In Brief

NBA

ESPN analyst Johnson says he will take over as coach of Nets

Avery Johnson said he has agreed to become the coach of the New Jersey Nets, the NBA's worst team.

In a text message to The Associated Press on Wednesday, Johnson said he thinks the Nets will announce the deal today.

The current ESPN analyst coached Dallas for three-plus seasons, going 194-70 in the regular season and 23-24 in the playoffs. He guided the Mavericks to the NBA Finals in 2006, but was fired after a first-round playoff series loss to New Orleans in 2008.

Johnson will take over a team that posted a league worst 12-70 record and set a league record by opening the season with 18 straight losses.

Also: Michigan State's Tom Izzo told his team he has talked to the Cleveland Cavaliers about their coaching vacancy, imploring players to concentrate on their classes and workouts to get better on and off the court.

Izzo did not tell the Spartans he was leaving the school to coach the Cavs.

The NBA was again the only men's pro sports league to receive a combined "A" for race and gender in the annual report by the University of Central Florida's Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport.

The league had slight decreases for blacks in front-office positions from last year but is still the best among men's pro sports, according to the study.

The study shows 77 percent of NBA players were black, 18 percent white, 3 percent Latino, 1 percent Asian and 1 percent "other." International players, after a steady rise in recent years, stayed steady at 18 percent.

COLLEGES

Reports: USC football team gets two-year postseason ban

Two media outlets reported that the NCAA has banned Southern California's football team from the postseason for two years and stripped the program of scholarships.

The Los Angeles Times reported the NCAA sanctions include the loss of more than 20 scholarships. According to a story posted on ESPN.com, the Trojans also will forfeit wins "from at least the 2004 season."

The penalties stem from the NCAA's investigation of allegations of improper benefits for Heisman Trophy-winning running back Reggie Bush during his time at the school.

Also: Suspended Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli was kicked off the team Wednesday, two days after a police officer cited him for marijuana possession and driving infractions.

In a statement, the university said Masoli was dropped because he did not "adhere to obligations" outlined by coach Chip Kelly.

Masoli was cited late Monday on charges of possessing less than one ounce of marijuana, driving with a suspended license and failure to stop.

Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon said Florida prep football star Demar Dorsey will not be admitted to the school.

Brandon said the decision was made by the university's office of undergraduate admissions.

The highly touted defensive back was one of the top players coach Rich Rodriguez signed in February.

The NCAA released new Academic Progress Rates, and UNLV's scores continued to climb.

UNLV's APR 966 score for 2008-09 eclipsed the 964 score set in 2007-08. The Rebels' four-year score of 947 bested 2007-08's 935 score.

Ten of UNLV's 17 sports programs have better four-year scores than those released a year ago. Of those 10 squads, men's basketball made the largest improvement, going from a score of 900 for the 2007-08 academic year to 927 for the 2008-09 academic year.

''Once again our student-athletes have performed at a high level in the classroom," UNLV athletic director Jim Livengood said in a statement.

The University of Kansas said an internal investigation has cleared athletic director Lew Perkins of any wrongdoing in connection with the loan of exercise equipment.

A former Kansas employee had claimed Perkins accepted the equipment for his home use in exchange for giving some people the chance to buy basketball tickets in prime locations at Allen Fieldhouse.

MIscellaneous

Contest winner joins Wahlberg, Gretzky, Brees in dream round

Peggy Ference hit a perfect drive down the middle of the first fairway at Pebble Beach, the only player in her star-studded foursome to find the short grass.

She didn't find much after that.

The 51-year-old amateur struggled to reach many of the fairways, shooting 118 in the Golf Digest U.S. Open Challenge on a windy Wednesday on the California course.

Actor Mark Wahlberg was the only player in the foursome to break 100, making a par on the final hole to shoot 97. Hockey great Wayne Gretzky made a triple-bogey on the final hole to shoot 100, and Super Bowl-winning quarterback Drew Brees finished at 102.

Ference won an essay contest with 24,860 entries to earn the dream round.

The challenge is a made-for-TV event that will air June 20 before the final round of the U.S. Open. It was born from a quote by Tiger Woods during the 2007 U.S. Open, when he said a 10-handicap couldn't break 100 on such a tough setup.

Also: All it took was a phone call from Notah Begay III to convince Annika Sorenstam and Lorena Ochoa to take a few swings for charity.

The two former LPGA stars, who have combined for 99 career wins, will take part in the third annual Notah Begay Challenge, a fundraiser aimed at helping fight obesity and diabetes among Native American youth.

"They're very big advocates in their own right for their own causes. For them to get behind this says a lot about what we're trying to do," said Begay, the only full-blooded Native American on the PGA Tour.

Also playing in the mixed team skins match Aug. 31 in Verona, N.Y., are LPGA players Suzann Pettersen, Cristie Kerr, Morgan Pressel and Anna Rawson and PGA players Anthony Kim, Camilo Villegas, Hunter Mahan, Vijay Singh and Rickie Fowler, who is part Navajo.

Tiger Woods will play his first tournament outside of the United States this year at a charity pro-am in Ireland.

Tournament officials said Woods has agreed to play July 5 and 6 in the event organized by Irish businessman and racehorse owner J.P. McManus.

Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra will head back to the races Saturday in the Fleur de Lis Handicap at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.

The 1 1/8-mile race for fillies and mares will be Rachel Alexandra's first start since finishing second in the La Troienne Stakes at Churchill Downs on April 30.

Digger Phelps had prostate cancer surgery and is recovering at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle.

His daughter said that the former basketball coach and current ESPN analyst is resting comfortably.

Phelps, 68, was diagnosed with prostate cancer April 28.

Jimmie Johnson led from start to finish to win Tony Stewart's dirt track charity race at Rossburg, Ohio.

Johnson, the four-time defending NASCAR Sprint Cup champion, survived 14 cautions with Kyle Busch on his bumper for each restart to win the sixth running of the Prelude to a Dream on Eldora Speedway's half-mile oval owned by Stewart.

Ferrari has accepted the youngest recruit to its drivers' academy, an 11-year-old Canadian boy.

Lance Stroll, from Montreal, has twice won the Canadian national championship in the Rotax Mini Max category.

Marcus Falley of Durango High School hit a halfcourt shot at the overtime buzzer as the U.S. Basketball Academy All-Stars beat the Slovenia Junior National Team 81-78 in a 20-and-under game in Jiaozuo, China.

The All-Stars (1-4) feature six players from Las Vegas: Falley and Devin Mathews of Durango, Tim and Ben Carter of Bishop Gorman High and Kelvin Smith and Keith Taylor of Impact Basketball.

The team has five more games on its tour of China.

Two-time Professional Bowlers Association Senior U.S. Open winner Tom Baker has a 40-pin lead over Don Moser after three rounds of the PBA Senior U.S. Open at the Suncoast.

Baker, 55, of King, N.C., who won the 2005 and 2006 Senior U.S. Opens, had games of 257, 226, 227, 248, 236 and 214 to boost his 18-game overall pinfall to 4,043.