Texas Tech basketball coach was reprimanded

Texas Tech on Wednesday disclosed that it had reprimanded men’s basketball Coach Billy Gillispie this year after learning he was exceeding NCAA practice-time limits.

Red Raiders Athletic Director Kirby Hocutt said the school reported the secondary violations to the NCAA and the governing body approved the penalty that Texas Tech had decided upon. The letter of reprimand came in January and included language that there would be “no tolerance for disregard of rules,” Hocutt told the Associated Press after speaking to members of the local media.

Hocutt added that no tolerance covered a “commitment to the spirit of all rules.”

The school is now investigating allegations that Gillispie mistreated players, Hocutt said.

Gillispie, 52, has been hospitalized since Friday and did not respond to a text message seeking comment Wednesday.

HOCKEY

NHL’s Daly questions players’ urgency

NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said Wednesday he’s not sure the players’ union has been treating the Sept. 15 expiration of the current collective bargaining agreement as an urgent deadline for reaching accord on a new deal and suggested the idea of losing part or all of training camp hasn’t given the union a sense of urgency.

The league and the NHL Players’ Assn. haven’t had formal talks since Friday and no additional negotiations are scheduled. Training camps are scheduled to open on Sept. 21.

“Maybe we’re at a point where we need to find a way to move the ball forward. We’re very close to Sept. 15, which we consider a very meaningful day. We hope it’s as meaningful to the players’ association. I don’t know that it is,” Daly told The Times.

“Our regular season doesn’t open until Oct. 11. Maybe a shortened training camp or the elimination of training camp is not as big a deal to them. A lockout of any length or cancellation of preseason games would have an impact on the business. Hopefully, they recognize that.”

Donald Fehr, the NHLPA’s executive director, disputed the perception that the union is not taking the Sept. 15 deadline seriously.

“The notion that players would not take Sept. 15 as a credible date upon which owners might choose to institute a lockout is just not credible,” he said by phone late Wednesday.

Daly and Fehr’s brother Steve, the NHLPA’s counsel and second-in-command during labor talks, were scheduled to have dinner together on Wednesday. The NHL has called a meeting of its Board of Governors for Sept. 13 in New York, where Commissioner Gary Bettman is expected to outline the status of the labor talks. Players are also scheduled to meet in New York next week.

—Helene Elliott

The Ottawa Senators signed center Zack Smith to a four-year extension worth $7.55 million.

The 24-year-old Smith is coming off a career-best season in which he had 14 goals and 26 points in 81 games. He also provided a bit of an edge in racking up penalty minutes. The deal announced Wednesday keeps Smith under contract through the 2016-17 season.

A third-round pick in 2008, Smith has played in 152 games with the Senators. Smith’s extension was completed less than a week after fellow center Kyle Turris signed a five-year extension with Ottawa worth $17.5 million.

The Carolina Hurricanes signed forward Patrick Dwyer to a two-year contract extension through the 2014-15 season.

MOTOR RACING

Two series plan to merge in 2014

Two leading sports-car racing series, Grand-Am Road Racing and the American Le Mans Series, said they plan to merge in 2014.

Both series hold races — some of them endurance events — featuring different classes of sports cars running simultaneously. Grand-Am is owned by NASCAR, and NASCAR executives Jim France and Lesa France Kennedy will be on a board of directors overseeing the newly merged series, whose name has yet to be determined.

—Jim Peltz

PARALYMPICS

Pistorius wins gold in 400-meter relay

Oscar Pistorius captured his first gold medal of the London Paralympics, helping South Africa win the 400-meter relay in a world-record time at the Olympic Stadium.

The double amputee, known as “Blade Runner,” anchored the team home in a time of 41.78 seconds. South Africa set the previous record at 42.50.

Former Formula One driver Alex Zanardi took the Paralympic gold medal in paracycling — a hand cycle powered by the arms — at the Brands Hatch racetrack, posting a time of 24 minutes 50.22 seconds.

The victory capped an incredible journey for the 45-year-old Zanardi, who almost died in a horrific accident at a 2001 CART race in Germany.