IN BRIEF

college football

Sooners outdistance Alabama in USA Today preseason poll

Oklahoma is the preseason No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll.

The Sooners received 42 of 59 first-place votes to easily outpoint No. 2 Alabama, which received 13 first-place votes. Oregon, which lost last season's BCS championship game, is third and Louisiana State fourth.

The Ducks and Tigers will open the season against each other Sept. 3 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. They each received two first-place votes.

Florida State is fifth, followed by Stanford, Boise State, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M and Wisconsin.

Defending national champion Auburn starts the season ranked 19th.

Also: LSU assistant coach Steve Kragthorpe has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and is relinquishing his duties as offensive coordinator but remaining on the Tigers' staff.

Kragthorpe, hired during the offseason, will remain the quarterbacks' coach.

Kragthorpe, 46, is the former head coach at Louisville (2007 to 2009) and Tulsa (2003 to 2006).

He gave up an assistant coaching position at Texas A&M last summer when his wife was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, but decided to get back into coaching when LSU hired him in January.

A Knox County (Tenn.) court dismissed charges of public intoxication and disorderly conduct against Tennessee senior linebacker Austin Johnson.

The 22-year-old was arrested in the early hours of July 24 after he was seen trying to start a fight and hitting cars in a parking lot behind a Knoxville bar.

basketball

NBA says Stern makes far less per year than Selig or Goodell

Two league officials say NBA commissioner David Stern makes less than baseball's Bud Selig or the NFL's Roger Goodell, leaving his salary far below the more than $20 million that has been reported.

Some reports had Stern's salary at $23 million, angering locked-out players being asked to accept pay cuts in a new collective bargaining agreement.

One of the officials said Stern's salary is set by the advisory/finance committee, which consists of 11 owners.

Selig makes more than $18 million annually. Goodell receives about $10 million in salary, bonus and incentives.

Also: The Texas Legends have made Bruce Pearl an offer and are waiting to see if the former Tennessee coach will take over the reins of the NBA D-League team.

Legends owner Donnie Nelson presented Pearl with what he labeled the "most aggressive package in D-League history." Reports have put the offer as high as $500,000 per season.

Former NBA player Darius Miles was arrested after guards found him trying to take a loaded gun through security at Lambert Airport in St. Louis.

Miles, 29, was booked, then released Wednesday, and no charges have been filed.

Bishop Gorman High School girls basketball star Zhane Dikes made an oral commitment to the University of San Francisco.

Dikes, who will be a senior wing at Gorman next season, led the Gaels with 12.4 points and 7.3 rebounds per game last season. She earned second-team all-state honors as Gorman finished 24-7.

miscellaneous

O'Hern grabs one-stroke lead over Riley at Reno-Tahoe Open

Nick O'Hern took advantage of calm morning conditions as one of the first players off the tee to shoot a 7-under-par 65 and take a one-stroke lead over former UNLV standout Chris Riley in the first round of the Reno-Tahoe Open.

"Can't play much better than that," said O'Hern, who made six of his seven birdies on putts from 10 feet or closer while posting the only bogey-free round.

"Missed a couple of putts, but every time I hit an ornery shot I got it up and down for par, so I kept the round going."

Also: Las Vegas heavyweight Michael Hunter goes for gold tonight in the finals of the U.S. Olympic Boxing Trials in Mobile, Ala. Hunter (3-0) faces Joseph Williams of Bronx, N.Y.

Williams eliminated Jordan Shimmell of Hudsonville, Mich., 12-10 in Thursday's challengers bracket final.

If Williams defeats Hunter tonight, they would meet again for the gold medal Saturday.

With a double in the 10th frame, 18-year-old Zack Hattori of Las Vegas clinched the richest scholarship prize in bowling history at the 14th annual Teen Masters bowling championship in New York.

Hattori defeated 16-year-old Rachel Vaughn of Port St. Lucie, Fla., 190-184 and 207-178 to win the best-of-two-game championship match and lock up a four-year, $64,000 scholarship package.

John Isner edged neighbor, pal and doubles partner James Blake 7-6 (0), 1-6, 7-6 (4) in a match delayed a day by rain to reach the quarterfinals of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington.

The 11th-seeded Isner hit 13 aces and overcame 46 unforced errors, including seven double-faults, to beat Blake for the second time in two weeks.