Unlv

The Eagles announced that Randall Cunningham will serve as the team's honorary alumni captain Sunday against Arizona. There will be a tribute to the former Pro Bowl quarterback at halftime on the Miller Lite Flight Deck. One of the most electrifying players in NFL history, Cunningham spent 11 seasons in Philadelphia (1985-95), earning three trips to the Pro Bowl as an Eagle and compiling a 63-43-1 record. He ranks third in team history in many of the major passing categories, including attempts (3,362)

Years ago, I was on the phone with former UNLV basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian when he put me on hold to take another call. Tarkanian came back and said UNLV's athletic director had just resigned, the same AD who had helped escort Tarkanian out of UNLV. "All the rats are gone," Tarkanian said. "Isn't that beautiful? All the rats are gone. " Don't know why I thought of that when writing about Big East football and the latest realignment news, that Pittsburgh and Syracuse are headed to the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Armen "The Hammer" Gilliam, probably known as much for his funky "Gumby" hairstyle as for a bruising style of basketball that made him the second overall pick in the 1987 NBA draft and a 76er for more than two seasons, died Tuesday night at a fitness center in suburban Pittsburgh. He was 47. Gilliam spent two-plus seasons with the Sixers from 1990 to 1993, averaging 14.7 points and 7.1 rebounds in 211 regular-season games. In eight playoff games in 1991, Gilliam averaged 16.9 points and 6.5 rebounds as the Sixers lost to the Chicago Bulls in five games of the Eastern Conference semifinals after advancing with a sweep of the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round.

UNLV hired Brigham Young associate coach Dave Rice as its head basketball coach yesterday, picking him to return to the school where he was an assistant under four head coaches for 11 seasons. The move, pending the approval of the Nevada Board of Regents, came a little more than a week after Lon Kruger left UNLV following seven seasons to become Oklahoma's coach. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. UNLV athletic director Jim Livengood said no further information would be available until a news conference scheduled for 4 p.m. today.

LAS VEGAS - Authorities say the 2-year-old son of former Eagles quarterback Randall Cunningham is dead after apparently drowning in a backyard hot tub. Las Vegas police Lt. Dennis Flynn says it appeared to have been an accident. He says a woman at the house with several other children found the boy about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday and began trying to resuscitate him. The child was pronounced dead at St. Rose Dominican Hospital Siena campus in Henderson. Cunningham starred at UNLV and played for 16 years in the NFL, mostly for the Philadelphia Eagles.

OKLAHOMA CITY - Ali Farokhmanesh stood behind the three-point line with the basketball and Kansas' dream season in his hands. Two rows up, Cindy Fredrick yelled at her son to shoot the basketball. There were 35 seconds left, 30 on the shot clock, and Farokhmanesh's Northern Iowa team was up one. It was a split-second decision that will rock the NCAA tournament. "I always want him to shoot it," she said. "Always. His dad yells the same thing, but he's Iranian, so you can't always understand it. " She laughed, because that's what you do after your son swished the biggest shot of the tournament.

The top 25 teams in the Associated Press' men's basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Sunday, points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote, and previous ranking: Rec   Pts   Pr 1. Kansas (54) 20-1   1,605   2    2. Villanova (4) 19-1   1,534   3    3. Syracuse (6) 21-1   1,506   4    4. Kentucky (1) 20-1   1,460   1    5. Michigan St. 19-3   1,367   5    6. West Virginia 17-3   1,230   9    7. Georgetown 16-4   1,204   7    8. Purdue 18-3   1,182   10    9. Texas 18-3   1,069   6    10. Duke 17-4   1,025   8    10. Kansas St. 17-4   1,025   11    12. BYU 21-2   748   12    13. Ohio St. 16-6   677   20    14. Tennessee 16-4   655   14    15. New Mexico 20-3   636   23    16. Wisconsin 16-5   585   16    17. Gonzaga 17-4   541   13    18. Vanderbilt 16-4   502   21    19. Temple 18-4   495   15    20. Baylor 16-4   461   24    21. Georgia Tech 16-5   459   22    22. Pittsburgh 16-5   278   17    23. Butler 18-4   216   ?

Gordon Hayward had 24 points and eight rebounds as No. 22 Butler thumped No. 13 Ohio State, 74-66, yesterday in Indianapolis - the Bulldogs' first win over a ranked opponent in four tries this season. Willie Veasley added 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulldogs (7-3), who had lost to Minnesota, Clemson and Georgetown. William Buford scored 20 points for the Buckeyes (7-2), who played for the first time without Evan Turner, who was averaging a double-double this season. He fractured his lower back when he fell on a dunk attempt on Dec. 5. New Mexico 84, Texas A&M 81 - Roman Martinez scored 22 points, including two key free throws in the final seconds, as the Lobos (10-0)

Spinal surgery for former UNLV basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian has been delayed. The operation had been scheduled for yesterday in California, but the Las Vegas Sun reported that Tarkanian's son, Danny Tarkanian, said his father's blood is too thin for surgery. Doctors at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla will monitor the 79-year-old Tarkanian the next few days. They are to remove a bone spur pressing on the spinal cord. Tarkanian has had difficulty walking for several years.

It was maybe the hardest decision Jay Wright ever had to make. His boss, Rollie Massimino, was headed to Las Vegas and wanted Wright with him. Steve Lappas, who had recommended Wright to Massimino in the first place, also had a job for him - Lappas was taking over for Massimino. Wright had a life in Philadelphia. His wife had a good job. He hadn't been looking to leave. "I had loyalty to Steve, but obviously Coach Mass gave me the job," Wright said this week. "I was a Philly guy. I didn't want to leave Philly.