Fast Break
Men’s basketball
Eastern to retire Stuckey’s number
Consider it the Senior Day he never received.
Former Eastern Washington University All-American and current Detroit Piston Rodney Stuckey will have his EWU jersey retired in ceremonies Jan. 11 at Reese Court in Cheney.
The event takes place in conjunction with Eastern’s Big Sky Conference game against Weber State that starts at 1:05 p.m. The Pistons play at Utah the night before, and don’t play again until Charlotte visits Detroit on Jan. 13.
Stuckey played his freshman and sophomore seasons at Eastern before becoming a first-round draft choice (15th overall) by the Pistons in the 2007 NBA Draft. He became Detroit’s full-time starter at point guard earlier this month.
Stuckey was an All-American at Eastern after averaging 24 points per game in each of his two seasons.
Golf
Daly suspended for six months
John Daly smashed one tee shot off the top of a beer can during a pro-am. At another tournament, he returned from a rain delay with Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden as his caddie. And his most memorable photo this year came in an orange jail suit, eyes half-closed.
Daly said Wednesday that such unwelcome publicity is why the PGA Tour suspended him for six months.
The two-time major champion confirmed his suspension to The Associated Press, calling this the low point of an 18-year career during which he has made as much news off the course as he has with his prodigious game.
“Is it fair that I got suspended?” he said. “It’s not fair in reality, but it’s probably fair in perception.”
PGA Tour spokesman Ty Votaw declined comment, even after seeing Daly’s remarks, citing the tour’s longtime policy of not discussing fines or suspensions.
He has not played on the PGA Tour since he missed the cut Oct. 17 in Las Vegas.
NBA
Barkley arrested on DUI suspicion
Charles Barkley was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol early Wednesday.
An officer with a task force that targets drunken driving saw the former NBA star run a stop sign about 1:30 a.m., Gilbert (Ariz.) police Lt. Eric Shuhandler said. Barkley was in Scottsdale’s Old Town area, a trendy spot near Phoenix.
“I am disappointed that I put myself in that situation,” Barkley said in a statement to The AP. “The Scottsdale police were fantastic. I will not comment any further as it is a legal matter.”
Barkley, 45, now an NBA television commentator, failed field sobriety tests after the officer smelled alcohol on him, and he was arrested. Barkley declined to submit to a breath test but was given a blood test. The results weren’t immediately available.