Charges dismissed against Culpepper

Quarterback Daunte Culpepper was cleared Tuesday of misdemeanor charges stemming from a boat-party sex scandal.

A judge ruled there wasn’t probable cause to determine a crime was committed by Culpepper, one of four Minnesota Vikings accused of misdemeanor lewd conduct during the cruise last fall on a suburban lake. Culpepper was traded to the Miami Dolphins last month.

Culpepper issued a statement through the Dolphins saying he was “delighted” at the ruling.

“I was confident when the legal process began that the truth would come out, and I am glad that my innocence has been proven,” he said.

•The Tennessee Titans told Steve McNair they don’t want him working out in their building until his contract is reworked, the quarterback’s agent said.

•Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor will not accept a plea deal that could keep him out of prison in an assault case because it would require him to admit to a felony, his attorney said.

•The St. Louis Rams signed former Washington State University linebacker Raonall Smith and punter Matt Turk to one-year contracts.

•Former NFL quarterback Quincy Carter signed with the Montreal Alouettes of the CFL.

College men’s basketball

Montana St. hires Huse

Montana State hired Montana assistant Brad Huse as its men’s basketball coach, replacing longtime coach Mick Durham with one of his former assistants. Huse was an assistant at Montana State from 1994-96. The Bobcats won the Big Sky title in ‘96.

•Arkansas assistant Ronny Thompson was hired as Ball State’s basketball coach, the second son of Hall of Fame coach John Thompson to run a Division I team. His older brother, John Thompson III, is now the Georgetown coach.

•Guard Rajon Rondo is giving up his last two years at Kentucky to enter the NBA draft and will hire an agent, ending his college eligibility.

•Louisiana Tech forward Paul Millsap, the first player to lead the nation in rebounding three consecutive years, said he will forego his final year of eligibility to enter the NBA Draft.

•Former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden may be released from a hospital as early as today after suffering from diverticulitis, his daughter said.

Miscellany

Harker dies at 95

Albert Harker, the last surviving member of the 1934 U.S. World Cup team, has died, the U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame said. He was 95.

Harker, who died Monday at a nursing home in Camp Hill, Pa., was the oldest living member of the U.S. Hall of Fame.

•Former WBC junior middleweight boxing champion Eckhard Dagge, who bragged about his heavy drinking, died Tuesday.

Hamburg’s Leuchtfeuer Hospice, where he was being treated for cancer, said Dagge was 58.