In Brief

colleges

West Virginia names Holgorsen
football coach as Stewart quits

Dana Holgorsen was introduced as West Virginia's football coach Friday, hours after Bill Stewart resigned. Athletic director Oliver Luck didn't address specific reasons for Stewart's resignation but said recent developments had become an issue.

Holgorsen and Stewart made unwanted headlines in recent weeks. An intoxicated Holgorsen was escorted out of a casino last month. More recently, a reporter said Stewart had approached him shortly after Holgorsen's hiring to "dig up" dirt on his eventual successor.

Holgorsen was hired as offensive coordinator and head coach-in-waiting in December, while Stewart was to serve his final season in 2011. Now Holgorsen is a college head coach for the first time and will also serve as offensive coordinator.

Also: Auburn's Gene Chizik, who led the Tigers to their first national title last season since 1957, in just his second year at the school, has received a new contract nearly doubling his salary and making him one of college football's highest-paid coaches.

The deal is worth $3.5 million a year through 2015, with incentives that could tack on another $1 million. He made $2.1 million in salary last season but received another $1.3 million in bonuses after a 14-0 season.

The relationship between former Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor and a Columbus photographer and businessman who allegedly gave him money for signed memorabilia goes back to at least 2008, ESPN reported.

According to ESPN, Pryor and Dennis Talbott played golf together several times in 2008, before Pryor began his first season at Ohio State. It wasn't clear who paid for the rounds, but it would have been an NCAA violation if Talbott did.

UNLV's Amanda Bingson finished fourth and Chelsea Cassulo fifth in the hammer throw at the NCAA outdoor track and field championships at Des Moines, Iowa.

Bingson, a junior from Silverado High School, had a throw of 211 feet, 2 inches, and Cassulo, a junior from Lompoc, Calif., finished at 210-2, earning them All-America honors for finishing in the top eight. Virginia Tech's Dorotea Habazin won with a throw of 223-7.

In the 100 meters, Florida State's Ngonidzashe Makusha broke the national collegiate record with a time of 9.89 seconds, surpassing the 9.90 mark set by UCLA's Ato Boldon in 1996. It was the second dominant performance for Makusha, who won the long jump at 27-6 -- the best jump in the NCAA meet in 18 years.

Former Southern California guard Bryce Jones has made his transfer to UNLV official, signing a financial aid agreement. The 6-foot-5-inch Jones will sit out the 2011-12 season because of NCAA rules, then have three years of eligibility remaining.

Jones played in 18 of USC's 34 games last year, starting the first 10, and averaged 7.6 points, 2.8 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 2.0 steals in 20.6 minutes. "He is extremely versatile and will be great in our transition system," Rebels coach Dave Rice said. "Southern California is an important area in our recruiting, and adding a high-level, hardworking player like Bryce, who is from Los Angeles, is really important to the future of Runnin' Rebel basketball."

golf

Karlsson masters course again,
leads St. Jude by three strokes

Sweden's Robert Karlsson, seeking his first PGA Tour title, shot a 5-under-par 65 to take a three-stroke lead after the second round of the St. Jude Classic in Memphis, Tenn.

Karlsson, who lost in Memphis last year in a playoff with Lee Westwood, carded six birdies and a bogey to reach 9-under 131. He has played his first six career rounds at TPC Southwind under par, with Friday's score his lowest.

Colt Knost (68) and Keegan Bradley (67) were tied for second.

Also: Mindy Kim maintained her two-stroke lead in the LPGA State Farm Classic in Springfield, Ill., following her opening career-low 64 with a 5-under 67 to reach 13-under 131.

Kim had seven birdies -- four in a row on Nos. 12 to 15 -- and two bogeys on the Panther Creek course. Top-ranked Yani Tseng (66) and Shanshan Feng (65) were tied for second.

Bob Tway birdied the 18th hole for a 9-under 63 and a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Champions Tour's Greater Hickory Classic at Conover, N.C.

On a hot day when Mike Goodes fired a 28 on the front nine, Tway had a stretch of four straight birdies to start the back nine on the Rock Barn layout made tame by soft greens, hard fairways and little wind.

Tway made just one bogey. Goodes, who had six straight birdies to shoot the lowest front-nine score this season on the tour, was one shot back with Tommy Armour III, Joe Ozaki and Mark Wiebe.

Robert Rock shot a 4-under 68 to take a one-shot lead over Chris Wood and Joost Luiten after the second round of the Italian Open in Fiano, Italy. Rock was at 12-under 132.

pro basketball

Outspoken Jackson promises
changes as Golden State coach

Mark Jackson was every bit as bold and boisterous on his first day with the Golden State Warriors as he was as a player and broadcast analyst.

Declaring that "the Bay Area will never be the same," Jackson promised sweeping changes to the perennially underachieving franchise when he was introduced as coach.

The Brooklyn, N.Y., native and former NBA point guard said the Warriors will make the area "New York City West," attracting the coveted free agents the franchise has struggled to sign. He even predicted championship banners would follow for the Warriors, who have made the playoffs just once since 1994 and haven't won an NBA title since 1975.

Jackson, who spent the past few seasons as the lead analyst for ESPN and ABC, agreed to a $6 million, three-year deal to take over a team that went 36-46 last season. That was a 10-game improvement from the previous season but not enough to save Keith Smart's job.

pro football

Firm says it has talked to five
teams about stadium in L.A.

The head of the sports and entertainment firm that wants to build an NFL stadium in downtown Los Angeles has been in talks with officials from five teams about the proposed venue, a company official said.

Tim Leiweke, Anschutz Entertainment Group president and CEO, has spoken with representatives from the Minnesota Vikings, San Diego Chargers, Oakland Raiders, St. Louis Rams and Jacksonville Jaguars, spokesman Michael Roth said. Leiweke said all those teams are "in the mix" but conceded, "We're not packing any (moving) vans right now," according to The Orange County Register, the first to report on the talks.

AEG's $1 billion plan for a 72,000-seat stadium on part of the city's convention center campus is one of two competing proposals that aim to bring pro football back to Los Angeles.

Also: Former NFL wide receiver Plaxico Burress told The Wall Street Journal that spending almost two years in prison on a gun charge took "an emotional toll." Burress was released Monday from Oneida Correctional Facility in New York.

In his first extensive interview, Burress said "there's nothing pleasant about prison," from the food to the meager weight room to the wasted time. He said he wants a clean slate now and plans to "get right back into it" with workouts beginning next week.

tennis

Tsonga shocks weary Nadal
in Queen's Club quarterfinals

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defeated an exhausted Rafael Nadal 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-1 in the quarterfinals at Queen's Club in London. Tsonga had 25 aces and kept the French Open champion off balance with his powerful baseline game and inspired net play.

Nadal, who made several uncharacteristic errors, will rest before he begins the defense of his Wimbledon title. He won his sixth French Open title Sunday.

Andy Roddick eased past Fernando Verdasco 6-2, 6-2, and Andy Murray received a walkover into the semifinals when Marin Cilic withdrew because of an ankle injury. In a delayed third-round match, defending champion Sam Querrey was upset by 217th-ranked James Ward, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Also: Top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki needed only 55 minutes to reach the semifinals of the Sony Ericsson Open in Copenhagen, Denmark, routing Alberta Brianti, 6-0, 6-1.

Former top-ranked player Ana Ivanovic reached her first semifinal since October by beating Mirjana Lucic 6-3, 6-4 at the Aegon Classic in Birmingham, England.