Jordan Suspect Admitted Role

One of the two defendants charged with the murder of Michael Jordan’s father admitted that he played a part in the death of James Jordan, according to an Aug. 16 affidavit released Friday.

Larry Martin Demery, 18, of Rowland, N.C., told an agent with the North Carolina Bureau of Investigation that he and Daniel Andre Green planned to rob tourists at a hotel at the intersection of Interstate 95 and U.S. 74 the night Jordan was killed, according to the affidavit taken from an Aug. 15 interview.

Demery and Green, 18, of Lumberton each are charged with first-degree murder, armed robbery and conspiracy to commit armed robbery.

Jordan, father of the Chicago Bulls’ star, was slain July 23 in his car along a secluded roadside. His body was found in a South Carolina creek Aug. 3 by a fisherman.

Neither defendant has entered a formal plea, but both have maintained their innocence. An arraignment is scheduled for Sept. 27.

Basketball

Phoenix Sun forward Richard Dumas, suspended indefinitely without pay by the NBA for refusing to cooperate in substance-abuse rehabilitation, has checked into a Houston treatment center run by San Antonio Spur Coach John Lucas.

Jeffrey Mishkin, NBA senior vice president for legal and business affairs, said if Dumas reported for treatment and counselors were convinced he is diligent, the suspension will be changed to continue paying him.

Sun guard Frank Johnson is expected to miss the exhibition season after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery. He is expected to return for the regular season.

Houston Rocket center Hakeem Olajuwon, a naturalized U.S. citizen, might not be eligible to play for the U.S. Olympic team in 1996 because of a paper work snafu, the Houston Chronicle reported. Olajuwon, a native of Nigeria, became a U.S. citizen on April 2, but he is not eligible to play for the U.S. team until proper documents have been filed with the International Basketball Federation.

The Indiana Pacers signed first-round draft pick Scott Haskin of Oregon State to a reported $8-million, six-year contract.

Olympics

Beijing’s 2000 Olympic bid, already challenged because of China’s human rights record, became further embroiled in controversy when a Chinese official raised the possibility of boycotting the 1996 Summer Olympics if it does not win the bid next week.

Zhang Baifa, executive vice mayor of Beijing and a senior member of the bid committee, said China could boycott the Atlanta Games to retaliate against the U.S. congressional opposition to Beijing’s candidacy.

He Zhenliang, head of China’s Olympic Committee and an IOC vice president, later ruled out a boycott but stopped short of guaranteeing that Chinese athletes would compete in Atlanta.

The International Olympic Committee will select the host city for 2000 next Thursday. Beijing is considered one of the leading candidates along with Sydney, Manchester, Berlin and Istanbul.

Tennis

Drug testing will be introduced at all Davis Cup series beginning in 1994, the International Tennis Federation announced after its weeklong conference in Vancouver.

The ITF also formalized plans to run the Federation Cup as a yearlong playoff similar to the Davis Cup, its male counterpart as an international competition among countries, beginning in 1995. It will be held in Frankfurt, Germany, next year for the last time under the current format--a one-week, single-elimination tournament.

Miscellany

The ninth-ranked USC women’s volleyball team defeated top-ranked Stanford, 16-14, 19-17, 15-8, for the first time since 1989, at USC. Junior middle blocker Meika Wagner led the Trojans with 17 kills. USC is 6-1, Stanford 5-2. . . . The second-ranked Cal State Long Beach women’s volleyball team will play host to sixth-ranked Pacific tonight at 7:30 at the Cal State Long Beach gym. . . . The Cherry Creek (Colo.) High boys’ tennis team set a national record with its 248th consecutive dual-match victory Thursday. Cherry Creek defeated Mullen High, 7-0, to pass Brophy High of Phoenix.

Names in the News

Washington Capital goaltender Rick Tabaracci will miss three to six weeks because of a torn ligament in his right knee. . . . The Dallas Stars’ new public-address announcer, Sari Zalesin, is believed to be the first woman holding such a job in the NHL. . . . Rich Adlay of the University of New Mexico has been named coach of the 1994 USA national baseball team. . . . Diego Maradona was left off Argentina’s soccer roster for its two-game series against Australia that will determine which country plays in the 1994 World Cup.