Jeff Bregel

UCLA placekicker John Lee and USC guard Jeff Bregel Monday were named to the 1985 Associated Press All-America team. Joining Lee and Bregel on the team were Michigan State sophomore running back Lorenzo White and Oklahoma sophomore linebacker Brian Bosworth, along with Heisman Trophy-winning tailback Bo Jackson of Auburn and Lombardi Award recipient Tony Casillas, Oklahoma's nose guard.

California Football magazine has named former Crespi High running back Russell White its high school offensive player of the decade. White, the state's all-time leading rusher with 5,998 yards and 94 touchdowns, will be a sophomore at Cal this fall. He was one of seven Valley-area athletes honored in the magazine's latest edition.

USC Athletic Director Mike McGee said Thursday night that the issue of whether Coach Ted Tollner will be retained or terminated probably will be determined before the Trojans' Jan. 1 Florida Citrus Bowl game with Auburn. McGee, appearing at USC's annual football awards banquet at the Biltmore Hotel, added that the timetable of the evaluation of Tollner and the football program is uncertain. "In all likelihood, some decision will be reached before the Citrus Bowl game," McGee said.

When Steve Walsh takes his first snap in the Orange Bowl, the stadium will be filled with 75,000 people wondering whether he can duplicate the heroics of his predecessor, Heisman Trophy winner Vinny Testaverde. Across the nation are other young players in similar situations -- taking over positions manned in 1986 by the 17 All-Americans who are not returning this year. Miami's Walsh, a third-year sophomore from St. Paul, Minn.

How undermanned did Kennedy High appear to be as it headed into its intracity showdown with Granada Hills on Friday night?

Former Olympian Linda Murphy has been named girls volleyball coach at Burroughs High in Burbank, her alma mater. Murphy also attended Valley College and San Fernando Valley State (Cal State Northridge) before competing in the 1964 Olympics as a member of the womens volleyball team. Murphy, a member of the Volleyball Hall of Fame, also competed in the Pan American Games in 1963 and 1967. She has been a teacher at John Muir Junior High the past 16 years.

Arkansas, the defending national champion with five returning starters, was the overwhelming top choice Monday in the Associated Press preseason college basketball poll. The Razorbacks, whose 31-3 record last season included a title game victory over Duke at Charlotte, N.C., received all but three of the 66 first-place votes cast by the national media panel. Rounding out the top five are North Carolina, Massachusetts, Kentucky and Arizona. UCLA is ranked sixth.

Chris Roberts, the radio voice of UCLA football and basketball, was among the speakers Friday at the Pasadena Quarterbacks Club luncheon at the Brookside Clubhouse next to the Rose Bowl. And no one could blame him for doing a little gloating. At this luncheon last year, he predicted the Bruins would beat USC, 13-10. "If not for USC missing an extra point, I would have been right on," Roberts said. His prediction for today's game is Bruins, 17-14, on a last-second field goal.

Being assigned to guard Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls can be injurious to your health. Says Boston's Dennis Johnson: "You don't like to dwell on it, but I keep thinking, 'What if this guy hits 92 on me?' " When Jordan scored 61 points against the Atlanta Hawks, Randy Wittman was in such a funk that Jordan finally told him, "Don't worry about it. You're doing all you can."

Anthony Conyers, San Diego State's top wide receiver, will not play in the Holiday Bowl Tuesday against Iowa because he tested positive for an unspecified drug, according to two team sources. John Rosenthal, San Diego State's sports information director, issued a statement saying that Conyers would not play because of "medical reasons." Conyers was the latest of several players to be barred from bowl games this week in connection with the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. drug test.