Thomas named in harassment suit

Anucha Browne Sanders, one of the highest-ranking black female executives in professional sports, sued New York Knicks president Isiah Thomas and Madison Square Garden for sexual harassment. The lawsuit, filed yesterday in US District Court in New York, claims Thomas, a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, began harassing Browne Sanders soon after he joined the team in December 2003 and that the team fired her in retaliation for complaints about the matter. ''Contrary to Thomas's carefully cultivated public persona, he is capable of abhorrent behavior in private," Browne Sanders claims in the 18-page lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages and reinstatement as team senior vice president of marketing and business operations. Browne Sanders held that post since 2002 until her firing a few days ago, her suit says. Cablevision Systems Corp.-owned Madison Square Garden, which employs Thomas, conducted an investigation and determined that Browne Sanders's claims weren't supported, her suit says. She was then informed she was fired, the suit says. She sued MSG, which is based in New York, for retaliation for the firing. Thomas's legal team immediately branded Browne Sanders an opportunist -- charging her complaints followed a failed attempt to extort $6 million. In another accusation sure to draw major attention, Browne Sanders claims Thomas worked with concierges at hotels frequented by visiting teams to encourage out-of-town players to go to certain bars and strip clubs and get drunk the night before a day game.

College basketball
Coach 'responsible' for ineligible player

Maryland basketball coach Gary Williams accepted responsibility yesterday for allowing leading scorer Chris McCray to become academically ineligible, but expressed hope that the senior -- and the 18th-ranked Terrapins -- could cope with the adversity created by the ''one-time situation." The school announced Monday that McCray would miss the rest of the season for failing to adhere to NCAA academic standards. The suspension begins today, when Maryland (13-4) faces Georgia Tech on the road. ''This is the first time in 28 years as a head coach I've lost a player halfway through the season," Williams said. ''It's something that I personally take responsibility for. I feel bad about it." McCray was averaging 15.2 points per game during his second year as the Terrapins' cocaptain. Williams said his staff was aware that McCray was struggling in school, but couldn't do enough to keep him eligible . . . Memphis indefinitely suspended freshman center Kareem Cooper following his arrest on misdemeanor drug charges after police found marijuana in his truck during a traffic stop. Cooper was stopped early Monday morning in the Memphis suburb of Millington, Tenn. . . . Freshman center Benson Egemonye is transferring from Northeastern to Niagara . . . Freshman forward Micah Downs, a McDonald's high school All-American from Kirkland, Wash., is leaving Kansas for personal reasons . . . Sophomore forward Dexter Gray has withdrawn from St. John's for personal reasons and plans to transfer, coach Norm Roberts said . . . The SEC fined Tennessee $5,000 after fans rushed the court following the Volunteers' 80-76 upset win Saturday over then-No. 2 Florida.

Baseball
Small gets a big raise from Yankees

Yankees righthander Aaron Small, who made $149,180 last season, was rewarded with a $1.2 million, one-year contract after he went 10-0 with a 3.20 ERA following a midseason call-up . . . Yankees general manager Brian Cashman spent yesterday polling the club's scouts and decision makers as to whether to offer a contract to free agent Mike Piazza. People familiar with the situation indicated it's probably ''50-50" as to whether they will . . . Baltimore outfielder Jay Gibbons, only the third Oriole to hit 100 or more home runs in his first five major league seasons, agreed to a $21.1 million, four-year contract. Gibbons hit .277 with 26 homers and 79 RBIs in 139 games last season . . . The Mets signed former Red Sox righthander Jeremi Gonzalez to a minor league contract.

Miscellany
Eriksson set to leave after World Cup

Former England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, insisting he hasn't been fired with two years left on his $7.1 million-a-year contract, said he reached a ''private agreement" with the Football Association a year ago to leave after the 2006 World Cup. Eriksson will quit after his latest brush with a tabloid newspaper, this time having told a reporter posing as an Arab businessman he would resign if England won the World Cup and consider a move to Premiership team Aston Villa . . . Bode Miller was disqualified after straddling a gate during the first run of a World Cup slalom event, won by Finland's Kalle Palander in Schladming, Austria. American Ted Ligety, who had the leading time in the first run, and Olympic champion Jean-Pierre Vidal also were disqualified for running over a gate. Palander put together two near-perfect runs to win his first World Cup race of the season, finishing in a combined time of 1 minute 42.34 seconds . . . London Mayor Ken Livingstone said that Tour de France organizers had accepted a $2.68 million bid from the British capital to host the start of cycling's showcase race next year . . . Newark received a $100 million letter of credit from the New Jersey Devils, making certain the NHL team will begin play in a new downtown arena with the 2007-08 season . . . Nancy Vaskas, who led the WPI volleyball team to 342 victories over 26 years, announced her retirement . . . Tim Moriarty, a Hall of Fame hockey writer who covered the New York Islanders for Newsday during their championship run in the 1980s, died Monday. He was 82.