Iowa State fired basketball coach Wayne Morgan and his staff Friday in the wake of a reported recruiting scam.

ISU athletic director Jamie Pollard said during a news conference that he met Thursday evening with school president Gregory Geoffroy and with Morgan.

“We informed him that we were making a change in the leadership of our men’s basketball program, effective immediately,” Pollard said.

He said the firing came after poor performance from the program, but that there were other reasons.

“The fact that we didn’t make the NCAA Tournament or the NIT contributed to this decision, but I want to emphasize it clearly is not the only reason for making this decision,” he said.

Morgan’s firing came two days after a report surfaced that a number of college basketball programs may have steered more than $100,000 to a California business run by a junior-college coach.

A CBS Sportsline.com story Wednesday alleged that D1 Scheduling, a company founded by Los Angeles City Community College coach Mike Miller, might have been delivering LACC players to Division I schools, including Iowa State, which paid the company to arrange games.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Ex-DePaul coach Meyer dies

Chicago – Ray Meyer, the grandfatherly basketball coach whose 42-year tenure at DePaul stretched from George Mikan to Mark Aguirre, died Friday, the school said. He was 92.

Meyer twice took the Blue Demons to the NCAA Final Four, helped develop Mikan – who would eventually become basketball’s first dominating big man – and coached DePaul to the 1945 NIT title.

Meyer had an eye for talent with players like Aguirre, Terry Cummings, Dallas Comegys and Dave Corzine, who parlayed their college experience into pro careers.

From the days of two-handed set shots to the slam dunk era, Meyer either coached or broadcast 1,467 consecutive Blue Demons games, a 55-year streak. He retired in 1984 with a 724-354 record.

AUTO RACING

Lester earns place in race

Hampton, Ga. – Bill Lester stole the show from pole-winner Kasey Kahne on Friday night at Atlanta Motor Speedway, earning a spot in the Golden Corral 500 to become the the first black driver to qualify for a race in NASCAR’s top series in nearly 20 years.

Driving a Dodge fielded by Bill Davis Racing and facing enormous pressure, the slim, quiet NASCAR truck-series regular put up a lap of 190.502 mph early in the Nextel Cup series qualifying session on the 1.5-mile oval.

That was nearly 6 mph faster than he ran in practice. But Lester still had to wait for more than an hour to see if it would be good enough to make it into the 43-car field for Sunday’s race.

“I only need to hold my breath for 30 or 35 more drivers,” a smiling Lester said after getting out of his car. “I’m just glad I was able to realize my dream and get this opportunity.”

Bodine bags truck victory

Hampton, Ga. – A spectacular four-wide pass gave Todd Bodine the lead and the momentum to pick up his first victory of the season Friday night in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Bodine, who finished second behind Nextel Cup standout and part-time truck racer Mark Martin in the first two events this season, losing both in overtime duels, was trailing Martin again with five laps to go in regulation in the John Deere 200.

But Martin caught the lapped trucks of Timothy Peters and Boston Reid on lap 126. The leader chose to pass on the low side of the 1.5-mile oval, and Bodine made it four-wide, slicing between Peters and Reid.

TENNIS

Blake reaches top 10

Indian Wells, Calif. – James Blake played his way into the top 10 for the first time – and into the semifinals of the Pacific Life Open with a brisk 6-1, 6-4 victory over Igor Andreev on Friday.

Maria Sharapova advanced to the women’s final with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Martina Hingis. Sharapova will face Elena Dementieva, who came back from a 2-5 deficit in the second set to take a 2-6, 7-5, 7-5 victory over Justine Henin-Hardenne.

NFL

Jets trade for Ramsey

Ashburn, Va. – The Washington Redskins traded quarterback Patrick Ramsey to the New York Jets on Friday for a sixth-round pick in the April draft. Ramsey began last year as the starter before losing the job to Mark Brunell and asked to be traded. The Jets were looking for another quarterback to compete with Chad Pennington going into training camp.

Chiefs add ex-Bronco Griffin

Kansas City, Mo. – The Kansas City Chiefs signed former Denver Broncos running back Quentin Griffin to a one-year contract Friday, giving Larry Johnson a veteran backup if Priest Holmes decides to retire.

Griffin appeared in 16 games his first two seasons with the Broncos, rushing for 656 yards and two touchdowns and catching 18 passes for 129 yards. He went to training camp in 2005, but was released before the regular season.

The Chiefs also announced a one-year contract with tight end Kendall Gammon, who was selected to the 2004 Pro Bowl as a long snapper.

GOLF

Glover takes Bay Hill lead

Orlando, Fla. – Five months after a stunning victory down the road at Disney, Lucas Glover surged into the lead Friday at the Bay Hill Invitational with birdies on two of his last three holes for his second straight 5-under 67. He has a one-shot lead over Robert Allenby and Rod Pampling.

Tiger Woods rarely hit it close to the flag all afternoon, the exception coming at the par-5 sixth with an approach over the water to eight feet for eagle. He followed that with a three-putt bogey from 25 feet and wound up with a 1-under 71 to finish seven shots off the lead.

Lee leads LPGA event

Superstition Mountain, Ariz. – Sarah Lee eagled the 513-yard, par-5 18th hole to finish 12 under and grab a 1-stroke lead over Aree Song after two rounds of the Safeway International. Paula Creamer, the 2005 LPGA Rookie of the Year, and Suzann Pettersen were tied for third, two strokes back.

Eastwood tops at Toshiba

Newport Beach, Calif. – Bob Eastwood shot a 6-under par 65 to take the first-round lead at the Toshiba Classic on Friday with Graham Marsh and Bruce Lietzke a stroke behind.