may return to the saddle Thursday after providing additional documentation about his recent absence.

The shattered right leg of top Uruguayan soccer player Dario Silva was amputated after he was thrown from his car in a highway accident, hospital officials said.

The 33-year-old forward, a member of the national team, was driving along a Montevideo road early Sunday when his car struck a light post on a center divider.

He hurtled through a side window and his right leg was badly broken.

Olympian Bruce Jenner, Dodgers Vice Chairman Jamie McCourt and Major League Soccer founder Alan Rothenberg will be among sports marketing executives appearing at a USC Marshall School of Business Alumni Assn. panel discussion at 6 p.m. on Wednesday at the Town & Gown Conference Center at USC. Admission is $60 at the door.

Kevin Kiernan, who guided Fullerton Troy High to three state girls’ basketball championships in the last four years, has been hired as women’s basketball coach at Cal Poly Pomona. Kiernan replaces Paul Thomas, who was hired by St. Mary’s in August.

Freestyle skier Joe Pack, a silver medalist in the 2002 Olympics, and Travis Cabral, a 2003 world champion, announced their retirements.

The U.S. men’s Greco-Roman wrestling team dominated the opening day of the world championships at Beijing, winning three medals. Joe Warren, competing at 132 pounds, rallied to defeat Georgia’s David Bedinadze, 1-1, 4-1, 2-1, in the gold-medal match. U.S. teammates Lindsey Durlacher and Harry Lester each earned bronze.