San Diego State basketball coach Steve Fisher has indefinitely suspended senior forward Lorrenzo Wade, who pleaded not guilty to a felony charge of stealing a television from a woman's home. Fisher suspended Wade two weeks ago but the school didn't announce it until Wednesday, the day after Wade was in court.

Louisville senior forward Terrence Williams underwent knee surgery Wednesday and is expected to be out four to six weeks. The school announced that the surgery was successful. Dr. John Ellis performed the surgery to repair a medial meniscus tear in Williams' right knee. Williams was injured during a pickup game Tuesday.

A BYU basketball player on a Mormon mission and another missionary were attacked and stabbed while returning to their apartment in a suburb of Sydney, Australia. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said Wednesday that Chris Collinsworth, 19, of Mapleton, Utah, and David Ferguson, 21, of Great Falls, Mont., "suffered multiple non-life threatening stab wounds in an unprovoked attack ..."...

After failing to make the postseason in 2007 and losing in the first round of the NCAA tournament last season after point guard A.J. Price went down with a knee injury, UConn is expecting to return to its place among the nation's elite this season. "We feel that we should have been there last year, and to have A.J.

Florida guard Nick Calathes spent more time watching from afar than leading by example this summer, a concern for Gators coach Billy Donovan. Calathes, the Southeastern Conference freshman of the year last season, worked with the Greek national team in June and July. He returned to Gainesville in mid-August, but almost immediately injured a groin muscle and hasn't fully practiced since.

Michigan State leads the nation with four trips to the Final Four in the last decade. Coach Tom Izzo said playing in college basketball's signature event a fifth time would be even more special this season because it will be at Ford Field in Detroit. "Yeah, I dream about it," Izzo acknowledged Wednesday at media day.

For Tyler Hansbrough, the value of another year at North Carolina can't be measured in NBA dollars. It's not just about records, titles or trophies, either. The reigning player of the year is also back for something else: one more season to be a kid before basketball becomes a business. "I like my situation," Hansbrough said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Marshall senior swingman Markel Humphrey will miss up to six weeks with a stress fracture in his left foot. Thundering Herd coach Donnie Jones said Tuesday that Humphrey won't have surgery but will have to wear a protective boot. Marshall hopes to have him back for the season opener on Nov. 16, against West Virginia Tech.

Don't expect too much sentimentality from John Thompson III. Yes, Georgetown's basketball coach will miss departed seniors Roy Hibbert, Jonathan Wallace, Patrick Ewing Jr. and Tyler Crawford. Rest assured, though, Thompson is also ready to move on. "That group, and everyone who has followed us and been around, knows how special that group is to me.

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit against the NCAA and Big East Conference filed by a former Seton Hall basketball recruit who was declared ineligible. Michael Glover, a 6-foot-6 forward from the Bronx, was ruled ineligible last fall after enrolling at Seton Hall, a member of the Providence-based conference.

The questions follow Harvey Hale everywhere he goes -- to the movies, to the grocery store, to class. Everyone, it seems, wants to know just how good Wake Forest is going to be. "I can't go anywhere, and everybody's saying, 'We're looking for a big year for you guys, Harvey,' or 'How's the freshmen?"' said Hale, who was the team's sixth-man last season.

Two more people involved in the killing of former Villanova basketball star Howard Porter were sentenced on Monday. Fredquinzo King was sentenced to 45 years Monday in district court in Minneapolis. He had pleaded guilty earlier. Tonya Washington, who pleaded guilty in February to aggravated robbery, was sentenced to 10 years.

ESPN and the University of Hawaii have announced a new eight-team, holiday men's college basketball tournament starting in 2009. The Diamond Head Classic will feature 12 games played over three days, around the Dec. 24 Hawaii Bowl football game, with the championship played on Christmas. Pete Derzis, senior vice president and general manager of ESPN Regional Television, says a minimum of 10 games...

The Illinois men's and women's basketball teams got an early start to their seasons Saturday, holding what they called the world's largest outdoor basketball practice on a portable court at Memorial Stadium. It's unlikely they'll be able to repeat it, though. The NCAA is expected to ban such early events after coaches at other schools complained.

A year ago, Kentucky's Big Blue Madness was about showing off a new coach. This time, it was about showing off a new look. Billy Gillispie's Wildcats donned their new blue and white uniforms with a checkerboard pattern as the nation's all-time winningest program kicked off its preseason preparations Friday night in front of 23,000 of their closest friends.

With the first official practice quickly approaching, the round table in Mike Montgomery's office is covered in paperwork. He's busy at it, scribbling away. Montgomery recently got rid of the row of red binders filled with basketball plays and practice routines and replaced them with blue folders, clearly more fitting for his new gig as coach at California.

Kentucky, West Virginia and several other schools plan an early start on Midnight Madness by taking advantage of an NCAA practice rule. The official opening of practice for the 2008-09 season is Oct. 17, but the NCAA has allowed two hours of team workouts per week since mid-September. National Association of Basketball Coaches spokesman Rick Leddy said the intent of the rule was for coaches to work...

Southeast Missouri State fired athletic director Don Kaverman and placed men's basketball coach Scott Edgar on administrative leave on Thursday, three days after the NCAA notified the school of possible major violations. The moves come three months after the women's basketball team forfeited 44 victories, and the women's and men's programs were placed on two years' probation for major and...

North Carolina's pursuit of a return to the Final Four is off to a bumpy start. Senior Marcus Ginyard will miss eight weeks after having surgery to repair a stress fracture in his left foot, robbing the Tar Heels of their do-everything swingman who started every game last season. During surgery Wednesday morning, doctors inserted a screw in the fifth metatarsal of his left foot.

Finally, there's a bit of promising optimism from a sports team in this slumping city. "Our guys sure seem to have a pretty good attitude and are on the same page," Washington coach Lorenzo Romar said Tuesday. "I don't sense our guys have a false confidence at all. I sense our guys have an attitude of 'Let's get started because we're excited to see what we can accomplish this year."' The Huskies...