BRIEFLY : PROMINENT NAMES PART OF IOC PROBE.

Byline: - Daily News Wire Services

Two of the International Olympic Committee's most prominent members, including a contender for the top job, are among 13 of the agency's delegates under investigation in the Salt Lake City bribery case.

South Korea's Kim Un-Yong, a powerful member of the IOC executive board, and Russia's Vitaly Smirnov, a former vice president, denied any wrongdoing Monday. They said they were prepared to defend themselves when the IOC inquiry convenes in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Saturday. The six-member panel will make recommendations to the full executive board Sunday.

IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch said last week that nine members were accused of ``serious'' misconduct and could face expulsion. Four others, he said, were cited for lesser violations and could escape with a warning or no punishment at all.

Members found guilty of corruption will be suspended pending an expulsion vote by the full IOC assembly in March.

The 67-year-old Kim is by far the biggest name on the list, a member of the IOC's inner circle and considered a candidate to succeed Samaranch.

BASKETBALL: Katrina Price, 23, a former basketball star at Stephen F. Austin whose pro career was set back when the women's American Basketball League folded last month, has apparently committed suicide.

Police in Texas responding to a 911 call just before 7 a.m. found her dead - apparently of a gunshot wound - in the hallway of the apartment of her sister, Lucy.

The Long Beach StingRays made Price the seventh overall pick in the May draft, but the team disbanded before she ever played a game.

Monday night's game between Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston State was postponed because of Price's death.

BASEBALL: Angels pitcher Jack McDowell will have exploratory arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder Feb. 2.

McDowell, a right-hander who re-signed for $500,000 in December, was 5-3 record with a 5.09 ERA in 14 starts last season. He had two stints on the 15-day disabled list, once for an inflamed right elbow and another for a stress reaction in his right elbow.

Six more players in salary arbitration, including Texas Rangers pitcher Rick Helling and New York Mets pitcher Hideo Nomo, agreed to contracts on the eve of the annual exchange of figures.

Helling, who won 20 games to tie Roger Clemens and David Cone for the American League lead, agreed to a $10.5 million, three-year contract, a steep increase from his $216,500 salary last season.

Nomo got a one-year deal worth $2,925,000, a raise of $125,000.

Also settling were Angels right-hander Mark Petkovsek ($800,000), St. Louis reliever Ricky Bottalico ($2.25 million), Boston outfielder Damon Buford ($1.1 million) and Chicago White Sox right-hander Bill Simas ($1.1 million).

The Toronto Blue Jays dipped into the free-agent market to shore up their infield, agreeing to one-year contracts with second baseman Joey Cora and third baseman Willie Greene.

Just a week after they lost catcher Brian Johnson to Cincinnati, the San Francisco Giants signed free agent Scott Servais, who spent last season with the Chicago Cubs, to a minor-league contract.

The Mets are close to a deal with left-hander Allen Watson, formerly of the Angels. The contract is reported to be for one year with an $800,000 salary, part of it guaranteed, and a series of incentives that could earn him a maximum of $1.75 million.

HOCKEY: The New York Islanders acquired center Craig Janney from the Tampa Bay Lightning for a sixth-round draft pick in 1999.