BRIEFLY : U.S. STAR WYNALDA BACK IN GERMANY?

Eric Wynalda, the Westlake Village native and top scorer on the U.S. national soccer team, may return to join first-place Kaiserslautern of the German League, according to the publication Bild.

Kaiserslautern wants to find a backup for its prolific but injury-prone striker Olaf Marschall, Bild said. Marschall, who has scored 13 goals this season, is recovering from surgery to repair torn ligaments in the right knee and may not be ready when the league resumes Jan. 30 after its winter break.

``We want Wynalda specifically in case Marschall gets injured again,'' Kaiserslautern president Hubert Kessler told Bild. Other Kaiserslautern officials told the newspaper there had been no talks yet with Wynalda.

Wynalda played for Saarbrucken and VfL Bochum before leaving in 1995 to join the San Jose Clash of Major League Soccer.

Jurgen Klinsmann, the captain of the German national team, is set to make his return to Tottenham Hotspur during today's highly charged game against north London rival Arsenal.

Klinsmann, acquired last week from Sampdoria of Genoa, thought his first game would be against Division Two Fulham next weekend in The Football Association Cup. But Spurs coach Christian Gross asked Klinsmann to play today.

NBA: Cleveland Cavaliers guard Mitchell Butler, a former UCLA star, will have surgery to remove a herniated disc from his neck and miss the rest of the season.

Butler, who had become an important reserve during Bob Sura's extended absence with an ankle injury, will have surgery Monday in Los Angeles, the Cavs said. He missed nine games with pain in his neck and shoulders that caused numbness in his arms.

Portland Trail Blazers forward Rasheed Wallace has been reunited with his 28-month-old son Ishmeil, who Wallace has not seen since August 1996, because of a custody battle that resulted in the boy's mother, Chiquita Bryant, disappearing with him months ago.

On Christmas Day, Wallace and Ishmeil flew from North Carolina to Portland, where they will live with Wallace's fiance, Fatima Sanders, the couple's 6-month-old son and her 10-year-old son.

``Rasheed called it the best Christmas present he's ever gotten,'' said James Williams, Wallace's attorney.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Jim Hickey, a former football coach at North Carolina and athletic director at Connecticut, died at his home in Pinehurst, N.C. He was 77.

Hickey became coach at North Carolina in 1959 after Jim Tatum died of Rocky Mountain spotted fever just weeks before the season began. Hickey coached in Chapel Hill for eight years, leading the 1963 team to a victory over Air Force in the Gator Bowl.

Hickey was athletic director at Connecticut for three years and later helped develop the Carolina Trace golf club in Pinehurst, where he was general manager for several years.