Jayhawk's Eligibility In Peril -- Earl Was Paid At Lsu; Brother, Too, NCAA Says

BATON ROUGE, La. - Kansas basketball star Lester Earl was paid while he was at LSU and his family received improper help from the basketball staff, the NCAA said today.

It was not immediately clear if Earl can continue to play for the Kansas Jayhawks, ranked No. 3 in the nation.

"No one's going to be commenting on that," Dean Buchan, Kansas sports- information director, said. "Coach (Roy) Williams said he would have no comment on the matter."

The violations are said to have occurred between 1993 and 1996 while Dale Brown was coaching LSU. The school said no current staff members were involved.

Earl's brother, Louis Earl, a current LSU basketball player, was cited in a letter from the NCAA to LSU. He is accused of having received medical attention from LSU before enrolling. In addition, the NCAA said, LSU provided other services for Earl's family.

Earl, a forward from Baton Rouge, quit LSU during his freshman year in December 1996 and transferred to Kansas after being being kicked off the squad for violating team rules. The expulsion came two days after Brown suspended Earl for missing practice.

LSU refused to release Earl from his letter of intent. Earl later was released after appealing to the Collegiate Commissioners Association. The NCAA automatically investigates when a high-profile recruit transfers.

LSU chancellor William Jenkins said he has appointed a committee to look into the charges.

Missouri does it again

COLUMBIA, Mo. - Just like in the past two seasons, Missouri brought its A-game out of the cobwebs for Kansas' visit.

Albert White scored a career-high 23 points and sixth man Tyron Lee, despite suffering a dislocated shoulder with 8:11 left, made two free throws with 11.4 seconds remaining as Missouri upset the third-ranked Jayhawk men's basketball team at home for the third consecutive year, 74-73, last night.

"They're a top-10 team when we play them, in this building at least," Kansas guard Ryan Robertson said. "It's unfortunate for them that they can't duplicate that performance every time they step out on the floor."

The Tigers (3-3 Big 12, 10-7 overall) handed then-No. 1 Kansas its first loss after a 22-0 start last season. The Jayhawks were No. 3 when they lost at Missouri in 1996.

OTHER GAMES

At St. John's 64, No. 8 Connecticut 62 - Felipe Lopez had 18 points as St. John's (5-3 Big East, 13-6) matched its victory total of last season. Ricky Moore scored 18 for UConn (6-2, 16-3).

TCU 83, at No. 24 Hawaii 76 - Malcolm Johnson scored 22 points and Mike Jones 20 for Texas Christian (3-0 Western Athletic, 15-4).

NOTES

-- Duke (16-1) replaced North Carolina (18-1) atop The Associated Press media and USA Today/ESPN coaches polls.

-- Sophomore forward Tim Wells, who recently had moved into North Carolina State's starting lineup because of a teammate's injury, suffered a dislocated shoulder "horsing around" in the locker room before practice, a school publicist said. Wells is out indefinitely.

-- Seattle Pacific's Ryan Sowards, a sophomore guard from Bothell, was named Pacific Conference men's player of the week after scoring a total of 53 points in two victories last week.