It's new school, sport for Smith

When Derek Smith decided to abandon his NFL career, he didn't expect it to result in a basketball scholarship with Northern Kentucky University. "I'm really excited about this new chance," Smith (above) said. "I didn't even know I had eligibility left." Smith, 23, who played tight end for Kentucky and considered playing as a walk-on with the UK basketball program, backed out of a contract he signed with the St. Louis Rams in January and decided to return to school. He previously had practice-squad stints with the Bengals and Indianapolis Colts. "I really felt I was stuck in a rut, scratching and clawing to make an NFL team," Smith said. "I just really wanted to get back in school." After hearing Smith, a runner-up for Mr. Basketball while in high school at Highlands, was enrolled at NKU, Norse coach Dave Bezold approached him about joining the team. Smith has 2 1/2 years of basketball eligibility remaining.

Neil Schmidt

Williamses get French Open break

Serena and Venus Williams were seeded five spots higher than their rankings by the French Open, a move meant to lessen the effect of their long injury absences. Serena is seeded No. 2, behind top-ranked and defending champion Justine Henin-Hardenne. Venus is No. 4, a spot below Amelie Mauresmo, and Lindsay Davenport is No. 5. In the WTA Tour rankings, Serena is seventh, Venus ninth. Otherwise, the seedings followed the rankings for the year's second major, for which the draw is today and play starts Monday. Top-ranked Roger Federer is No. 1 in the men's field, followed by Andy Roddick, Guillermo Coria, 2003 champion Juan Carlos Ferrero, 1998 winner Carlos Moya and 1999 champion Andre Agassi.

Practice fields full of Bengals

The Bengals' on-field coaching session practices were more populated this week than even training camp will be. Ninety Bengals players of a possible 92 participated in the two-hour session Thursday morning. The only missing players were rookie free agent wide receiver Jamall Broussard and quarterback Scott Rislov, both of San Jose State. Neither could attend until after the school's graduation because of NFL rules.

Mark Curnutte