Yow will not coach again this season

Coach Kay Yow said in a statement released Tuesday by North Carolina State that she would not return to the women’s basketball team this season because of health issues related to her battle with cancer.

Yow, 66, was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1987. The Hall of Fame coach said she doesn’t have the energy to coach the way she always has and added she will revisit the decision no later than the end of the season. Her contract runs through the 2011-12 season.

“Stepping away from coaching is one of the hardest decisions I have had to make, but I have great confidence in the experienced staff I have been working with for such a long time and the character of everyone involved in the program to respond positively to my decision,” Yow said.

Associate head coach Stephanie Glance has led the program in Yow’s absence and will continue as interim coach. The Wolfpack is 8-7.

Yow ranks as one of the sport’s most successful coaches with 737 victories in 38 years. She coached the U.S. Olympic women’s team to the gold medal in 1988 and earned four Atlantic Coast Conference tournament championships, 20 NCAA tournament bids and an appearance in the 1998 Final Four during her 34 years at North Carolina State.

UCLA freshman guard Malcolm Lee completed 35 minutes of running and shooting drills in his first workout since suffering a left knee injury during practice late last month, a team spokesman said. Lee felt fine after the individual practice and was set to be evaluated today.

-- David Wharton

JURISPRUDENCE

Pitcher sues NCAA

Attorneys for Oklahoma State pitcher Andrew Oliver have filed a lawsuit in a northern Ohio court challenging the NCAA and its rules governing agents.

Oliver was ruled ineligible by the NCAA hours before he was to play in a tournament game last spring. The NCAA claimed Oliver’s advisors had listened in on contract negotiations after he was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in June 2006.

The NCAA prohibits players’ advisors from contacting professional teams.

Oliver’s attorneys argue that the NCAA shouldn’t restrict a player’s right to have legal help when negotiating a professional contract.

The NCAA has told Oliver he must sit out 70% of the Cowboys’ games this season, but he is hoping to be fully reinstated and receive an apology from the NCAA along with monetary damages.

BASEBALL

Romero, Mitre suspended

Philadelphia Phillies reliever J.C. Romero and New York Yankees pitcher Sergio Mitre have been suspended by Major League Baseball for the first 50 games of next season after testing positive for a banned substance.

Romero told ESPN.com he thinks the supplement he took during the season was legal because he bought it over the counter at a nutrition store in the United States. In November, an arbitrator ruled against Romero, who was 4-4 with a 2.75 earned-run average in 81 games last year.

Mitre signed with the Yankees in November and was assigned to their triple-A team at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He sat out the 2008 season and had elbow-ligament replacement surgery in July while with the Florida Marlins.

Free-agent first baseman Jason Giambi, 38, was close to completing a one-year deal to return to the Oakland Athletics nearly 14 years after making his debut with the club, two sources told the Associated Press. Giambi spent the last seven seasons with the Yankees, batting .247 with 32 home runs and 96 runs batted in last season. . . . Free-agent pitcher Carl Pavano, coming off four injury-plagued seasons with the Yankees, signed a one-year deal with the Cleveland Indians. . . . The Colorado Rockies acquired right-hander Jason Marquis, who was 11-9 with a 4.53 ERA last season for the Chicago Cubs, in exchange for reliever Luis Vizcaino, who was 1-2 with a 5.28 ERA in 43 appearances. . . . Chan Ho Park and the Phillies finalized a one-year, $2.5-million contract. Park, 35, was 4-4 with a 3.40 ERA in 54 appearances with the Dodgers last season. . . . Scott Proctor and the Florida Marlins finalized a one-year, $750,000 deal. Proctor was 2-0 with a 6.05 ERA for the Dodgers in 2008.

ETC.

Bode Miller is disqualified

American Bode Miller was disqualified for wearing boots that were one-hundredth of an inch too high at a World Cup slalom event in Zagreb, Croatia, won by Jean-Baptiste Grange of France. . . . David Beckham had a quiet debut for AC Milan, leaving after the first half before the club defeated Hamburg, 4-3, in a penalty shootout after a 1-1 tie at Dubai, United Arab Emirates. . . . Steve Roush resigned from the U.S. Olympic Committee, where he was chief of sport performance since 2003.