In Brief

FOOTBALL

Alabama's Ingram, four others will leave early for NFL Draft

Alabama running back Mark Ingram, the 2009 Heisman Trophy winner, and four other players declared for the NFL Draft on Friday.

Ingram was hampered part of this season as he recovered from knee surgery and finished with 875 yards rushing and 14 touchdowns.

Two of his teammates -- defensive lineman Marcell Dareus and wide receiver Julio Jones -- also said they were leaving early. But Alabama star linebacker Dont'a Hightower said he will return for his final year.

Also declaring were Wisconsin running back John Clay, who had 1,012 yards rushing and 14 touchdowns, and Missouri defensive end Aldon Smith.

Also: Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor underwent surgery to repair an injury to his right foot. Posting on his Twitter account, Pryor deemed the surgery "successful." He was injured in the fourth quarter of the Buckeyes' 31-26 Sugar Bowl victory over Arkansas on Tuesday.

Texas Christian coach Gary Patterson received a two-year contract extension through 2018 after leading the Horned Frogs to a perfect season and their first BCS victory. Patterson is 98-28 in 10 seasons at the school and has won at least 11 games in six of the past eight seasons.

Dennis Franchione, a finalist for the UNLV coaching job last year, was hired by Texas State. Franchione, who has been the head coach at Alabama and Texas A&M, signed a five-year deal that will pay him $350,000 annually, plus incentives.

The NFL fined Indianapolis Colts linebacker Gary Brackett $35,000 for his hit on Tennessee Titans long snapper Ken Amato in Sunday's game. Brackett has been fined three times this season for illegal hits.

The NFL also fined Baltimore linebacker Terrell Suggs ($15,000), New England nose tackle Vince Wilfork ($10,000), Miami defensive end Paul Soliai ($10,000) and Oakland defensive lineman John Henderson ($7,500).

Carolina Panthers center Ryan Kalil and Minnesota Vikings defensive tackle Kevin Williams were added as injury replacements to the NFC Pro Bowl team. Kalil will replace the New York Giants' Shaun O'Hara, and Williams will replace Detroit Lions rookie Ndamukong Suh.

Bill "Tiger" Johnson, a former head coach for the Cincinnati Bengals, died at his home in Fort Myers, Fla., after a long illness. He was 84. Johnson was on the original Bengals staff in 1968 and spent 17 years with the team, three as head coach.

BASEBALL

Cubs to acquire right-hander Garza from Rays for prospects

The Chicago Cubs have a tentative trade in place to obtain right-hander Matt Garza from the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Rays would receive outfielder Sam Fuld, minor league outfielder Brandon Guyer and several other prospects for Garza, who would be sent to Chicago along with prospects.

Garza, 27, pitched a no-hitter against Detroit last season, when he went 15-10 with a 3.91 ERA. He has a 42-44 career record with a 3.97 ERA.

Also: Ryne Duren, an All-Star pitcher known for a 100 mph fastball, occasional wildness and Coke-bottle glasses that created a most intimidating presence on the mound, died Thursday at his winter home in Lake Wales, Fla. He was 81.

Duren, a three-time All-Star who played for seven teams in 12 major league seasons, helped the New York Yankees reach the World Series in 1958 and 1960. He went 27-44 with a 3.83 ERA in 311 appearances, all but 32 in relief, struck out 630, walked 392 in 589 1/3 innings and threw 38 wild pitches.

Free-agent first baseman Adam LaRoche and the Washington Nationals finalized a two-year contract worth about $16 million.

HOCKEY

Bates scores in overtime, lifts Wranglers in Alaska

Jamie Bates scored his ninth goal of the season 27 seconds into overtime, capping his three-point night and giving the Wranglers a 3-2 ECHL victory over the Alaska Aces at Anchorage.

Bates also assisted on goals by Ryan Huddy (his 16th) in the first period and Geoff Paukovich (fourth) in the second.

Joe Fallon made 29 saves for Las Vegas (18-8-3).

Also: Veteran winger Jamie Langenbrunner is returning to Dallas after the last-place New Jersey Devils traded their captain to the Pacific Division-leading Stars for a conditional third-round 2011 draft pick. Langenbrunner, 35, was drafted by the Stars in 1993 and was part of their only Stanley Cup championship in 1999. He was traded to New Jersey in 2002 and was on the Devils' Stanley Cup-winning team in 2003.

Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby is expected to be sidelined for a week because of a concussion. Crosby, who leads the NHL with 32 goals and 66 points, sustained the injury in Wednesday's 8-1 home victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning.

MISCELLANEOUS

Sluggish Nadal loses in semis to Davydenko; Federer wins

Rafael Nadal lost to defending champion Nikolay Davydenko 6-3, 6-2 in a Qatar Open semifinal in Doha, Qatar.

The fourth-seeded Russian won in 84 minutes against the top-ranked Nadal, who was uncharacteristically slow and sluggish after having a fever this week.

In today's final, Davydenko meets second-ranked Roger Federer, who beat third seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 6-3, 7-6 (2).

Also: American Venus Williams lost to China's Li Na 6-3, 7-6 (3) at the Hong Kong Classic exhibition tournament to complete her only warm-up event for the Australian Open with two stunningly one-sided losses. She lost to second-ranked Vera Zvonareva 6-4, 6-2 on Thursday.

The NCAA Student-Athlete Reinstatement Committee upheld an earlier NCAA decision that deemed Kentucky freshman center Enes Kanter permanently ineligible for receiving more than $33,000 in impermissible benefits while playing for the Turkish club team Fenerbahce two years ago.

Iowa sophomore point guard Cully Payne will probably miss the rest of the season and apply for a medical redshirt. Payne, who started all 32 games last season and averaged 8.7 points and 3.8 assists, played the first five games this season before undergoing hernia surgery.

Former Michigan star and NBA player Rumeal Robinson was sentenced in Des Moines, Iowa, to 6½ years in federal prison for financial fraud. A jury found Robinson guilty in September of 11 charges, including bank bribery, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud and making a false statement to a financial institution.

Cleveland Cavaliers forward Leon Powe had surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee and will miss about six weeks. He has appeared in 14 games this season, averaging 5.0 points.

The NCAA put Texas Tech on two years' probation for a series of recruiting violations, saying 16 coaches or assistants sent almost 1,000 impermissible text messages to football, softball and golf prospects. The football violations occurred from August 2007 to February 2009 under former coach Mike Leach.

South Africa's Branden Grace, England's Miles Tunnicliff and Austria's Markus Brier were tied for the second-round lead in the European Tour's Africa Open at East London, South Africa. They are at 10-under-par 136.

Uche Okafor, a defender on two Nigerian World Cup teams and a stalwart player for the Kansas City Wizards of Major League Soccer, committed suicide this week at his Dallas-area home, authorities said. He was 43.