Vols' Pearl admits lying to NCAA

Tennessee men's basketball coach Bruce Pearl has acknowledged providing misleading and incorrect information to the NCAA during a 17-month investigation into possible recruiting violations.

As punishment, Vols athletic director Mike Hamilton is reducing Pearl's pay by $1.5 million over 5 years and prohibiting him from participating in off-campus recruiting for a year beginning Sept. 24.

"I've made some serious mistakes, and for that I'm truly sorry," a tearful Pearl said during a news conference yesterday. "I provided incorrect and misleading information to the NCAA."

Hamilton said yesterday that Pearl provided the information while being interviewed in June about allegations of excessive phone calls made to recruits. Pearl notified officials 3 weeks later that he had provided the NCAA incorrect information.

The coach did not explain why he provided incorrect information, but acknowledged that by doing so he made what might have been a minor situation much worse.

Hamilton also reduced each of Pearl's assistant coaches' salaries by 25 percent.

The university received a letter from the NCAA yesterday, notifying the Volunteers of an official investigation into the entire athletic department, including possible recruiting violations under former football coach Lane Kiffin.

In other college news:

* No. 23 West Virginia rallied from 15 points down in the fourth quarter to force overtime, and Tyler Bitancurt's 20-yard field goal in the first extra session lifted the visiting Mountaineers (1-1) to a 24-21 victory over Marshall (1-1).

* North Carolina athletic director Dick Baddour said the school is still waiting to hear whether 13 players who missed the opener due to an ongoing NCAA investigation will return for next weekend's game against No. 15 Georgia Tech. The 13 players include potential NFL draft prospects Robert Quinn, Marvin Austin, Kendric Burney and Deunta Williams. The inquiry centers on agent-related benefits and possible academic misconduct.

* Matt Kuchar and Charlie Wi shared the second-round lead of the PGA Tour's BMW Championship in Lemont, Ill. They are one shot ahead of Marc Leishman.

* Fred Funk, Michael Allen and Jay Don Blake shot 3-under-par 69s to share the first-round lead in the Champions Tour's Songdo Championship in Incheon, South Korea.

* Morgan Pressel shot a 5-under 66 to take a one-stroke lead over Yani Tseng, Gloria Park and Na Yeon Choi after the first round of the NW Arkansas Championship in Rogers, Ark.

* Luis Scola scored 27 points and Argentina beat Russia, 73-61, in a consolation game at the World Championships in Istanbul. In another game, Spain beat Slovenia, 97-80, getting 26 points from Juan Carlos Navarro.

* The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency issued a lifetime ban to cyclist Duane Dickey for a second violation for his use and possession of the banned endurance-boosting hormone EPO and his refusal to give a sample for testing.

* Carl Edwards won the pole position for tonight's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway, with a lap of 127.762 mph. Meanwhile, Kevin Harvick passed Brad Keselowski with a little more than 50 laps remaining to capture the Nationwide Series race last night at the racetrack. It was his third series victory this season. *