Compton High's Russell Otis is fired

CYCLING

Hamilton banned for eight years

Olympic champion Tyler Hamilton received an eight-year ban from cycling, all but ending his drug-tainted career after he admitted to taking a steroid.

The penalty handed down by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency came two months after Hamilton acknowledged taking an herbal product to combat depression, knowing it included a steroid.

This was Hamilton's second anti-doping violation. At age 38, an eight-year ban for Hamilton is effectively a lifetime ban, said Travis Tygart, the CEO of USADA.

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Star cyclist Alexandre Vinokourov has been banned from next month's Tour de France. The top court in international sports said the 35-year-old Kazakh rider should have been barred for two years after being caught blood doping during the 2007 Tour.

COLLEGES

Bruins announce basketball dates

The UCLA men's basketball team announced a 2009-10 schedule that includes an early home game against highly regarded Kansas and a trip to Notre Dame.

The Bruins will also participate in the Thanksgiving weekend 76 Classic in Anaheim, joining a field that includes Butler, Clemson, West Virginia, Texas A&M and Long Beach State. Matchups have yet to be determined.

Pacific 10 Conference games begin with a home series against the Arizona schools on Dec. 31.

"This year's schedule is very ambitious with the young team we're going to have," Coach Ben Howland said.

-- David Wharton

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Stanford women's basketball star Jayne Appel, the Pac-10 player of the year, has undergone left knee surgery for the second time in less than a year.

ETC.

Former Trojan Belotti, 74

George Belotti, a three-year football letterman at USC in the mid-1950s, has died at 74. Section A

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Michelle Wie failed to qualify for the U.S. Women's Open after shooting a 74 in the second round of qualifying Monday.