Sports Briefs: Ryan is inducted into women's basketball Hall

Virginia coach Debbie Ryan was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame yesterday in Knoxville, Tenn., and the moment wasn't lost on her.

Ryan had pancreatic cancer diagnosed in 2000.

"It's really taught me to smell the roses," she said. "It really makes this weekend special. I'm not just happy to be here; I'm happy to be anywhere."

In 31 years at Virginia, she has 22 NCAA Tournament appearances and 675 wins.

Also being honored are official Patty Broderick, Central Arizona coach Lin Laursen, Tennessee and Wayland Baptist All-American Jill Rankin Schneider, Penn State player and Olympic gold medalist Suzie McConnell-Serio and Australian and WNBA player Michelle Timms.

A weekend of activities was planned for the inductees.

More basketball

■ Mike Woodson signed a contract with the Atlanta Hawks yesterday, sealing his return as coach for at least the next two seasons. The Hawks didn't include terms of the deal in their announcement, but The Journal Constitution reported that the contract is for two years.

Woodson has a 106-222 record in four seasons with the Hawks, but he led the team to a playoff berth this season, its first in nine years. Atlanta took Boston to a Game 7 in their first-round series.

■ A Pennsylvania woman who says that Michael Jordan fathered her child despite two DNA tests to the contrary has been barred from contacting Jordan, his family or his representatives under a permanent injunction granted Thursday. Lisa Miceli of Meadville, Pa., says that Jordan fathered her 4-year-old son. She was thrown out of the courtroom after speaking out several times during a hearing on the request June 4.

Earlier this year, Jordan filed a lawsuit to enforce a 2005 agreement that required Miceli to stop contacting him after DNA tests proved that he was not the boy's father. Jordan's attorneys asked for the permanent injunction, saying Miceli has continued to send e-mails and make telephone calls to Jordan and his representatives.

■ The Cleveland Cavaliers will not allow center Zydrunas Ilgauskas to play for Lithuania in the Beijing Olympics, leaving LeBron James as the only Cavalier heading to China. General Manager Danny Ferry said that Ilgauskas is a higher-risk player because of his injury history -- he was plagued by foot injuries early in his career, and the Cavs are concerned about his lower back. Ilgauskas needed permission to play because his contract is not fully insured.

Football

■ The Washington Redskins have signed cornerback Justin Tryon, their fourth-round pick in April's draft, and have released safety Patrick Ghee, a second-year player out of Wake Forest.

Tryon finished with 103 tackles and four interceptions in 26 games at Arizona State. Ghee, who spent part of last season on the practice squad of the Carolina Panthers, signed with the Redskins last month.

■ Marcus Vick, a former Virginia Tech quarterback, has been charged with driving under the influence and eluding police.

According to police, a uniformed bicycle patrol officer saw Vick and a woman, Delicia Cordon of Miami, involved in an altercation in the car early yesterday. When the officer asked for a driver's license, police say, Vick sped away. Vick was stopped minutes later, failed a field sobriety test and was charged with DUI, misdemeanor eluding police, reckless driving and driving on a suspended license. Cordon was charged with being drunk in public.

Hockey

■ The Carolina Hurricanes have signed a five-year extension at the RBC Center in Raleigh, a move that will keep them in the arena through 2025. The authority that owns the arena also said that it had agreed to financial provisions to help the management contractor pay for rising operating costs, including terrorism insurance.

N.C. State, which uses the arena for basketball games, also has negotiated upgrades to the basketball facilities and parking lot and will have more input on future improvements.

■ Craig Hartsburg is an NHL head coach again, this time with Ottawa Senators. He replaces General Manager Bryan Murray, who finished the season as coach after John Paddock was fired in late February.

Hartsburg also has coached in Anaheim and Chicago and was an assistant coach for the Philadelphia Flyers from 2002 to 2004.

■ The Florida Panthers yesterday hired Peter DeBoer, a highly touted junior coach from the Ontario Hockey League's Kitchener Rangers, to replace Jacques Martin as coach. Martin was stripped of his duties as head coach in April but reached an agreement to remain as the team's general manager.

■ The Pittsburgh Penguins made sure that goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, a key to their Stanley Cup playoffs run, won't become a restricted free agent July 1 by offering him salary arbitration.

Fleury, 23, had a 14-6 record during the playoffs, with a 1.97 goals-against average, a .933 save percentage and three shutouts.

Miscellaneous

■ Charlie Jones, the deep-voiced sportscaster whose career as a play-by-play announcer dated to the beginning of the American Football League in 1960, has died. He was 77.

Jones died of a heart attack Thursday at his home in the La Jolla district of San Diego, his longtime agent, Martin Mandel, said.

■ Larry Leckonby, the chief financial officer in Maryland's athletics department, was named the athletics director at The Citadel yesterday. He replaces Les Robinson, who is retiring at the end of the month after eight years as AD.