Report Says Minority Diversity Progress In NCAA Ranks Is 'Very Slow'

White men dominate the leadership positions in college sports, a new study says, with women and minorities making only slow progress moving into the top jobs.

Athletic directors, conference commissioners and university presidents overwhelmingly are white, the study released yesterday by the University of Central Florida's Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport found.

"There's a gradual movement toward positive change both in terms of race and gender, but it's been very slow," Richard Lapchick, the institute's director, said in an interview with the Associated Press in Orlando. "The situation still remains that people who lead college sports in America are still white, which doesn't reflect the student-athletes on the teams they represent."

All 11 NCAA Division I-A conference commissioners -- whom Lapchick called the most powerful people in college sports -- were white men, according to the study, which looked at employment data from the 2004-05 academic year for all 1,025 NCAA member institutions, conferences and NCAA headquarters.

All 36 conference commissioners throughout Division I were white, according to the study. . . .

Auburn University President Ed Richardson said an internal investigation determined that a faculty member changed students' grades, including those of some athletes, from 2002 to '04.

Richardson said in a statement that Auburn will work with the Office of the Provost to determine "the appropriate corrective steps" against the professor. He didn't identify the professor or provide any details on how many grades were changed.

A university spokesman said Auburn could not release the professor's name because it is a personnel matter. The grade changes involved only a small number of students, and few of them were athletes, according to the spokesman.

· BASEBALL: Seattle Mariners shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt and the family of Chicago White Sox pitcher Jose Contreras were among the Cubans allegedly smuggled into the United States by an agent and others accused of immigration violations, federal prosecutors in Miami said.

Betancourt and another Cuban baseball player, Zaydel Beltran, were among a group of Cubans smuggled to the United States by boat on Dec. 4, 2003, and then driven to Los Angeles, according to documents filed this week in the case against agent Gustavo"Gus" Dominguez and five other defendants.

The papers for the first time revealed the identities of players and family members allegedly involved in some of the smuggling ventures that resulted in a 53-count grand jury indictment announced in October.

Dominguez and the other defendants have pleaded not guilty to federal alien smuggling, conspiracy and other related charges. A trial is scheduled to begin early next month in Key West, Fla.

· TENNIS: Three-time major champion Lindsay Davenport is pregnant and will miss at least the start of the 2007 tennis season.

Davenport, 30, and her husband, Jonathan Leach, are expecting their first child in early summer.

Davenport ended 2006 ranked 25th in the world.

-- From News Services