Colleges may eliminate the airborne timeout
The rule allowing a player to call timeout while airborne or falling out of bounds might be eliminated for both men’s and women’s college teams this season.
The Basketball Rules Committees agreed that a change needs to be made and a proposal will be sent to the Playing Rules Oversight Panel for final approval on May 30.
Larry Keating, men’s basketball rules committee chairman, said Friday that the timeout proposal stemmed from concerns about the difficulty officials have determining whether timeouts were called, the potential for injury and the unfair advantage it creates when players use timeouts to avoid turnovers.
Another proposal could force Division II and Division III schools to add clocks with tenth-of-a second displays and mounted shot clocks above the backboards by 2010.
The men will experiment with eliminating the first lane station on either side of the basket this season, aligning it with the women’s game. The women will experiment with a 20-foot-6 3-point line and a 10-second backcourt rule.
•Oklahoma State men’s basketball coach Eddie Sutton pleaded no contest to drunken driving charges stemming from an accident in which his SUV swerved, collided with another vehicle and then hit a tree.
Sutton was charged with misdemeanor aggravated drunken driving, speeding and driving on the wrong side of the road after the Feb. 10 crash.
Prosecutors recommended a one-year deferred sentence for Sutton and asked he be required to pay a $500 fine plus about $900 in other fees, including court costs. Sutton already has completed an alcohol treatment program that also was part of the deal, a prosecutor said.
•A federal grand jury added two charges to the two already facing former NBA and Virginia star Ralph Sampson.
A superseding indictment, dated Wednesday, charges Sampson with mail fraud and making a false statement. A trial scheduled for May 16 on previous charges of perjury and making a false claim will instead be an arraignment on the new counts.
Sampson, who lives near Atlanta, is accused of lying about his financial situation to a federal court in Georgia to obtain court-appointed counsel. Sampson made his first court appearance in Georgia after being charged with child-support violations in Virginia.
Hockey
Giants win opener
Gilbert Brule scored twice and Cody Franson, Tim Kraus and Paul Albers also scored to lead the host Vancouver Giants to a 5-1 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors in Game 1 of the Western Hockey League final in front of a raucous season-high crowd of 13,424 at Pacific Coliseum.
•Dustin Brown scored three power-play goals, leading the United States past Norway 3-1 in the opening game of the World Ice Hockey Championship in Riga, Latvia.
Football
Bills sign Clements
Nate Clements re-signed with the Bills, accepting the one-year, $7.2 million contract Buffalo offered the star cornerback after designating him the team’s franchise player in February.
•Former Denver Broncos tight end Clarence Kay was sentenced to six months in jail after pleading guilty to harassment in a domestic violence case. Kay was arrested last month by Edgewater, Colo. police.