USC’s Marcus Johnson decides to turn pro

USC forward Marcus Johnson has decided to turn pro, Trojans basketball Coach Tim Floyd said Monday.

Johnson, a 6-foot-7 transfer from Connecticut, averaged 3.6 points in 16 games last season.

He is the fourth USC player to leave school early and turn pro since the season ended. Junior forward Taj Gibson, junior guard Daniel Hackett and freshman forward DeMar DeRozan have declared for the NBA draft.

The Trojans have also lost three recruits since the season ended, center Renardo Sidney, forward Noel Johnson and forward Solomon Hill.

“We have had a difficult three or four weeks,” Floyd told a group of USC fans at a booster event last week.

That included the recent accusation that Floyd gave an envelope containing at least $1,000 to an associate of former player O.J. Mayo. Floyd and USC officials have declined to comment on the accusation.

Marcus Johnson, who was a senior last season, had recently been granted another year of eligibility. He had played two games for Connecticut at the start of the 2007-08 season.

-- Chris Foster

Ryan Wright hit a go-ahead three-run home run and Tony Zych threw six solid innings to lift Louisville over Vanderbilt, 5-3, in the deciding game of an NCAA baseball regional at Louisville, Ky.

The top-seeded Cardinals (47-16) advanced to a super regional, where they will face Cal State Fullerton (45-14) this weekend at Fullerton.

Other teams to advance to super regionals were East Carolina, Clemson, Southern Mississippi, Mississippi and Rice.

Jenn Salling hit a two-run single that turned into a whole lot more as Washington routed top-seeded Florida, 8-0, in Game 1 of the Women’s College World Series softball finals at Oklahoma City.

Salling’s single brought in four runs when catcher Kristina Hilbreth tried to catch a runner at second. Her throw sailed into center field.

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GOLF

Mickelson plans return next week

Phil Mickelson plans a brief return to the PGA Tour in time to play in the U.S. Open.

The world’s No. 2 player suspended his schedule indefinitely upon announcing two weeks ago that his wife, Amy, has been diagnosed with breast cancer.

Mickelson intends to return next week at the St. Jude Championship in Memphis, Tenn., then play the following week in the U.S. Open at Bethpage Black in New York, according to a person informed of the plans. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because Mickelson had not announced his decision.

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SOCCER

Madrid, Chelsea get new coaches

Two of soccer’s most famous clubs, Real Madrid and Chelsea, signed new coaches, with Chile’s Manuel Pellegrini, 55, moving from Villarreal to take charge of Real Madrid and Italy’s Carlo Ancelotti, 49, switching from AC Milan to Chelsea.

Pellegrini, who won titles in Chile, Argentina and Ecuador before moving to Europe and turning Villarreal into a contender in Spain, takes over from Juande Ramos.

He will be working for Florentino Perez, who became Real Madrid’s president Monday and pledged to bring top-name stars to the club. The two being most prominently mentioned are Brazil’s Kaka from AC Milan and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United.

Among his first actions, Perez named World Cup winners Jorge Valdano of Argentina and Zinedine Zidane of France to key advisory positions at Real Madrid.

Ancelotti, who led AC Milan to two European Champions League titles and one Italian championship, takes over from Guus Hiddink. Ancelotti too will be seeking new players, with Chelsea captain John Terry on Monday saying that he would like to see Bayern Munich’s French international Franck Ribery and Spanish international David Villa join Chelsea.

Real Madrid will come to the U.S. this summer to play D.C. United of Major League Soccer on Aug. 9 at FedEx Field in Landover, Md., while Chelsea will be playing three games in the U.S., including a July 21 match against Inter Milan at the Rose Bowl.

-- Grahame L. Jones

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ETC.

Appeal is filed in Bonds case

Federal prosecutors in San Francisco are urging an appeals court to let them present evidence against Barry Bonds that a trial court judge tossed from his perjury trial.

Prosecutors asked the appeals court to let them present, among other things, test results purporting to show Bonds used steroids.

The government filed its plea with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Jacques Martin was hired as coach of the Montreal Canadiens, leaving his general manager’s job with the Florida Panthers for a storied NHL franchise that was swept in the first round of the playoffs.

He succeeds Montreal General Manager Bob Gainey behind the bench. Gainey took over after firing Guy Carbonneau on March 9.

Portland State offensive coordinator Mouse Davis is retiring after more than 50 years of coaching football.

The 76-year-old Davis is known for the run-and-shoot offense he developed at Portland State during his first stint with the Vikings in the late 1970s, and for his development of quarterbacks June Jones and Neil Lomax.