Wednesday, January 12, 2000 - The Michigan Daily - 9 flokies lose two to NFL draft 26 underclassmen and counting pass up final year of eligibility The Associated Press Virginia Tech reached another milestone yesterday: The Hokies will lose two underclassmen to the NFL aft for the first time, a week after aying in their first national title game. Tailback Shyrone Stith and corner- ba*k Ike Charlton were among 26 players passing up a final year of col- leg eligibility for the NFL draft, April 15-16. Tennessee had the most players on the 'NFL's special eligibility list with three - tailback Jamal Lewis and defensive back Deon Grant joined leman. Two other Volunteers - linebacker Raynoch Thompson and defensive end Shaun Ellis - are expected to be on !the final list before the draft. Both could have returned to school as partial qualifiers but have elected to turn pro. Last season, the final underclass- men list totaled 42 after originally being released with 35 names. The Fisk, Perez elected to Hall of Fame NEW YORK (AP) -- Twenty-five years after clearing The Wall, Carlton Fisk and Tony Perez made the Hall. The pair, linked by home runs in per- haps the greatest World Series ever, were *cted to the Hall of Fame on Tuesday, wiping away the times they fell just short. Fisk is best remembered for waving his 12th-inning homer fair in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series. Perez's two-run shot off Bill Lee the following night, which helped rally Cincinnati from a three-run deficit to the title, is largely overlooked. "fisk, who caught the most games in Jor league history (2,226) and hit a word 351 of 376 career home runs while playing the position, received 397 votes among the record 499 ballots cast by 10-year members of the Baseball Writer's Association of America. Perez received 385 votes. To be elected, a player had to be listed oni 75 ballots (75 percent). Fisk, who fell 43 votes short last year in his first time on the ballot, received 79.6 percent mNifmade it with 22 votes to spare. ;rez, 71 votes shy last year when Nolan Ryan, George Brett and Robin Yount were chosen, got 77.2 percent and was elected with 10 votes to spare, becoming the first Cuban chosen by the Ba ball Writers Association ofAmcrica. And it could be an even bigger '75 NFL also considers special cases and rules on them just before the draft. The Seminoles, 46-29 winners over the Hokies in last week's Sugar Bowl, lost college football's best kicker in Janikowski, but will have 27-year-old quarterback Chris Weinke for another season. Weinke, projected as a third-round pick and aware he'd end up on an NFL team's bench, opted for another title chase in Tallahassee. "I want to play in as many games as possible," said Weinke, who threw for 329 yards and four touchdowns in the Sugar Bowl. "I don't want to sit on the bench making the minimum watching Florida State on Saturdays play on TV." Weinke, along with returning quar- terbacks Drew Brees of Purdue and Michael Vick of Virginia Tech, should start the 2000 season among the top contenders for the Heisman Trophy. There were no underclassmen quar- terbacks on the list. Among the top quarterback prospects for the draft are BRIEFS reunion when inductions areheld. Fisk, who played from 1969-93, and Perez, active from 1964-86, will be inducted into the Hall at Cooperstown, N.Y., on July 23. Sparky Anderson, who managed the Reds to Series titles in 1975 and '76, is a leading contender for election by the veterans' committee, which meets Feb. 29 at Tampa, Fla. Dallas fires coach despite playoffs IRVING, Texas (AP) - Chan Gailey was fired as coach of the Dallas Cowboys yesterday, two days after the team was knocked out of the playoffs in the first round. Jones did not give a specific rea- son for firing Gailey, but said it would take too much time and ener- gy to get everyone on the same page" for next season. Gailey led Dallas to an 18-14 record in two regular seasons, but the Cowboys were eliminated from the playoffs in the first round both years. Gailey, the fourth coach in the team's 40-year history and the third that Jones has hired, leaves with the dubious distinction of being the first without a Super Bowl victory. His tenure also was the shortest. There was no immediate word on a replacement. Chad Pennington of Marshall, Chris Redman of Louisville and Tim Rattay of Louisiana Tech. The 5-foot-8, 210-pound Stith, Tech's 1,000-yard rusher, was one of three underclassmen running backs on the list. The others were Ronney Jenkins of Northern Arizona and the Volunteers' Lewis. The senior running back class fea- tures Heisman Trophy winner Ron Dayne of Wisconsin, Thomas Jones of Virginia and Shaun Alexander of Alabama. Charlton, a 6-0, 203-pound corner- back, also showed his talent as a punt returner in the Sugar Bowl. He returned one 46 yards to set up a third-quarter touchdown. Charlton's early departure was expected, but Stith's wasn't so certain. "I told Shyrone all along that if it looked like he'd go in the first or sec- ond (round), 'You don't have to ask, I'll boot you out of here,"' Tech assis- tant Billy Hite said. Cneece Overal Michigan State 3 0 12 4 Indiana 2 1 12 2 Michigan 1 1: 10 3 Minnesota: 1 1 9 3 Ohio State 1 1 9 3 Illinois . 1 1 9 4 Wisconsin 1 1 9 4 Iowa 11 '1 7 6 Purdue 0 1 9.5 Northwestern 0 1 :4 9 Penn State;. 0, 2 8 5 Yesterday's results: (11) MICHIGAN STATE 77, (9) Indiana 71 OT Florida State QB, Weinke to return TALLAHASSEE (AP) -- Chris Weinke has quarterbacked Florida State to 20 straight victories, and he'd like to add another 13 before leaving school - next year. The Florida State quarterback said Monday he will come back for his senior season with an eye on defending the school's national championship. Weinke, who threw four touchdown passes in a 46-29 victory over Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl, will be 28 for his final college season. Weinke said he was told by NFL scouts he'd be a third-round pick at best in the April draft. On "II"pI Players who have announced their decislonto maethemselves available for the NFL draft to be held on April 15-16 withposition ad school as announced by the NF LaVar Arrington, LB, Penn State Rodregis Brooks, CB, Ala.-Birmingham Plaxico Burress, WR, Michigan State Kwame Cavil, WR, Texas Ike Charlton, DB, Virginia Tech Cosey Coleman, G, Tennessee Patrick Dennis, DB, Louisiana-Morroe Nail Diggs, LB, Ohio State,- Jeffrey Dunlap, DT, Auburn Bubba Franks, TE, Miami Deon Grant, FS, Tennessee Bud Herring, LB, Louisville Darrell Jackson, WR, Florida Keith Jackson, DT, Cheyney, Pa. Sebastian Janikowski, PK, Florida State Ronney Jenkins, RB, Northern AnZona Ben Kelly, CB, Colorado . Jamal Lewis, RB, Tennessee Tariq McDonald, WR, Arizona State Lewis Sanders, CB, Maryland Jacoby Shepherd, DB, Oklahoma State Marvel Smith, OL, Arizona State Shyrone Stith, RB, Virginia Tech Travis Taylor, WR, Florida Hubert Thompson, DE, Michigan State Dez White, WR, Georgia Tech - AP PHOTO Virginia Tech tailback Shyrone Stith was among the 26 players who are foregoing their final year of college for the NFL draft. Michigan State victorious in OT Spartans defeat Hoosiers 77-71, claim first place in the conference EAST LANSING (AP) - Morris Peterson wouldn't take the shot in a two- point loss at Kentucky and Mateen Cleaves called him a wimp. Cleaves fed Peterson the ball again last night, and this time he buried it for Michigan State. Peterson's 3-pointer forced overtime and he scored four more points in the extra session as No. I I Michigan State defeated No. 9 Indiana 77-71 to take over first place in the Big Ten. "That's big time," Cleaves said. "He didn't take that shot at Kentucky. I told him he's our man. He's got to take that shot. le's the guy we ride with. He came up big time tonight." The win was the 100th for coach Tom Izzo and left the Spartans (3-0 Big Ten, 12-4 overall) the lone unbeaten team in conference play. "If there ever was a storybook ending to your 100th win, this was it," said Izzo, who guided the Spartans to a Final Four appearance last season. "Beating a pro- gram that you respect so much is some- thing." Indiana (2-1, 12-2), which never led in the five-minute overtime, was held to just one basket in the extra period, a 3-point- er by Michael Lewis with 4 seconds remaining. "This was a tough loss." Indiana coach Bob Knight said. "Peterson made a big play out there." Charlie Bell led the Spartans with 22 points and Peterson finished with 17. A.J. Guyton scored 28 points for the Hoosiers, who were outrebounded 46-37. Peterson's 3-pointer with 11.3 seconds left in regulation, on a pass from Cleaves, was only the Spartans' fifth basket over the final 10:44 and tied it at 62. Cleaves heaved up a long shot from just inside midcourt at the buzzer for Michigan State, but the ball spun out of the rim. "I thought it was down," Cleaves said. "Especially when it rimmed in. But, we just had to suck it up and come back." A.J. Granger's layup 47 seconds into the overtime gave the Spartans a lead they never lost. Two free throws by David Thomas gave Michigan State - a 75-68 lead with 8.9 seconds remaining. Lewis' 3-pointer cut it four points, then Granger sealed it with two free throws. with 2.8 seconds left. "We got one tonight," Peterson said. "But that's a great team. We've got to be ready when we play them again (Feb. 26)." With so much on the line, both teams looked a little nervous at the start. In the first eight minutes, Indiana was leading 11-9 and had hit just 4 of 13 shots, while the Spartans were shooting 3 of 14, and each team had turned the ball over four times. And the ball handling never got much better. Each team finished with 17 turnovers in the typically bump andtbang Big Ten contest. The rest of the first half settled into a game of runs. Guyton scored nine points in a 9-0 burst that put Indiana ahead 25-20. But Bell scored six as the Spartans answered with an 8-0 run for a 28-25 lead. A three- point play by Guyton tied it at 28, but Bell's 3-pointer from the right corner just before the buzzer sent Michigan State uff with a 31-28 halftime lead. Each team led once by seven points in the second half, the last time with 2:45 remaining after two free throws by Kirk Haston gave Indiana a 58-51 edge. Cleaves, making his first start since returning last week from a foot injury that kept sidelined for 10 weeks, hid eight 3-pointers to claim the record \ih 653, eclipsing the old mark of 645 by Scott Skiles. No.4 AUBURN 66, No.20 KENTUCKY 63: Doc Robinson hit a tiebreaking 3- pointer with 24.4 seconds to play and Scott Pohlman added two free throws as Auburn beat Kentucky 66-63. It was Auburn's first victory over Kentucky since 1990 and snapped the Wildcats' six-game winning streak. Auburn fans stormed the court in cele- bration, makin; it impossible for the players to leave the floor.