National Digest
Keno leaves
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Keno Davis was hired as Providence’s head coach.
Davis, the son of former longtime Iowa coach Tom Davis, was lured from Drake two weeks after being selected as The Associated Press national coach of the year. This season, Keno Davis’ first as a head coach, he took Drake to its first NCAA tournament appearance since 1971, and led the Bulldogs to a 28-5 record and their first national ranking in 33 years.
Drake athletic director Sandy Hatfield-Clubb said that while the school tried to keep Davis, she believes that Davis’ decision was based on factors Drake could not write into a contract.
Davis told Hatfield-Clubb and Drake President David Maxwell that his decision was based on his affection for the Northeast, where he spent time as a child when his father coached at Boston College. Davis also said he was intrigued with coaching in the Big East.
“He and I had a lot of conversations, and of course I’m sad,” said Hatfield-Clubb, adding that she wasn’t surprised by Davis’ decision. “If I had my way, Keno Davis would stay at Drake University.”
Hatfield-Clubb said that while there’s no timetable for finding a new coach, the search has already begun.
Among those mentioned for the opening to date have been Drake associate head coach Chris Davis, Indiana State associate head coach and former Iowa assistant Greg Lansing, Tennessee assistant and former Southwestern Community College coach Steve Forbes, and former Drake guard Matt Woodley, now on the Washington State staff.
Knee surgery
Tiger Woods had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee to repair cartilage damage, his second operation in five years on the same knee. He is expected to miss at least a month while he recovers.
The surgery, announced on his Web site, came two days after Woods finished three shots behind Trevor Immelman in the Masters. He most likely will miss The Players Championship, but should return in time to play the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines on June 12.
“I made the decision to deal with the pain and schedule the surgery for after the Masters,” Woods said. “The upside is that I have been through this process before and know how to handle it. I look forward to working through the rehabilitation process and getting back to action as quickly as I can.”
The surgery was performed in Park City, Utah, by Thomas Rosenberg, who also operated on Woods’ left knee in December 2002. Woods also had surgery in 1994 on his left knee to remove a benign tumor.
Good grade
NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball received its best grade for racial diversity in hiring, even as the percentage of black players dropped again last year.
MLB received its first A- for race from Richard Lapchick, director of the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports. Its grade was B+ in last year’s study.
Among major leaguers, though, just 8.2 percent were black players, down from 8.4 percent in 2006 and the lowest level in at least two decades.
“I’m very disappointed by that fact,” said Rachel Robinson, the widow of Jackie Robinson. “Competition from other sports is certainly a big factor, but they’re many factors. We’ve got to work on it in terms of getting younger children playing, into the game, and getting communities behind the programs, like the RBI programs and the academies.”
Lapchick released the study on Jackie Robinson Day, the 61st anniversary of when Robinson broke the major league color barrier.
The percentage of black pitchers remained at 3 percent last year.
RUNNING
BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Marathon is breaking with a 112-year tradition, putting corporate ads on the start and finish lines to help its two main sponsors extract more value from ties with the world’s oldest marathon.
Race organizers also announced that they were increasing its purse by more than 38 percent, from $575,000 to $796,000, making it the richest of the World Marathon Majors events.
The changes in sponsorship ads highlight distance running’s growing dependence on sponsors to provide lucrative prize money to attract leading athletes and raise its profile, said Guy Morse, executive director of the Boston Athletic Association, the race’s organizer.
TENNIS
OEIRAS, Portugal (AP) — Roger Federer rallied from a set down to defeat Olivier Rochus of Belgium 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the first round of the clay court Estoril Open.
The top-ranked Swiss player had 17 aces, but also many unforced errors, against the 80th-ranked Belgian. It was Federer’s first match since he started working with coach Jose Higueras, a clay-court specialist.
Federer is struggling through his worst start to a season since 2000 — the last time he went four tournaments without a victory. Only two Grand Slam titles short of tying Pete Sampras’ record of 14, Federer still needs to win the French Open to complete a career Grand Slam.
Second-seeded Nikolay Davydenko also made a shaky start against Jurgen Melzer, but recovered to win 6-3, 6-1. Davydenko, coming off a victory at the Sony Ericsson Open, lost his first service game and trailed 2-0 before breaking his opponent’s serve three times in the first set.
The Russian won the Estoril Open title in 2003 and lost in the final two years ago.
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Serena Williams advanced to the third round at the Family Circle Cup, defeating unseeded Gisela Dulko of Argentina in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4.
It was a better start than last year at the Family Circle, where Williams had to withdraw after a groin pull in her first match.
The fifth-seeded Williams, who has won 29 tour titles, got off to a slow start. She was broken in the first game which began with a double fault. But she settled down, mastering her serve and finishing with five aces.
VALENCIA, Spain (AP) — Marat Safin advanced to the second round of the Valencia Open by defeating 2003 champion Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.
Safin, who has struggled recently and needed a wild card to get into the tournament, broke the serve of the 19th-ranked Ferrero in each set while saving four break points to advance out of the first round for only the second time in six events this season.
Top-seeded David Ferrer also advanced, beating Ivan Navarro 6-3, 6-4. Ferrer will play Pablo Andujar in the second round.
HOUSTON (AP) — Unseeded Igor Kunitsyn of Russia rallied from a set down to beat No. 2 seed Tommy Haas 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 in a first-round match at the U.S. Clay Court Championship.
Kunitsyn broke Haas in the first game of the final set but then quickly dropped his own. The Russian broke again in the fifth game and held on to beat the world’s No. 36 player.
Lakers, Hornets stand atop the West
By The Associated Press
With the top spot in the Western Conference theirs, the Los Angeles Lakers understand it’s a first step.
Not that they’re unimpressed by what they achieved this season.
“We talked about it in training camp, our goal was to win the championship,” Kobe Bryant said after Tuesday night’s 124-101 rout of Sacramento. “It’s been a great turnaround. We all feel very good about it. We’re excited about it. We’re all very proud of each other. There’s still a lot of work to be done.”
The Lakers finished 57-25, and even though New Orleans can wind up with the same record, Los Angeles owns the tiebreaker with a better conference mark.
The Lakers enter the playoffs having gone 8-1 to finish the regular season.
“It’s all about momentum,” Bryant said. “You want to be playing your best basketball going into the playoffs, and we feel like we’re doing that so we ended the season exactly where we wanted to.”
The Hornets clinched the Southwest Division when they defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 114-92. The Hornets have the No. 2 seed in the playoffs in the rugged Western Conference.
“It’s a big step for us,” star forward David West said. “We just talked about wanting to improve and being one of the elite teams, and I think we kind of validated ourselves with the ability to come into a tough season and win the toughest division in basketball.”
Elsewhere Tuesday night, it was Detroit 115, Minnesota 103; Orlando 121, Atlanta 105; Portland 113, Memphis 91; and New Jersey 112, Charlotte 108 in overtime. Lakers 124, Kings 101
Pau Gasol had 22 points, and Bryant added 20. Gasol shot 9-for-11 before coming out of the game for good with 2:38 left in the third quarter, and Bryant joined him on the bench moments later after having shot just 3-for-13. But he went 13-for-14 from the foul line.
Quincy Douby led the visiting Kings (38-44) with a career-high 32 points. Sacramento was missing top scorers Ron Artest and Kevin Martin and center Brad Miller.
Hornets 114, Clippers 92
At New Orleans, West scored 32 points and Chris Paul had 12 during a decisive run in the third quarter.
Hornets coach Byron Scott earned his 300th career victory. The Hornets finished 30-11 at home for the third time in franchise history. The club record is 32-9, set in 1997-98.
After losing three of its past four, New Orleans struggled for a half against the reeling Clippers before putting them away with 26-6 spurt in the third quarter. The Clippers have lost six in a row and are 4-25 in their past 29 games.
Paul finished with 22 points and 12 assists, while Tyson Chandler added 11 points and 11 rebounds.
“We definitely came out in the third quarter and picked up the intensity defensively,” Paul said. “We can do that every night if we really put our mind to it. That’s the only way we’re going to be successful in the playoffs.”
Rookie Al Thornton led the Clippers with 26 points.
Pistons 115, Timberwolves 103
Jarvis Hayes scored 20 points and Richard Hamilton added 18 as the host Pistons clinched the NBA’s second-best record behind Boston.
With the victory, Detroit will have home-court advantage over any Western Conference opponent if it makes the NBA Finals.
The loss, which ended Minnesota’s two-game winning streak, was its 60th of the season.
Chauncey Billups added 17 points and six assists against his former team, while Al Jefferson led Minnesota with 30 points.
Magic 121, Hawks 105
At Atlanta, Maurice Evans scored a career-high 27 points and six of his Orlando teammates also scored in double figures.
Evans had 23 points in the second half as both playoff-bound teams substituted liberally, knowing the game had no impact on their postseason positioning. The fourth-year guard, who wasn’t drafted out of college, eclipsed his previous high of 26 points against Golden State on Feb. 25.
Orlando already clinched the Southeast Division and will be the No. 3 seed in the East, facing Philadelphia. The Hawks are headed to the playoffs for the first time since 1999 as the eighth-seeded team and will play Boston.
Trail Blazers 113, Grizzlies 91
At Portland, James Jones hit six 3-pointers and had 20 points to give the Trail Blazers a shot at a winning record. Brandon Roy had 16 points and 11 assists for Portland (41-40), back over .500 with one game left, Wednesday night at Phoenix. The Blazers have not finished with a winning record since the 2002-03 season.
Jarrett Jack scored 18 points and Channing Frye had 16 for Portland.
Hakim Warrick led Memphis with 17 points and 14 rebounds.
The Grizzlies were without veteran guard Mike Miller because of back spasms and guard Javaris Crittenton, who has a sprained right thumb. Nets 112, Bobcats 108, OT
Richard Jefferson scored 28 points as the Nets rallied from a 20-point first-half deficit. Vince Carter added 18 points, Devin Harris had 17 and eight assists and the Nets limited the visiting Bobcats to 47 points in the final 29 minutes after giving up 61 in the first half.
Jason Richardson had 31 points to lead Charlotte in the meaningless game between two non-playoff teams. Nazr Mohammed added 19 points, Raymond Felton had 18 and Emeka Okafor had 15 rebounds.
