Briefly

Baylor’s men’s basketball team was banned from playing non-conference games for one season and placed on five years’ probation by the NCAA on Thursday for numerous rules violations found after a former player murdered a teammate in 2003.

Gene Marsh, chairman of the Division I Committee on Infractions and a professor of law at Alabama, said he believes it is the first time the NCAA has instituted a partial ban on regular-season games in basketball.

He said the committee seriously considered banning Baylor’s program for a season.

“As a repeat violator, they were subject to the death penalty,” Marsh said. “Their penalties and their approach saved their basketball season.”

“Syracuse ended Kentucky’s nine-year run as the leader in men’s basketball attendance.

The Orange averaged 22,978 a game in the Carrier Dome last season, beating Kentucky’s average attendance of 22,520. NCAA champion North Carolina was third at 20,522 according to figures released in this week’s NCAA News.

“Jim Yarbrough Jr. was hired as basketball coach at Southeastern Louisiana in Hammond, La.

Yarbrough, 41, was 97-42 in four seasons with Valdosta State and was the Gulf South Conference coach of the year in 2003-04.

Football

Dolphins safety arrested

Miami Dolphins safety Quintin Williams was arrested on DUI and drag racing charges in Davie, Fla., after he was stopped while driving 111 mph on an interstate with teammate and passenger Travares Tillman.

Williams was near the team’s practice facility in Davie, Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Bill Ferrell said. Troopers also pulled over a car that had been racing Williams. Troopers then approached Williams’ car and suspected he might have been drinking, Ferrell said.

After a roadside DUI test, Williams was taken to a Broward Sheriff’s Office facility where his blood-alcohol level was .087 percent, higher than Florida’s legal limit of .08 percent, Ferrell said.

Williams was charged with DUI, racing on a highway and unlawful speeding, Ferrell said.

“Tennessee Titans punter Craig Hentrich had emergency surgery to remove his appendix, which ruptured slightly, coach Jeff Fisher said.

Volleyball

May, Walsh remain unbeaten

Defending champions Misty May and Kerri Walsh maintained their perfect record after players staged a brief boycott at the Beach Volleyball World Championship at Berlin.

The 1-hour, 45-minute walkout – affecting a dozen matches – occurred while players negotiated with International Volleyball Federation president Ruben Acosta. After play resumed, May and Walsh beat hosts Stephanie Pohl and Okka Rau 21-19, 21-17 for their fourth straight win at the championship. The American pair has not lost an international match since July 2003, aside from two forfeits last year when May had an abdominal injury.

“Volleyball guru Charlie Saikley, who ran the prestigious Manhattan Beach Open for decades and was known as the “Godfather of Beach Volleyball,” has died of cancer. He was 69. Saikley died at his Manhattan Beach, Calif., home last Friday.

Soccer

Arena selects Gold Cup team

Landon Donovan, DaMarcus Beasley, Eddie Johnson and Kasey Keller headlined the 23-man roster picked by U.S. coach Bruce Arena for next month’s CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Midfielder Chris Armas, who has not played with the national team since last Aug. 18 because of injuries, is on the roster for the tournament, the championship of soccer’s North and Central American and Caribbean region.

Also picked were oft-injured midfielder John O’Brien, who has played just one game for the United States since the 2002 World Cup, and defender Tony Sanneh, who also has been sidelined by injuries.

Three players with no international experience were selected: Kansas City defender Jimmy Conrad, San Jose midfielder Brad Davis and New England goalkeeper Matt Reis.

“A 47-year-old transsexual was cleared to play in an Australian women’s soccer league after spending 25 years in men’s leagues. Martine Delaney, who used compete as Martin Delaney, received approval from Soccer Tasmania this week. She had a sex-change operation more than two years ago.

Track and field

Man dies after hit by shot put

A man struck in the head by a shot put during practice for the U.S. track and field championships on Wednesday has died in Carson, Calif.

The accident occurred about 4:15 p.m. at the Home Depot Center, where the national championships are scheduled through Sunday and where the 77-year-old Paul Suzuki was helping out.