Newsmakers

Convicted Former Missouri running back Derrick Washington was convicted Wednesday of sexually assaulting a former tutor who said he attacked her in her sleep. The jury in Columbia, Mo., deliberated 2 1/2 hours after a two-day trial before delivering its verdict. Washington faces a possible seven-year prison sentence.

Cleared Oregon State says flanker James Rodgers has been cleared to play Saturday against UCLA. Rodgers is coming off two surgeries on his left knee. He was injured last October during a Beavers game at Arizona. Oregon State asked for and received a fifth year of eligibility for Rodgers.

Retired Hockey player Mike Modano announced that he is retiring after 21 seasons in the NHL, a career that includes a Stanley Cup championship along with 561 goals and 1,374 points – both of which are records for U.S.-born players.

• Former world No. 1 Thomas Muster will retire from full-time tennis following next month’s Erste Bank Open tournament in his native Austria. Muster, who turns 44 early next month, made his comeback to professional tennis in 2010 after 11 years away.

Filed Former 2 Live Crew frontman Luther Campbell says a former University of Miami booster “slandered and defamed” him in a Yahoo Sports article. In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, Campbell seeks more than $15,000 in damages from Nevin Shapiro, an imprisoned Ponzi scheme architect. Shapiro claimed he provided 72 Miami players and recruits with cars, money and prostitutes over an eight-year span. In the Yahoo Sports report, Shapiro said Campbell was “the first uncle who took care of players” and that he provided similar benefits when Campbell no longer could.

Sidelined After nearly two years of not knowing when he would be able to play, Scott Verplank decided to have surgery to rebuild his left wrist and will be off the PGA Tour for about five months. The surgery last Friday in Cleveland came one month after Verplank was in contention on the back nine of the PGA Championship until his tee shot came up a fraction short on the 17th green and led to a double bogey.