Oral Roberts

Anyone who is wondering how well Oral Roberts receives messages from God will be interested in our experience. Two weeks after my mother died, a letter came from Oral Roberts saying God had told him to write to her that day and ask for money! It makes one wonder. HAZEL WOODSMALL Santa Ana

Oral Roberts, a dirt-poor Oklahoma farm boy who popularized the idea of a "prosperity gospel" while becoming one of the world's most recognizable televangelists, died Tuesday. He was 91. Roberts, founder of the university in Tulsa, Okla., that is named after him, died from complications of pneumonia at a Newport Beach hospital, family spokeswoman Melany Ethridge said. He had suffered a fall over the weekend. Roberts pioneered the use of television and computerized databases to spread the Gospel and raise hundreds of millions of dollars -- a formula followed today by numerous other ministries.

I take offense at Oral Roberts' inference that God is a hit man. ABBY KATZ Montecito

In the end, Oral Roberts served its purpose. USC needed one more tomato can before beginning Pacific 10 Conference play. A last game to work out the kinks and break a sweat without perspiring too much. That came to pass in a 66-56 victory Sunday at the Galen Center. The Trojans got their fourth consecutive victory and, they hope, a bounce heading into Friday's conference opener at Oregon. Yet, there were enough warning signs Sunday to sharpen their focus.

Tim Gill made five consecutive three-point baskets and finished with a career-high 30 points Monday night to lead Oral Roberts to an 88-53 victory over Cal State Northridge. The Golden Eagles (6-6) had control of the game in the first 10 minutes. Gill then started the second half by making his five three-point shots in a span of 2:24. Damion Morbley scored 16 points for the Matadors (4-11), despite playing only 11 minutes. He was one of four Northridge players battling flu.

Scott Holcomb, senior pitcher for El Dorado High School, has signed a national letter of intent to attend Oral Roberts University on a baseball scholarship. Holcomb, a left-hander, has a 10-0 record with a 1.75 earned-run average and 93 strikeouts. He also is hitting .349 with four homers and 20 RBIs for the Golden Hawks (19-6), who will play North Torrance Friday in the first round of the CIF Southern Section 4-A playoffs.

Chase d'Arnaud hit a home run in the sixth inning to break a tie and Nathan Newman (8-4) pitched 6 2/3 strong innings Friday to lead Pepperdine past Arkansas, 4-3, in the first game of an NCAA baseball regional at Palo Alto. Denny Duron had three hits and drove in two runs as the Waves (37-19) won for the ninth time in their last 12 games. Chase Leavitt had two hits and drove in a run for the Razorbacks (34-23).

MEN Austin Peay, Ohio Valley Belmont, Atlantic Sun Butler, Horizon League Cornell, Ivy League Davidson, Southern Conference Drake, Missouri Valley George Mason, Colonial Athletic Assn. Mount St. Mary's, Northeast Oral Roberts, Summit Portland State, Big Sky San Diego, West Coast Siena, Metro Atlantic Athletic Western Kentucky, Sun Belt Winthrop, Big South -- WOMEN Bucknell, Patriot League Chattanooga, Southern Conference Connecticut, Big East East Tennessee State, Atlantic Sun Marist, Metro Atlantic Athletic Murray State, Ohio Valley North Carolina, Atlantic Coast Oral Roberts, Summit Purdue, Big Ten San Diego, West Coast Southern Methodist, Conference USA Stanford, Pacific 10 Tennessee, Southeastern Western Kentucky, Sun Belt Xavier, Atlantic 10

Two televangelists have resigned their posts as regents at Oral Roberts University, as the debt-ridden school tries to regroup after a spending scandal involving its former president. The university also settled Thursday with one of three professors who filed a wrongful-termination suit against the school. Benny Hinn and I.V. Hilliard resigned from the board of regents, where they were involved in making major school decisions, university spokesman Jeremy Burton said Thursday.

The president of Oral Roberts University, who is accused of misspending university funds to support a lavish lifestyle, resigned from his position, officials said Friday. Richard Roberts' resignation is effective immediately, Board of Regents Chairman George Pearsons said in an e-mailed statement. Roberts and the university have come under fire since a lawsuit was filed by three former professors.

Embattled Oral Roberts University President Richard Roberts, facing accusations that he misspent university funds to support a lavish lifestyle, has received a vote of no confidence by the tenured faculty. The resolution was approved by faculty Monday, the Associated Press reported. The faculty plans to distribute the nonbinding document to the school's Board of Regents and the faculty assembly at an upcoming meeting.

Oral Roberts University President Richard Roberts asked for and was granted a leave of absence Wednesday amid accusations of lavish spending at donors' expense and illegal involvement in a political campaign. The 58-year-old son of the evangelist who founded the school said he would continue in his role as chairman and chief executive of Oral Roberts Ministries, and decried what he said were untrue allegations.

tulsa, okla. -- Twenty years ago, televangelist Oral Roberts said he was reading a spy novel when God appeared to him and told him to raise $8 million for Roberts' university, or else he would be "called home." Now, his son, Oral Roberts University President Richard Roberts, says God is speaking again, telling him to deny allegations in a lawsuit that threatens to engulf this 44-year-old Bible Belt college in scandal.

Ken Tutt scored 20 of his 25 points in the second half, Larry Owens had a career-high 24 points and Oral Roberts earned its first NCAA tournament berth in 22 years with an 85-72 victory over Chicago State in the Mid-Continent Conference title game Tuesday night at Tulsa, Okla. The top-seeded Golden Eagles (21-11) pushed ahead with an 18-0 run early in the second half.