Drexler To Coach At Uh

Clyde Drexler, who starred on Houston’s Final Four teams of the 1980s, will retire from the NBA at the end of the season to coach his alma mater, sources told The Associated Press Tuesday night.

The Houston Rockets’ guard will receive a four-year contract worth $1.2 million. Also, Reid Gettys, David Rose and George Walker will become assistant coaches. All are former Houston players.

Cougars spokeswoman Donna Turner said as of Tuesday evening a news conference had not been scheduled, but, “When we are ready to announce something, we will shout it out. We are not ready yet.”

Former Houston coach Guy V. Lewis, who led the Cougars during their glory years, declined to confirm that he will act as a consultant to his former players.

“I don’t know what a consultant does, but I’ll do anything I can to help the program,” Lewis said. “I’ll tell you one thing, I’m not going to be the coach.”

Last week, Drexler spoke about the Cougars job.

“I’ve heard the rumors,” Drexler told the Houston Chronicle. “My first job is with the Houston Rockets, and until that’s over, it’s really hard to comment on anything else.”

Drexler, who has said he’ll retire when his contract is up at the end of the season, said he’d be interested in helping the Cougars program.

“I’m a Cougar,” Drexler said. “I bleed Cougar red. I love the Cougars. I’m going to try to do anything possible to help them with the program. I’ve always done that. I’m looking forward to being a part of it in the future.”

Williams may leave Sonics

The agent for Seattle SuperSonics center-forward Aaron Williams said the second-year player likely will opt out of his contract after the season in search of more money and, possibly, more playing time.

Frank Martin said Williams’ first choice is to stay in Seattle, but he indicated if the Sonics are not willing to increase his $575,000 contract for the 1998-99 season, Williams may leave Seattle via free agency.

“He likes Seattle,” Martin said of Williams. “He likes (Sonics coach) George (Karl). But it would be a big disparity to say, ‘I’m going to stay (for less money) just because I like it there.”’

Cavs end road woes

Vitaly Potapenko came off the bench to tie his season high with 18 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers snapped a six-game road losing streak with a 96-82 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.

The Cavs scored the first nine points of the fourth quarter to go ahead 79-66, then stretched the run to 22-7 to lead 92-73 with 3:31 to play.

The Blazers, 2-3 since Damon Stoudamire went down with a sprained right ankle, went 8 minutes and 50 seconds without a field goal during Cleveland’s decisive surge.

Around the league

Former Detroit Pistons coach Doug Collins joined NBC as a basketball analyst, marking his return to the broadcast booth. Collins will join the network’s top broadcast tandem, teaming with play-by-play voice Bob Costas and first-year analyst Isiah Thomas. … Dallas forward Cedric Ceballos, who tore cartilage in his right knee on Sunday, will miss the rest of the season. … New York Knicks assistant Brendan Malone underwent successful surgery for prostate cancer, the team said. Malone, 55, won’t return to the team for at least six weeks.

On the courts

At Indianapolis, Michael Jordan scored 35 points, made a big steal with 29 seconds to go and hit two clinching free throws with 11 seconds left Tuesday as the Chicago Bulls beat the Indiana Pacers 90-84 at Indianapolis.

At Washington, Anthony Goldwire sank a 3-pointer with 7.2 seconds left as the Denver Nuggets rallied to beat Washington 90-89 for their third victory in four games.

At Houston, Drexler wasn’t distracted by his impending retirement, getting 15 points and nine assists as the Houston Rockets beat the Milwaukee Bucks 96-91.