USC’s Ellis is a unanimous All-American

USC defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis was a unanimous selection to the Associated Press All-American team announced Tuesday.

Arizona State kicker Thomas Weber, who played at Los Angeles Loyola High, and Arizona cornerback Antoine Cason, who played at Los Alamitos High, also were voted to the first team by a 12-member media panel.

Times writers do not participate in the voting.

Florida quarterback Tim Tebow, the Heisman Trophy winner, and Arkansas running back Darren McFadden, the Heisman runner-up, were part of a first-team backfield that also included Central Florida running back Kevin Smith.

USC tight end Fred Davis, offensive tackle Sam Baker and defensive end Lawrence Jackson were voted to the second team. Oregon safety Patrick Chung (Rancho Cucamonga High) also made the second team.

USC safety Taylor Mays, Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan (Santa Ana Mater Dei), California all-purpose player DeSean Jackson (Long Beach Poly) and Oregon defensive end Nick Reed (Mission Viejo) were voted to the third team.

Ellis, USC linebacker Keith Rivers and UCLA kickoff returner Matthew Slater were selected to SI.com’s All-American first team.

Ellis and California center Alex Mack, a junior from Santa Barbara, were announced as winners of the Pacific 10 Conference Morris Trophy, presented annually to the league’s top defensive and offensive lineman as voted by conference players.

Ellis also won the award last season and became the first player since Washington’s Lincoln Kennedy (1991-92) to earn the honor more than once.

-- Gary Klein

Louisiana State Coach Les Miles again denied that he is interested in filling Michigan’s head coaching vacancy.

Miles released a statement in response to a report in the Detroit Free Press that he had spoken last week with Michigan Athletic Director Bill Martin and school President Mary Sue Coleman.

Miles said his conversation with Michigan officials covered a wide range of topics and that he was “doing nothing more than helping them with their search for a football coach, just as any loyal alumnus might do.”

Paul Wulff, 40, was hired as coach at Washington State, becoming the first alumnus of the school in nearly 60 years to lead the Cougars.

Wulff led Eastern Washington the last eight seasons, where he was Big Sky Conference coach of the year in 2001, 2004 and 2005. He is the 31st Washington State coach and the first alum to hold the job since Phil Sarboe from 1945 to 1949.

Wulff, a former center for the Cougars, replaces Bill Doba, who stepped down last month after posting a 30-29 record in five seasons.

Vanderbilt Coach Bobby Johnson has withdrawn from consideration for the coaching vacancy at Duke and said he will remain with the Commodores.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Smith finalizes contract

with Minnesota

Minnesota Coach Tubby Smith finalized a contract that will pay him $1.75 million annually.

The seven-year contract -- the largest for a university employee -- was signed about nine months after the former Kentucky coach was hired to rebuild a Gophers program that lost a record 22 games last season.

BASEBALL

Japanese player, Cubs

agree to $48-million deal

Japanese outfielder Kosuke Fukudome, 30, and the Chicago Cubs have agreed on a $48-million, four-year preliminary deal that is subject to a physical, according to a person familiar with the negotiations who spoke on condition of anonymity. . . . Catcher Paul Lo Duca’s $5-million, one-year deal with the Washington Nationals became official after he passed a physical. . . . Pitcher Aaron Cook finalized a new contract with the Colorado Rockies that guarantees him an additional $30 million over three seasons. . . . Catcher Eric Munson and the Milwaukee Brewers agreed to a $525,000, one-year contract.

MISCELLANY

Company settles case

with attorneys general

In a settlement with the attorneys general of New York and Florida, a Florida-based student loan company has agreed to end its promotional arrangements with 63 universities and athletic departments nationwide.

Student Financial Services Inc. had been paying schools such as Georgetown, Kansas and Oregon for the right to use team logos in advertising its loans to students.

“The school mascot becomes a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo said. “You think you are dealing with your own university. It turns out you are dealing with a private loan company that might be trying to fleece you.”

The settlement also calls for the company to end its agreements with five sports marketing companies, including ESPN Regional Television Inc., and run announcements in school newspapers warning students to take care when shopping for loans.

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-- David Wharton

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Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions is reportedly interested in buying the Houston Dynamo, the two-time defending Major League Soccer Cup champion.

The Houston Chronicle reported this week that the Dynamo’s owner, AEG, is interested in selling the team. The MLS club is worth about $30 million, the paper said.

AEG also owns the Galaxy, the NHL’s Kings and operates Staples Center and Home Depot Center.

Golden Boy Promotions Chief Executive Richard Schaefer, AEG and Dynamo President Oliver Luck declined to comment.

An MLS spokesman said the league had not received an application for a change of ownership and it would be premature to comment.

-- Jaime Cardenas