Ogwumike No. 1 in WNBA draft
Stanford star Nnemkadi Ogwumike was selected with the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft by the Los Angeles Sparks on Monday.
Ogwumike helped guide the Cardinal to the Final Four during all four of her seasons at the school, including this year’s loss to eventual champion Baylor. The 6-2 forward averaged 22.5 points and 10.2 rebounds this season.
The Sparks finished with the fourth-worst record in the league at 15-19 but won the draft lottery in November. Los Angeles also had the top pick in 2008 and selected Tennessee star Candace Parker, who went on to win rookie of the year and MVP honors in her first season.
The WNBA season begins May 18, with training camps opening April 29.
House votes Gold Medal to Nicklaus
The U.S. House of Representatives voted to bestow the Congressional Gold Medal on golfing great Jack Nicklaus. He was cited for his golfing achievements, including a record 18 major championships, and his humanitarian work. Nicklaus heads the Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation and has raised more than $12 million to support pediatric health services. The Congressional Gold Medal is awarded to prominent military leaders, public servants, athletes and artists. It was last given in 2010 to Japanese-american World War II veterans. Rep. Joe Baca, D-calif., sponsored the bill. Nicklaus golfing contemporary Arnold Palmer received the award in 2009. The legislation next goes to the Senate for a vote.
Sentencing for Huguely is Aug. 30
Former University of Virginia lacrosse player George Huguely V is set to be sentenced Aug. 30 for the beating death of on-again, off-again girlfriend Yeardley Love, according to the clerk’s office in Charlottesville Circuit Court. Huguely was found guilty of second-degree murder in February for the slaying of Love in May 2010. She was a member of the Virginia women’s lacrosse team, and both were seniors weeks from graduation. Huguely faces up to 26 years on the second- degree murder conviction and a guilty finding on another count related to Love’s slaying. Huguely’s attorneys have asked for a hearing on a motion to have the case retried.
Texas seeks to revoke Leaf’s probation
The Texas prosecutor who brokered a plea deal with former NFL quarterback Ryan Leaf has filed a motion to revoke his probation and will press for prison time. Randall County district attorney
James Farren said his motion probably would be amended as he received details about Leaf’s latest legal problem. Leaf faces four felonies in Montana after being accused of breaking into a home to steal prescription painkillers, then robbing a second home after being released from jail. Leaf is likely to face the Montana charges first. He was given 10 years’ probation in Texas in 2010 after being accused of burglarizing a player’s home while he was a coach at West Texas A&M. An investigation found he obtained nearly 1,000 pain pills from pharmacies in an eight-month span.
Nadal worried about left knee
Rafael Nadal is fretting about his troublesome left knee as he attempts to win the Monte Carlo Masters tennis tournament for the eighth consecutive time and end a title drought stretching to last year’s French Open. Nadal has started practicing again after pulling out of his semifinal against Andy Murray in last month’s Sony Ericsson Open in Miami. After the withdrawal, Nadal had treatment for a knee tendon problem, having already skipped a chunk of the season to rest his knees after the Australian Open. The 10-time Grand Slam tournament champion begins play in Monaco with a second-round match Wednesday. Since 2005, Nadal has won at Monte Carlo and Roland Garros every year except 2009. -In Monday’s matches: Seeded players Fer
nando Verdasco, Jurgen Melzer and Alexandr Dolgopolov advanced to the second round. No. 13 seed Verdasco rallied to beat Olivier Rochus 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 and will next play Ivan Dodig. Verdasco dropped serve twice in the first set but didn’t face another break point. No. 15 seed Melzer and Dolgopolov, seeded 16th, had much easier matches. Dolgopolov took 58 minutes to defeat Juan
Igancio Chela 6-2, 6-2, breaking serve twice in each set to set up a match against Bernard Tomic. Melzer downed Lukasz Kubot 6-2, 7-5. He will play Julien Benneteau, who topped Marcel Granollers 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.
USOC says IOC revenue sharing on track
The head of the U.S. Olympic Committee says he is hopeful a deal can be struck in the longrunning talks with the IOC on revenue sharing, an issue that has strained ties between the organizations. USOC Chief Executive Officer Scott Blackmun said Monday that the issue was complex and wouldn’t be resolved overnight. Even so, he hopes an agreement is near. The talks center on renegotiating a deal in which the USOC receives 20% of the International Olympic Committee’s global sponsorship revenue and almost 13% of its U.S. broadcast rights fees. The IOC thinks the USA receives too much in the arrangement.
Vick calls cockfighting law ‘weakest’
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick urged Alabama lawmakers to increase penalties for cockfighting. Vick said Monday that the state’s cockfighting law was the nation’s “weakest” because the $50 fine was the maximum punishment. Vick has been outspoken against animal cruelty since he served 18 months in federal prison on a dogfighting conviction. Vick says he doesn’t want others to make the same mistake of being cruel to animals. Sen. Cam Ward introduced a bill that would upgrade the state’s penalty for illegal cockfighting to a class A misdemean- or with a maximum fine of $6,000.
-New York Giants quarterback and two-time Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning will be the host for Saturday Night Live on May 5. Eli won’t be the first Manning to host the show. His brother, Peyton, did it in 2007. Eli Manning has no stage experience, noting he was never even in a school play.
U.S. men’s fencing team wins epee gold
The U.S. men’s epee team won its first gold in the world championships Saturday in Kiev, Ukraine. The USA beat France 44-37 in the final match. Team members included Seth Kelsey, Soren Thompson, Ben Bratton and Cody Mattern.
Briefly . . .
The Portland Timbers of Major League Soccer acquired Colombian forward Sebastian Rincon on loan from Uruguay’s first-division Club Atletico Atenas. Rincon, 18, has been training with the Timbers since February. . . . Former University of Florida basketball player Dwayne Schintzius died Sunday in Tampa from respiratory failure. He was 43. He played for the Gators from 1986 to 1990, finishing with 1,624 career points, and is the only player in Southeastern Conference history with at least 1,000 points, 800 rebounds, 250 assists and 250 blocked shots. A first-round draft pick by the San Antonio Spurs in 1990, he spent nine seasons in the NBA. ... Ron Plaza, a minor league roving instructor for the Oakland Athletics who spent more than six decades in pro ball, died in St. Petersburg, Fla. He was 77.