Off the wire

BASKETBALL Person pleads not guilty

A prosecutor said the government has 16 hours of telephone conversations by fired Auburn associate head basketball coach

Chuck Person to use against him at trial. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Boone in New York made the disclosure as Person pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges in a college basketball bribery scandal. Indictments were returned last week against eight people, including four coaches. Person declined to comment as he left the courtroom. The plea was a procedural step in a process leading to trial. Boone told Judge

Loretta Preska that the government captured conversations relevant to the case by tapping two of Person’s phones. Auburn said last week that Person was fired in mid-October. He had been suspended without pay following his September arrest.

WNBA’s Liberty for sale

The New York Liberty are for sale. One of the WNBA’s original franchises, the Liberty have been owned by James Dolan and Madison Square Garden since the league was founded in 1996 and started play the next year. This is the second WNBA franchise to be put up for sale in the past few months. San Antonio was bought by MGM Resorts International and the team was moved to Las Vegas. That franchise will begin play next season and is coached by Bill Laimbeer, who left the Liberty last month. New York promoted assistant coach

Katie Smith to the head job. While all of the eight original WNBA franchises were owned and affiliated with NBA teams, only three of the 12 teams now have NBA partners — Indiana, Phoenix and Minnesota. New York has reached the playoffs in 15 of its 21 seasons but has never won the title.

Beverly eligible

North Carolina State’s Braxton Beverly won’t have to sit out this season for attending class after all. The NCAA has cleared Beverly to play immediately after reconsidering an ineligibility ruling tied to summer courses the freshman took at Ohio State. The NCAA announced its decision Tuesday, less than two hours before the Wolfpack hosted Bryant. Beverly took two courses at Ohio State before Thad Matta’s firing in June led him to seek his release. That triggered the designation as an undergraduate transfer instead of an incoming freshman, requiring him to sit this season before having four years of eligibility starting in 2018-2019. The 6-foot guard from Hazard, Ky., is considered a three-star prospect who will provide three-point shooting and depth with first-year coach Kevin Keatts installing an up-tempo scheme and pressure defense this season.

FOOTBALL

Burlsworth finalists named Four finalists have been chosen for the Burlsworth Trophy, awarded to college football’s top player who began his career as a walk-on. Finalists for the 8th annual Burlsworth Trophy include Memphis wide receiver Anthony Miller, Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield, Washington State quarterback Luke Falk and Wisconsin tight end Troy Fumagalli. Mayfield received the award in 2015 and 2016. Finalists were chosen from 63 nominees. CEO Marty Burlsworth said the selection committee’s vote necessitated bringing in a fourth finalist this year for the first time. The winner will be announced Dec. 4. The Burlsworth Award is named after former Arkansas offensive lineman Brandon Burlsworth, a Harrison native who worked his way from walk-on to All-American before being drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in 1999. He was killed in a car accident 11 days later.

TENNIS

Federer advances

A day after the ATP Finals lost Rafael Nadal to injury, Roger Federer lifted spirits at London’s O2 Arena by extending his stay to the weekend. The 19-time Grand Slam champion guaranteed his place in Saturday’s semifinals by defeating Alexander Zverev 7-6 (6), 5-7, 6-1 on Tuesday. With Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray also absent due to injuries, the top-ranked Nadal’s withdrawal on Monday left Federer as the only member of men’s tennis’ “big-four” in the tournament. Zverev, who won his opening match against Marin Cilic, will face Jack Sock on Thursday to decide who will join Federer in the final four. Sock defeated Cilic 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (4) in the early match, with Federer’s victory eliminating the Croat.

SOCCER

Exec: Fox involved in bribes

Fox Sports partnered with a South American marketing firm to make millions of dollars in bribes to high-ranking soccer officials in exchange for lucrative broadcasting rights to major tournaments, the marketing company’s former CEO testified Tuesday at a U.S. corruption trial. Alejandro Burzaco, former CEO of the firm based in Argentina, testified that Fox and other broadcasters were involved in a scheme to pay bribes — concealed using offshore side entities and sham contracts — that secured rights for the Copa America and other events. As evidence of the scheme, prosecutors at the trial at a federal court in New York City produced a 2008 agreement for the partnership to pay $3.7 million to a holding company in Turks and Caicos that was an alleged conduit for the bribes. They say it was signed by a former Fox executive. Asked whom he kept informed about the bribe arrangements, Burzaco responded, “Fox Pan American Sports. Fox Sports.” Through the bribes, the network “gained leverage and rights to broadcast its signal to Argentina” and other parts of the world, he added. Last year, a Florida-based soccer network that repeatedly lost out on the television rights to tournaments that Fox Sports aired had made similar bribery allegations against Fox in a pending federal lawsuit. Fox Sports didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment on Tuesday’s testimony. The testimony came on the second day of the U.S. trial of three former South American soccer officials accused of taking bribes in a sprawling corruption investigation of FIFA, the sport’s governing body. Burzaco, who has pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy and other charges, has emerged as a key witness against Jose Maria Marin, Manuel Burga and Juan Angel Napout.

U.S. ties Portugal Weston McKennie scored in his U.S. debut in the 21st minute, goalkeeper Ethan Horvath allowed a seemingly harmless cross to drop between his arms and into the net for an equalizer and the Americans tied Portugal 1-1 Tuesday night in Leiria, Portugal, in their first match since failing to qualify for next year’s World Cup. The U.S. used eight starters 24 or younger in Dave Sarachan’s first match as interim coach, the start of a five-year rebuilding process ahead of the 2022 World Cup. Vitornio Antunes scored for Portugal in the 31st minute.

MOTOR SPORTS

Crew chief suspended Justin Allgaier will have a new crew chief in the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway this weekend. Veteran car chief Billy Wilburn will call the shots as Allgaier drives for his first career NASCAR title. Jason Burdett has been suspended for the final race because of an unattached brake cooling hose found during inspection after Phoenix. Allgaier is one of four drivers competing for the Xfinity title. He’ll race against JR Motorsports teammates William Byron and Elliott Sadler and Richard Childress Racing’s Daniel Hemric. Allgaier has two victories (Phoenix Raceway and Chicagoland Speedway), 10 top-5s and 17 top-10 finishes in 32 starts this season.