Clarett’s Allegations Not Verified in NCAA Probe

A lack of evidence apparently deflated former Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett’s allegations that coaches and boosters arranged for him to get passing grades, cars and thousands of dollars.

The NCAA on Monday outlined nine violations against Ohio State, but only one involved the school’s football program -- quarterback Troy Smith’s acceptance of $500 from former OSU booster Robert Q. Baker in May 2004.

None of Clarett’s most explosive allegations -- that Coach Jim Tressel orchestrated a system in which players received free cars, improper academic assistance and cash for no-work jobs -- were verified.

The NCAA, however, has refused to say whether it interviewed Clarett after he made his allegations in an article in ESPN the Magazine in November.

NCAA spokesman Erik Christianson said Tuesday that once investigators begin probing an athletic department, they thoroughly examine all allegations.

“In the end, they follow where the evidence leads them,” he said.

Clarett, who was drafted by the NFL’s Denver Broncos on April 23, could not be reached for comment.

College Basketball

Iowa State Coach Wayne Morgan, a former coach at Long Beach State, was released from the hospital after undergoing throat surgery for sleep apnea.

Lorrenzo Wade, a freshman for Louisville last season, has decided to transfer to Washington, his former high school coach, Larry Johnson, said.

USC Coach Tim Floyd announced the seventh member of his first recruiting class when Keith Wilkinson, a 6-foot-9, 195-pound forward from Capistrano Valley High who averaged 15.5 points and 7.7 rebounds, signed with the Trojans.... New Mexico will play Washington in the first game of the John R. Wooden Classic on Dec. 10 at the Arrowhead Pond. As previously announced, UCLA will play Nevada in the second game.

Pro Football

Minnesota Viking running back Onterrio Smith missed the second day of developmental camp for “personal reasons,” a team spokesman said.

Smith’s attorney, David Cornwell, said “it was a planned and excused absence” and said no conclusions should be drawn regarding a connection to an incident last month at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in which Smith was found with a contraption designed to beat drug tests.

The New York Giants reached an injury settlement with Jim Miller and released the veteran quarterback.

Miller, 34, recently had hip surgery and would have sat out at least the next three months. He was signed in March to back up Eli Manning, who was the starter for the final seven games last season. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

Tennis

Top-seeded Venus Williams routed Marta Marrero, 6-0, 6-0, to reach the Istanbul Cup quarterfinals in Turkey.

Sixth-seeded Meghann Shaughnessy lost, 6-3, 7-5, to qualifier Tszvetana Pironkova.

Third-seeded Ana Smashnova defeated Catalina Castano, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2, and No. 5 Anna-Lena Groenefeld downed Mariana Diaz-Oliva, 6-3, 7-5.

Seventh-seeded Amy Frazier ousted defending champion Claudine Schaul, 6-2, 6-3, in the first round of the Strasbourg International in France.

Former top-10 player Chanda Rubin made her first appearance on tour since September, and lost to Jie Zheng, 6-4, 6-2.

Top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko advanced to the quarterfinals of the BTM Power Grand Prix, beating Sjeng Schalken, 6-3, 6-1, at St. Poelten, Austria.

Defending champion Chile eliminated France with a 2-1 series victory, and Argentina ousted the Czech Republic, 2-1, in the World Team Cup final at Duessedorf, Germany.

Chile’s Nicolas Massu topped Arnaud Clement, 6-4, 6-4, and Fernando Gonzalez followed with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Sebastien Grosjean.

Argentina also won both its singles matches -- 2004 French Open runner-up Guillermo Coria overcame Jiri Novak, 6-3, 7-5, and Guillermo Canas beat Tomas Berdych, 6-4, 6-2.

Miscellany

Athens Olympic 100-meter gold medalist Justin Gatlin withdrew from Sunday’s Adidas track classic at the Home Depot Center in Carson because of fatigue, meet organizers said.

Five-time U.S. javelin champion Breaux Greer, whose toss of 287 feet six inches last month at the Mount San Antonio College Relays is the best in the world this season, also pulled out after aggravating a shoulder injury.

Gatlin was said to be too tired to run this weekend after he finished third in the 100 at a meet in Qatar last Friday. Gatlin also withdrew from last year’s meet in Carson, when it was known as the Home Depot Center Invitational.

Former Olympic 200-meter champion Kostas Kenteris will face a public prosecutor this week on charges of avoiding a doping test on the eve of the 2004 Olympics and faking a motorcycle accident hours later, court officials in Greece said.

FC Dallas midfielder Richard Mulrooney, an occasional member of the U.S. national team, will sit out the rest of the Major League Soccer season after tearing a ligament in his right knee in Saturday’s 0-0 tie with San Jose.

In the same game, San Jose defender Troy Dayak suffered a torn ligament in his left knee and also will sit out the season. Last month, Dayak said this would be his last season in MLS.

John Ruiz has come out of his brief retirement to become a heavyweight champion again -- this time without a fight. Ruiz’s camp said the World Boxing Assn. has reinstated him as champion in the wake of James Toney’s testing positive for steroids after their April 30 title fight.