Sports briefs 2/24/05

Baseball

* Ryne Sandberg is joining Ernie Banks and Billy Williams in the Hall of Fame and on the foul poles at Wrigley Field.

The Chicago Cubs announced Wednesday they will retire Sandberg's No. 23 in a ceremony before the Aug. 28 game against the Florida Marlins. Sandberg is to be inducted into the Hall of Fame on July 31.

Sandberg's number is only the fourth to be retired by the Cubs, joining Banks, Williams and Ron Santo.

* Detroit Tigers reliever Ugueth Urbina said Wednesday that his mother's five months in captivity was something he hopes "nobody goes through."

Urbina reported to spring training Tuesday and one day later made his first public comments since his kidnapped mother was rescued in Venezuela last week. He left the Tigers in September to travel to Venezuela following his mother's disappearance.

Colleges

* Travis Diener is thinking about the NBA sooner than he expected.

Marquette's star point guard will miss the rest of his senior season after breaking two bones in his left hand at practice Tuesday and undergoing corrective surgery that will sideline him up to six weeks.

Diener was hurt in a non-contact drill at the beginning of practice, leaving him 83 points shy of surpassing George Thompson as Marquette's all-time leading scorer, and 15 assists shy of becoming Conference USA's all-time leader.

Diener, a Cousy Award finalist as the nation's top point guard, will continue to attend practices and games during his recovery as he focuses on the NBA draft in June. He leads Conference USA with averages of 19.7 points and seven assists, and is the only player in the country to lead a major conference in both categories.

* Temple coach John Chaney suspended himself Wednesday for one game and apologized for putting a player in against St. Joseph's a day earlier for the sole purpose of rough play and quick fouls. Chaney offered the self-imposed one-game suspension after meeting with Temple president David Adamany and athletic director Bill Bradshaw. He will miss Saturday's game against Massachusetts.

"I would like to apologize to Saint Joseph's University, its fans, student-athletes and head coach Phil Martelli for my reprehensible behavior during Tuesday night's game," Chaney said in a statement. "I spoke with Coach Martelli today to voice my apology to him and his team."

Upset by what he thought were illegal screens by Saint Joseph's that were not being called by the officials, Chaney turned to seldom-used 6-foot-8, 250-pound Nehemiah Ingram to "send a message." Ingram started throwing his arms around and tossing elbows, once connecting hard to the chin of Hawks center Dwayne Jones, and had a hard foul on John Bryant that left him sprawled on the court for several minutes. Ingram fouled out in 4 minutes.

Washington hired former Oklahoma State head coach Bob Simmons as special teams coordinator Wednesday.

Linebackers coach Chris Tormey will also become the Huskies recruiting coordinator, coach Tyrone Willingham said.

Tennis

* A homeless man accused of stalking tennis star Anna Kournikova was ordered Wednesday to permanently stay at least 1,000 feet away from her if he gets out of jail.

William Lepeska, who has been detained in a psychiatric unit on $250,000 bond, faces up to 30 years in state prison if convicted of two counts of battery on police officers, resisting arrest and burglary, all felonies. He also faces misdemeanor charges of stalking, indecent exposure and criminal mischief.

The 40-year-old Lepeska, who once stabbed a sleeping college student, admitted swimming nude across Biscayne Bay, bound for Kournikova's $5 million estate Jan. 30. He was arrested when he turned up on the pool deck at the wrong house and started yelling, "Anna! Save me!"

* Two-time defending champion Roger Federer came back to edge Czech qualifier Ivo Minar 6-7 (5), 6-3, 7-6 (5) Wednesday in the first round of the Dubai Open.

Andre Agassi, fifth-seeded Tommy Robredo, No. 6 Nikolay Davydenko and No. 8 Ivan Ljubicic also won.

Agassibeat last year's finalist Feliciano Lopez of Spain 6-1, 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals.