UConn CB stabbed to death

STORRS, Conn. -- A Connecticut player who was an expectant father was stabbed to death early yesterday after an on-campus dance, just hours after helping his team to a homecoming victory.

Jasper Howard, 20, of Miami, and another student were stabbed during a fight after a fire alarm was pulled during a university sanctioned dance at the UConn Student Union just after 12:30 a.m., police said.

Police had not identified a suspect or released the name of the other victim.

Connecticut coach Randy Edsall said the team was heartbroken over the loss of Howard, a junior and the team's starting cornerback who came to the school to get away from the violence on the streets of his hometown. He became the first person in his family to go to college.

"I know this," Edsall said, his eyes red and welling with tears, "he loved UConn; he loved his teammates; he loved everything about this."

Edsall said Howard's death was especially tragic, because he was about to become a father.

"As Jazz looks down on us, I can promise him and his family, that son or daughter will have 105 uncles," punter Desi Cullen, a team captain, said. "And we will do what it takes to not get through this, but to grow from it."

UConn Police Major Ronald Blicher said this is the first homicide at the university in the over 30 years he has been associated with the school.

Blicher said Howard was stabbed following a fight between two groups that included students and non-students. The incident broke out just after a fire alarm went off in the student center, forcing the evacuation of about 300 people, from a "Welcome Back" party and dance sponsored by the school's West Indian Awareness Organization.

Edsall drove to the hospital yesterday and was asked to identify Howard's body. "One of my sons has been taken away," the coach said.

Spurrier unsure about WR's return

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier said he doesn't believe receiver Moe Brown will be cleared to play Saturday after suffering a concussion against Alabama.

Two defenders hit the senior captain after an 8-yard catch in the first half. Brown was carted off the field on a stretcher and taken to a hospital. He flew home from Tuscaloosa, Ala., with the team.

Clemson safety has sprained neck

CLEMSON, S.C. -- Clemson backup safety Kantrell Brown sprained his neck against Wake Forest but is expected to make a full recovery.

Brown, a sophomore, lay motionless, face first, on the field Saturday afternoon after a kickoff return by the Demon Deacons. He was taken off the field on a stretcher with his neck in a brace, although he was moving his legs, arms and hands before he left the field.

The school said Brown was taken to Oconee Memorial Hospital, where tests were negative for anything more serious. Brown returned to campus shortly after Clemson's 38-3 victory.