Tennessee kicks 2 off men's basketball team

Sports Digest

May 3, 2008

Tennessee men's basketball sophomore forward Duke Crews and sophomore guard Ramar Smith were dismissed from the team.

Coach Bruce Pearl would not provide reasons for the dismissals, though he did say yesterday that the two cases were unrelated and they stemmed from problems over a period of time rather than one specific incident.

"We just felt like both University of Tennessee and the student-athletes would be better served to move on," Pearl said.

Smith spent half the season as a starting point guard, competing for time with senior Jordan Howell as he struggled with lackluster play.

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Smith, who came in as a highly touted recruit, averaged 7.4 points and 3.2 assists last season.

Crews averaged 5.4 points and 4.0 rebounds.

• More men's college basketball // Indiana coach Tom Crean will not reinstate Armon Bassett and Jamarcus Ellis, who were ordered off the team in March. Interim coach Dan Dakich dismissed the players for missing an appointment and then failing to show up to run laps as part of their punishment. Crean also said DeAndre Thomas will not return to the team. On Thursday, freshman Eli Holman told coaches he intended to transfer before apparently throwing a tantrum in their office that required a call to the campus police. Crean says Holman will not return. ... West Virginia coach Bob Huggins has signed an 11-year contract with the school that will keep him at his alma mater until he's 65. The deal will pay him $1.5 million a year, plus incentives. When he arrived in April 2007, he was paid $800,000 in his first season. The Mountaineers went 26-11 this season.

• Tennis // Three-time defending champion Rafael Nadal defeated Juan Ignacio Chela, 6-4, 6-2, to reach the ATP Barcelona Open semifinals in Spain. Chela led 4-2 in the opening set before Nadal broke serve and took control. In another quarterfinal, second seed David Ferrer defeated Tommy Robredo, 7-6 (4), 6-4. Also, 14th seed Stanislas Wawrinka defeated Albert Montanes, 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-4. ... Younes El Aynaoui of Morocco became the oldest semifinalist on the ATP Tour in 15 years, defeating Juan Martin Del Potro, 6-4, 6-4, at the ATP BMW Open in Munich, Germany. At 36 years, 7 months, El Aynaoui became the oldest semifinalist on the tour since Jimmy Connors played in San Francisco in 1993 at 40 years, 5 months. El Aynaoui will play second seed Fernando Gonzalez, who defeated Marat Safin, 6-3, 7-5. Top seed Paul-Henri Mathieu defeated eighth seed Marin Cilic, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, to set up a semifinal against Simone Bolelli, a 6-4, 7-6 (3) winner over Lee Hyung-taik.

• Running // The second annual Fiesta 5K & Fun Run to benefit The Robert Packard Center for ALS Research at Johns Hopkins will be held at 8 a.m. today at Power PlantLive. Former Raven O.J. Brigance, who has ALS, is the honorary chairman of the event.

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Tennessee kicks 2 off men's basketball team

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