North Carolina fires Butch Davis as football coach

North Carolina fired football Coach Butch Davis on Wednesday, saying the last year of turmoil amid an NCAA investigation into improper benefits and academic misconduct was doing too much damage to the school’s reputation.

The school issued a statement announcing Davis’ dismissal nine days before the start of preseason practice. Chancellor Holden Thorp said the decision was not prompted by any changes in the ongoing NCAA investigation but that he “lost confidence in our ability to come through this without harming the way people think of this institution.”

“Our academic integrity is paramount, and we must work diligently to protect it,” Thorp said in a statement. “The only way to move forward and put this behind us is to make a change.”

The school scheduled a news conference for Thursday in Chapel Hill to discuss the change.

Davis compiled a 28-23 record in four seasons with the Tar Heels after taking over for John Bunting. His program looked ready to contend for an Atlantic Coast Conference championship and a Bowl Championship Series berth last year before NCAA investigators arrived on campus in July.

In all, 14 players were held out of at least one game and seven sat out the entire season. Last month, the NCAA sent a notice of allegations to the school outlining numerous potential major violations.

UCLA cornerback Anthony Jefferson is scheduled to have minor back surgery Monday and is expected to be out four to eight weeks, according to a person familiar with the situation who is not authorized to talk about injuries.

Jefferson, a redshirt freshman, has suffered from back pain caused by a herniated disk. He will sit out for two weeks before beginning rehabilitation.

Freshman quarterback Brett Hundley had torn cartilage in his right knee repaired Wednesday and is expected to be out three to four weeks.

— Chris Foster

ETC.

MLS All-Stars lose to Manchester United

Wayne Rooney set up two goals with magnificent passes and Manchester United put on a show during its 4-0 victory over the MLS All-Stars at Harrison, N.J.

Anderson, Ji-Sung Park, Dimitar Berbatov and Danny Welbeck scored for the reigning English Premier League champions.

The Galaxy’s David Beckham, a star for Manchester United in his prime, had a great chance in the seventh minute, but his 25-yard drive slid wide of the goal. Beckham also curled a free kick around the wall in the 89th minute that just missed getting inside the goalpost.

A person with knowledge of the plans said NBA owners and players will resume talks toward a new collective bargaining agreement Monday, a month after the lockout started.

Though representatives from the sides have been talking and met on multiple occasions since July 1, this will be the first meeting to include Commissioner David Stern, union executive director Billy Hunter, owners and players, the person told the Associated Press.

In a move praised by coaches, the NCAA plans to use instant replay on an experimental basis to review certain calls at the College World Series next year. Reviewable plays would be limited to deciding if an apparent home run is fair or foul, whether a batted ball left the playing field for a home run or a ground-rule double, or whether there is fan interference on apparent home runs.

The NCAA Baseball Rules Committee proposed the rule, which must be approved by the Playing Rules Oversight Panel.

France’s Marion Bartoli reached her seventh quarterfinal of the year, beating Rebecca Marino of Canada, 6-4, 6-3, at the Bank of the West Classic in Palo Alto. In other matches, eighth-seeded Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia beat American Christina McHale, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3, and fifth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland topped Taiwan’s Kai-Chen Chang, 6-4, 3-6, 6-0.

Second-seeded Nadia Petrova of Russia defeated Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard, 6-2, 6-2, to advance to the quarterfinals of the WTA Citi Open at College Park, Md. Petrova will play fifth-seeded Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia in the quarterfinals. Jovanovski held on to beat American Jill Craybas, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4.

The USC men’s basketball team will play in the 2012 Maui Invitational. Other schools in the championship-round field at the Lahaina Civic Center are North Carolina, Butler, Illinois, Marquette, Mississippi State, Texas and Division II Chaminade, the host school.

Jalen Rose was sentenced to 20 days in jail for a drunken-driving crash in March near Detroit, despite a recommendation by the probation department that the ESPN analyst and former NBA player not serve jail time and the public support of several prominent figures, including Detroit’s mayor.

Heather Petri scored two goals as the U.S. women beat Canada, 8-4, at Shanghai and advanced to the fifth-place game at the world water polo championships. The Americans will play Australia, which beat the Netherlands, 12-7. China and Greece won semifinal matches and will play for the gold medal.