Doctors in Hawaii Optimistic About Full Recovery for Jones

Doctors were optimistic about Hawaii football Coach June Jones’ chances for a full recovery Friday, a day after he was critically injured in a car crash.

Jones was upgraded to guarded condition after regaining consciousness and moving his arms and legs. Dr. Gail Tominaga, director of trauma services at the Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu, said Jones was responding to questions by nodding and had started to open his eyes.

“Coach Jones is doing very well today--surprisingly well for all he’s been through,” Tominaga said. But she said a full recovery would take “quite a while” and he probably would be hospitalized for a few weeks in the best of circumstances.

Jones was brought to the hospital unconscious and with a weak pulse after he drove into a concrete pillar on a freeway Thursday. He was driving alone near Honolulu International Airport when his car ran off the roadway before slamming into the pillar supporting an overpass. A witness told a TV station that he saw Jones take off his seat belt and reach toward the passenger side of the front seat just before the car veered off the road.

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Rutgers Coach Greg Schiano picked Paul Ferraro to be the team’s defensive coordinator. . . . The Ohio Valley Conference suspended Tennessee State assistant coach Le Andre Creamer three games for striking an opposing player during a game against Eastern Kentucky last season.

Pro Football

Running back Kimble Anders was released by the Kansas City Chiefs. Anders, who had spent his 10-year career with the Chiefs, never recorded more than 400 rushing yards in a season but went to the Pro Bowl as a fullback for his blocking and receiving. Anders, 34, is 12th on the Chiefs’ all-time rushing list with 2,261 yards.

The Washington Redskins released veteran offensive lineman Andy Heck, after a season in which he lost his starting job and was relegated to a backup role. . . . Quarterback Henry Burris, who played for the Canadian Football League’s Saskatchewan Roughriders last season, has signed a contract with the Green Bay Packers.

Tennis

Mark Philippoussis ended qualifier Dmitry Tursunov’s hopes of winning his first ATP Tour tournament with a 6-3, 6-2 victory in the quarterfinals of the Kroger St. Jude tournament at Memphis, Tenn. The second-seeded Australian will play third-seeded Tommy Haas, a 6-4, 6-2 winner over fifth-seeded Jan-Michael Gambill. In another quarterfinal, Sebastien Lareau upset 12th-seeded Jason Stoltenberg, 7-6 (6), 6-4. He will play ninth-seeded Davide Sanaguinetti, who beat Tennessee native Chris Woodruff, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.

Third-seeded Alex Corretja bowed out of the ABN AMRO tournament with a 6-4, 6-2 quarterfinal loss to Roger Federer at Rotterdam, Netherlands, leaving the $850,000 event with no seeded players. Federer will face Romania’s Andrei Pavel, who beat Nicolas Kiefer, 6-4, 6-4, in another quarterfinal.

Brazil’s Gustavo Kuerten reached the semifinals of the AT&T; Cup at Buenos Aires, rallying to beat Argentina’s Gustavo Canas, 0-6, 6-1, 6-2. In the semifinals, Kuerten will face Spain’s Fernando Vicente, who advanced when Markus Hipfl of Austria retired because of injury at the start of the second set. Vicente won the first set, 6-4.

Australian Open champion Jennifer Capriati defeated Lisa Raymond, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, to advance to the semifinals of the IGA U.S. Indoor Championships at Oklahoma City. She will face Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia, who won a matchup of 17-year-olds by beating qualifier Aniko Kapros of Hungary, 6-4, 6-4. . . . Top-ranked Martina Hingis of Switzerland overcome some bad moments in the first set, then recovered to beat No. 7 Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand in the semifinals of Dubai Open at United Arab Emirates. Hingis a 7-6 (6), 6-1 winner, will oppose Nathalie Tauziat today for the championship of the $565,000 tournament. Tauziat outlasted Australian qualifier Rachel McQuillan, 7-6 (5), 6-4. . . . Anna Kournikova will miss her next two tournaments because of a broken foot, skipping events in Acapulco, Mexico, and Indian Wells.

Miscellany

Tokyo Verdy 1969 scored two late goals to defeat the Galaxy, 3-2, in an exhibition at Tokyo.

Nobuhiro Takeda scored the winner for the J-League team three minutes into injury time. Galaxy goalkeeper Matt Reis’ free kick 40 yards out of his goal deflected off defender Alexi Lalas’ back toward its unguarded goal. Takeda then kicked the winner over a recovering Reis.

Masakiyo Maezono’s 90th-minute penalty kick tied the score. Verdy was awarded the penalty kick after Galaxy defender Ezra Hendrickson was called for a foul in the penalty area. Brian Ching, a second-round draft choice, and Sasha Victorine scored the Galaxy goals.

A federal judge decided to release former heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe from jail, but with strict limitations including 24-hour electronic monitoring. Bowe was arrested for assaulting his wife.

Georgia Tech All-American third baseman Mark Teixeira broke his right ankle in a collision with a teammate and will be out six to eight weeks.

Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco just missed the world record in the two miles at the Flanders Indoor meet at Ghent, Belgium. El Guerrouj was timed at 8 minutes 9.89 seconds, just .23 of a second off the world record set last year by Hailu Mekonnen of Ethiopia.

A memorial service for Guy Rodgers, a four-time NBA all-star who died Monday in Los Angeles, will be held Monday at 4 p.m. at Angelus Funeral Home, 3675 Crenshaw Blvd.

The Long Beach Ice Dogs converted three of six power plays in a 5-1 West Coast Hockey League victory over the Tacoma Sabercats at Tacoma, Wash.