Sports in Brief | NCAA bans messages from coaches to recruits

The NCAA's board of directors yesterday approved a ban on all text messages from coaches to recruits beginning in August, then left open the possibility of revisiting the legislation as early as 2008.

"One of the abuses that was described to us were text messages from a coach to a player saying, 'Call me,' " Division I vice president David Berst said on a conference call.

The board approved the ban by a 13-3 vote. As a result, coaches will no longer be allowed to send text messages to recruits.

The ban also eliminates communications through other electronic means such as video phones, video conferencing, and message boards on social networking Web sites.

E-mails and faxes would still be permissible and subject to current NCAA guidelines, which include some time periods in which coaches are prohibited from contacting recruits in any form.

One of the five Duquesne University basketball players who were shot on the Pittsburgh campus last year has sued the school, alleging it failed to provide adequate security at a dance.

The lawsuit, filed late Wednesday in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court on behalf of Stuard Baldonado, says university officials did not take action once they knew of potential criminal activity. A doorman let two armed men into the dance even after their friend asked whether the men would be frisked, according to the lawsuit.

The suit does not seek specific damages. A Duquesne spokeswoman declined to comment.

The College of New Jersey beat William Paterson, 9-1, in Ewing, N.J., to give baseball coach Rick Dell his 700th career win. Now in his 26th season at the school, Dell is the 10th active Division III coach with 700 wins.

Police said criminal charges would be announced today as a result of an off-campus confrontation on April 1 that involved members of the Penn State football team.

Several players were interviewed by police, but it was unclear whether any player would be charged. A police spokeswoman said no other information was available.

Elsewhere: Courtney Molinaro was granted a release from her basketball scholarship, Penn State said, so she could transfer to an unnamed college. The announcement came three days after Penn State hired Coquese Washington as its new women's basketball coach. . . . John Steinbach was named head women's volleyball coach at Villanova, replacing Gilad Doron, who took the job at San Francisco. . . . Marquette guard Dominic James, a sophomore, declared for the NBA draft but will not hire an agent so he has the option of returning to school. . . . Hasheem Thabeet, a 7-foot-3 center, will return to Connecticut for his sophomore season. . . . Mike Rice, a former assistant at St. Joseph's, was named men's basketball coach at Robert Morris. . . . Former West Virginia basketball coach John Beilein will pay the university $1.5 million for taking the job at Michigan with five years remaining on his deal at WVU.

Within hours of Beijing's announcement of what would be the longest torch relay in Olympic history - an 85,000-mile, 130-day route that would cross five continents and scale Mount Everest in 2008 - Taiwan rejected its inclusion.

Rafael Nadal extended his winning streak on clay to 69 matches, defeating Thomas Johansson, 6-1, 6-4, to advance to the quarterfinals of the Open Seat Godo in Barcelona, Spain.

BMW Oracle Racing opened up a three-point lead at the top of the Louis Vuitton Cup standings by beating Mascalzone Latino of Italy in the ninth flight in sailing off Valencia, Spain.