Newsmakers

Announced Basketball standout C.J. Leslie is returning to North Carolina State for his junior season, a decision that will make the Wolfpack one of the favorites in the Atlantic Coast Conference next year. The 6-foot-8 forward averaged a team-best 14.7 points and was second with 7.3 rebounds per game.

Hired Texas Southern in Houston hired Cynthia Cooper-Dyke as the new women’s basketball coach. The 49-year-old Cooper-Dyke has been a college coach since her playing career ended in 2003. As a player, she helped Southern Cal win back-to-back NCAA championships in 1983 and ’84, then led the United States to the gold medal at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. She guided the now-defunct Houston Comets to four WNBA championships, leading the league in scoring three times.

• Kent State hired Danielle O’Banion as the new women’s basketball coach. O’Banion spent the last four years at Memphis – including the previous two as the associate head coach.

Fired Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa., fired its national championship- winning women’s lacrosse coach and suspended players following a complaint over a hazing incident last year, school officials said. The school fired head coach Lauren Paul and The Intelligencer Journal/ Lancaster New Era newspaper reported 11 players are no longer listed on the roster, including eight seniors.

Agreed A tentative agreement has been reached to settle a federal lawsuit between former New Orleans Saints running back Deuce McAllister and Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp. over his failed car dealership in Mississippi, court records said. The dealership in Jackson closed in 2009 and filed for Chapter 7 liquidation under federal bankruptcy law.

Booted Three Central Michigan players have been kicked off the football team after being charged with crimes. Coach Dan Enos released a statement saying the players violated rules for good conduct. They are running back Austin White of Livonia, Mich., tight end Joe Sawicki of Mokena, Ill., and receiver Daniel Harris of Miramar, Fla. White and Sawicki are charged with possessing hallucinogenic mushrooms and operating a drug house in their dorm room. Harris is charged with stealing a phone from a car.