Associated Press
CHAPEL HILL ó North Carolina made President Barack Obama’s bracket a winner with its romp through the NCAA tournament. Now Obama will get the chance to thank the Tar Heels for making him look good.
The president will honor the national champions at the White House next Monday.
Obama ó who played a pickup game with the team last spring ó picked the Tar Heels to win the title before the tournament. North Carolina was the only one of his Final Four picks to make it to Detroit, but the Tar Heels’ win against Michigan State on April 6 allowed him to finish in the top 20 percent of the 5 million-plus people who entered ESPN.com’s pool.
– RALEIGH ó One of the nation’s most sought-after basketball recruits has been charged with a misdemeanor breaking and entering after police found him walking out of a vacant house in North Carolina, police said Monday.
John Wall, 18, was detained briefly April 27 in Raleigh but not arrested. He and two other teenagers were cited. Police said there was no indication of forced entry at the empty house or that anything was taken.
Wall, a point guard at Raleigh Word of God, has not announced a college choice. He has been pursued by Duke, N.C. State, Kansas, Memphis, Miami, Kentucky, among others.
Frank Jackson, an assistant district attorney in Wake County, which includes Raleigh, said a person convicted of such an offense could face up to 120 days in jail. But he said a first-time offender would likely have to perform community service.
COLLEGES
GREENSBORO ó North Carolina-Greensboro athletic director Nelson Bobb is resigning after 26 years.
* SPARTANBURG, S.C. ó The Southern Conference’s first Hall of Fame class included Arnold Palmer and Jerry West. Others in the inaugural class included Furman basketball great Frank Selvy, Duke baseball player Dick Groat and the late Charlie “Choo Choo” Justice.
NFL
IRVING, Texas ó Government investigators began sorting through the Dallas Cowboys’ flattened practice facility, trying to figure out why fierce winds sent the tentlike structure crashing down.
Special teams coach Joe DeCamillis underwent surgery Monday to stabilize a fractured vertebrae in his neck. Both DeCamillis and sssistant athletic trainer Greg Gaither (fractured right leg) are expected to get out of the hospital this week.
Records obtained by The Associated Press show the city of Irving granted the Cowboys’ request to replace the fabric roof last year, five years after the structure was built.
Records do not show the Cowboys sought an inspection of the facility after replacing the roof, although city code requires it, according to Gary Miller, Irving’s director of planning and inspections.
* PITTSBURGH ó The Steelers released starting linebacker Larry Foote, who had asked to be traded or cut.
Foote has started every Steelers game for five seasons. He was unhappy with coming off the field on passing downs for Lawrence Timmons, a 2007 first-round pick. With Timmons ready to start, the Steelers cut Foote.
* ASHBURN, Va. ó Receiver Roydell Williams signed with the Redskins. Ankle injuries led the Titans to cut him at the end of camp last year.
* FRANKLIN, Tenn. ó A Tennessee man is suing Washington defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth, saying the All Pro was driving his black Ferrari like a maniac when the player sent the man’s car crashing into the concrete median of a highway and leaving him disabled.
Corey Edmonson needed hip replacement surgery after the accident, and attorney Jon Perry filed the lawsuit seeking $7.5 million in compensatory damages.n INDIANAPOLIS ó The Colts signed Boston College quarterback Chris Crane of Boston College and Duke linebacker Mike Tauiliili, both undrafted free agents.
* BALTIMORE ó The Ravens signed QB John Beck, who was released by Miami.
* FOXBOROUGH, Mass. ó The New England Patriots signed veteran linebacker Vinnie Ciurciu.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. ó Alabama receiver Julio Jones underwent surgery to repair a sports hernia. He is expected to be back for fall camp.
HORSE RACING
LOUISVILLE, Ky. ó Mine That Bird was proclaimed ready for the Preakness after a spirited early morning jog
“The horse will be the judge, but as good as he looked this morning, we plan on being at the Preakness,” trainer Bennie Woolley Jr. said.
GOLF
ST. ANDREWS, Scotland ó The British Open will return in 2013 to Muirfield, the links course on Scotland’s east coast where golf’s oldest championship has been played for more than a century.
Muirfield last hosted the British Open in 2002.
TENNIS
ROME ó Venus Williams needed three sets to win her opening match at the Italian Open, beating Lucie Safarova 6-2, 4-6, 6-2.
* ROME ó Serena Williams says she’s No. 1 in the world even though the rankings indicate otherwise.
Dinara Safina of Russia overtook Williams in the rankings two weeks ago, but Williams says “quite frankly, I’m the best in the world.”