Sports briefs 2/8/05

Colleges

* Randy Melvin, who spent the past two seasons as defensive line coach at Rutgers, will join Ron Zook's staff at Illinois as an assistant coach.

Melvin, 45, originally from Aurora, is a 1982 graduate of Eastern Illinois University. He began his coaching career in 1982 at Urbana High School and moved to Aurora West the following year. After two seasons as an assistant, Melvin was head coach at Aurora West from 1985-87 and then spent seven seasons as an assistant at Eastern Illinois.

Golf

* Michelle Wie will play in this year's Women's British Open, the Ladies Golf Union said Monday.

The 15-year-old Wie accepted a special exception from the LGU to play at the July 28-31 event at Royal Birkdale.

Wie is one of five amateurs given exemptions to appear in the 144-player field.

Tennis

* Andre Agassi will return to the U.S. Davis Cup team after a five-year absence, The Associated Press learned Monday.

The U.S. Tennis Association planned to announce Monday or Tuesday that Agassi will rejoin the squad for its first-round match against Croatia on March 4-6 at Carson, Calif., a tennis source told the AP on condition of anonymity.

The eight-time Grand Slam tournament champion, who turns 35 in April, stopped playing Davis Cup after 2000 as part of a scaled-back schedule geared to peaking for the majors.