College Players

The Baltimore Spirit selected nine players in the National Professional Soccer League's expansion draft yesterday in Buffalo, N.Y., and another five in the league's college draft.Among the college players drafted were Jason Dieter, the UMBC player who was the first player signed by the Spirit, Loyola College defender Tom Donahue and Howard University goalkeeper Shaka Hislop.In the expansion pool, former Major Soccer League fans should be familiar with at least two of the players picked. Forward Bobby Joe Esposito played in both Cleveland and Los Angeles in the MSL, before joining Kansas City in the NPSL, and defender Chris Duke played two seasons for the old Kansas City Comets, before joining the NPSL's K.C. Attack.

USC's Lee amazing Teddy Greenstein Chicago Tribune My Heisman choice will remain a secret until Saturday's announcement. So removing the four players (Collin Klein, Jordan Lynch, Johnny Manziel and Manti Te'o) that made up my ballot I'm left with two defensive studs and a game-breaker at USC. The game-breaker is Marqise Lee, a sophomore stud at USC. He's so good, his five-catch, 75-yard effort against Notre Dame qualified as his second-worst performance of the season.

WHILE "March madness" sweeps the country, "March sadness" hangs over my house.Unlike most of the nation's college basketball fans, who, starting today, are hunkering down in front of their TV sets to watch the NCAA championships, I don't feel much like cheering.Not one but two of my alma maters -- the University of Kentucky and the University of Maryland -- are ineligible to compete for the national championship this year. The NCAA is punishing both schools for various rules infractions.So being left on the sidelines, I have both the time and the motivation to speak out against the NCAA's zealous crusade to punish student athletes for their ability to earn a good living.

For the second straight year, The Baltimore Sun has counted down the best returning Division I college basketball players from this area. Players were chosen based on previous college accomplishments and projections for the 2012-13 season. College coaches, sports information directors, writers and others were consulted in compiling this list t-No. 16: Omar Strong, Texas Southern The 5-foot-9, 176-pound point guard was Texas Southern's leading scorer at 13.3 points per game, shooting 38.9 percent from 3-point range.

WILLIAMSPORT - They follow his every movement, even the ones that take him to an isolated area beyond a row of bleachers at his high school. Major league scouts trail Nick Adenhart as though he's a suspect instead of a prospect. They stare at him, judge him, whisper to each other, scribble in their notepads. But how many are willing to take him? Beyond winning games and striking out batters, Adenhart also is trying to buck a trend. Since the book Moneyball came out last year, touting the Oakland Athletics' draft philosophy of choosing college-aged players, some teams have become more cautious about investing a large signing bonus on a prep pitcher.

LOS ANGELES -- In a week in which Harold Miner set USC's career scoring record, got four stitches in his tongue and endured a 3-for-18 shooting performance against the University of Washington, Miner also found himself being included in some pretty select company.The long-range-shooting Miner, who is averaging 26.4, suddenly has emerged as a candidate for the U.S. Olympic basketball team for this summer in Barcelona, Spain. Detroit Pistons coach Chuck Daly, who will coach the team, included Miner on his short list -- six names -- of players he thinks would fit in well in the one or two spots that will go to college players.

Amid all the late posturing and trade proposals that will inevitably take place in the final hours before Tuesday's NBA draft, there appears to be one certainty. Shortly after NBA commissioner David Stern announces the first overall selection, he'll be joined on the Madison Square Garden stage by a player who honed his game in college basketball last season. With the top pick, the Milwaukee Bucks will likely select either North Carolina forward Marvin Williams or Utah center Andrew Bogut.

CHATHAM, Mass. -- Baseball in the Cape Cod League is a "finishing school" concept, where college players come to improve, to entertain, enjoy summer vacation and have their talents measured against each other for future financial consideration by professional teams.So many scouts, general managers and farm directors -- even agents apprising likely clients -- show up it suggests some kind of a baseball convention has been called to order. It's not difficult to understand the attraction. This is where the prospects are, which explains the vast manifestation of interest.

HAVANA -- They had all the advantages. An unlimited talent pool to choose from. A convoy of coaches to scout opponents. A private plane to shuttle back and forth to Miami for rest, relaxation and practice.But what the United States men's basketball team lacked last night was the ability to play a broad-shoulder international style, to exchange shoves on the sly, to wipe the ball away from the cylinder of the rim, to remain composed while a flag-waving crowd swayed and chanted.The once unthinkable is now the predictable.

Mohammed al-Fassi, 50, a Saudi Arabian sheik who provoked the ire of his neighbors in Beverly Hills, Calif., in the late 1970s when he painted his Sunset Boulevard mansion and its outdoor nude statues garish colors, died Dec. 24 in Cairo, Egypt. Mr. al-Fassi, who was embroiled with his first wife in a long-running battle over assets that also received wide publicity, died of an infected hernia, according to attorney Marvin Mitchelson, who represents the sheik's ex-wife, Sheika Dena al-Fassi.

We're less than two months away from the start of college basketball season, which means that it's time to begin the second annual Sweet 16 . For those who missed it last year, The Sweet 16 is my list of Baltimore's top college basketball players . The selections have been made based on prior college success and projections for this coming season. I consulted college coaches, sports information directors, writers and others in compiling this list. The order in which these stories appear online doesn't necessarily constitute a ranking.

The Ball Up All-Stars, a team of streetball legends that's traveling the country this summer, are undefeated. But during warmups before the tour's Baltimore stop at Coppin State on Sunday night, Demetrius Spencer was perspiring like he was going through the shooting drills. "I'll be honest with you, I'm worried about tonight," Spencer said before tip-off. "[Baltimore] might hand us our first loss. " Spencer wasn't playing. He's the CEO of Ball Up, a new streetball tour geared at "families and sports fans," and he thought his players, who danced out of a cloud of smoke under neon lights during pregame introductions, were in for a real test against Baltimore.

I am writing to address your week of April 12 front page story about Jimmy Brooks and "The Big Game. " It should have been dubbed or named "Glory Dazes" and/or "Glory Haze. " There is a glaring problem with your feel good and/or prima donna story. He earned a full baseball scholarship during his freshman season, but failed to graduate. Too bad he squandered his opportunity. Oh, well. Party on, Sergeant Brooks. Dan Lewis Laurel

In lieu of barbecuing or a trip to the beach this Fourth of July, a team of Harford County girls traveled to Vail, Colorado, to compete in the annual Vail Shootout Lacrosse Tournament from June 30 to July 3. The team, sponsored by the Baltimore-based Cole Roofing Company, finished third in a competitive field of 17 teams comprised of top-level collegiate and post-collegiate players from across the nation. The team captain and trip organizer was Chelsea Ford, a John Carroll alumna and Towson University graduate.

Three days after powering Virginia to the program's fourth NCAA championship, junior attackman Steele Stanwick was recognized for his effort by taking home the Tewaaraton Award, given to the nation's top college player. On the women's side, Northwestern attacker Shannon Smith won after leading the Wildcats to an upset 8-7 victory over No. 1 Maryland for their sixth championship in seven years. Stanwick, a Baltimore native and Loyola graduate, outlasted Cornell junior attackman Rob Pannell, Army senior attackman Jeremy Boltus and Syracuse senior goalkeeper John Galloway and senior long-stick midfielder Joel White for the award.

MEN Ryan Compitello, Hartford Junior, Hauppauge, N.Y., attackman The program earned its first appearance in the NCAA tournament courtesy of Compitello. He scored three goals and added two assists in the Hawks' 11-10 upset of then-No. 11 Stony Brook. Compitello's third goal of the contest occurred with one second left in the fourth quarter, as he corralled an errant shot by sophomore Rory Nunamacher and stuffed a high shot over Seawolves senior goalie Rob Camposa.

The East squad playing in the USAir College Indoor Soccer Showcase at the Baltimore Arena Feb. 13 will come together three days before taking on its counterpart from the West. That might sound like short notice and scant practice time, but Frank Olszewski isn't complaining."A couple of years ago we had one practice, and a short one at that," recalls the Towson State coach who will be assisting the Blast's Mike Stankovic. Billy Phillips of the Dallas Sidekicks will handle the West team, assisted by Bill Sento of Loyola.

St. Paul's senior Tricia Burdt will take her show to the University of Maryland next fall, majoring in physical education, playing field hockey and perhaps contributing in lacrosse.Burdt, 17, of Mount Airy was selected last fall as The Baltimore Sun's All-Metro Field Hockey Player of the Year after scoring five goals and adding four assists as the Gators' center midfielder.She also got offers to play field hockey at fellow Atlantic Coast Conference schools Virginia and Duke, but her mind was set on Maryland.