PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh center DeJuan Blair will declare for the NBA draft and has begun hiring representatives, ending any possibility of returning for his junior season.
Blair, the only Pitt player in the last 50 years to make first-team All-America, averaged 15.7 points and 12.3 rebounds this season.
“There ain’t no turning back,” said Blair, who is projected as a mid-to-late first-round pick. “I don’t think you should have gone into this situation unless you know you’re a first-round pick or not.”
Others declaring for the June 25 NBA draft Wednesday included Arizona State All-America sophomore guard James Harden, who led the Pac-10 in scoring at 20.1 points per game; Wake Forest sophomore guard Jeff Teague; Arizona junior forward Jordan Hill; and Southern California forwards DeMar Derozan and Taj Gibson as well as guard Daniel Hackett.
• Michigan State guards Korie Lucious and Chris Allen are scheduled to undergo surgery Friday after each broke his right foot during Monday’s NCAA championship loss to North Carolina. Recovery is expected to take eight weeks.
• Dale Layer was named coach at Liberty, once again following in the footsteps of Ritchie McKay, who joined Tony Bennett‘s staff at Virginia. Layer also succeeded McKay at Colorado State, where he went 103-106 from 2000-07. McKay went 37-23 in two seasons with the Rams.
• Siena coach Fran McCaffery received a new eight-year contract.
• Mark Trakh resigned as USC women’s coach after compiling a 90-64 record over five seasons.
• The University of Hawaii fired women’s coach Jim Bolla amid allegations he kicked a player in practice.
Senators’ Clouston gets new deal
OTTAWA — The Ottawa Senators are keeping Cory Clouston as their head coach, removing his interim tag and signing him to a two-year deal. Clouston, 39, took over the Senators on Feb. 2, when Craig Hartsburg was fired after the team got off to a 17-24-7 start. They’ve been 19-10-3 since then, but will still miss the postseason after 11 consecutive appearances.
• Sharks captain Patrick Marleau and forward Ryane Clowe are expected to return to San Jose’s lineup tonight against the Phoenix Coyotes after battling lower-body injuries.
Footnotes.
AJ Allmendinger picked up a sponsor — Hunt Brothers Pizza — that will keep his Richard Petty Motorsports No. 44 running at least through the Sept. 12 race in Richmond, Va.
• Aric Almirola became NASCAR’s latest casualty of the economic crisis when Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing was forced to park the No. 8 car because of a lack of sponsorship.
• Top-ranked Serena Williams was upset by 95th-ranked Klara Zakopalova 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 in the first round of the Andalucia Tennis Experience in Marbella, Spain. Williams will lose her No. 1 ranking to Dinara Safina in the April 20 rankings.
• Chelsea defeated Liverpool 3-1, while Barcelona routed Bayern Munich 4-0 in the first leg of Champion League quarterfinal matches.
• Cleveland Cavaliers rookie forward J.J. Hickson will miss two to three weeks with a sore lower back.
The Associated Press
