Hornets

The middle of this June's NBA lottery improved considerably when Georgia Tech point guard Kenny Anderson became the first prominent underclassman to turn pro.Anderson announced yesterday he will give up his last two seasons of college eligibility to join the NBA. In doing so, he probably will become the first guard taken in the June 26 draft, possibly by Charlotte.An NBA gag order concerning underclassmen still applies to Anderson, so Hornets vice president Allan Bristow couldn't discuss Anderson's impact yesterday.

The ends were just as important as the starts for the Stevenson men's lacrosse team in its 13-7 victory over No. 13 Lynchburg in Wednesday night's NCAA tournament quarterfinal at Mustang Stadium in Owings Mills. No. 4 Stevenson's fourth appearance in the last five national semifinals was aided by the offense's ability to score goals in the final minutes of the first and second quarters. Sophomore attackman Mark Pannenton converted a bounce pass from junior attackman Chris Dashiell with 1.1 seconds left in the first period and then scored with 38.3 and 19.7 seconds remaining in the second frame.

North Carroll first-year coach Rich Harvey knows all he needs to about the Damascus Hornets, whom his Panthers will face in the opening round of the regional softball playoffs.The Hornets have knocked the Panthers out of the state playoffs the past two years.With the regions realigned this year, the fourth-seeded Panthers (11-6) will get an earlier look at the top-seeded Hornets (13-3) when they travel to Damascus today in the Class 2A West Region semifinals."They've been the ones to knock us out the past two years.

Although this is the first time these programs will meet in the NCAA tournament, they have met nine times in the regular season since 2006. Stevenson has won five of those contests. Lynchburg (14-5) - ranked 13th in the most recent United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association poll - is 0-1 in the quarterfinal round, losing to Roanoke, 10-9, in 2005. Senior Vin Curran has won 55.8 percent (129-of-231) of his faceoffs and ranks third on the team in goals with 29. No. 4 Stevenson (19-2)

LANDOVER -- David Wingate, the former Dunbar High and Georgetown star, spent an anxious month waiting for an NBA team to call after the Washington Bullets chose not to re-sign the six-year veteran, who had been seeking a multi-year pact.When the Charlotte Hornets lost small forward Johnny Newman to a fractured hand last month, Wingate was signed to replace him for a minimum salary of $140,000.Now dividing time between forward and guard, he has become a valuable addition to the Hornets, especially on defense.

Rather than rush headlong into a household project, I like to put it "under study."That is what I have done with the "bee wall." This is a brick wall, four flights up, that bees have invaded. Actually I think the invaders are hornets -- yellow jackets -- not honeybees. I am working on making a positive identification. They don't take kindly to folks who come calling.I discovered them on a golden weekend afternoon when, as is the custom of homeowners, I was conducting my annual state-of-the-roof inspection.

Larry Johnson should be happy. After a back injury limited him to 51 games two seasons ago and had many thinking he was washed up, Johnson returned last season to average 18.8 points and 7.2 rebounds and once again earn a spot as an Eastern Conference All-Star.So what are Johnson's thoughts on the coming season?"I'm not in the right frame of mind to play basketball," the Charlotte power forward said last week, a day before the Hornets opened training camp.What has upset Johnson is the off-season trade of Hersey Hawkins to the Seattle SuperSonics for Kendall Gill.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The Charlotte Hornets intend to take Larry Johnson of Nevada-Las Vegas with the No. 1 overall pick in Wednesday's NBA draft, a team source told The Charlotte Observer yesterday.The source said the Hornets have eliminated Syracuse forward Billy Owens. Barring a dramatic and unexpected reversal toward Georgetown center Dikembe Mutombo, the team will take Johnson, a 6-7 forward, with the pick.Hornets vice president Allan Bristow would acknowledge only that team management has eliminated one of the two forwards under consideration and has one player in mind.

For Charlotte Hornets fans, the long wait for No. 1 draft pick Larry Johnson is over.The Hornets, in need of inside scoring and rebounding, announced the signing of the 6-foot-5 power forward from Nevada-Las Vegas yesterday.The six-year contract is worth $3.3 million a year through the 1996-97 season, team officials announced. The first year will be worth $1.95 million, the offer that the Hornets made at least a month ago."I'm ready to play," Johnson said. "I was ready three or four months ago. Nothing has been as terrible as waiting to get into camp."

Chris Paul had 23 points, 17 assists and nine rebounds, and the host New Orleans Hornets ran away with their ninth straight win, 117-93, over the Denver Nuggets last night. A jubilant crowd broke into repeated chants of "M-V-P" in recognition of a masterful performance by the Hornets guard, who is the team's best shot at making the All-Star Game in New Orleans next month as a reserve. Even in a game featuring recently elected All-Star starter Allen Iverson, Paul was the best player on the floor.

Former Mount St. Joseph basketball standout Henry Sims has signed a 10-day contract with the New Orleans Hornets. Sims, who went undrafted after a four-year career at Georgetown, was playing in the NBA D-League for the Erie Bayhawks before signing with the Hornets. He averaged 17.1 points, 9 rebounds and 1.6 blocked shots for the Bayhawks and was named to the D-League All-Star Game.  The Hornets lost center/forward Jason Smith for the season with a torn labrum, which prompted the signing for Sims.

NEW YORK -- The conversation took place during his freshman year at Maryland. Greivis Vasquez, still learning a new language and getting adjusted to playing in the Atlantic Coast Conference, sat down in his coach's office one day to talk about his dreams. "He told me that he wanted to play in the NBA," Gary Williams recalled recently. "I told him, 'You've got the size, you see the court really well, you can shoot fairly well. It's just a matter of getting better every year.' He just took that to heart and went with it. Greivis got better every year.

Pelicans is just fine K.C. Johnson Chicago Tribune What's wrong with the Pelicans? As NBA commissioner David Stern said, as long as the owner is fine with it, he's fine with it. It's the state bird. It's actually a strong species, even though many are mocking the nickname for its alleged weakness or clumsiness. The thing about these team nicknames is that most negative reaction is based on unfamiliarity. Heard much Jazz lately in Utah? Seen many grizzly bears in Memphis?

Sixteen years ago, he cruised the streets near John Carroll and what was then Loyola College in a Nissan Sentra, a fresh and eager youth who was ready to play, ready to compete. Back then he was known as "The Hornet," not because of his hulking, quarterback-worthy 6-foot-2 stature, but because his prized Sentra was brown - a reference to the Brown Hornet superhero from the Fat Albert cartoons. After being named Major League Soccer Goalkeeper of the Year twice, an MLS All-Star six times and MLS Comeback Player of the Year, Zach Thornton has returned home to Loyola University as a men's volunteer assistant coach.

In 2007, quarterback Nick Elko rewrote the state record book at Arundel High. On Thursday night, the Delaware State signal caller added another page to his superlatives. Playing before family and friends at Morgan State, Elko, now a redshirt senior, sliced through the Bears' defense with near surgical precision, completing 17 straight passes in the first half to set a school record and leading the Hornets to a 28-23 win in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference game. "With the talent that kid has throwing the football, we were pretty sure they were going to try and throw it against us," Morgan coach Donald Hill-Eley said.

The New Orleans Hornets have the first and 10th pick in the 2012 NBA draft. The first pick is believed to be a lock in Kentucky's Anthony Davis, but a number of names have been mentioned at No. 10. Terrell Stoglin has not been in that group -- and has barely been talked about as even a second-round pick since declaring his eligibilty for the draft after being suspended for a year by Maryland last month. So what was the former Terps guard and last season's ACC top scorer doing in the Big Easy Monday working out for the Hornets, who don't even own a second-round draft pick?

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Losing is taking its toll on Muggsy Bogues.The Baltimore native wasn't his usual spirited, tenacious self in the Charlotte Hornets' 114-103 loss to the Orlando Magic yesterday.He played so poorly that he blamed the loss on himself. He missed nine of 10 shots, scored two points and committed three turnovers in the first three periods."I wasn't on top of my game," Bogues said. "If you ask me, I cost us the game. I didn't have the energy I normally have, that kick, that shot I need to give this team."

The struggling Washington Bullets reached the halfway mark of the 1992-93 season with a 12-29 mark -- the third worst in the NBA. Their latest defeat Saturday, a 127-121 overtime loss to the visiting Charlotte Hornets, typified their frustrations the past three months.The names of the rival teams and players may change, but for the Bullets, the negative results are predictable. No lead is safe, even in the closing seconds, as was the case in their three overtime contests at the Capital Centre in the space of a week.