Purnell given extension at Clemson

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Purnell given two-year extension

COLUMBIA, S.C. - Clemson coach Oliver Purnell has agreed to a two-year contract extension that will keep him with the Tigers through 2016 - and keep him the school's highest-paid coach.

While the deal hasn't been signed, Purnell, a former Old Dominion coach, and Athletic Director Terry Don Phillips have signed a memoradum of understanding dated June 1 that outlines the improved package.

Purnell's base salary jumped $50,000 a year to $275,000. His supplemental income improved to $1.075 million each year, up from $775,000 guaranteed in a two-year extension agreed to in 2008.

Under Purnell, the Tigers have gone 25-11, 24-10 and 23-9 the past three seasons, the school's longest streak of 20-win seasons.

In other college basketball news:

• Rutgers star Epiphanny Prince is skipping her senior season to play professionally in Europe. Prince said she has not signed with an agent or chosen a team. She plans to enter the 2010 WNBA draft. As a junior, Prince was a third-team All-American.

• Former Maryland guard Marah Strickland joined South Carolina and coach Dawn Staley, a former Virginia star. Strickland must sit out next season because of NCAA rules but will have two years of eligibility.

HORSE RACING

Pletcher new trainer for Quality Road

NEW YORK - Quality Road has a new trainer in Todd Pletcher, who says the Virginia-bred Florida Derby winner could make his next start in the Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 1. Previously trained by Jimmy Jerkens, the 3-year-old colt was transferred to Pletcher's barn by owner Edward P. Evans.

TENNIS

Becker fells top-seeded Verdasco

DEN BOSCH, Netherlands - Benjamin Becker celebrated his 28th birthday by upsetting top-seeded Fernando Verdasco 7-5, 7-6 (7-4) to reach the Ordina Open quarterfinals. Marcos Baghdatis beat second-seeded Tommy Robredo 7-5, 6-2.

French Open champion ousted

EASTBOURNE, England - French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova lost in the first round of the grass-court tournament at Eastbourne, falling 6-0, 6-3 to Aleksandra Wozniack.

Third-seeded Jelena Jankovic and No. 4 Vera Zvonareva also lost. The top-seeded men's player, Igor Andreev, also was toppled in the dual WTA and ATP event. Anna Chakvetadze defeated Jankovic 6-7 (7-5), 6-3, 6-2, Amelie Mauresmo stopped Zvonareva 6-3, 1-6, 6-3, and Frank Dancevic downed Andreev 7-6 (8-6), 6-2.

FOOTBALL

FSU allowed to release scandal letter

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The NCAA is allowing Florida State to release a version of its letter to the school on a disciplinary case resulting from an academic cheating scandal. The school must first retype it and redact names.

The letter, which the school says could be released today, details the NCAA's response to Florida State's appeal of sanctions resulting from the scandal. The school would be stripped of wins in 10 sports, including football. That would seriously hurt Bobby Bowden's bid to become college football's all-time winningest coach.

Media outlets, including The Associated Press, sued the school and NCAA on Monday to release the letter.

In other football news:

• George Belotti, a three-year football letterman at left tackle for Southern California in the mid-1950s who was a member of the American Football League's first championship team, died Monday in Arcadia, Calif., a suburb of Los Angeles. He was 74. Mr. Belotti died from complications of a stroke, the university said. He was an eighth-round draft pick by the NFL's Green Bay Packers, but played center with the Houston Oilers in 1960 when they won the first AFL title.

CYCLING

Hamilton given eight-year ban

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Olympic champion Tyler Hamilton received an eight-year ban from cycling, all but ending his drug-tainted career after he admitted to taking a steroid. The penalty handed down by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency came two months after Hamilton acknowledged taking an herbal product to combat depression, knowing it included a steroid.

In other cycling news:

• Alexandre Vinokourov has been banned from next month's Tour de France by the top court in international sports for blood doping during the 2007 Tour.

• Denmark's Matti Breschel won the fourth stage of the Tour of Switzerland, and Slovenia's Tadej Valjavec took the overall lead in Staefa.

ELSEWHERE

• Longtime Clemson men's soccer coach Trevor Adair has resigned, more than two months after his arrest on charges of attacking his teenage daughters. Adair, 48, had coached the Tigers for 14 years and led the team to nine NCAA tournament appearances, including a trip to the 2005 national semifinals. In April, police charged him with two counts of assault and battery. The cases are pending. Assistant Phil Hindson will take over as interim head coach.

• In Fort Worth, Texas, former major-league outfielder Mel Hall was found guilty of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl he coached on an elite basketball team a decade ago. A Tarrant County jury took about 90 minutes to convict Hall, 48, on three counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and two counts of indecency with a child. Hall faces up to life in prison.

• In Rockville, Md., Michelle Wie failed to qualify for the U.S. Women's Open, shooting a 74 in the second round to miss by one shot. The 19-year-old from Hawaii was competing for 30 spots at Woodmont Country Club, where most LPGA Tour players went the day after the LPGA Championship.

Sascha Gorres of the Richmond Kickers made the USL-2 team of the week. - From Wire Reports