BRIEFLY WAKE FOREST GUARD TOP PRESEASON PICK.

Wake Forest sophomore guard Chris Paul was the leading vote-getter Tuesday on the Associated Press' preseason All-America basketball team, joining Tim Duncan as the only players from the school to earn that honor.

Paul received 55 votes from a national media panel to make the team along with four seniors: Lawrence Roberts of Mississippi State (50 votes), Wayne Simien of Kansas (50), Julius Hodge of North Carolina State (41), and Hakim Warrick of Syracuse (33).

LSU junior Seimone Augusuts was the top choice on the women's team, receiving 44 of 45 votes. Joining her were Minnesota's Janel McCarville (35 votes), Kansas State's Kendra Wecker (33), Tennessee's Shyra Ely (20) and Notre Dame's Jacqueline Batteast (19).

OLYMPICS: Irish show jumper Cian O'Connor could lose his Olympic gold medal because a backup blood sample from his horse tested positive for banned substances. O'Connor rode Waterford Crystal to Ireland's only medal at the Athens Games.

--Valentino Castellani said he had reached an accord that could allow him to stay on as chief organizer of the 2006 Turin Olympics. Last week, he said he would resign because he felt undermined by the Italian government's appointment of Mario Pescante, a culture ministry undersecretary, as overall supervisor of the Games.

SOCCER: Cal State Northridge women's soccer coach Terry Davila was named the Big West Conference Coach of the Year. Davila led the Matadors, who had only seven wins in the previous two seasons, to a 12-6-1 record this season.

--The San Jose Earthquakes are staying in the Bay Area for at least one more year. Anschutz Entertainment Group, which owns the team, had been in talks to sell the team. It has not ruled out a sale but is committed to playing at least one more season in San Jose.

BASEBALL: Casey Greene, a third baseman at El Camino Real of Woodland Hills, committed to Cal State Northridge. He batted .350 with 31 RBI as a junior last season.

- Heather Gripp

TENNIS: Former No. 1s and French Open champions Juan Carlos Ferrero and Carlos Moya will lead Spain against the United States in the Davis Cup final Dec. 3-4 in Seville, Spain. Rafael Nadal and Tommy Robredo also were on the Spanish roster. U.S. captain Patrick McEnroe will announce his squad Thursday.

- Daily News Staff and Wire Services