College basketball: Former Tigers player, hijack hero, dies

Former Clemson basketball standout Clarke Bynum, who once helped thwart a plane hijacking, has died, the school said Tuesday. He was 47.

Bynum died Monday after a long battle with cancer, Clemson athletic spokesman Tim Bourret said. The 6-foot-7 Bynum averaged five points and two rebounds in four seasons with the Tigers from 1980-84.

However, Bynum may be better known for subduing a man who attacked a pilot in the cockpit of a British Airways jet in December 2000.

The passenger managed to grab the controls, sending the plane into two nosedives.

But Bynum and other passengers burst into the cockpit and restrained the man until the flight with 398 people on board could land.

Vandals, Huskies finish trips

The University of Idaho men’s basketball team concluded a successful three-game trip north of the border, winning all three of their games.

The Vandals defeated Douglas College 88-76, Fraser Valley College 74-71 and Malaspina College 87-57.

“Washington fell in its final game of their tour of Greece, finishing at 2-3. The Huskies lost to Daphni of the Greek Professional League 93-85.

Murder charge filed

Former Villanova star Howard Porter was trying to trade money and crack cocaine for sex with a prostitute when he was beaten to death, according to murder charges filed against Rashad Arthur Raleigh, 29, in St. Paul, Minn..

Porter, 58, died May 26, a week after he was found unconscious in a Minneapolis alley.

Porter was a standout at Villanova, leading the Wildcats to the 1971 NCAA championship game.

Notes

Boston College coach Al Skinner has agreed to a contract extension through the 2012-13 season. … Former Florida A&M coach Mike Gillespie pleaded no contest in Tallahassee, Fla., to charges of stalking a former girlfriend and was sentenced to a year of probation.