news-record.com

Kentucky point guard John Wall of Raleigh has been cleared to play by the NCAA.

The school announced Friday that the 6-foot-4 freshman must sit out two games and repay almost $800 in expenses incurred during unofficial visits to schools during his junior year at Word of God Christian Academy.

Wall's status had been up in the air as the NCAA investigated his relationship with Brian Clifton, his former AAU coach who was a certified agent for a period during Wall's recruitment.

WEST VIRGINIA: The NCAA has benched freshman forward Deniz Kilicli of Istanbul for 20 games, ruling he violated an amateurism rule by playing on a Turkish team with a professional player.

AP Women's top 25

AP preseason poll with final 2008-09 records, points based on 25 to 1 weighted voting and last year's final ranking:

Team (1st-place votes) W-L Points Final

1. Connecticut (40) 39-0 1,000 1

2. Stanford 33-5 951 2

3. Ohio State 29-6 862 10

4. Notre Dame 22-9 799 23

5. North Carolina 28-7 798 11

6. Duke 27-6 772 6

7. Baylor 29-6 744 5

8. Tennessee 22-11 676 18

9. LSU 19-11 600 --

10. Michigan State 22-11 521 --

11. Xavier 25-7 492 20

12. Texas 21-12 487 25

13. Oklahoma 32-5 444 4

14. Virginia 24-10 394 24

15. Florida State 26-8 385 12

16. Arizona State 26-9 317 19

17. DePaul 23-10 301 --

18. California 27-7 294 13

19. Georgia Tech 22-10 262 --

20. Kansas 22-14 241 --

21. Georgia 18-14 201 --

22. Vanderbilt 26-9 165 14

23. Louisville 34-5 156 7

24. Middle Tennessee 28-6 143 --

25. Rutgers 21-13 138 --

Also: Texas A&M 137, Maryland 114, Mississippi State 110, San Diego State 78, South Dakota State 70, Pittsburgh 48, Purdue 45, Kansas State 33, Gonzaga 30, Marist 26, UCLA 26, Michigan 16, Iowa State 14, Minnesota 14, Boston College 12, Louisiana Tech 11, Tulane 9, Bowling Green 8, Arkansas 7, TCU 7, Wisconsin-Green Bay 7, Auburn 6, Nebraska 6, Texas Tech 6, Southern Cal 5, Florida 3, Fresno State 3, Oklahoma State 3.