Guthridge to Step Down as Coach at North Carolina

Bill Guthridge, who led North Carolina to two Final Four appearances in his three seasons as coach of the Tar Heels, will announce his retirement at a news conference today, the Associated Press reported.

A source close to the basketball program, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Thursday that Guthridge recently decided he did not have the energy to continue coaching.

Guthridge, 62, said only a few weeks ago that he planned to stay on five or six more years.

An assistant to Dean Smith for 30 seasons, Guthridge replaced his former boss, the winningest coach in college basketball history, when he retired in 1997 after 36 years as coach of the Tar Heels.

Heading into what would have been the fourth year of a five-year contract, he had compiled an 80-28 record, averaging more than 26 wins a season, but had not received a contract extension.

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Former University of Arizona All-America point guard Jason Terry took more than $11,000 and other benefits from agents after his junior year and as a senior, violating NCAA rules, school officials said. As a result, the university has forfeited its only 1999 NCAA basketball tournament game and will repay $45,362 to the NCAA, but will not have to forfeit its regular-season games for 1998-99. . . . Tulane Athletic Director Rick Dickson acknowledged that he had given Miami permission to talk to Green Wave Coach Perry Clark about its head coaching job. Miami Athletic Director Paul Dee said that he would like to replace Leonard Hamilton, who left to coach the NBA’s Washington Wizards, within the next week to 10 days before recruiting starts. Among the candidates are former Long Beach State and current South Florida Coach Seth Greenberg and Hall of Famer Rick Barry.

Hockey

Lou Lamoriello will keep running the New Jersey Devils after the sale of the Stanley Cup champions next month, a move that virtually ensures that Larry Robinson will return as coach.

Guy Charron has been hired as a Mighty Duck assistant coach. Charron spent seven seasons in the NHL, mostly as an assistant with the Calgary Flames and New York Islanders. He also was the Flames’ interim head coach for 16 games in the 1991-92 season. . . . The Kings re-signed free-agent left wing Craig Johnson to a multiyear contract. Johnson, 28, had nine goals and 14 assists in 76 games last season. . . . Maple Leaf left wing Wendel Clark retired, ending a 15-year career that brought him to Toronto for three different stints with the team. . . . Craig Billington agreed to terms on a three-year contract with the Washington Capitals. . . . Lyle Odelein, who would have become an unrestricted free agent, signed with Columbus. The defenseman was selected by the Blue Jackets in the expansion draft.

Miscellany

Dale Jarrett got a jump on his quest for a third consecutive victory at Daytona, winning the pole position for the Pepsi 400. The defending Winston Cup champion drove his red, white and blue Ford around the 2.5-mile trioval at Daytona International Speedway at 187.547 mph. By winning Saturday night, Jarrett would join Cale Yarborough as the only other driver to win three in a row at NASCAR’s most famous track. Yarborough completed the feat in July 1968.

Former NFL cornerback Craig Newsome was charged with using a false drug prescription to obtain a painkiller. Newsome, 28, who has been coaching the La Crosse River Rats of the Indoor Football League, was charged with one count of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud, a felony that carries a maximum six years in prison and a $30,000 fine upon conviction. He has been fired from his coaching job, River Rat General Manager Lee Snapp said.

Tobin Rote, the quarterback who guided the Detroit Lions to their last NFL championship in 1957 while filling in for injured Hall of Famer Bobby Layne, died Tuesday in Saginaw, Mich. Rote, who suffered a heart attack nearly two weeks after undergoing back surgery, was 72.

Goalkeeper Adin Brown of the Colorado Rapids, expected to start for the U.S. Olympic soccer team in Sydney, will have surgery today on his injured right knee. Brown is expected to sit out two to three weeks. . . . Klever Chala and former Galaxy forward Eduardo Hurtado scored to push Ecuador past Peru, 2-1, in a qualifying game for the 2002 World Cup at Quito, Ecuador. Argentina remained perfect in South American qualifying by beating Colombia, 3-1.

Jim Sterk, who helped Portland State’s football program move from Division II to Division I-AA, is the new athletic director at Washington State. . . . Dave Blank, a basketball coach turned administrator, has been hired as athletic director at Drake.

Karch Kiraly and Adam Johnson became Olympic-certified when they defeated Australia’s No. 2 team of Victor Anfilloff and Andrew Schacht, 15-4, in a qualifying match to reach the main draw for the Chicago Grand Slam, a stop on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour.

About 100 employees stopped work on the controversial Olympic beach volleyball venue in Sydney after high winds sent unsecured timber and metal flying around the work site.