Off the wire

MOTOR SPORTS

Hamlin cleared to return

Denny Hamlin received medical clearance Thursday to return this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway. Hamlin has missed four races after sustaining a compression fracture of a vertebra in his lower back in a last-lap accident in California on March 24. Joe Gibbs Racing said exact plans will be determined at the track. Hamlin could start the No. 11 Toyota, then give way to a relief driver. Mark Martin (Batesville) took Hamlin’s place in the No. 11 car at Martinsville, and Brian Vickers drove at Texas, Kansas and Richmond.

BASKETBALL Jackson fined $25,000

Golden State Coach Mark Jackson was fined $25,000 by the NBA on Thursday for making public comments in an attempt to influence the officiating in the Warriors’ playoff series with Denver. After Golden State’s 107-100 loss at Denver on Tuesday night, Jackson repeatedly mentioned Kenneth Faried’s foul in the first half, when the Denver forward stuck out his right leg and moved his body while Warriors star Stephen Curry ran through traffic. “They tried to send hit men at Steph,” Jackson said. “There were some dirty plays early.”

David Kahn is out as president of basketball operations for the Minnesota Timberwolves and Flip Saunders is coming in. The Timberwolves announced Thursday that owner Glen Taylor has decided not to pick up the option for next season on Kahn’s contract. Three people with knowledge of the situation tell The Associated Press that Taylor is putting the finishing touches on a deal to hire Saunders as Kahn’s replacement. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity because an official announcement has not been made. Saunders coached the Wolves from 1995-2005. Kahn spent four seasons leading the Timberwolves. He helped bring point guard Ricky Rubio and Coach Rick Adelman to Minnesota, but his teams went 89-223 and missed the playoffs in all four of his seasons.

GOLF McIlroy shares lead

Rory McIlroy kept the ball in play at Quail Hollow and gave himself plenty of birdie chances on a cloudy, soft afternoon in Charlotte, N.C. He ran off six birdies in a seven-hole stretch around the turn and finished with an 8-foot birdie putt for a 5-under-par 67 to share the lead with six other players. Nick Watney, Ryan Moore, Robert Garrigus and PGA Tour rookie Derek Ernst shot 67 in the morning. Daniel Summerhays and Nate Smith, a Monday qualifier, joined McIlroy by posting their 67s in the afternoon. Phil Mickelson and Lucas Glover were in a large group at 68, with 19-year-old Jordan Spieth in another big group at 69. Scott Gardiner (Farmington) followed with a 70 with four birdies and two bogeys. David Lingmerth (Arkansas Razorbacks) and Ken Duke (Arkadelphia, Henderson State) had 74s. Lingmerth had three birdies and five bogeys, and Duke had an eagle on the eighth hole, a birdie and five bogeys. Tag Ridings (Razorbacks)was another stroke back and had three birdies and six bogeys.

Thai teen Ariya Jutanugarn shot a 7-under-par 64 to take a two stroke lead after the first round of the LPGA Tour’s Kingsmill Championship in Williamsburg, Va. The 17-year-old Jutanugarn was 8 under through 16 holes, but pulled her drive and had a double bogey on the par-3 17th before rebounding with her ninth birdie of the day on the par-4 finishing hole. Cristie Kerr, the only-two time winner in the tour’s eight previous visits to the River Course, had six birdies and one bogey in a 66 that put her alone in second place. So Yeon Ryu and Dewi Claire Schreefel shot 67, and a huge logjam at 68 included top ranked Inbee Park, No. 2 Stacy Lewis (Arkansas Razorbacks) and Karen Stupples (Arkansas State). Lewis had three birdies and was bogey-free. Stupples had four birdes in the first eight holes and totaled five birdies and two bogeys. Stacy Prammanasudh (Conway) was another stroke back with five birdies and three bogeys.

Former Arkansas Razorback Brenden Pappas opened with a4-under-par 67 on Thursday to trail the three co-leaders of the Stadion Classic in Athens, Ga., by a stroke. Pappas had six birdies and two bogeys to sit just behind Brendon Todd, Rafael Echenique and Whee Kim after the first round. Ron Whittaker (Little Rock) shot a 71 with a birdie and bogey. A double bogey on No. 15 left John Daly (Dardanelle, Razorbacks) with a 74. Daly also bogeyed the eight hole in a birdie-free round.

Dutchman Robert-Jan Derksen shot a 6-under-par 66 to take the first-round lead in the China Open in Tianjin, while 12-year-old Ye Wocheng opened with a 79 at Binhai Lake. At 12 years, 242 days, Ye became the youngest player in European Tour history. He broke Guan Tianlang’s mark of 13 years, 177 days set last year in the event. Guan made golf history last month when he became the youngest to play in the Masters at 14.

Australia’s Scott Hend and South Korea’s Hwang Inn-choon shot 6-under-par 66 to share the first round lead in the Asian Tour’s Indonesian Masters in Jakarta.

FOOTBALL

Ravens, McKinnie agree

Baltimore General Manager Ozzie Newsome said the Ravens have agreed to a two-year deal to re-sign offensive tackle Bryant McKinnie. The 33-year-old McKinnie is an 11-year NFL veteran who has played the past two seasons with Baltimore. He played his first nine seasons with the Minnesota Vikings. McKinnie started all 16 regular-season games with the Ravens in 2011. He started all four postseason games at left tackle in the 2012 season after playing as a reserve during the regular season.

HOCKEY

Ference suspended 1 game

Boston Bruins defenseman Andrew Ference was suspended for one game by the NHL on Thursday for an illegal check to Toronto forward Mikhail Grabovski’s head during Game 1 of their first-round series. No penalty was called on the hit midway through the first period in the Bruins’ 4-1 victory.

ATHLETICSNCAA suspends recruiting changes

INDIANAPOLIS - The NCAA’s board of directors has suspended four of the recruiting rules it passed in January and decided to keep a sliding scale for academic eligibility indefinitely.

Most of the recruiting rules already had been put on hold because of school complaints.

In January, the board approved measures that included eliminating limits on how recruits could be contacted and how often they could be contacted outside noncontact periods. That rule was suspended Thursday in all sports other than men’s and women’s basketball, which had abided by the policy since last summer.

The move is yet another stark turnabout in a reform movement that has slowed dramatically since NCAA President Mark Emmert talked about fast-tracking the changes in August 2011.

Instead, the push for a stipend of up to $2,000 per athlete was overridden in December 2011 over concerns that included Title IX compliance, and the board continues to discuss how to craft a new proposal. Three other rulebook changes were suspended last month by the board because of complaints from the schools, and two - the deregulation of recruiting and a prohibition on live scouting of opponents - both received the necessary 75 votes to be overridden.

The other three rules under suspension would have eliminated the definition of recruiting roles, allowed earlier contact with prospective recruits and eliminated restrictions on what printed materials could be sent to a recruit.