Hansbrough among Wooden Award finalists
LOS ANGELES, April 1 (UPI) -- North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough and UCLA's Kevin Love were among the five players named finalists for the Wooden Award.
The award is given annually by the Los Angeles Athletic Club to the country's outstanding college basketball player. The award announcement is scheduled for April 11.
The other three finalists are Texas' D.J. Augustine, Kansas State's Michael Beasley and Davidson's Stephen Curry. Hansbrough is a junior, Augustine and Curry are sophomores and Beasley and Love are freshmen.
Hansbrough led the Tar Heels to the ACC title and the overall No. 1 position in the NCAA tournament. He averaged 22.8 points and 10.3 rebounds a game.
UCLA won the Pac-10 championship behind Love, who led the Bruins with averages of 17.6 points and 10.7 rebounds a game.
Augustine, whose Texas team tied for the Big 12 championship, guided the Longhorns to within one game of the Final Four. His 18.2 points and 5.8 assists a game were Texas' bests.
Beasley was the nation's leading rebounder (12.4 per game) and had the No. 3 scoring average (26.2 points) in the nation.
Curry's Davidson team got within a last-second shot of making the Final Four. His sharp shooting -- 32.0 points in NCAA tournament play and 25.9 points a game overall (fourth in the nation) -- was eye catching.
Hitchcock to lead Canadian hockey team
COLUMBUS, Ohio, April 1 (UPI) -- Ken Hitchcock, the coach of the NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets, has been selected to coach the Canadian team at next month's hockey World Championships.
Hitchcock has represented Canada at several international competitions. He was an associate coach for Team Canada at the 2002 and 2006 Olympic Games, winning the gold medal at the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City, and helped Canada win the World Cup of Hockey Tournament in 2004 as an associate coach.
Hitchcock has a record of 470-311-117 in 898 career NHL games with the Blue Jackets, Philadelphia Flyers and Dallas Stars. He guided Dallas to the 1999 Stanley Cup title, and when the Blue Jackets visit St. Louis on Saturday, he will become the 20th head coach in NHL history to record 900 games behind the bench.
"Getting to be a part of Hockey Canada is a great honor, especially any time you get to work with a Canadian team on home ice in front of Canadian fans," Hitchcock said.
The 2008 hockey World Championships are scheduled for May 2-18 in the Canadian cites of Halifax and Quebec City.
China warned to lift Internet bans
BEIJING, April 1 (UPI) -- Chinese authorities must stop their practice of blocking Internet access if the Beijing Summer Games are to boost its reputation, Olympic organizers said.
Kevan Gosper, a top official with the International Olympic Committee, said the wide-reaching Internet firewall would cast a negative light on China, noting, "Our concern is that the press is able to operate as it has at previous Games," The Times of London reported Tuesday.
China blocks access to Internet sites that run counter to Chinese official stances on a variety of issues though it recently allowed access to the BBC and other sites, the Times said.
Meanwhile, Chinese President Hu Jintao gave a "political mobilization order" to Chinese riot police, saying, "Without security guarantees there cannot be a successful Olympic Games, and without security guarantees, the national image will be lost."
Indiana dismisses two starters
BLOOMINGTON, Ind., April 1 (UPI) -- Starting guards Armon Basset and Jamarcus Ellis were dismissed from the Indiana University basketball team, the Hoosiers Athletic Department said Tuesday.
University officials gave no reason for the dismissals, but The Indianapolis Star reported that the players had missed a meeting last week and then failed to show when interim coach Dan Dakick ordered the pair to run at 6 a.m. the next morning. The newspaper said neither player showed for the run.
Basset and Ellis also were suspended during the season for alleged violations of team rules.
Basset, a sophomore, averaged 11.4 points while Ellis, a junior, averaged 6.8 points a game for Indiana.
If freshman point guard Eric Gordon enters the NBA draft, the new Hoosiers coach will open the season without any returning starters.
Indiana is looking for a new head coach after the resignation of Kelvin Sampson in February because of NCAA accusation of rules violations. Indiana finished the season 25-8 -- 3-4 after Sampson resigned -- and lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Horn to coach South Carolina basketball
COLUMBIA, S.C., April 1 (UPI) -- Darrin Horn, who guided Western Kentucky to an NCAA tournament Sweet 16 berth this season, has been hired as the next basketball coach at South Carolina.
Horn, 35, takes over from Dave Odom, who announced his resignation in January. The Gamecocks were 14-18 this season and 128-103 in Odom's seven seasons at South Carolina. Odom, 65, also coached at East Carolina and Wake Forest and had a career record of 406-286.
Horn coached Western Kentucky, his alma mater, for five seasons and won at least 20 games each of the last four. The Hilltoppers were 29-7 this season, losing a regional semifinal to UCLA last weekend, and 111-48 overall under Horn.
