Report: NCAA notified Memphis of Rose SAT score

A month after losing the 2008 national championship basketball game, Memphis was notified by the NCAA that star guard

Derrick Rose

had an invalidated standardized test score the previous year, ESPN reported, citing sources. According to the report, Memphis received an e-mail from the NCAA notifying the university of the situation.

Rose, a freshman, was a key component of a team that won an NCAA-record 38 games. He entered the draft and was selected No. 1 overall, by the Chicago Bulls.

The university legal counsel, Sheri Lipman, would not identify the player as Rose, but said yesterday, "for the student-athlete, whoever that was, the first indication that we got was in early May [2008] that his score was being invalidated.''

Lipman told ESPN the e-mail "certainly came as a surprise.''

Lipman said details of the university's investigation into the alleged fraudulent SAT are in the school's response to the NCAA's notice of allegations received Jan. 16.

ESPN reported that, according to multiple sources, Rose's camp told Memphis that he took the SAT in question.

In other college news:

* An attorney for University of Florida cornerback Janoris Jenkins, charged with punching another man in the head during a fight, said his client acted in self-defense.

* James Riverso, 28, the women's soccer coach at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, has been accused of sending sexually explicit cell-phone messages to a 16-year-old girl he coached in a youth soccer club.

* Phil Mickelson said he plans a brief return to the PGA Tour in time for the U.S. Open. He has not played since announcing that his wife, Amy, has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Recent tests have given them hope the cancer has been caught early, with more testing over the next month.

* President Obama has agreed to be the honorary chairman of The Presidents Cup. PGA Tour officials said it was not known whether Obama would attend the matches, to be played Oct. 8-11 at Harding Park in San Francisco.

* Lindsay Kimmel, a 6-foot forward, is transferring from Temple to Villanova, Wildcats coach Harry Perretta announced. Kimmel will sit out the 2009-10 season due to NCAA transfer rules and will have 2 years of eligibility remaining. Last season, she started 17 of 31 games and averaged 5.3 points and 1.9 rebounds.

* LaRon Byrd (GAMP, California) and Dom Owens (Robeson, Mansfield) have committed to play basketball at schools in the D-II Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference.

* General Motors said filing for bankruptcy protection will have "no impact" on its sponsorship of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. GM has committed more than $60 million to the Games, mostly in the form of cars and trucks. *