Former MVP Jackson re-signs with Storm
Former WNBA MVP Lauren Jackson re-signed with the Seattle Storm to a multiyear contract.
Jackson has been an all-star four times and is averaging 18.4 points and 7.8 rebounds for her career. Last season, she finished second in the league in scoring (17.6) and rebounding (9.2), but Seattle was upset in the first round of the playoffs by Houston.
•Joe Bryant, father of Lakers star Kobe Bryant, was hired as head coach of the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks.
The elder Bryant joined the Sparks as an assistant coach under Henry Bibby last season.
•Connecticut sophomore Rudy Gay, the leading scorer for the Huskies, will forgo his final two years of eligibility and enter the NBA draft.
•LSU freshman forward Tyrus Thomas declared for the NBA draft, while sophomore teammate and Southeastern Conference player of the year Glen Davis said he is coming back to the Tigers.
•Montana State named former Eastern Washington assistant Ryan Orton and former University of Idaho player Shawn Dirden assistant coaches.
Football
49ers hire Heneghan
The San Francisco 49ers finally added an experienced football executive to their front office, hiring Lal Heneghan as their executive vice president of football operations.
Heneghan, a lawyer who played tight end at Penn, was the Cleveland Browns’ VP of football operations and chief contract negotiator from 1998 until 2004, when he left the losing club in a front-office shake-up. He had been a private consultant since then.
•The Tennessee Titans deny they breached their contract with Steve McNair by not allowing the quarterback to work out on their property, a union spokesman said.
The team counsel had declined to discuss the Titans’ answer for why they told McNair on April 3 that they don’t want him working out on their property.
Auto Racing
Smith dies at 89
Louise Smith, the first woman inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1999, has died. She was 89.
Smith, remembered as “the first lady of racing,” was on the NASCAR circuit from 1945-56. Known for her fearless style, she won 38 modified events.
Smith died Saturday, and the family was to receive friends and hold funeral services Monday, according to the Westville Funeral Home in Greenville, S.C. Smith had battled cancer and been in hospice care, one of her nieces, Dora E. Owens, told the Greenville News.
Soccer
Galaxy hire Lalas
Alexi Lalas became president and general manager of the Los Angeles Galaxy.
Lalas, one of America’s highest-profile soccer players, stepped down from a similar position with the New York Red Bulls. Lalas replaces Galaxy president Doug Hamilton, who died of a heart attack March 9.