Brand Reportedly to Enter NBA Draft

Elton Brand, the consensus national college basketball player of the year, will announce Wednesday that he will forgo his final two seasons at Duke and enter the NBA draft, a source close to the player told the Associated Press.

The 6-foot-8, 270-pound sophomore center will become the first Duke player to leave school early to play in the NBA.

The student newspaper at Duke, the Chronicle, also reported that fellow sophomore William Avery, a point guard, had decided to declare for the draft. Another source said freshman Corey Maggette remains undecided.

Fresno State’s Courtney Alexander said he will return to school and play his senior season. . . . George Washington guard Shawnta Rogers has been selected to receive the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award as the nation’s best college player under 6 feet.

Track and Field

Track star Mary Slaney, former world 1,500- and 3,000-meters champion, sued the International Amateur Athletic Federation and U.S. Olympic Committee, seeking to halt an arbitration hearing against her and to end the use of a testosterone ratio as proof of doping by female athletes.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis, also accuses the IAAF and USOC of negligence and fraud in the handling of her 1996 doping case and seeks unspecified damages.

Both organizations “knowingly made material misrepresentations” against Slaney, the suit charges.

It also accuses the USOC of failing to ensure that Slaney’s 1996 urine sample was properly stored.

In addition, the lawsuit says the USOC’s duty to protect Slaney was breached when it used a testosterone-to-epitestosterone ratio “as proxy for doping in women” and in the manner it analyzed, investigated and supervised the investigation of Slaney’s sample.

The suit was filed less than two weeks before the IAAF is scheduled to resume an arbitration hearing in Monte Carlo on an elevated testosterone-to-epitestosterone ratio found in a urine sample provided by Slaney at the 1996 U.S. Olympic trials in Atlanta.

Pro Football

Owner Peter Angelos of the Baltimore Orioles is considering making a bid of at least $625 million for the Washington Redskins, the Washington Post reported.

The NFL has put off a decision on the sale of the Redskins since team owners were unwilling to support a winning bid selected by the estate of late Redskins’ owner Jack Kent Cooke.

Howard Milstein withdrew his group’s $800-million bid last week when it became clear he would not receive the necessary 24 votes from 31 NFL teams.

The Carolina Panthers signed Dallas Cowboy restricted free-agent wide receiver Patrick Jeffers to an offer sheet. . . . The Denver Broncos signed defensive end Carl Reeves, an unrestricted free agent from Chicago. . . . The Detroit Lions signed unrestricted free-agent offensive tackle Barrett Brooks, formerly of the Philadelphia Eagles, to a two-year deal. . . . The Eagles said they have agreed to terms on a three-year contract with tight end Jamie Asher. . . . The Indianapolis Colts released wide receiver Aaron Bailey and running back Lamont Warren.

Tennis

Top-ranked Pete Sampras opened his clay-court season by teaming with Britain’s Tim Henman for a doubles victory in the Open Seat Godo at Barcelona, Spain.

Spain’s Alberto Berasategui, the runner-up last year, advanced to the second round of men’s singles, beating France’s Arnaud Di Pasquale, 6-3, 6-2. Sampras plays his first singles match Wednesday.

No. 2-seeded Amy Frazier overwhelmed Haruka Inoue of Japan, 6-0, 6-3, on a windy day with intermittent rain in the opening round of the Japan Open at Tokyo.

Jolene Watanabe eliminated No. 5 Kristina Brandi, 6-4, 6-2, and No. 4 Kimberly Po beat Japan’s Miho Saeki, 7-5, 6-4.

Women’s Basketball

Indications are that the WNBA and its players’ union are close to agreement on two issues threatening the start of the league’s season June 10. At issue is by how much to increase the WNBA minimum salary and the number of former ABL players the WNBA can absorb this season.

Also, league officials were telling agents that the WNBA’s pre-draft camp Thursday through Saturday in Chicago, threatened by stalled talks, is on.

Names in the News

Maury White, a national award-winning sports columnist for the Des Moines Register whose folksy-style made him a favorite with readers for a quarter century, died Sunday. White, 80, had a stroke on Friday.