KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee basketball coach Bruce Pearl said details of NCAA violations made public in a letter released Friday were not new to him or investigators.
The university Friday released a Sept. 9 letter from athletics director Mike Hamilton informing Pearl his contract would be terminated because he knowingly violated NCAA rules. The letter states Pearl told recruits and their families that a visit to his home for a team cookout would be an NCAA violation. He also told the recruits and their families he would not tell anyone about the violation and asked that they not tell anyone.
Tennessee is under investigation by the NCAA because of that encounter and because of other potential violations, including excessive phone calls made by Pearl and his staff to recruits and coaches signing off on official visits made by recruits to Knoxville that were longer than allowed by the NCAA.
Hamilton punished Pearl after the coach acknowledged misleading NCAA investigators about the cookout he hosted by docking his salary by $1.5 million over four seasons and banning him from off-campus recruiting for a year.
Hamlin wins Martinsville pole
MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Denny Hamlin turned in a fast lap of 97.018 mph to win the pole for Sunday’s Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Marcos Ambrose earned the outside front-row spot with a speed of 97.003 mph. Hamlin is 41 points behind Jimmie Johnson in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup standings with five races remaining.
Uchimura, Mustafina win titles
ROTTERDAM, Netherlands — Kohei Uchimura of Japan overcame searing shoulder pain to retain his all-around title, and Aliya Mustafina of Russia won the women’s gold medal at the world gymnastics championships.
Uchimura gave a stellar performance with six consistently good scores to win the title with 92.331 points for a 2.283-point margin over Philipp Boy of Germany. Jonathan Horton of the United States won the bronze, 2.467 behind.
“A bum shoulder, no shoulder, no arms,” Horton said. “The guy is ridiculous. Uchimura — he is a machine.”
Mustafina finished with 61.023 points, beating China’s Jiang Yuyan by 1.034. American Rebecca Bross took the bronze with 58.966.
Footnotes.
Miami Heat swingman Mike Miller will be sidelined until January after undergoing surgery on his thumb on the same day guard Dwyane Wade began working out again with the team after an absence to let his strained right hamstring recover.
• Former NBA player Charles Smith was shot at his Washington home and was hospitalized in serious condition.
• Jonathan Byrd shot an 8-under-par 63 to take the second- round lead at 13-under 129 in the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospital for Children Open in Las Vegas.
• Peter Hedblom shot a 7-under 64 for a 133 total and one-stroke in the Castello Masters in Spain.
• Corey Pavin shot a 6-under- par 66 for a one-shot lead after the first round of the Champions Tour’s Administaff Small Business Classic in The Woodlands, Texas.
