Florida Sentinel Bulletin

In the latest turn of events involving Rutgers basketball, the FBI is investigating former Rutgers assistant, Eric Murdock. An FBI agent recently spent time at Rutgers and visited with now-former athletic director, Tim Pernetti. Pernetti resigned from his post on Friday.

The investigation is in its early stages, according to the report. According to a letter, Murdock — the program’s former director of player development — sought $950,000 from the university last December to settle his claims of wrongful termination. Rutgers declined to renew Murdock’s contract last June, reportedly after a falling-out between Murdock and former head coach Mike Rice.

Murdock claimed he was fired for being a whistleblower about Rice’s physical and verbal abuse of players. The letter, dated Dec. 27, 2012, and sent from Barry Kozyra — a colleague of Murdock’s attorney, Raj Gadhok — also referenced video that, Kozyra wrote, Murdock showed the university last Nov. 26.

The video was presented after Pernetti asked for evidence that would back Murdock’s claims of abuse by Rice, myCentral-Jersey.com reported. Pernetti suspended Rice for three games and fined him $50,000 on Dec. 13, after being “made aware of some things in the last couple of weeks.”

Current women’s world No. 1 Serena Williams rallied on Sunday in Charleston, S.C., defeating Jelena Jankovic in three sets in the final of the Family Circle Cup, 3-6, 6-0, 6-2, according to the tournament’s official Twitter account.

The title is Williams’ se-cond straight at the WTA event and her third overall; she also won in 2008. The 31-year-old veteran has now won two straight singles tournaments after beating Maria Sharapova at the Sony Tennis Open in Miami last weekend.

Williams was the top seed in the draw, taking on the ninth-seeded Jankovic just a day after defeating her older sister Venus in straight sets in the tournament semifinals. The easy win marked Serena’s fifth straight against her sister. Serena leads the all-time head-to-head 14-10.

SAN FRANCISCO — Right tackle Anthony Davis signed a five-year contract extension Friday with the 49ers, further solidifying a young offensive line that made major strides last season for Super Bowl runner-up San Francisco.

The deal is worth more than $37 million, with $17 million guaranteed. The 23-year-old tackle has started 16 games in each of his first three years. He helped the 49ers win consecutive NFC West titles and reach the Super Bowl last season, a 34-31 loss to Baltimore.

Syracuse and Wichita State punched their tickets to the 2013 Final Four on Saturday. Michigan and Louisville joined them Sunday. Syracuse will play Michigan while Wichita State will take on Louisville.

Here’s a look at the 2013 Final Four (all times ET): Location: Georgia Dome, Atlanta (Host: Georgia Institute of Technology) Dates: — Saturday, April 6: Louisville vs. Wichita State, 6:09 p.m.; Syracuse vs. Michigan, about 8:49 p.m.; both games CBS — Monday, April 8: National Championship game, 9:23 p.m., CBS TV: All games on CBS.

As Louisville’s Kevin Ware recovers from a broken right leg suffered in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday, he has received tweets from celebrities and even a phone call from First Lady Michelle Obama.

A self-proclaimed “shy guy,’’ Ware told Craig Melvin on TODAY Thursday that he appreciated the support. But the details of the first lady’s call remain a little fuzzy. “I was so drugged, honestly,’’ Ware said, laughing. Ware, 20, underwent surgery to repair his right leg, which was broken in two places in the first half of a win over Duke in the Midwest Regional final. The sophomore guard was released by the hospital and returned to the Louisville campus on Tuesday. He plans on being on the bench supporting the Cardinals in their Final Four game on Saturday against Wichita State.

Doctors expect him to make a full recovery, and Ware is determined to return to the court, which could take six to eight months. “I’ll be back starting next season,’’ Ware told Melvin. “I haven’t (watched the video), don’t want to,’’ Ware said. “I’m going to stay as far from that video as possible.’’

ATLANTA — Brian Banks said signing with the Atlanta Falcons is his second-biggest accomplishment.

The biggest was Banks’ exoneration of rape charges one year ago.

Banks, 27, signed with the Falcons on Wednesday, giving him an opportunity he said he did not believe would be possible when he spent five years in prison and five years on probation following his conviction of rape and kidnapping charges a decade ago.

“I felt at the time in order for me to exit prison with a sane mind and be able to just function as a person I had to let go of certain dreams and goals I once held in life, football being one of them,” Banks said. Banks said he “couldn’t have asked for a better place to be” than with the Falcons. “I can’t believe this is happening,” he said. “It’s surreal.”

ATLANTA — Former NBA player and Atlanta native Javaris Crittenton was indicted Tuesday on charges of murder and gang activity.

The Fulton County District Attorney’s office said Crittenton, 25, and his cousin, Douglas Gamble, were charged in a 12-count indictment in the death of an Atlanta woman and the attempted murder of another man. Former NBA player Javaris Crittenton has been indicted on charges of murder and gang activity.

Julian Jones — a mother of two — was shot and killed in southwest Atlanta while walking with a group of people in August 2011. Authorities say that incident and a second shooting were gang-related. Officials say the shootings may have been retaliation after Crittenton was the victim of a robbery in which $50,000 worth of jewelry was stolen.

INDIANAPOLIS — A gruesome injury that left Louisville guard Kevin Ware with a broken leg plunged Lucas Oil Stadium into horrified silence, with coach Rick Pitino wiping away tears and shocked teammates openly weeping during Sunday’s Midwest Regional final.

Ware’s right leg bent in such an awkward and frightening angle that CBS stopped showing replays shortly after the fall in the NCAA tournament matchup against Duke. He was taken into surgery at Methodist Hospital after the game to repair the fracture. School officials said the leg, broken in two places, was reset and a rod inserted into his right tibia. Ware is expected to stay in Indianapolis until at least Tuesday.

Even as he was being treated on the court, Ware was encouraging his teammates, Pitino said. “The bone’s 6 inches out of his leg and all he’s yelling is, ‘Win the game, win the game,’“ Pitino said. “I’ve not seen that in my life. … Pretty special young man.”

SAN ANTONIO – Often the forgotten member of Miami’s “Big Three,’‘ Chris Bosh stepped up with LeBron James and Dwyane Wade sitting out to get the Heat a big win and move closer to securing home-court advantage throughout the NBA playoffs.

Bosh scored 23 points, including the winning 3-pointer with 1.9 seconds remaining, and the Heat beat San Antonio 88-86 on Sunday night with James, Wade and Mario Chalmers watching from the locker room as they sat out with injuries. “We are the defending champs no matter who we put out there,’‘ Bosh said. “We are still the Miami Heat. We believe in ourselves. Each one of these guys is a professional. We played bigger roles in other cities but we came together and accepted lesser roles to win a championship here. We can still tap into that.’‘