Majerus named coach at Saint Louis

April 28, 2007

COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Saint Louis hired Rick Majerus, 59, as coach yesterday, a move that signals the school's intentions of becoming a Top 50 national program. Majerus, an analyst for ESPN the last three years, has a career record of 422-147 with 15 postseason appearances at Marquette and Utah. "I missed it," he said . . . Four players -- Brandon Rush (Kansas), Bo McCalebb (New Orleans), JamesOn Curry (Oklahoma State), and Gabe Pruitt (USC) -- plan to enter the NBA draft but won't hire agents . . . Jeffrey Jordan, the son of Michael Jordan, plans to attend Illinois next year and play basketball as a walk-on.

PRO BASKETBALL

Former UMass center Marcus Camby of the Nuggets was voted NBA Defensive Player of the Year. Camby, 33, averaged a league-best 3.3 blocks to go with 11.2 points and 11.7 rebounds . . . Golden State forward Stephen Jackson was fined $50,000 for yelling at officials after he was ejected from Game 2 of the Warriors' first-round playoff series against Dallas . . . The Kings' Ron Artest won't face animal cruelty charges for allegedly failing to feed his dog . . . Deanna Jackson was suspended indefinitely by her WNBA team, the Chicago Sky, after being arrested on an assault charge for punching an opponent in a parking lot following a game in Jerusalem, where she's been playing.

HOCKEY

Bruins forwards Phil Kessel and Brandon Bochenski scored goals as the United States thumped Austria, 6-2, in a Group B preliminary of the world championships at Mytischi, Russia. In other games, the Czech Republic thumped Belarus, 8-2; Finland blanked Ukraine, 5-0; and Russia routed Denmark, 9-1 . . . Injured Red Wings forward Tomas Holmstrom (eye) and defenseman Brett Lebda (ankle) will miss their second straight game today in Detroit's second-round playoff series against the Sharks . . . San Jose signed Northeastern forward Mike Morris of Braintree, its first-round pick in 2002.

BASEBALL

Players' union head Donald Fehr doesn't plan to be at the ballpark if and when the Giants' Barry Bonds -- implicated in the BALCO steroid scandal -- sets the career home run record. "I won't follow him around, but I generally don't go to games during the season, so that's nothing new for me," Fehr said during a meeting with the Associated Press Sports Editors in New York . . . Mariners lefthander Arthur Rhodes will miss the rest of the season after deciding to have surgery on a torn ligament in his pitching elbow . . . The Cardinals demoted fill-in starter Randy Keisler to Triple A Memphis.

AUTO RACING

Summoned to a 6 a.m. meeting with top series officials in Talladega, Ala., two-time champion Tony Stewart retracted every bit of the sharp rant he launched against NASCAR. He also admitted he damaged the sport's credibility by likening it to professional wrestling in that it uses caution flags to control race outcomes. Stewart wasn't punished for Tuesday's comments but was fined $10,000 for missing a postrace press conference in Phoenix last week . . . David Hyder, one of two Michael Waltrip Racing employees suspended by NASCAR in a cheating scandal at Daytona in February, parted with the team.

MISCELLANY

Six Penn State football players, including stars Anthony Scirrotto and Justin King, turned themselves in to police to face felony trespass charges following an off-campus apartment fight . . . Rafael Nadal extended his unbeaten run on clay to 70 matches and advanced to the semifinals of the Open Seat Godo in Barcelona, Spain, by beating Potito Starace, 6-2, 7-5 . . . Most final flights of the Louis Vuitton Cup off Valencia, Spain, were postponed by erratic wind . . . Brookline and Xaverian finished sixth and seventh, respectively, in the boys' distance medley of the Penn Relays at Philadelphia. Lincoln-Sudbury's 4 x 800-meter girls' team placed eighth, and the Greater Boston Track Club was fourth in the Olympic development 4 x 100 . . . The Major League Lacrosse Boston Cannons acquired defenseman Stephen McElduff from the San Francisco Dragons for two draft picks . . . In Salt Lake City, Georgia won its third straight NCAA women's gymnastics crown.