Sports briefs 4/26/05

Baseball

* Former baseball star Jose Canseco and twin brother Ozzie were found liable Monday in a lawsuit by two men whom they beat up at a Miami Beach nightclub in 2001.

A jury awarded Christian Presley and Alan Cheeks more than $700,000 in compensatory damages and left open the possibility of punitive damages. The panel of four men and two women reached the verdict after deliberating two days.

Presley had sought $1 million and Cheeks $500,000 in compensatory damages for their injuries as well as emotional scars from the fight at Opium Garden club. The Halloween brawl started after Presley accosted Jose Canseco's date.

Basketball

* The NBA is working on plans for three or four teams to hold the major part of their training camps in Europe before the 2006-07 season.

Commissioner David Stern said Monday night he would meet Tuesday in New York with the mayor of Rome, Walter Veltroni. Sponsorship and logistical issues still need to be worked out.

"That's our next step in the testing of the (European) markets," said Stern before Game 2 of the Indiana-Boston playoff series. "We need to find sources of support for it."

He said teams could spend 2 1/2 to 3 weeks training in Europe, playing up to six games each against Euro-League teams, then return to the United States for their last two exhibition games.

College

Morehead State has hired Kentucky assistant Matthew Mitchell as its new head women's basketball coach, athletic director Brian Hutchinson said Monday.

Mitchell, 34, spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator under Kentucky coach Mickie DeMoss. Kentucky finished 18-16 this past season, the Wildcats' first winning record in five seasons.

Before his stint at Kentucky, Mitchell spent three seasons as an assistant at Florida, working under Carol Ross and Carolyn Peck, and one season as a graduate assistant at Tennessee, working under all-time NCAA coaching wins leader Pat Summitt.

Mitchell, a Mississippi State graduate, replaces Laura Litter, who was reassigned to other duties at Morehead State on March 10 after eight seasons as coach. The Eagles finished 5-22 this past season and tied for last place in the Ohio Valley Conference.

Football

* The Rams on Monday signed 10 rookie free agents, including defensive tackle Colby Clark, who made a school-record 47 starts at Northwestern.

The Rams signed three other defensive linemen -- ends Jeremy Calahan of Rice and Vontrell Jamison of Clemson and tackle Matt McChesney of Colorado.

St. Louis also added two wide receivers, Dominic Robinson of Florida State and Dominique Thompson of William & Mary, and two cornerbacks, Keon Newson of Bowling Green and Duvol Thompson of Pennsylvania.

Also signed were linebacker Clifford Dukes of Michigan State and guard Zach Bray of TCU, who set a school record with a 650-pound bench press. Dukes was a second-team all-Big 10 player as a junior in 2003, and finished his college career with 15.5 sacks.

Thompson set school records last season with 79 receptions for 1,585 yards and 13 touchdowns.