Tarkanian

Shaquille O'Neal of Louisiana State, the nation's leading rebounder at 14.7 per game, today was named winner of the Adolph Rupp Trophy as The Associated Press college basketball player of the year.Also, Randy Ayers, who led Ohio State to a share of the Big Ten championship in just his second season as a head coach, today was named AP's college coach of the year.The 7-foot-1, 290-pound O'Neal was a first-team All-American after averaging 27.6 points and 5.4 blocked shots per game along with his rebounds.

All-America center Shaquille O'Neal, saying he had as much fun as he could in college basketball, announced yesterday that he was forgoing his senior year at Louisiana State to enter the NBA draft.O'Neal averaged 24.1 points, 14.0 rebounds and 5.2 blocked shots this season.Kosiorek honoredWest Virginia senior guard Rosemary Kosiorek (Mercy) was named to the 10-member Kodak Women's All-America Basketball team, selected annually on the eve of the NCAA Women's Final Four by the Women's Basketball Coaches AssociationLaettner gets Rupp AwardDuke center Christian Laettner was named winner of the Adolph Rupp Award as The Associated Press College Basketball Player of the Year.

BOWIE -- Playing three seasons of basketball in a city where battling the odds is a way of life, Nevada-Las Vegas guard Anderson Hunt said he knew quitting college a year early to test himself in the professional ranks was a big-time gamble.Some say Hunt already lost the roll of the dice after failing to be selected in the NBA draft last month. The other four UNLV starters -- Larry Johnson (No. 1), Stacy Augmon (9), Greg Anthony (12) and George Ackles (29), all seniors -- were chosen.Hunt's college coach, Jerry Tarkanian, said he doubted the wisdom of Hunt's decision.

INDIANAPOLIS -- This is how much of a chance Duke has been given against Nevada-Las Vegas tonight at the Hoosier Dome in the semifinals of the National Collegiate Athletic Association basketball tournament. Nobody is mentioning MikeKrzyzewski's 0-for-the Final Four.This is how seriously the Blue Devils are being taken as a threat to end the Runnin' Rebels' run on a second straight national championship, the first team in 18 years to do so. Even Indiana's Bob Knight -- Krzyzewski's former coach at Army and still one of his closest friends -- is picking UNLV.

The biggest names in Indy racing may skip the biggest race in the world next year.IndyCar owners are threatening a boycott of the Indianapolis 500 unless Speedway president Tony George rescinds a new qualifying plan that would affect teams and drivers not aligned with his new Indy Racing League."

AKRON, Ohio -- Bob Huggins comes back to the area doing yet another great coaching job.Despite player suspensions, his Cincinnati Bearcats are 6-2 as they prepared for UMass later last night as part of a college doubleheader at the Gund.That's the good part.It also is true that no matter what happens to Huggins, the former Akron coach wins a lot of games.But Huggins also has to ask himself some tough questions: Namely, why does this stuff keep happening to me?This stuff is star forward Ruben Patterson in the midst of a 14-game suspension for breaking NCAA rules concerning phone credit cards and associating with an agent.

What it says about us can be debated, but there's no question sports figures have a special hold on the American public. A recent example was the way members of the Bush administration, including the Bushmeister himself, babbled like schoolboys in the presence of Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio aboard Air Force One on the ride to the All-Star Game in Toronto.Here were the nation's true heavy hitters lining up for autographs from two septuagenarians whose most notable achievements occurred a half-century ago, and in a kid's game.

Ten days after cutting four sports, William and Mary president Paul Verkuil said the college would reinstate women's basketball, men's wrestling and men's and women's swimming because of public response and new funding.A school spokesman said contributions saved the sports, but would not elaborate on where the money came from.* The Nebraska Legislature passed a bill yesterday to block National Collegiate Athletic Association rules limiting the amount financial aid student athletes can receive, despite fears that such a law might bring down NCAA sanctions.

WASHINGTON -- A congressional agency will turn the tables on the NCAA by making the powerful sports organization the subject of an investigation, it was announced today.The National Collegiate Athletic Association, the major governing body in college sports, is widely known for the investigations it conducts into alleged misconduct by member schools.The General Accounting Office -- an independent, investigative arm of Congress -- has agreed to probe the finances of college sports, said Rep. Tom McMillen of Maryland.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- The great teams all have the capability. They can attack with the relentlessness of an accomplished middleweight unleashing a flurry of left hooks, with the suddenness of a summer squall that arises on the plains and sweeps aside all in front of it.The great teams all have the steeliness. They can stare into the eye of the tiger without having to blink, can overcome any obstacle with an ease so obscene it leaves witnesses open-mouthed in awe.Top-ranked Nevada-Las Vegas (20-0)