Sports briefs 5/26/06

Colleges

• Memphis forward Shawne Williams declared Thursday he will enter the NBA draft after finishing his freshman year with the Tigers.

The 6-foot-9 Williams was the Conference USA Freshman of the Year and averaged 14 points and 6 rebounds per game this season.

He helped Memphis earn the school's first No. 1 seed in this year's NCAA tournament. The Tigers lost to UCLA in the finals of the Oakland regional.

* The University of Central Florida extended football coach George O'Leary's contract through 2015 Thursday, perhaps sewing up the 59-year-old until retirement.

In two years, O'Leary has helped transform UCF from one of the country's worst NCAA Division I-A programs to one of its most promising. The Golden Knights carried the nation's longest losing streak into last season, but ended up playing in the school's first conference championship and bowl games on the way to an 8-5 record.

The deal delivers $1 million in the first year, with gradual increases to $1.55 million in 2015 and $500,000 in possible incentives each season. It also includes a buyout capped at $5 million, or $1 million for each remaining year on the contract, if O'Leary or UCF breaks it.

-- The Associated Press