Ucla

UCLA coach Ben Howland said sophomore forward Drew Gordon is no longer on the team. Howland said Tuesday he came to a mutual agreement to part ways with Gordon, who intends to transfer. The 6-foot-9 Gordon is the Bruins' third-leading scorer, averaging 11.2 points and 5.3 rebounds while starting all six games. The former San Jose high school star apparently clashed a few times in recent months with Howland, who didn't give a specific reason for Gordon's departure.

Calipari or Smart David Teel Daily Press Three Final Fours but no banner in 10 years like Ben Howland? Not good enough at UCLA. Befitting the Hollywood aura, the ideal candidate is an A-list personality with an oversized ego, designer wardrobe and unassailable recruiting chops. Translation: He's John Calipari, who's taken Massachusetts, Memphis and Kentucky to the Final Four, the latter to last season's national championship. But Calipari wouldn't bail on the bluegrass for LA's bright lights.

No losses in sight David Teel Daily Press Connecticut's road to history and another perfect season has more potholes than the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The Huskies' remaining schedule includes 11 games against teams in this week's Top 25, including No. 3 Stanford, No. 6 Duke and No. 7 Ohio State. But after erasing a late eight-point deficit against No. 2 Baylor on Tuesday — thank freshman Bria Hartley's two cold-blooded 3-pointers — UConn appears destined to break UCLA's record on Dec. 21 against No. 16 Florida State.

MEN'S TELEVISION HIGHLIGHTS Nicholls St.@Michigan St. BIGTENNoon St. Francis (Pa.)@American CSNNoon Miss. State@Providence ESPNUNoon Baylor@Kentucky 13, 912:30 Brown@New Hampshire FCS1 Illinois State@Louisville MASN1 Miami@Massachusetts CBSSN2 Delaware@Duke CSN2 Rutgers@Mississippi ESPNU2 Xavier@Purdue BIGTEN2:15 Alabama@Cincinnati ...

COLLEGE PARK -- It was obvious from the start that UCLA was the team with a mission. That it had the better athletes was also readily apparent to a Cole Field House crowd of 5,314 last night.The National Collegiate Athletic Association women's volleyball championship was billed as a battle between two hard-hitting teams, and although Pacific had a couple of brief flurries, it was never really in the match, as UCLA took 1 hour, 15 minutes to overwhelm the Tigers, 15-9, 15-12, 15-7.The result extended UCLA's winning streak to 33 games in a 36-1 season, the loss coming against Nebraska in Hawaii in early September.

LOS ANGELES -- This fall 4,852 freshmen are expected to enroll at the University of California, Los Angeles, but only 96, or 2 percent, are black - the lowest figure in decades and a growing concern on the campus. For several years, students, professors and administrators at UCLA have watched with discouragement as the numbers of black students declined. But the new figures, released last week, have shocked many on campus and prompted school leaders to declare the situation a crisis. UCLA - which has such storied black alumni as baseball legend Jackie Robinson, Nobel laureate Ralph Bunche and former Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, and is in a county that is 9.8 percent black - now has a lower percentage of black freshmen than either its cross-town rival, the University of Southern California, or UC-Berkeley, the school often considered its top competitor within the UC system.

PASADENA, Calif. -- UCLA and Wisconsin. Finally, a change of pace.Local college football fans weren't the only ones who had grown tired of seeing the same teams play in the Rose Bowl in recent years.Consider the plight of the Rose Bowl groundskeepers whose job it is to turn the field into the traditional colorful display that millions of television viewers see.Yo, Mac, pass me those cans of blue and maize paint.You mean the blue and gold?Yeah. The Michigan stuff.You want the purple paint, too?

Tyus Edney's heir has the touch of a guy wearing boxing gloves. Ed O'Bannon's place in the starting lineup has been taken by a 6-foot-5 swingman who tipped the scales at 265 pounds last summer. The freshman who replaced George Zidek recently had 26 points, 16 rebounds and 10 blocked shots -- over five games.During the past 19 years, no defending champion has advanced past the second round of the NCAA tournament after losing three starters, but despite that sometimes shaky shuffle of personnel, don't bet against UCLA getting to the Sweet 16.Utah is being touted as a No. 2 seed and Arizona also has a higher national ranking than No. 17 UCLA, but the up-and-down Bruins are still the scariest team out West.

LOS ANGELES -- Playing at one of college basketball's most venerated venues didn't intimidate Coppin State yesterday. Playing against the nation's 16th-ranked team didn't bother the Eagles too much, either. For the first half of its game against UCLA at Pauley Pavilion, Coppin State looked as if it was going to help longtime coach Fang Mitchell resurrect his program's reputation as a giant-killer. Unfortunately for the Eagles, reality hit nearly from the moment they left their halftime locker room.

LOS ANGELES -- The University of California, Los Angeles, has paid out more than $1 million in confidential settlements over four years to women who were raped, sexually harassed or faced gender discrimination at the school, according to documents released by the school.In one case, the school paid $300,000 to a female student who was raped by two men at Reiber Hall, a student dormitory, and in another it paid $330,000 to an employee who was allegedly raped, molested and subjected to sexual abuse by a supervisor described by the employee's attorney as a figure of "power and prestige within the university."

Paralympics Long, Snyder win swimming gold medals U.S. swimmer Jessica Long , formerly of Middle River, won her second gold medal at the London Paralympic Games and the ninth of her career by successfully defending her 400-meter freestyle S8 title Friday. Long, 20, who had both lower legs amputated before age 2, won by 18.22 seconds, finishing in 4 minutes, 42.28 seconds, and lowering her world mark set in June by 1.89 seconds. "What I always like to say is I swam my heart out and I can honestly say I swam my heart out and I gave it everything I had," said Long, who now lives and trains in Colorado.

He earned it, take it Chris Dufresne Los Angeles Times This ranks as one of the dumbest concocted "controversies" in the history of concocted controversies in new-world media. Of course rich man mogul "Diddy" Combs could pay for son Justin's education at UCLA, but the fact is athletic scholarships are not give-aways ... they are to be earned. If my Daddy was as rich as Diddy, I'd want very much to make my own way in the world. That should be the story.

Former Ravens offensive lineman Jonathan Ogden is considered a strong candidate to be part of the 2013 Pro Football Hall of Fame class. But before that, Ogden learned that he'll be enshrined into another Hall of Fame. The former UCLA star was one of 14 players to be selected for the College Hall of Fame. He'll be inducted in September. Ogden was a four-year starter at left tackle for the Bruins. In his final season at UCLA, Ogden was awarded the Outland Trophy, given to college football's top lineman, and named a unanimous first-team All-American.  He was then drafted by the Ravens with the fourth overall pick in the 1996 draft.

Gary Williams spent this college basketball season out of coaching for the first time in more than four decades. A fundraiser for the university and an analyst for the Big Ten Network and ESPN 980 in Rockville, Williams was honored Wednesday night at the Sports Legends Museum at Camden Yards ahead of the 10th anniversary of Maryland's national championship. The 67-year old sat down with The Baltimore Sun prior to the "An Evening With Gary Williams" celebration to discuss the anniversary.

Colleges Terps ' rally isn't enough in 6-5 baseball loss to No. 14 UCLA Tim Kiene hit a three-run homer in the fifth inning to help Maryland erase a 5-1 deficit, but No. 14 UCLA countered with a run in the bottom half and held the visiting Terps scoreless the rest of the way in a 6-5 baseball victory Saturday afternoon. Maryland opened the season Friday night by overcoming a one-run deficit with two runs in the ninth inning to beat the Bruins, 2-1. That victory broke the Terps ' 10-game losing streak in openers — their last season-opening win had come in 2001 against North Carolina A&T. Wrestling: Second-ranked Josh Asper (Hereford)

Men's college soccer UM falls to Louisville, 4-2, in NCAA 3rd round Colin Rolfe had a goal and three assists as No.12 Louisville defeated host No. 5 Maryland, 4-2, in the third round of the NCAA men's soccer championship Sunday. Rolfe created space on the wing and played a low cross to teammate Daniel Keller for the winning goal in the 78th minute to advance the Cardinals (14-6-2) to the quarterfinals. The game opened at a frantic pace, and a breakaway for Rolfe in the second minute set the tone for what would be a shaky night for a Maryland back line that lacked senior center back Alex Lee . Maryland, which made its national-best 10th straight appearance in the third round, settled in and controlled possession but was caught on its heels in the 19th minute as Rolfe found Nick DeLeon with a through ball behind the defense.

If Notre Dame heads to the Bowl Championship Series for the second season in a row - and given the rest of the schedule, that's an extreme likelihood - the Fighting Irish can thank UCLA coach Karl Dorrell. Dorrell is 0-9 against ranked teams on the road after his Bruins collapsed late against Notre Dame on Saturday, falling, 20-17, on a 45-yard pass-and-run touchdown from Brady Quinn to Jeff Samardzija with 27 seconds left. "We needed one first down to finish the game and we didn't do that," Dorrell said.

COLLEGE PARK -- Even without its two midfield stalwarts, the No. 1-ranked Maryland men's soccer team was too much for UCLA yesterday. On rain-soaked Ludwig Field, the Terrapins dominated throughout a 4-1 victory over No. 10 UCLA, one of seven Top 25 teams on their schedule. Maryland (3-0) played without both Maurice Edu (back spasms) and A.J. Godbolt (flu-like symptoms), two of the three players featured on the cover of the team's media guide. Coach Sasho Cirovski said "there was no need to risk playing them this early in the year."

Chante' Sandiford was 13 years old when she found her second home. Playing in the Washington Freedom's youth developmental program and going against a rival club, Sandiford made one big save after another to earn an impressive shutout. Afterward, she got a huge hug from her mother, high praise from her coach and an understanding - she belonged in goal. Also a striker who could score goals, Sandiford learned she liked the challenge of stopping them more. "I feel so comfortable, absolutely at home in the goal, and I love the challenge of keeping the ball out of the net," said Sandiford, a rising senior goalkeeper at UCLA who will start her third season for the Bruins this fall.

Honor the leaders Shannon Ryan Chicago Tribune The Mount Rushmore of college basketball should be carved into a North Carolina hill and include the same types of leaders and forward-thinkers that reside on the one in South Dakota. Without James Naismith, Mount Hoopsmore would be like Mount Rushmore without George Washington. It must include the man who invented the game, wrote the original rules and founded the University of Kansas' program. John Wooden, who won 10 national championships at UCLA, would be carved where Thomas Jefferson is placed.