Virginia Tech cancels game

Virginia Tech football Coach Frank Beamer canceled his team’s last three spring practices and Saturday’s spring game after the campus shooting spree that left 32 victims and the gunman dead.

“There’s things more important than football right now,” he said after attending a somber convocation Tuesday. “There’s a lot of grieving families here and there’s going to be a lot of grieving families here Saturday. I just thought it was the right thing to do.”

The school also postponed a baseball game against William & Mary that was to have been played today. Five spring sports teams will participate in Atlantic Coast Conference championships as scheduled.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Reynolds is named

Air Force coach

Jeff Reynolds, an Air Force assistant the last two seasons to Jeff Bzdelik, who left for Colorado in early April, was named the Falcons’ coach.

UCLA junior guard Arron Afflalo, the Pacific 10 player of the year, was given the John Wooden Award as the Bruins’ most valuable player at the team’s postseason banquet.

St. Louis Coach Brad Soderberg was fired after five seasons. Assistant Angres Thorpe was named interim coach.

Indiana forward D.J. White will return for his senior season of eligibility after leading the Hoosiers in scoring and rebounding last season.

Oral Roberts Coach Scott Sutton agreed to a seven-year contract extension.

Theresa Grentz resigned as Illinois women’s coach, less than two months after she sought a contract extension.

Pokey Chatman was given two hours to resign or be fired, says her attorney, arguing the former Louisiana State University women’s basketball coach is entitled to damages and compensation for the final two years of her contract.

TENNIS

Federer advances

at Monte Carlo

Roger Federer labored to a 7-6 (4), 7-6 (6) victory over Andreas Seppi in the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters in Monaco.

The top-ranked Swiss will play Lee Hyung-taik, who upset 13th-seeded Mikhail Youzhny, 6-4, 6-3.

SOCCER

Doctors say Maradona

continues to improve

Diego Maradona showed signs of improving health, with doctors saying the soccer great could be released from a Buenos Aires hospital if his progress continues.

JURISPRUDENCE

Frazier sues daughter

in business dispute

Former heavyweight champion Joe Frazier has sued his daughter for the return of his contracts, product endorsements and other business papers.

Jacquelyn Frazier-Lyde controls the documents because she served as her father’s lawyer and business advisor from 1989 to 2004, according to the lawsuit.

A disabled veterans group sued the University of Michigan, saying there aren’t enough spaces for wheelchair users at Michigan Stadium, one of the largest football stadiums in the country.

MISCELLANY

Stevic wins stage

at Tour de Georgia

Ivan Stevic won the second stage of the Tour de Georgia, and Daniele Contrini retained the overall lead.

Contrini, who won the opening stage for the Tinkoff Credit Systems team, retained the overall lead despite placing 54th in the 135-mile ride from Thomaston to Rome.

USC team doctors were scheduled to examine running back Hershel Dennis’ surgically-repaired left knee on Tuesday night, according to Coach Pete Carroll.

Dennis, who impressed during spring workouts after missing two seasons because of knee injuries, sat out most of the Trojans’ final scrimmage on Sunday after making a move that resulted in what he described as a calf strain.

-- Gary Klein

The start of the Louis Vuitton Cup off the coast of Valencia, Spain, was delayed again by light wind.

Bruce Hooper of San Antonio, the world champion in the International Blind Golf Assn.’s vision-impaired B-2 division, shot an 85 to take the first round lead at the California Blind Golf Classic at Lompoc.

A Mineshaft was sold for a record $1.75 million at Keeneland’s April Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale at Lexington, Ky., the highest price ever paid for a filly during the event.