Sports in Brief: UConn is cited for 8 infractions

Connecticut coach

Jim Calhoun

and the men's basketball program he took from obscurity to national titles have been accused of eight major NCAA infractions, with investigators citing hundreds of improper calls and texts from UConn staff to recruits. The school released a notice from the NCAA on Friday that lays out the allegations against the Hall-of-Fame coach, his staff and the school.

The NCAA alleges 160 impermissible telephone calls and at least 191 impermissible text messages between recruits and coaches, including assistants Beau Archibald, Patrick Sellers, Andre LeFler, associate head coach George Blaney, and then-assistant Tom Moore, who is now the head coach at Quinnipiac.

The NCAA is looking into the academic history and recruitment of former Kentucky star Eric Bledsoe, the New York Times reported.

The investigation is centered on Bledsoe's high school transcripts, payments made for an apartment shared by him and his mother, and whether his high school coach in Birmingham, Ala., demanded money from schools recruiting him.

The Philadelphia University women's varsity eight finished third in its heat and advanced to Saturday's repechage at the NCAA Rowing Championships in Gold River, Calif. The varsity four won its heat and will compete in Sunday's grand finale.

CYCLING: Former world cycling champion Alessandro Ballan has been cleared to race after a doping investigation by his team, BMC Racing.

Ivan Basso has moved into the lead of the Giro d'Italia by finishing second to Michele Scarponi in the mountainous 19th stage.

Floyd Landis, who triggered an uproar last week by accusing Lance Armstrong and other top riders of being involved in doping for years, was dropped from the Bahati Foundation cycling team.

BOXING: Heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko will have a significant size advantage when he defends his title Saturday night in Germany against Albert Sosnowski. The WBC titleholder weighed 247 pounds on Friday, while Sosnowski weighed 224.

Former cruiserweight champion Tomasz Adamek will fight Michael Grant on Aug. 21 at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., in his fourth fight at heavyweight.

Souleymane Mbaye of France has earned a unanimous decision over Antonin Decarie of Canada to win a vacant interim welterweight title.

OLYMPICS: Ukraine is considering a bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics in Bukovnya in the Carpathian mountains.

SOCCER: Jose Mourinho is set to coach Real Madrid in a deal between European soccer powers, leaving Inter Milan less than a week after guiding the Italian club to the Champions League title.

Former World Cup-winning coach Luiz Felipe Scolari has quit his job with Uzbek club Bunyodkor after failing to win the Asian Champions League.

NFL: The Seattle Seahawks have waived running back LenDale White just weeks after the splashy draft-day trade that brought him to Seattle from Tennessee.

The Oakland Raiders have filed a grievance with the NFL against JaMarcus Russell seeking $9.55 million of the more than $39 million the quarterback received during his three-year tenure with the team.

Patrick Crayton said on a Dallas radio show that he would like to be sent to another team as soon as possible so he can begin competing for a position on that team.

- Staff and wire reports