Newsmakers

Filed Former UCLA basketball player Reeves Nelson filed a $10 million defamation lawsuit against Sports Illustrated on Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court. The lawsuit stems from an article (“Special Report: Not the UCLA Way”) published in March in which Nelson was portrayed as a bully who mistreated former Bruins teammates. Nelson, a junior who was chosen first-team All-Pac-12 Conference the previous season, was dismissed from the team by coach Ben Howland in December after two disciplinary suspensions. Sports Illustrated had no comment.

Selected Sprint Cup champion Rusty Wallace heads the group of five picked for the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Owner Leonard Wood and drivers Cotton Owens, Herb Thomas and Buck Baker joined Wallace in the hall’s fourth class.

Hired University of Portland men’s basketball coach Eric Reveno named Colin Pfaff to his staff as an assistant. Pfaff spent the past two seasons as the team’s director of basketball operations.

Admitted Federal prosecutors in New Jersey say a former NFL player admitted that he intentionally failed to file federal income tax returns for several years. William James of Woodland Park, N.J., faces up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine after pleading guilty to a complaint charging him with willful failure to file tax returns from 2005-09. James, 32, played for several teams during his 10-year NFL career, including the New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles. He earned approximately $9.2 million during the years he didn’t file.

Suspended Tennessee suspended sophomore tight end Cameron Clear indefinitely after his arrest on a felony theft charge involving a laptop stolen from a Volunteers baseball player. The 6-foot-6, 283-pound Clear played in all 12 games last season.

Signed The San Francisco 49ers signed All-Pro punter Andy Lee to a six-year contract extension through the 2018 season. Since 2007, Lee’s gross punting average (47.9) and net average (40.7) rank second in the NFL.