TUSCALOOSA | University of Alabama men's basketball forward Alonzo Gee has joined two teammates in making himself available for this summer's National Basketball Association Draft.

The 6-foot-6 forward from Riviera Beach, Fla., met the NBA's April 27 deadline to test his status for the draft. He has not hired an agent and can retain his senior year of eligibility at UA by withdrawing from the process with written notice to the NBA by 4 p.m. ET on June 16.

Gee averaged 14.5 points and 6.8 rebounds per game last season as a junior. Gee is joining UA teammates Richard Hendrix and Ronald Steele, who also declared themselves available for the NBA Draft in order to explore their standing with the pro league.

'Alonzo came to me and expressed his desire to explore the process, and I will assist him in any way possible,' UA coach Mark Gottfried said.

Former Tide golfers to coach Palmer Cup TUSCALOOSA | The 2008 Palmer Cup golf competition will have a decidedly crimson hue, with current University of Alabama senior Michael Thompson competing for the U.S. and former UA golfers Marten Olander and David Kirkpatrick coaching the European team.

Olander, who won one of college golf's highest awards, the Ben Hogan Award, his senior year at Alabama in 1993, is the head coach of the European Palmer Cup team. Kirkpatrick, a first-team All-American at Alabama in 1992, will be his assistant coach.

Olander, a native of Sweden, played eight years on the European Tour. He set a European Tour record for most consecutive birdies during a round with eight in the 2002 French Open. Kirkpatrick, a native of Scotland , has also made a professional golf career, playing on the PGA and Nationwide Tours and has been based in Florida.

'I feel honored and excited to be selected as captain of the European team for this year's Palmer Cup,' Olander said in a release from the Golf Coaches Association of America on Wednesday on behalf of the Palmer Cup. 'I look forward to coaching the future stars of professional golf.'

The Palmer Cup will be played at Glasgow Golf Club Gailes Links in Glasgow, Scotland. It is a Ryder Cup-style competition which features the top collegiate players from the United States playing the top collegiate players from Europe. The inaugural Palmer Cup was held at Bay Hill in 1997 and was well represented by Alabama, with then Tide coach Dick Spybey serving as the U.S. team's manager and Tide golfer Allan MacDonald playing on the European team.

The U.S. leads the series 6-4-1, but hasn't fared well of late in Europe, losing on the last two trips there in the event that alternates continents each year.

Dolphins sign Titus Brown The Miami Dolphins announced the signings of 14 college free agents who were not selected in last weekend's NFL Draft, including former Mississippi State and Hillcrest defensive lineman Titus Brown, Thursday.

Brown played in 44 games for the Bulldogs with 30 starts, 23 of which came over his last two seasons. he totaled 170 tackles, 37 stops for loss, 18.5 sacks, three forced fumbles and a fumble recovery in his career.

Of his career sack total, 15.5 came over his final two years, including a high of eight as a senior in 2007 when he amassed 43 total tackles and 13.5 stops for loss, and was a second-team All-Southeastern Conference selection. He was also was a second-team All-SEC pick as a junior when he recorded a career-best 14.5 tackles for loss to go along with 7.5 sacks.

Former Vols guard has cancer treatment KNOXVILLE, Tenn. | Former Tennessee guard Chris Lofton underwent treatment for testicular cancer after a failed drug test at the 2007 NCAA Tournament revealed he potentially had a tumor.

Lofton revealed to ESPN.com in a story posted Thursday that he underwent surgery in March 2007 and had four weeks of radiation starting in May.

'I would like to thank everyone for respecting my privacy during the past year, and I hope that they continue to do so,' Lofton said in a statement released by the school Thursday evening.

According to the ESPN report, Lofton was randomly picked during the 2007 NCAA Tournament for a drug test, which revealed high levels of hCG, a hormone that serves as an indicator of pregnancy in women, steroid use or cancer.

Lofton's 431 3-pointers are a Southeastern Conference record and rank third in NCAA history. He was The Associated Press' SEC player of the year as a junior and a second-team All-America.

Smoltz pondering return to bullpen ATLANTA | Facing the prospect of trying to make it through the season with an aching shoulder, John Smoltz is pondering another dramatic career change.

The 40-year-old right-hander, who already went from starter to closer to starter again, is looking to go back to the bullpen once he comes off the 15-day disabled list.

Smoltz had shoulder problems last season and he's already been on the DL twice this season, the second time after a pain-shortened start at New York last weekend.

An examination by prominent doctor James Andrews of Birmingham found a severely inflamed biceps tendon and inflammation of the rotator cuff in the right shoulder. While surgery wasn't prescribed, Smoltz seems resigned to pitching the rest of the year in some pain.

That apparently led him to conclude the bullpen was his best option.

Sonics' Durant rookie of the year BELLEVUE, Wash. | Kevin Durant became the first Seattle player to win the NBA Rookie of the Year award — and perhaps the last.

Durant, the national college player of the year at Texas and the No. 2 pick last year, averaged 20.3 points for the SuperSonics.

The youngest player in the league at 19 was a bright spot during a dismal basketball season in Seattle. The Sonics won 20 games, and team owner Clay Bennett recently got league approval to move the team to Oklahoma City.

Seattle has a trial date next month, its effort to make the Sonics play inside KeyArena for the final two seasons of their lease.

'It's good to shine some light on our team. You know, a lot of people aren't real fond of our team right now,' Durant said Thursday.

Durant recently purchased a home in suburban Seattle. His mother, Wanda Pratt, lives with him. She and Durant's father, Wayne Pratt, joined four other family members at Thursday's announcement.

'I love Seattle. My home's here. My mother's here,' Durant said, acknowledging where he plays next season is far out of his control.

Durant received 90 first-place votes (545 points) from a panel of 125 writers and broadcasters. Atlanta's Al Horford finished second with 390 points, and Houston's Luis Scola was third with 146 points.

'I didn't think I would get it,' Durant said, 'because those other rookies helped their teams get into the playoffs.'

One of the first text messages of congratulations Durant received was from Cleveland superstar LeBron James, whom Durant calls a mentor and good friend. Durant attended James' playoff games with the Cavaliers and the Wizards in Durant's hometown of Washington last weekend.

James was the Rookie of the Year in 2004.

'He told me congratulations,' Durant said. 'That's when I was thinking like, man, I'm in the same company as LeBron, when he was a rookie. I just smiled inside.

'He's like a big brother to me.'

Canseco's home foreclosed LOS ANGELES | Jose Canseco, the former AL MVP who made millions during his basecall career, has had his home foreclosed.

Canseco told the syndicated TV show 'Inside Edition' that he walked away from his $2.5 million, 7,300-square foot home in suburban Encino because it didn't make sense to continue making payments.

'I do have a judgment on my home and it to me is very strange because it didn't make financial sense for me to keep paying a mortgage on a home that was basically owned by someone else,' he said in an interview that aired Thursday.

'You know my life, this financial thing, is a very complicated issue. Obviously, when you make all that money, people think, ‘OK, let's assume it is $35 million.' People have to understand that $35 million, you're paying the government 41 percent. That leaves you with about $17 or $18 million, not even. Then you're taking care of your whole family.'

He added that a couple of divorces cost him $7 million or $8 million.

Canseco said his top earnings year was $6 million and that his financial situation obviously is different than most people who are losing their homes.

'What about other families that we're hearing on TV, that they're saying, ‘We have nowhere else to go,'' he said. 'I mean, that is amazing. I've got books (he's put out two expose-type books on drug use in baseball), we're now trying to produce the movie to both.

'Like I said, my situation was a little more different than most. I decided to just let it (the house) go, but in most cases and most families, they have nowhere else to go.'

Calls by The Associated Press to Canseco and to his attorney, Greg Emerson, were not immediately returned.

Buzzie Bavasi dies at 93 LOS ANGELES | Buzzie Bavasi, who built Dodgers teams that won the four World Series titles in Brooklyn and Los Angeles, died Thursday. He was 93.

His death was announced by the Seattle Mariners, whose general manager is Bill Bavasi, a son of the former Dodgers GM.

'Buzzie was one of the game's greatest front office executives during a period that spanned parts of six different decades,' baseball commissioner Bud Selig said. 'He loved the game, and he loved talking about it.'

Emil Joseph Bavasi's Dodgers teams included future Hall of Famers Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider, Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale. Bavasi later was part owner and president of the San Diego Padres, then became executive vice president of the California Angels.

With the Dodgers, he played a role in Jackie Robinson's becoming the first African-American to play in the major leagues.

Bavasi spent 44 years working in baseball, including 34 in the major leagues. He began as a traveling secretary and publicity director for the Dodgers in Brooklyn in 1939.

After serving in various posts for the team, he was promoted to GM before the 1951 season.

During his tenure as GM from 1951-68, first in Brooklyn and then Los Angeles, the Dodgers won eight National League pennant. They won their only World Series in Brooklyn in 1955. After the move West, the Dodgers won the World Series in 1959, 1963 and 1965 with Bavasi as GM.

Sandberg returns to Wrigley Field CHICAGO | Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg will be back in uniform at Wrigley Field for the first time in over a decade.

Sandberg, who last played at Wrigley with the Cubs on Sept. 21, 1997, will return on July 29 as the manager of the Peoria Chiefs when the Cubs' Class A affiliate plays the Kane County Cougars.

'It's pretty ironic,' Sandberg said. 'It just comes down to you never know what's going to happen in this game if you stay in it long enough. This is just another fun thing, an opportunity and great experience all wrapped up into one.'

Sandberg is in his second season as manager at Peoria. The Chiefs were 71-68 last season.

'I'll be coaching third and managing from the dugout, so that will be a first for me at this stadium,' Sandberg said. 'I think it will be very cool. It will be the chance of a lifetime for some of these players to come here and actually play a game at Wrigley Field. It will give them something to shoot for hopefully in the future.'

The Cubs said they believe it is the first minor league game in the ballpark's 94-year history.