BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Florida placed three players on the eight-member All-Southeastern Conference men's basketball preseason first team announced Thursday by the league.
Returning first-team All-SEC point guard Anthony Roberson was one of two unanimous selections, with Lawrence Roberts of Mississippi State the other. Forwards David Lee and Matt Walsh, both All-SEC selections for UF a year ago, were selected for the first team as well.
Rounding out the first team were Kennedy Winston of Alabama, Chuck Hayes of Kentucky, Brandon Bass of LSU and Scooter McFadgon of Tennessee.
FOOTBALL: Storm player arrested
Omar Laurence, a Largo High and Central Florida standout who signed with the Storm this month, was arrested early Wednesday in Tampa and charged with possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and being a felon in possession of a firearm. The marijuana and firearm charges are both felonies, while the drug paraphernalia charge is a misdemeanor. As of Thursday, he remained in jail on $10,000 bail. ... The Storm re-signed fullback/linebacker Umar Muhammad and signed wide receiver/defensive back Lawrence Richardson and lineman Jerry Johnson.
TENNIS: Agassi reaches quarters
Andre Agassi breezed past fellow American Vince Spadea 6-1, 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals in the Madrid Masters in Spain. ... Venus Williams was pushed to two tiebreakers over two hours by 16-year-old qualifier Ana Ivanovic before reaching the Swisscom Challenge quarterfinals in Zurich, Switzerland. Williams edged Ivanovic 7-6 (13-11), 7-6 (8-6) and meets Maria Sharapova today.
ET CETERA
SOCCER: David Beckham won't be punished by England's Football Association for intentionally getting a yellow card in a World Cup qualifying game. The federation said there was "insufficient evidence" to pursue a case.
DOPING: Two Hungarian weightlifters asked sports' highest court to overturn their expulsions from the Athens Games. Ferenc Gyurkovicsinitially won the silver medal in the 105-kilogram event. Zolton Kovacsretired from the same event with an injury. ... Gold-medal cyclist Tyler Hamilton says he will clear his name in a January hearing in Colorado, and asks for patience over his positive test for blood doping last month.
COLLEGES: Casie Poyssick of Land O'Lakes scored three goals to lead the Saint Leo women's soccer team past Eckerd 8-0 in a Sunshine State Conference match. Junior defender Sarah Wright of Clearwater added two goals.
FIGURE SKATING: A broken skate derailed Michael Weiss in the men's short program in Skate America at Pittsburgh, as he couldn't complete his opening combination. He scored only a 64.82 and was in second behind Brian Joubert of France, who scored 72.10 despite a stumble.
