Nit Field Has Classy Lineup

Duke, Indiana and UCLA, each a national champion the past 10 years, headline the field announced for the 1996 Preseason NIT.

Oklahoma State brings to four the number of former NCAA champions in the 16-team field for the tournament that gets under way at campus sites on Nov. 20 and concludes with semifinals and finals at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 27 and 29.

The remainder of the field is Princeton, St. Joseph’s, Seton Hall, Tulsa, Vanderbilt, Arkansas-Little Rock, Drexel, Evansville, Iona, St. Louis, Saint Mary’s and Valparaiso.

Villanova basketball star Kerry Kittles, suspended last week for using a university phone card, ran up $3,100 in unauthorized calls since 1994, school officials reported.

According to the report submitted to the NCAA, Kittles was given the card so he could phone a reporter for an interview while the team was in Anchorage for the Great Alaska Shootout tournament in 1994.

Kittles returned the card, but kept a copy of the number and used it for personal calls while the team was on the road, the university said.

Dayton center Chris Daniels died of natural causes due to an irregular heartbeat, a coroner said today. However, Montgomery County Coroner James Davis said he did not know what caused the irregularity.

Daniels was stricken while sleeping early Feb. 8, not during a game or practice, Davis said. There was no evidence of drug abuse, and the family does not have a history of heart problems.