BRIEFLY : NO. 3 KAFELNIKOV LOSES TO NO. 198.

Byline: - Daily News Wire Services

World No. 3 Yevgeny Kafelnikov dropped the first set in an astonishing 13 minutes and was ousted at the Monte Carlo Open on Wednesday by a player ranked 198th, 20-year-old Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia. Ljuicic's 6-1, 6-2 victory took 38 minutes.

Pete Sampras was voted Player of the Year for 1998 by the ATP. It was the sixth straight year he's won that honor.

The Ericsson Open, known as the Lipton Championships during its 15-year rise into one of the top tournaments outside the Grand Slam quartet, could get a new owner in addition to its new sponsor.

International Management Group (IMG) confirmed it is negotiating to purchase ownership of the event from founder Butch Buchholz, but gave no further details.

OLYMPICS: The U.S. Olympic Committee hired a private company, International Management Group (IMG again), to help corral corporate sponsors made wary by the bribery scandal surrounding the 2002 Winter Games.

BASKETBALL: Barry Hinson, coach at Oral Roberts for two years, was hired as coach at Southwest Missouri.

SOCCER: Fans in Sao Paulo, Brazil, shot four youths wearing rival team colors while they waited at a bus stop, killing two and seriously injuring the other two, police said.

COLLEGE SPORTS: The NCAA approved a $54.5 million plan to pay coaches whose earnings were illegally restricted, leading to the largest judgment levied against the organization.

The major powers, who employed most of the coaches affected, will pay about $200,000 each. The smaller schools will be assessed about $80,000 each even though some never had a restricted-earnings coach but voted for the rule and shared in the wealth produced by the majors.

The payment plan stems from a class-action suit representing about 2,000-3,000 assistant coaches whose salaries were capped at $16,000 a year.

FOOTBALL: Coach Andy Reid wasted no time in shaking up the Philadelphia Eagles, releasing starting right offensive tackle Richard Cooper, one day after waiving running back Charlie Garner.