Kentucky’s Walker Casts Lot With NBA

Sophomore forward Antoine Walker says he will not return to Kentucky for his junior basketball season and will apply for the NBA draft.

The 6-foot-8 Walker said during a news conference Monday that he needed to do something for his family and especially for his mother. Coach Rick Pitino said he presented options to Walker, but that the decision was Walker’s.

Louisiana State junior guard Randy Livingston, who was hampered by knee injuries for most of three seasons, also announced that he would make himself available for the draft, but Jacque Vaughn, the Big Eight Conference player of the year, said he plans to play his senior season at Kansas.

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Texas Tech signed men’s basketball Coach James Dickey to a five-year, $1-million contract, meaning the school has signed the coaches of its top four athletic programs to multiyear deals.

Football

Andre Reed, the Buffalo Bills’ all-time leading receiver, agreed to a contract with the team. . . . The Atlanta Falcons re-signed quarterback Bobby Hebert, the backup to as-yet-unsigned Jeff George, to a one-year contract. . . . The Minnesota Vikings signed free-agent offensive lineman Ariel Solomon, late of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Jurisprudence

Kevin Clancy, the attorney for Dallas Cowboy Michael Irvin, has reportedly applied for subpoenas for all videotapes made for a Dallas TV station’s report of the player’s alleged drug buy, along with information on the identity and any money paid to the KXAS informant. Irvin is under indictment for cocaine possession.

Greg Simpson, a West Virginia basketball player charged in a hit-and-run accident Friday, was ordered to serve 48 hours in jail and pay a $260 fine.

Minnesota Viking defensive end Fernando Smith was charged with criminal nonsupport for failing to provide court-ordered support for his 5-year-old daughter. Smith owes $42,182 in child support, according to a prosecutor in Flint, Mich.

Labrant Deshawn Dennis, the man arrested for the campus murders last month of Miami Hurricane football player Marlin Barnes and his friend Timwanika Lumpkins, was denied bond by Dade County Judge Gerald Klein. An arraignment date for Dennis, Lumpkins’ former boyfriend and father of her 3-year-old daughter, was set for May 21.

A court in Munich, Germany, dismissed the last two damage claims by the relatives of 11 Israeli athletes and coaches killed in an attack by Palestinian gunmen at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

Miscellany

Dennis Mitchell defeated three fellow Americans in the 100-meter dash at an international track and field meet in Mito, Japan. Mitchell won in 10.06 seconds, slower than his best time of 9.91. Jeff Laynes was second in 10.08, followed by Terrance Bowen in 10.16, and Sam Jefferson in 10.36.

Tony Stewart, the U.S. Auto Club short track champion, set an unofficial rookie record when he drove a practice lap at 237.336 mph hours after finishing his Indy 500 rookie test at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. . . . The Indianapolis Motor Speedway filed suit to prevent Championship Auto Racing Teams from using the trademark name IndyCar for its racing series.

Lance Armstrong continued his domination by winning the sixth stage of the Tour DuPont bicycle race at Blacksburg, Va. It was the fourth stage Armstrong has won, and he now holds a 2-minute, 53-second lead with six stages of the 1,225-mile race remaining.

Tom Maher, offensive coordinator at Mt. San Antonio College since 1991, has been hired as football coach at Pasadena City College. . . . Scott Cathcart, assistant athletic director of media relations at Long Beach State the last three years, will join the athletic administrative staff at Temple. Cathcart will join former 49er athletic director Dave O’Brien, who went to Temple in February.