Morning Briefing April 8, 2010
Tennis
Tennis great Martina Navratilova has been diagnosed with a noninvasive form of breast cancer and her prognosis is considered excellent.
Navratilova said in a phone interview Wednesday that a routine mammogram in January found a lump, and a biopsy the following month determined it was ductal carcinoma in situ, or DCIS. The nine-time Wimbledon women’s singles champion had a lumpectomy in March and will start six weeks of radiation therapy next month.
According to the National Institutes of Health, more than 50,000 women each year are diagnosed with DCIS, in which abnormal cells haven’t left the milk duct to penetrate breast tissue. It’s removed because it is a risk factor for developing invasive cancer. Only about 2 percent of DCIS patients die of breast cancer in the next 10 years.
Basketball
John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins delivered on their promise to help coach John Calipari return Kentucky to national prominence.
Next stop, the NBA.
The freshman All-Americans are among five Kentucky players who declared for the NBA draft, an exodus that includes freshman guard Eric Bledsoe, freshman center Daniel Orton and junior forward Patrick Patterson.
Wall and Cousins are expected to be among the first few players selected after leading the Wildcats to a remarkable turnaround season in Calipari’s first year on the job.
After collecting almost every national player of the year honor, Ohio State’s Evan Turner is skipping his senior season to test himself in the NBA.
The 6-foot-7 point guard is expected to be a top-three pick in the June 24 draft.
Kansas freshman guard Xavier Henry is headed for the NBA draft.
Xavier sophomore guard Jordan Crawford will explore the NBA draft while leaving open his option of returning for another season with the Musketeers.
Toronto All-Star forward Chris Bosh is expected to need “weeks” to recover after surgery to repair a facial fracture suffered when he was struck by Antawn Jamison’s elbow.
Bosh had a displaced nasal fracture repaired in an operation performed by Dr. Frank Papay at the Cleveland Clinic. He will remain in the hospital overnight, and is scheduled to return to Canada today.
Wake Forest fired men’s basketball coach Dino Gaudio after three seasons during a hastily drawn news conference.
Athletic director Ron Wellman said “the basis for the decision was our late-season and postseason performances.” Gaudio was a combined 1-5 in Atlantic Coast Conference and NCAA tournaments, the only victory coming in the first round of the NCAA tournament this year against Texas, when Ishmael Smith hit a last-second jumper in overtime.
Football
Authorities in Georgia finished their investigation into a 20-year-old college student’s claim that Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger sexually assaulted her at a nightclub.
Milledgeville police Chief Woodrow Blue said in a statement that his department and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation handed the investigation report and witness statements to local District Attorney Fred Bright Tuesday evening. Blue said his department would have no further comment on the case.
Bright’s office acknowledged receiving the report and said he wouldn’t make any comment until he had reviewed it.
— The Associated Press