IN BRIEF

BASKETBALL

No. 1 pick Oden signs deal with Trail Blazers

The Portland Trail Blazers have signed No. 1 pick Greg Oden.

According to the NBA's collective bargaining agreement, Oden's deal will be for two years, with team options for the third and fourth seasons. Oden will make $3.885 million as a rookie and $4.176 in his second year. If they pick up the option in the third year, his salary would be $4.476 million.

Oden, a 7-foot center from Ohio State, signed his contract Sunday, and the team announced the deal Monday.

Oden, power forward LaMarcus Aldridge, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2006 draft, and second-year guard Sergio Rodriguez will headline Portland's Las Vegas Summer League team, which opens its five-game schedule Friday against the Boston Celtics.

Portland also signed second-round picks Josh McRoberts, a forward from Duke, and Florida guard Taurean Green, the son of former UNLV star Sidney Green.

Also: The Utah Jazz agreed to release guard Derek Fisher from his contract so he can concentrate on finding the best care for his 11-month-old daughter, Tatum, who has cancer in her left eye.

He didn't rule out playing for another NBA team but emphasized that his daughter's health is his No. 1 priority.

The Jazz acquired Fisher a year ago in a trade with the Golden State Warriors.

Allen Iverson denied taking part in a 2005 Washington nightclub brawl, testifying that two men who sued him for $20 million in connection with the fight want to cash in on his basketball fame.

The plaintiffs say Iverson's bodyguard and other members of his entourage attacked them when they wouldn't immediately make room for the NBA star in the VIP section of the Eyebar.

The Denver Nuggets guard said in U.S. District Court he didn't see his bodyguard tangle with the two men.

Cliff Ellis was hired as Coastal Carolina's coach, succeeding Buzz Peterson at a school that finished 15-15 last season.

MISCELLANEOUS

Former Olympic sprinter confesses to rapes

A former Olympic sprinter from the Caribbean confessed in New York that he raped four women and a teenage girl during a four-year period after stalking them in the city's parks, authorities said.

Alvin Henry, a member of the 400-meter relay team for Trinidad and Tobago at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, was arrested Sunday near Prospect Park in Brooklyn by police who matched him to a composite sketch of the rape suspect.

The 30-year-old runner was arrested on charges of rape, sexual misconduct and sexual abuse, police said.

Also: The pro wrestler who strangled his wife and son and committed suicide last month bought injectable steroids excessively, according to court papers in Atlanta. His doctor was charged with improperly prescribing drugs to other patients.

Dr. Phil Astin prescribed a 10-month supply of anabolic steroids to Chris Benoit every three to four weeks between May 2006 and May 2007, a Drug Enforcement Administration agent said in an affidavit filed Friday.

Alberto Salazar, a former champion marathoner who collapsed last weekend, had his condition upgraded from serious to fair.

A cardiologist at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, Ore., said tests now indicate that Salazar had a heart attack while coaching distance runners Saturday at the Nike campus outside Portland, said Lisa Helderop, a hospital spokeswoman.

Henderson resident Wendy Macpherson won the United States Bowling Congress Women's Championships Classic All-Events title in Charlotte, N.C.

The Chicago Blackhawks gave general manager Dale Tallon a two-year contract extension despite missing the playoffs for the eighth time in nine seasons.

Sonny Cumbie passed for 306 yards and seven touchdowns as the Los Angeles Avengers gained a 64-42 home victory over the Utah Blaze in the Arena Football League playoffs.