Off the wire

LITTLE ROCK — ATHLETICS

Garrett out, Haden in at USC

Embattled Southern California Athletic Director Mike Garrett will be replaced by Pat Haden next month, and the school will return its copy of Reggie Bush’s Heisman Trophy in its ongoing effort to repair its reputation after last month’s severe NCAA sanctions. In a letter to school supporters Tuesday, incoming USC President Max Nikias said Garrett will be replaced Aug. 3 by Haden, a respected member of USC’s board of trustees and an NBC football analyst. The 66-year-old Garrett has been the Trojans’ athletic director for 17 years, but he received caustic criticism for his handling of the scandals surrounding USC’s football team and other programs over the past several years. The NCAA hit USC with major sanctions last month, including a two-year bowl ban and scholarship restrictions. Nikias, who takes his new job Aug. 3, also said USC will return Bush’s trophy to the Heisman Trophy Trust next month, possibly indicating the trophy will be revoked in the future. The school will take down any jerseys or murals recognizing the former star tailback or basketball player O.J. Mayo, the other major figure in the four-year NCAA investigation.

BASEBALL

Dodgers’ Ramirez back on DL

Manny Ramirez is back on the disabled list for the third time this season. The Los Angeles Dodgers slugger has a strained right calf. Ramirez had been out since leaving Friday’s game at St. Louis with tightness in his calf. The team made the move Tuesday. Manager Joe Torre calls it a significant strain and says Ramirez could be out about three weeks.

Andy Pettitte has been placed on the 15-day disabled list because of a strained left groin and the New York Yankees left-hander is expected to miss at least a month. The 38-year-old All-Star was injured Sunday while throwing a pitch in the third inning against the Tampa Bay Rays. A magnetic resonance imaging showed the strain. The move is retroactive to Monday.

The Detroit Tigers have placed third baseman Brandon Inge on the 15-day disabled list with a broken left hand. Inge was injured in Monday night’s 8-6 loss to Texas when he was hit by a pitch from Scott Feldman in the third inning. X-rays showed a nondisplaced fracture of his fifth metacarpal.

Texas Rangers pitcher Dustin Nippert says he didn’t sustain any significant injuries when he was hit by a batted ball during Monday night’s game against Detroit. Nippert, though, didn’t disagree with the team’s decision to put him on the 15-day disabled list for precautionary reasons. Nippert left Monday’s game in the sixth inning after being hit by Austin Jackson’s line drive, but a CT scan was negative and Nippert was back at the team hotel before the 14-inning game ended at midnight.

FOOTBALL

Auburn safety cleared to play

Auburn safety Zac Etheridge has been cleared to return to the field this season. Etheridge sustained a serious neck injury against Mississippi on Oct. 31, spending two nights in a hospital and wearing a harnesslike brace for several months.

Former Oakland Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell pleaded innocent to a charge of illegal drug possession Tuesday in Alabama. Russell, 24, is a former LSU star who was released by Oakland after being the No. 1 draft choice in 2007. He entered the plea in court in Mobile. He is charged with felony possession of a controlled substance, codeine syrup. Authorities have said that he did not have a prescription for the drug and that he was arrested July 5 at his home as part of an undercover investigation.

SOFTBALL

Finch retiring

Olympic gold medalist Jennie Finch announced Tuesday that she will retire next month, bringing an end to a 10-year career in which she helped softball blossom in the United States. The 6-2 Finch, 29, was a standout at Arizona before becoming an icon with the U.S. team, going 32-0 her junior year and putting together 60 consecutive victories - both NCAA records. She won gold at the 2004 Olympics in Athens and silver four years later in Beijing. This month, she helped the United States win its seventh consecutive world championship.

BASKETBALL

Miller signs with Rockets

Brad Miller has signed with the Houston Rockets, reuniting the 7-foot center with Coach Rick Adelman. Miller signed a three-year, $15 million contract to back up Yao Ming, who is expected to be ready for next season after sitting out a year to recover from foot surgery. Miller spent last season with Chicago and played for Adelman from 2003-2006 when he coached the Sacramento Kings.

The Portland Trail Blazers have reached an agreement with restricted free agent Wesley Matthews, a deal that was solidified when the Utah Jazz did not match Portland’s offer for the shooting guard. Matthews averaged 9.4 points and 2.3 rebounds in 24.7 minutes for the Jazz last season as a rookie.

Prominent sports agent Lon Babby is taking a pay cut, probably a significant one, to become president of basketball operations for the Phoenix Suns, a job he called “the opportunity of a lifetime.” The 59-year-old attorney was introduced at a news conference Tuesday at US Airways Center. Babby’s clients included the Suns’ Grant Hill, San Antonio’s Tim Duncan and Boston’s Ray Allen. He also represented recent Suns acquisition Hedo Turkoglu but said he stepped aside while the trade to Phoenix was being discussed.

Juwan Howard joined the Miami Heat on Tuesday. Miami will be the ninth team for Howard, who will begin his 17th NBA season this fall. He appeared in 73 games with Portland last season and averaged 6.0 points, making 27 starts. For his career, Howard has averaged 14.3 points and 6.5 rebounds.

Amare Stoudemire will not play for the United States in next month’s world championships because of problems insuring his contract, a damaging blow to the Americans on the day training camp opened in Las Vegas. The New York Knicks new forward was expected to be one of the Americans’ top players in Istanbul, Turkey, but the team learned of the change of plans Tuesday. The Knicks asked Stoudemire to pull out Monday night.

TENNIS

Davydenko wins opening match

Top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko of Russia opened the defense of his German Open title by beating Florent Serra of France 6-3, 6-1 on Tuesday in Hamburg. Potito Starace of Italy outlasted Tommy Robredo of Spain 7-6 (10), 5-7, 6-1. The 11th-seeded Robredo won the Hamburg tournament in 2006. Florian Mayer of Germany rallied past No. 15 Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-3. And Jarkko Nieminen of Finland ousted ninth-seeded Gilles Simon of France 6-4, 3-6, 7-5.

Top-seeded Andrea Petkovic started the defense of her Gastein Ladies title Tuesday with a 6-4, 6-0 first-round victory over Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic in Bad Gastein, Austria. No. 2 Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland eased past Anna-Lena Groenefeld 6-1, 6-2.No. 3 Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain lost to Yvonne Meusburger 6-4, 7-5. Sixth-seeded Barbora Zahlavova Strycova lost to fellow Czech Sandra Zahlavova 7-5, 6-3. No. 4 Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic lost to Julia Goerges of Germany 6-2, 5-7, 6-1. And No. 5 Sybille Bammer of Austria was upset by Anastasia Pivovarova of Russia 7-6 (10), 6-3.

Top-seeded Jelena Jankovic beat Bojana Jovanovski 6-3, 6-3 Tuesday in an all-Serbian match in the first round at the Slovenia Open in Portoroz. Stefanie Voegele upset second-seeded Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic 7-5, 6-2, and eighth-seeded Sofia Arvidsson was also beaten in an upset, losing 7-6 (1), 6-2 to Johanna Larsson in an all-Swedish match while Ksenia Pervak of Russia knocked out fifth seeded Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia 6-1, 6-3.

Kevin Anderson of South Africa beat No. 5 seed Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia 6-3, 7-5 in the first round of the Atlanta Tennis Championships on Tuesday night in Johns Creek, Ga. No. 7 seed Xavier Malisse of Belgium advanced to the second round with a 7-6 (1), 6-3 victory over Ryan Sweeting. Americans Taylor Dent, Donald Young and Robby Ginepri also won. Dent overcame 13 double faults to beat James Blake 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.

HOCKEY

NHL rejects Kovalchuk’s deal

The NHL rejected Ilya Kovalchuk’s 17-year, $102 million contract, the longest in NHL history, with the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night after it was deemed to circumvent the league’s salary cap.