MURRAY, Ky. The mother of Murray State reserve guard Picasso Simmons was killed in a car crash Monday, on the eve of the team's departure for the NCAA tournament.

Freeda Simmons died in Nashville, Tenn., Murray State spokesman Dave Winder said. Her son is planning to go to the Racers' first-round game Thursday against Vanderbilt in San Jose, Calif.

Simmons' mother, who ran track at Murray State in the early 1980s, was pleased the team made the tournament, Winder said. The bracket was announced Sunday.

"His mom was real, real happy that he was getting a chance to go," Winder said. "He just feels that she would want him to go, and he wants to honor her in that way."

Picasso Simmons, a walk-on junior guard from Gallatin, Tenn., saw limited time in seven games for the Racers (30-4), who won the Ohio Valley Conference tournament.

Simmons' sister, Galileo, has also competed in track and field for Murray State, and their father played football there in the early '80s, Winder said.

ELSEWHERE

CONNECTICUT: Coach Jim Calhoun said it's been difficult to convince players to come to Connecticut when other people are telling them he's about to retire.

He said that's why he issued a statement last week reiterating what he's been saying since December - that he and the school are on the verge of signing a multiyear contract, and that he plans to continue coaching at UConn.

"The reason we announced something that we already knew is we were getting killed on the recruiting trails," said Calhoun, 67. "Nothing drastically has changed. I'm just waiting to get a copy back of the signed contract."

A story in New York last week cited people close to Calhoun as saying he would retire at the end of the season. Calhoun said there was no truth to it, but recruits had told him they were hearing the same tales.

IOWA: Coach Todd Lickliter was fired, ending a brief and disappointing tenure that included three losing seasons in a row and a parade of players leaving the once-proud program.

Athletics director Gary Barta announced the firing at a news conference in Iowa City, citing Iowa's slumping record, lagging attendance and dwindling revenue from ticket sales and contributions.

Lickliter, 54, had four years left on a seven-year contract that paid him $1.2million a year. Barta said the Hawkeyes will pay him roughly $2.4million for the rest of the contract.

Lickliter was not at the news conference and not immediately available for comment.

NCAA TOURNAMENT: A new study finds the disparity between graduation rates for white and black players on NCAA tournament-bound men's basketball teams grew this year.

The annual report by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida shows 45 teams graduated 70 percent or more of their white players. Only 20 teams graduated at least 70 percent of their black players.

The report relies on information provided by the NCAA. It uses graduation success rates and not federal graduation rates, which don't account for transfer students. The numbers measure six-year graduation rates for the freshman classes that entered college from the 1999-2000 through 2002-03 school years.

SEC: Kentucky guard John Wall was named player of the year and newcomer of the year on The Associated Press All-SEC team, and John Calipari of the Wildcats took the coaching award.

Wall and Calipari helped lead Kentucky back to the top of the SEC after two disappointing seasons under Billy Gillispie.

Wall and another Wildcats freshman, forward DeMarcus Cousins, were unanimous choices to the first team, as was South Carolina guard Devan Downey. The other first-teamers were Jarvis Varnado of Mississippi State and Georgia's Trey Thompkins.

Kentucky's Patrick Patterson led the second team, which also included Chris Warren of Mississippi, Jermaine Beal of Vanderbilt, Tasmin Mitchell of Louisiana State and Wayne Chism of Tennessee.

UCLA: A felony assault charge has been dropped against forward Nikola Dragovic, who was accused of assaulting a man after a concert in Hollywood.

The Los Angeles County district attorney's office said it had insufficient evidence to pursue the case. A charge against Dragovic's friend, Aleksandar Stanisic, was also dropped.

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