South Carolina reports nine NCAA violations

Sports In Brief - July 4, 2008

By Staff and Wire Reports - Staff and Wire Reports

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COLUMBIA -- South Carolina reported nine NCAA secondary violations between January and June.

The school said Thursday only one infraction was considered a more serious Level I violation. That involved an athletic department staffer betting dinner with a friend on the outcome on a game not involving South Carolina.

That violation was forwarded to the NCAA for review. The rest were classified as Level II violations, which are processed by the Southeastern Conference.

South Carolina said all requests to restore eligibility to those involved were granted.

The school also reported five positives tests for marijuana from the 207 drug tests performed in the past six months. The NCAA conducted six tests for drugs of abuse on South Carolina athletes. All were negative.

• COLLEGE BASEBALL -- South Carolina assistant Monte Lee takes over a College of Charleston baseball team that's much improved over the one for which he played in 1999. His goal as the new Cougars coach is to keep things moving in that same, winning direction.

"Our biggest task is to go out there and beat the bushes trying to find the best players we can," Lee said Thursday. "That's what we have to do to keep the program where it is and take it beyond that."

Lee, 31, who spent the past six seasons on Ray Tanner's Gamecocks staff, gets a five-year contract worth $95,000 a year, the school said. "I am ecstatic that he was able to realize his dream," Tanner said.

• PRO BASKETBALL -- Former NBA coaches Del Harris and Bernie Bickerstaff are returning to the sidelines, this time as assistants under new Chicago Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro.

Harris and Bickerstaff will be joined by Bob Ociepka, an assistant the past two seasons with Minnesota, and holdover Pete Myers, the Bulls said.

Harris was a consultant with the Dallas Mavericks last season after spending seven years as an assistant under Don Nelson and Avery Johnson. He is 556-457 in 13-plus seasons as a head coach with Houston, Milwaukee and the Los Angeles Lakers, leading the Rockets to the NBA finals in 1981.

• OLYMPIC BASEBALL -- The U.S. Olympic baseball team is adding Davidson's coach to manager Davey Johnson's staff.

Team USA announced Thursday that veteran Wildcats coach Dick Cooke has been named an auxiliary coach for next month's games in Beijing.

It's the second trip to the Olympics for Cooke. He was on Tommy Lasorda's staff eight years ago in Sydney.