BRIEFLY MICHIGAN WANTS WEBBER TO PAY ITS LEGAL EXPENSES.

Byline: Daily News Staff and Wire Services

University of Michigan officials asked a federal judge to order NBA star Chris Webber to reimburse the school $695,000 for legal fees and losses from NCAA penalties.

Board of Regents chairman Lawrence Deitch and Marvin Krislov, the university's general counsel, made the request in letters to U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds.

The letters were among dozens Edmunds received before the Tuesday court hearing in which Webber, a member of Michigan's ``Fab Five'' from 1991 to 1993 who now plays for the Sacramento Kings, was to be sentenced for criminal contempt.

On Tuesday, Edmunds postponed Webber's sentencing for two years while he devotes 300 hours during the next two summers to a literacy program at Butzel Middle School in Detroit.

COLLEGES: The idea of giving athletes $2,000 or more a year in extra scholarship money to pay for personal items is gaining momentum in the NCAA, prodded along by legislators in several states. Those lawmakers and a group of former college athletes want the NCAA to require schools to pay athletes' expenses beyond tuition, room, board and book fees.

OLYMPICS: The men's hockey tournament at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, will feature 12 teams that qualified before the start of the Games. There will be no qualification round as in the 1998 Nagano Games and the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, the International Ice Hockey Federation said. The final format will be decided later.

GOLF: Gavin Coles and Donnie Hammond don't have a single top-20 finish between them this year, yet they shot 7-under 65s to share the first-round lead at the raini-splattered 84 Lumber Classic in Farmington, Pa.

--Early relief and elation faded into frustration for Michelle Wie in the opening round of the Boise Open in Idaho. The 13-year-old who's playing in her second men's tournament in a month opened with a birdie, then unraveled and finished with an 7-over 78 in the Nationwide Tour event.

MOTOR SPORTS: NASCAR banned drivers from racing back to the yellow flag under caution, changing a rule strongly criticized by drivers and team owners. The new rule, which takes effect for this weekend's races, forbids passing once the caution flag is displayed.

--Busch Series driver Shane Hmiel was suspended indefinitely by NASCAR for violating the sanctioning organization's substance-abuse policy. He could seek reinstatement after agreeing to attend counseling and undergo periodic random testing.

TRACK AND FIELD: Sprinter Jerome Young and his U.S. relay teammates should know by the end of the month if they will be stripped of their gold medals from the Sydney Olympics. The World Anti-Doping Agency and the IOC are investigating accusations Young tested positive for steroids in 1999 but was cleared on appeal by U.S. officials and allowed to run in Sydney. A decision from the joint commission is expected by Oct. 1.

LOCAL: L.A. Baptist of North Hills senior first baseman Jeff Lima has been selected for the Coast to Coast national baseball team, which will play six games in Puerto Rico in February.