Sports briefs for December 28, 2004

Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2004 | 10:38 a.m.

St. John's transfer under investigation

St. John's forward Rodney Epperson was suspended indefinitely Monday pending a review of his transfer from a junior college during the 2002-03 school year.

The review was prompted by correspondence from the Big East Conference to its member institutions regarding recent allegations related to Barton County (Kan.) Community College.

Epperson spent one year at Midland Junior College in Texas before transferring to Barton County, which was ranked among the best in junior college basketball last season.

On Dec. 14, former Barton County basketball coach Ryan Wolf was indicted on federal charges he provided false academic information about his athletes to Division I schools looking to recruit players.

The indictment also charged Wolf with getting his players grants they were not qualified to receive and campus jobs that paid them for work they did not perform.

Wolf's former players included Ricky Clemons, who went on to star for Missouri but became embroiled in scandal while with the Tigers.

Epperson, St. John's second-leading scorer this season, will not play tonight against Canisius in the opening round of the Dreyfus Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden.

Epperson's suspension continues a stretch of problems for at St. John's.

Last season, one player was kicked out of school, one withdrew and four others were suspended from the team after breaking curfew to go to a strip club after a loss at Pittsburgh in January. Senior captain Andre Stanley, a graduate student, was suspended for academic reasons.

Last December, senior guard Willie Shaw was dismissed from the team after he was arrested for possession of marijuana.

AP picks Sorenstam

Pro golfer Annika Sorenstam was announced as the winner of the Associated Press female athlete of the year award for the second consecutive year. She beat the runner-up, basketball star Diana Taurasi, and the third-place finisher, Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova.

Americans win

The United States matched Switzerland's four-goal outburst in the third period to take a 6-4 victory in their preliminary-round game at the World Junior Championship in Grand Forks, N.D. In the other games, Canada was an 8-1 winner against Sweden, Slovakia beat Finland 2-0 and Russia defeated the Czech Republic 4-1.

Famed organist dies

Eddie Layton, a sports institution at New York sports events as the organist at Yankee Stadium and Madison Square Garden, died at his home in Queens after a brief illness. He had always declined to reveal his age, but a Yankees spokesman said he was believed to be in his late 70s.

Team will apologize

Baltimore Blast general manager Kevin Healey vowed to apologize personally to Philadelphia KiXX forward Shawn Boney for racial insults directed at him by two women in the stands during a Major Indoor Soccer League match on Sunday in Baltimore.

Tuberville won't go

Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville denied he was interested in the LSU coaching vacancy. He has agreed to, but not yet signed, a seven-year contract extension at Auburn worth about $16 million.

No stopping Martina

Martina Navratilova, 48, arrived in Australia today to begin her 30th season of professional tennis. She intends to play doubles with 21-year-old Daniela Hantuchova at the Australian Open next month.