BRIEFLY IRVIN INDICTED ON DRUG CHARGE.

Byline: Daily News Wire Services

Former Dallas Cowboys receiver Michael Irvin was indicted in Denton, Texas, on Thursday on a felony charge of possessing less than a gram of cocaine. The indictment stemmed from an arrest last summer.

The charge carries a penalty from six months to two years in jail and up to a $10,000 fine, said Lee Ann Breading, assistant district attorney in Denton County.

Irvin's attorney, Howard Shapiro, said Irvin, who was not at the news conference, planned to plead innocent and would request a jury trial.

--Kansas City Chiefs receiver Sylvester Morris will miss part of the season after he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee when he slipped on the turf during minicamp Wednesday.

--Nebraska running back Thunder Collins and kicker Josh Brown will remain part of the team as the investigations into their recent arrests continue, coach Frank Solich said.

Collins pleaded innocent Wednesday in Lincoln, Neb., to two counts of misdemeanor assault for a fight with his girlfriend. He has a trial scheduled next month. Brown was arrested over the weekend and cited on two counts of third-degree assault. He has not been charged.

--Former Virginia Tech player Jimmy Kibble pleaded guilty to having sex with two 16-year-old students at Osbourn Park High School in Manassas, Va., where he was an assistant coach.

He will be sentenced July 13 and could get a year in jail for each count.

BASKETBALL: The NBA finalized its list of early-entry candidates for the June 27 draft, with 21 players who had previously declared deciding to withdraw their names.

That left 47 high school and college players and seven international prospects remaining in the draft as early-entry candidates.

--Brad Greenberg, a former general manager of the Philadelphia 76ers, was introduced as director of basketball operations at South Florida, where his brother, Seth, is the head coach.

--The NBA's developmental league awarded its final franchise to Asheville, N.C., and hired former DePaul boss Joey Meyer to coach the team. The National Basketball Development League will begin its inaugural season in November with the rest of the teams in Fayetteville, N.C.; Columbus, Ga.; Roanoke, Va.; Huntsville, Ala.; Mobile, Ala.; North Charleston, S.C.; and Greenville, S.C.

BASEBALL: Pepperdine's Noah Lowry (14-2, 1.71 ERA as a junior) signed a contract with a $1.175 million bonus with the San Francisco Giants, who drafted him in the first round (30th overall). He leaves today for the Giants' short-season, Northwest League club in Salem, Ore.

``It went fairly smooth. ... The money thing wasn't a big issue,'' said Lowry, a left-hander from Ojai. ``I didn't want to make a big issue out of money like these other guys. ...

--USC pitcher Mark Prior was named Baseball America Player of the Year.

- Chris Cocoles

HOCKEY: Eric Lindros won't be traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs, said Philadelphia Flyers general manager Bob Clarke.

Clarke, in Florida for this weekend's NHL draft, told Maple Leafs general manager Pat Quinn he's out of the running for the star center. Detroit now appears to be the front-runner to get Lindros.

TENNIS: Magnus Norman of Sweden, Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador and Karol Kucera of Slovakia became the latest players to withdraw from Wimbledon. Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden will replace Norman as the No. 33 seed.

--Lindsay Davenport rallied for a 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 victory over Sylvia Farina Elia of Italy to reach the semifinals in Eastbourne, England.