Junior guard Deron Williams will skip his senior season at Illinois and enter the NBA draft.

Williams said last night that he has signed with an agent, which prevents him from returning to the Illini next season.

"It has been my lifelong dream to play in the NBA," Williams said. "I felt this was an opportunity I could not pass up."

Williams, 6 feet 3, was a third-team Associated Press All-America known for his playmaking and defensive abilities.

He averaged 12.5 points per game this season as the Illini reached the national championship game, and led the team with 264 assists, an average of almost seven per game. He was selected first-team All-Big Ten for the second consecutive season.

More basketball

Wake Forest junior center Eric Williams submitted his name for early entry for the NBA draft. Williams doesn't plan to hire an agent.

Fired St. Bonaventure coach Jan van Breda Kolff has agreed to settle his lawsuit against the university that claimed he was wrongfully dismissed in 2003 after a player eligibility scandal. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

Shooting guard Kelvin Bright, signed a letter of intent with Robert Morris, becoming its third player in the 2005 class.

Tarrance Crump, a 6-foot-1 point guard from Shelton State Community College in Alabama, has signed a letter of intent with Purdue.

Dominic McGuire, a forward who started 23 games for California last season, has been given permission to transfer from the school.

Track and field

Marion Jones' defamation trial against Victor Conte was stayed until after the criminal case against the BALCO founder is completed. U.S. District Judge Susan Illston granted a defense motion and ruled that Conte's Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination would be damaged if the civil case proceeded before the criminal case is resolved. The criminal trial in the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative case is tentatively scheduled to start Sept. 6. The next hearing in the civil case is scheduled for Oct. 21.

Tennis

Andre Agassi received a court violation for smashing his racket and then rallied in a second-set tiebreaker to beat Michal Tabara, 6-2, 7-6 (5), in a first-round match of the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships in Houston.

The top three seeds in the tournament advanced as No. 1 Andy Roddick beat qualifier Matias Boeker, 6-2, 6-3, and defending champion and third-seeded Tommy Haas eliminated Kristof Vliegen, 6-3, 7-5. Fifth-seeded Taylor Dent withdrew because of an ankle injury.

Boxing

Tennessee officials must reconsider former heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe's application for a boxing license, a judge ruled, saying they acted arbitrarily without considering new medical information. The judge gave state officials 30 days.

Cycling

Lance Armstrong took a safe approach in the first stage of the Tour de Georgia, avoiding risk of injury and finishing well off the lead. Robert Hunter, a South African racing for the Phonak Hearing Systems of Switzerland, won the 128.8-mile leg, unofficially, in 5 hours, 47 minutes, 52 seconds. Armstrong was 15th, according to unofficial results.

Olympic gold medalist Tyler Hamilton got back on his bicycle for a training ride, vowing to fight his two-year suspension for a blood-doping violation. Hamilton said he plans to appeal Monday's ruling to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland within the next three weeks.

Soccer

D.C. United defender Bryan Namoff will miss another three to four weeks with a broken rib. Namoff hasn't played since hurting his rib during practice March 25, the day before the season opener against Chivas USA.

Stade de France in suburban Paris will be host to the European Champions League final in 2006 and Olympic Stadium in Athens, Greece, was awarded the game in '07. This year's final is May 25 in Istanbul, Turkey.