Three Tar Heels withdraw from draft

North Carolina's hopes of returning to the Final Four got a big boost yesterday. Underclassmen Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington, and Danny Green will withdraw their names from the NBA draft and return to school for next season. The school's announcement came less than an hour before the deadline for underclassmen who had not hired agents to withdraw from the draft. The Tar Heels now will return their top six players from a team that won 36 games and reached the Final Four. Other big-name players withdrawing were Texas guard A.J. Abrams; Arizona forward Chase Budinger; guard Jeremy Pargo of Gonzaga; UAB guard Robert Vaden; and Tennessee-Martin guard Lester Hudson. UCLA's Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, DeAndre Jordan of Texas A&M, Cal's Ryan Anderson, and Alabama's Richard Hendrix will enter the draft . . . The prognosis for Yao Ming's injured left foot is "very good," but it remains uncertain whether the Houston Rockets' center will be cleared to play for China in time for a pre-Olympics tournament, his agent said . . . Asijha Jones scored 15 points, Barbara Turner and Lindsay Whalen had 13 each, and the Connecticut Sun snapped Seattle's 10-game home winning streak with a 74-67 WNBA win over the Storm . . . Michelle Snow had a season-high 18 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Comets to an 88-79 win over the Atlanta Dream (0-10) in a WNBA game in Houston.

Oakland Raiders receiver Javon Walker was found unconscious on a Las Vegas street early yesterday morning, the apparent victim of a robbery. The police report of the incident said officers found an unconscious male, who was then transported to Sunrise Hospital with "significant injuries." A police spokesman said Walker was in fair condition at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center. A Raiders spokesman said the team was "in the process of gathering information" and had no further comment . . . Former Patriots linebacker Rosevelt Colvin signed with the Houston Texans, giving the team another pass rusher to pair with 2006 No. 1 draft pick Mario Williams. Colvin, 30, spent five years with the Patriots and was a member of two Super Bowl-winning teams, but he was released by New England in February . . . Falcons reserve safety Daren Stone, a sixth-round draft pick in 2007 out of the University of Maine, was arrested in Atlanta and charged with drunken driving.

Jemile Weeks hit his second home run of the College World Series, closer Carlos Gutierrez worked out of a bases-loaded situation in the ninth inning, and Miami held off Florida State, 7-5, in a Bracket 1 elimination game in Omaha. The Seminoles banged out 18 hits but left 17 runners on base to set a CWS record for a nine-inning game. Miami (53-10), the No. 1 national seed, plays Stanford tomorrow, with the winner advancing to play Georgia Friday. The Bulldogs (43-23-1) took control of Bracket 1 with a 4-3 win over the Cardinal (40-23-2). Matt Cerione's two-out, bases-loaded single drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning to lead Georgia.

The Nashville Predators signed defenseman Ryan Suter to a four-year, $14 million contract. Suter set career highs for assists (24), points (31), and penalty minutes (71) last season . . . Former Bruin Ray Getliffe, the hard-hitting forward credited with giving Canadiens teammate Maurice Richard the nickname "The Rocket," died Sunday in London, Ontario. He was 94. Getliffe played 10 seasons with the Bruins and Canadiens from 1935-45 (Obituary, C8) . . . University of New Hampshire forward James vanRiemsdyk, Boston College defenseman Nick Petrecki, and Boston University players Colby Cohen, Kevin Shattenkirk, and Colin Wilson were invited to the US National Junior Evaluation Camp in Lake Placid, N.Y. The camp will determine who plays on the US Junior National Team at the World Junior Championships next winter. David Warsofsky of Marshfield, Ryan Bourque of Boxford, Cam Fowler of Canton, and Jimmy Hayes of Dorchester also were invited.

Rocco Mediate yesterday withdrew from the 2008 Travelers Championship shortly after his sudden-death loss at the US Open to Tiger Woods, a tournament official said. The Travelers begins Thursday at the TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Conn. . . . Mary Chamberlain shot an 80 to take a one-shot lead over Nancy Murphy and Tara Joy Connelly after the first round at the WGAM Baker Trophy Tournament at Eastward Ho! in Chatham . . . Ivan Klasnic, the first kidney transplant recipient to play in soccer's European Championship, scored to give Croatia a 1-0 win against Poland in Klagenfurt, Austria, and clinch the top spot in Group B ahead of Germany and a trip to the quarterfinals . . . In Vienna, Germany captain Michael Ballack scored on a second-half free kick for a 1-0 win over Austria and a place in the quarterfinals . . . The New England Revolution will meet Trinidad's Joe Public FC in preliminary-round games of the CONCACAF Champions League, Aug. 26 in Trinidad and Sept. 2 at Foxborough . . . Joe Fatalo, vice president of operations at Suffolk Downs and a longtime track employee, died Sunday of melanoma at his home in Manchester-by-the-Sea. He was 66 . . . The University of Massachusetts and Penn State will join the Colonial Athletic Association in men's lacrosse, beginning in 2010. UMass will remain a member of the ECAC for 2009.