AROUND THE NBA

Federal prosecutors at Kansas City, Mo., intend to ask the Orlando Magic’s Corey Maggette to testify on whether he took $2,000 from a summer-league basketball coach while still in high school.

If the court finds that Maggette took the money, the NCAA could strip Duke of its second-place finish in the 1999 tournament and demand the school repay $226,815 in tournament revenue.

Prosecutors said they would call Maggette, who has denied taking the money from Myron Piggie.

Piggie pleaded guilty in May to a conspiracy charge for paying five players to participate on his summer-league teams while they were in high school.

Among the players were JaRon Rush of UCLA and his brother, Kareem, of Missouri. Other players involved were Korleone Young, who made himself eligible for the NBA draft without playing in college, and Andre Williams of Oklahoma State.

Assistant U.S. Atty. William Meiners said a hearing on Maggette’s 1999 collegiate eligibility is needed because it would establish that NCAA rules were violated.

“Indeed, at this time Duke University has been unable to verify that Maggette was ineligible to participate in the 1999 NCAA tournament,” Meiners wrote in a motion. “This stalemate will be rectified by the introduction of evidence concerning Maggette’s eligibility at the hearing.”

The hearing has not been scheduled. An NCAA spokeswoman said a hearing is welcomed.

“In this particular case, with the hearing that will be scheduled, it will remove any doubt,” spokeswoman Jane Jankowski said. “The NCAA tries to reach agreements with its member schools that a violation has taken place, but that has not happened here.”

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Will Perdue, who won four NBA championships in Chicago and San Antonio, was cut by the Bulls.

The team issued a nine-word statement, adding there would be no news conference for the 7-foot center, the last remaining player from the team’s first three championship seasons.

Guard B.J. Armstrong, another member of the 1991, ’92 and ’93 champions who returned to the team last season, retired in April.

The Bulls didn’t exercise a $4.8-million option for 2000-01 on Perdue. He signed a one-year, $5.2-million free-agent contract last August.

The only remaining Bulls from the last three championship teams are Randy Brown and Dickey Simpkins.

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Missouri’s Keyon Dooling will skip his final two years of eligibility and make himself available for the NBA draft.

In April, Dooling said he intended to try the draft. Tuesday was the deadline to withdraw his name. The draft is June 28 in Minneapolis.

“I’m very thankful for the time I spent at Missouri,” Dooling said. “I’ll miss my teammates.”