SMU coach June Jones added most of his staff yesterday, bringing four assistants from Hawai'i and hiring a high school liaison in addition to other assistants.

The former Hawai'i assistants are Dan Morrison (assistant head coach/offense), Dennis McKnight (offensive line), Jeff Reinebold (receivers) and Wes Suan (running backs).

Jones also hired Tam Hollingshead as director of high school relations. Hollingshead was the last coach to win a state championship at famed Texas high school power Odessa Permian, in 1991, three years after he was an assistant on the team chronicled in the book and movie "Friday Night Lights."

On defense, Jones hired Tim Hundley as assistant head coach/defense and Tom Mason as defensive coordinator. Bert Hill will coach the defensive line and Derrick Odum will run the secondary.

Jones retained Randy Ross as director of football operations and Steve Stigall as director of on-campus recruiting.

NFL

VIKINGS' UDEZE HAS FORM OF LEUKEMIA

Minnesota Vikings defensive end Kenechi Udeze has a form of leukemia, which is cancer of the blood and bone marrow, a person with the team confirmed yesterday.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the information. The Vikings declined to comment.

Two Twin Cities television stations first reported the news on Monday night. KSTP-TV, without citing a source, reported that the 24-year-old Udeze was undergoing tests to determine the severity of the disease. Ethan Lock, Udeze's agent, declined to comment.

Without details about how quickly the cancer was identified or what form of leukemia Udeze has, there's no way of knowing a prognosis.

AND WHAT'S MORE

Pitcher Livan Hernandez and the Minnesota Twins agreed to a $5 million, one-year contract yesterday. He can earn an additional $2 million in performance bonuses. ... NASCAR placed drivers Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart on probation for six races yesterday, beginning with the Daytona 500. The punishment stems from a confrontation between the two former series champions, who wrecked in practice last week and then carried it into the NASCAR officials' trailer. ... Florida Panther Richard Zednik remained hospitalized in Buffalo, N.Y., yesterday where his condition was upgraded to good and doctors planned to take him out of an intensive-care unit. Zednik isn't believed to have suffered any long-term brain or nerve damage after his neck was slashed by the skate of a teammate Sunday.