Thousands line streets for Paterno farewell

With students, alumni and fans lining the streets, Joe Paterno's funeral procession drove slowly Wednesday past Beaver Stadium and through the town of State College, Pa., where the longtime Penn State football coach lived and worked for more than 60 years.

Thousands of mourners waited on the sidewalks, four deep and more in some places, for a glimpse of the electric-blue hearse carrying Paterno's casket. The convoy also included buses filled with Paterno's family, former players and other guests.

As a silent crowd looked on, the procession passed a library that bears Paterno's name on its way to Pine Hall cemetery, the final resting place of the man who led the Nittany Lions to five undefeated seasons.

Two days of public viewing that ended about noon Wednesday drew large, somber crowds, despite a wait that lasted hours. The private funeral service followed.

"Today's Mass was a celebration. We laid to rest a great man," Paterno's defensive coordinator, Tom Bradley, said. "He meant so much to so many people."

Today, the university will hold a final, public service for Paterno, at the school's basketball arena.

Big 12 basketball

Texas A&M men's basketball: Coach Billy Kennedy said starters Dash Harris (foot) and Khris Middleton (knee) remain "day-to-day" and could miss Saturday's game against Oklahoma State (3 p.m., College Station).

Harris, A&M's point guard, injured his arch in Monday's 64-54 loss to No. 5 Kansas. Middleton, a forward, sat out the Kansas game with a knee ailment. "Dash's arch is just sprained. There's no permanent damage," Kennedy said. "We'll know more about Khris in the next couple of days. He's getting his knee looked at again [in an MRI exam]. I really don't want him to practice until he's close to 100 percent."

-- Jimmy Burch

Baylor men's basketball: Forward Perry Jones III said Wednesday he is "close enough" to being 100 percent recovered from an ankle injury. He had 21 points and 12 rebounds in a win against Oklahoma on Tuesday night. "I can cut more now," Jones said. "In the Kansas and Missouri games, I couldn't cut like I wanted." Saturday's game against Texas (13-7, 3-4) sold out Wednesday.

-- Jimmy Burch

Briefly

TCU men's tennis: The Horned Frogs won their season opener, defeating Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 4-3 indoors at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center. TCU swept all three doubles matches. J.T. Sundling put the Frogs up for good with a 6-3, 6-1 win at No. 2 singles. Nick Chappell sealed the victory at No. 1 singles, winning 6-2, 7-5.

Wisconsin athletics: According to a report released by the school, a male student employee at Wisconsin accused athletic department official John Chadima of grabbing his genitals at an alcohol-fueled party while the team was at the Rose Bowl. Chadima resigned and has apologized without acknowledging the specific allegations in the report.

Memphis football: Coach Justin Fuente, former co-offensive coordinator at TCU, hired former North Texas head coach Darrell Dickey as his offensive coordinator. Dickey was offensive coordinator at Texas State last season.

Baylor women's basketball: Nike unveiled its new "platinum" line to be worn by nine teams for one game each later this season. The teams selected have won NCAA titles wearing Nike gear: the Arizona, UConn, Duke, Florida, Kentucky, North Carolina and Syracuse men and the Baylor and UConn women.

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