HARTFORD, Conn. — University of Connecticut men’s basketball coach Jim Calhoun took a medical leave Tuesday for an undisclosed condition, the latest health concern for the 67-year-old Hall of Famer.
The school did not provide additional details. Calhoun had prostate cancer in 2003 and skin cancer twice, most recently in 2008.
Dr. Peter Schulman, the coach’s primary-care physician, said he advised Calhoun to take time off “to address some temporary medical issues, none of which involve any previous medical conditions that he has dealt with.”
Associate head coach George Blaney will run the Huskies in Calhoun’s absence.
• Iowa State guard Lucca Staiger announced plans to leave the program and pursue professional opportunities in his native Germany.
Staiger, a junior who has started all 17 games this season, is averaging 9.4 points and shooting 42.5 percent from 3-point range.
Garcia: Woods will return earlier than expected
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Sergio Garcia said it won’t be long before Tiger Woods returns to tournament play.
Woods is taking an indefinite break from golf since his Nov. 27 car accident in Florida and subsequent revelations of extramarital affairs. Woods has not been seen in public since the crash, and there has been no word on a date for his return.
“The best thing for Tiger at the moment is to get on the course and do what he knows best,” Garcia said. “Only he knows when he is going to come back. I have got the feeling that it’s going to be earlier that what everybody thinks.”
Garcia spoke before the Abu Dhabi Championship, where he will return to action Thursday after a seven-week layoff for treatment of a tendon problem in his right wrist.
Garnett targets Friday return
WALTHAM, Mass. — Kevin Garnett is practicing again with the Boston Celtics after missing the last nine games with a hyperextended right knee.
Garnett took part in the entire practice, but coach Doc Rivers said the forward won’t play tonight against the Detroit Pistons. Rivers said Garnett might be ready for Friday night’s home game against the Portland Trail Blazers. The Celtics are 4-5 in Garnett’s absence.
Footnotes.
Snowboarder Danny Davis is recovering at a Utah hospital after undergoing back surgery, and doctors are “very pleased,” according to his Facebook site.
• Austrian skier Christoph Gruber will miss next month’s Vancouver Olympics after damaging his left knee during prerace warmups for a World Cup downhill in Wengen, Switzerland, on Saturday.
• At least 30 members of Haiti’s soccer federation, including an undetermined number of players, died in the country’s earthquake, regional soccer authorities said. In addition, the president of the Dominican Olympic committee said he was told by his Haitian counterpart that at least seven Haitian athletes from Olympic sports died.
• Clint Dempsey‘s injured right knee won’t need surgery and the U.S. attacker is expected to participate in the World Cup beginning in June in South Africa.
