Associated Press
ATLANTAó Marques Johnson, a guard who started six games at North Carolina State last season, has enrolled at Georgia State and will sit out the 2008-09 season as a transfer.
The 6-foot-5 Johnson, from Fort Wayne, Ind., signed with Tennessee in 2006 and played four games with the Volunteers before transferring to N.C. State.
Johnson played in 21 games and averaged 2.0 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.2 assists last season. He will be a junior in the 2009-10 season.
– CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. ó Laurynas Mikalauskas, one of the more popular players at the University of Virginia, was dismissed from the team by coach Dave Leitao on Monday, while he announced that Tunji Soroye will return next season.
Leitao said that Mikalauskas, a 6-foot-8 native of Lithuania, is no longer a member of the team because he has not lived up to the standards set by the program. Leitao said he will not elaborate.
Mikalauskas played in just 20 games last season because of injuries, but averaged 7.1 points and 3.5 rebounds.
– CINCINNATI ó Xavier has lost one of its reserve guards. Adrion Graves requested his release so he could play somewhere else. The 6-foot-4 guard appeared in 34 games as a sophomore last season, averaging 1.9 points, one rebound and eight minutes.
Xavier has been stocking up at the guard position. Last month, Indiana guard Jordan Crawford accepted a scholarship from Xavier. Point guard Terrell Holloway, a prep player who was originally intending to play at Indiana, also committed to Xavier.
NBA
LOS ANGELES ó The Los Angeles Lakers signed free-agent forward Josh Powell.
The 6-foot-9 Powell, a three-year NBA veteran who played college ball at North Carolina State, spent last season with the Los Angeles Clippers, averaging 5.5 points and 5.2 rebounds in 64 games.
Powell has career averages of 4.2 points and 3.6 rebounds in 138 games with Dallas, Indiana, Golden State and the Clippers. After going undrafted in 2003, Powell spent two seasons overseas, where he played in the Italian and Russian leagues.
– LOS ANGELES ó The Clippers re-signed unrestricted free-agent center Paul Davis on Monday, giving Los Angeles three players named Davis on their 15-man roster.
He joins Baron Davis and Ricky Davis, another pair of free-agent additions.
Paul Davis averaged 2.5. points, 2.1 rebounds and 0.8 assists in 22 games with the Clippers before sustaining a season-ending injury on Dec. 21.
GOLF
HONOLULU ó David Leadbetter, Michelle Wie’s coach, on Wie’s playing strategy that has included playing PGA Tour events: “It’s a shock to me and to her agents that this is happening. I don’t think the family is making the right choice. There’s definitely more to lose than to gain.
“I’ve put too much time and effort into Michelle to be able to sit by and watch this happening without saying something. If she doesn’t stick to doing what’s sensible, we could see one of the greatest potential talents the game has ever known going to waste.”
Wie on her tie for 12th at the Canadian Women’s Open: “You know, I feel like I gained a lot of, you know, confidence.”
TENNIS
NEW YORK ó Rafael Nadal’s summer keeps getting better.
A day after winning an Olympic gold medal in Beijing, Nadal officially unseated Roger Federer to become the world’s No. 1 tennis player when the ATP rankings came out Monday.
Federer had been atop the rankings for 235 weeks, but Nadal has won six tournaments this year and heads into next week’s U.S. Open as the favorite to win his third straight Grand Slam.
He has won 38 of 39 matches on tour and beat Federer in the finals of the French Open and Wimbledon this summer.
– NEWPORT, R.I. ó Pat Cash beat Jim Courier 6-3, 6-4 to win the Hall of Fame Champions Cup title.
Cash, the 1987 Wimbledon winner, earned his first tournament victory on the Outback Champions Series, the tennis circuit for champion tennis players 30 and over. Courier was beaten on the day he turned 38.
BASEBALL
BOSTON ó Curt Schilling says he’s leaning “very heavily” toward retirement and is waiting until spring training approaches to see if he wants to try to pitch again.
The Boston Red Sox right-hander, who underwent season-ending shoulder surgery on June 23, said in his most recent blog entry that his shoulder “is getting better fast” and “I’ve still got a rather lengthy amount of time before I decide anything.”
Still, he said, “the pendulum is swinging very heavily in the direction of it just being over. I’ve never snot gotten ready to head to Florida, well, not in 23 or so years anyway, so to me that will likely be the last real test for me and whether or not I want to put the time and effort into getting after it one more time.”
HORSES
UPPERVILLE, Va. ó Genuine Risk, one of only three fillies to win the Kentucky Derby, died Monday at Newstead Farm.
The 1980 Derby winner died peacefully about 7:30 a.m. at the advanced age of 31 after eating a hearty breakfast.