Newsmakers

Tabbed California coach Jeff Tedford said transfer Zach Maynard will be the team’s starting quarterback to open the 2011 season. Tedford made the announcement Saturday. Cal plays its season opener Sept. 3 at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park against Fresno State. Maynard sat out last year after transferring from Buffalo. He has two years of eligibility remaining.

Pleaded ESPN hockey analyst and former NHL player Matthew Barnaby pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from an argument with his estranged wife at an upstate New York home. Barnaby, 38, was arrested Friday and spent the night in jail after being picked up at a home in Getzville, a hamlet in Amherst where his wife and two children live, police said. He pleaded not guilty to five charges, including criminal mischief, criminal trespass and harassment, and was released on his own recognizance.

Filed China’s official news agency says Yao Ming has sued a sportswear maker for allegedly using his name and logo to sell its products. Xinhua News Agency reported that the injured Houston Rockets center had sued Wuhan Yunhe Sharks Sportswear Co. for putting his name and logo “Yao Ming Era” on its shoes. It said the lawsuit was filed in Wuhan, the capital of central Hubei province. Yao has a licensing agreement with Reebok.

Agreed Former Michigan basketball star Jalen Rose said Grant Hill agreed to help support the new charter school in Detroit bearing Rose’s name. The Jalen Rose Leadership Academy is expected to open in September. Rose says Hill has promised to lend his support and that things are fine between them after Hill criticized Rose in March for comments he made in an ESPN docu- mentary about Michigan’s famous Fab Five.

Undecided Defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom said he’ll decide by July 1 whether he’s returning to the Detroit Red Wings for a 20th season or if he’ll retire at the age of 41. Lidstrom’s teammates and coaches say they hope he comes back. The six-time Norris Trophy winner was in the team’s photo, two days after the San Jose Sharks eliminated Detroit in Game 7 of their Western Conference semifinal.

Granted Northern Iowa basketball coach Ben Jacobson has been granted permission to speak to Texas A&M about its coaching vacancy.