Former Auburn assistant basketball coach avoids prison

NEW YORK — Former Auburn University assistant basketball coach and NBA star Chuck Person's lifelong generosity may have driven him to the poorhouse, but it saved him from the jailhouse Wednesday when a judge sentenced him in a bribery scandal that touched some of the biggest college basketball programs.

U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska cited Person's "random acts of charity that happened all the time" as she explained why he won't be locked up for taking bribes to steer top college players toward a financial adviser who was cooperating with the government's investigation.

"The worst thing you have to say is that you were charitable to a fault," she told Person, who wiped tears from his…