Sports in Brief: Buckeyes lose top recruit

An Ohio State recruit from Berks County has told the Buckeyes he will not attend the university, according to several published reports, amid concern that a convicted sex offender had interactions with players and recruits associated with the program.

Alex Anzalone, one of the nation's top linebacker recruits, committed to Ohio State last month in what was turning out to be a stellar class for new coach Urban Meyer.

But Anzalone, from the Reading suburb of Wyomissing, will reopen his recruiting process, after being contacted by Charles Eric Waugh, 31, of Ashland, Ky. In 2008, Waugh pleaded guilty to five counts of possession of underage sexual content. And this year, across Twitter, he contacted several Ohio State coaches, athletes even recruits. He also posed for photos with some of them, including Anzalone, on the player's official visit to Columbus.

Sal Anzalone, Alex's father, told the Reading Eagle late Friday that "something is just not right at Ohio State. It's not for him.

"You don't want your son to go to a place where there's a potential issue. You expect the staff to have some sort of control on how things are handled with recruits when they visit. This is ridiculous."

That night, Ohio State issued a statement saying it had warned more than 1,000 Buckeye athletes about Waugh.

"This individual is not associated with Ohio State," the statement read. "He is not a booster. He has not engaged in any activities on behalf of the university."

TENNIS: Venus Williams held off a late surge by Simona Halep to win, 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (6), in the first round of the Madrid Open in Spain.

OLYMPICS: About 75,000 fans withstood rain and cold at Olympic Park in London in the final test events before the Summer Games.

This marked the first time the main stadium in the heart of the Olympic Park in east London was open to the public for a sports competition. Students competed in water polo, wheelchair tennis, field hockey and track and field.

Organizers said about 40,000 people attended the official opening of the 80,000-seat Olympic Stadium on Saturday evening.

The final test events came after the British military tested Olympic security, including flights over London by fighter jets and helicopters earlier this week.

With about 140,000 people attending test events over the past six days, the organizers also assessed the movement of spectators across the sprawling Olympic Park.

The Games run from July 27 to Aug. 12.

BASKETBALL: Arizona State's Trent Lockett, the team's leading scorer last season, said he will transfer to Marquette for his senior season to be closer to his mother, who has been diagnosed with cancer. Lockett, whose mother lives in Minnesota, already has earned a bachelor's degree in business communication.

CYCLING: American Taylor Phinney won the first stage of the Giro d'Italia, a 5.4-mile individual time trial in Herring, Denmark.

- Staff and wire reports