Thursday Sports in Brief

NCAA

The NCAA has officially approved a plan that will allow all college athletes to transfer one time as an undergraduate without having to sit out a season.

The exception that has been available to athletes in most college sports for years will now also be available to football, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s ice hockey and baseball players.

Some in college sports, especially football, worry about potential consequences: Fewer scholarships available to high school recruits. Power programs poaching players from small schools. Rosters turning over quicker than coaches can keep up. The change takes effect in September.

NBA

NEW YORK (AP) - LaMarcus Aldridge retired from the NBA on Thursday after saying he experienced an irregular heartbeat during his final game with the Brooklyn Nets.

Aldridge, 35, posted a statement on social media saying the heart concerns he had during and after Brooklyn’s loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday was one of the “scariest things” he’s experienced.

Aldridge, who was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome - an abnormality that can cause a rapid heartbeat - as a rookie in 2007, said he feels better now after getting it checked out but decided to end his 15-year career.

The No. 2 pick in the 2006 draft was long one of the best at his position, averaging 19.4 points in a career that began with nine seasons in Portland.

He went on to play 5 1/2 with the Spurs and was a five-time All-NBA selection.

BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME

Michael Jordan will present Kobe Bryant for induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame next month.

Hall officials revealed the full list of presenters Thursday. Members of a Hall class are asked to choose who they would like to accompany them to the stage and present them before their acceptance speech; when the inductee is being enshrined posthumously, as in Bryant’s case, family members are asked to make the decision on presenter.

Jordan tearfully spoke for more than 11 minutes at the memorial for Bryant and his daughter Gianna in Los Angeles in February 2020.

NHL

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) - The NHL has delayed the Vancouver Canucks’ return to competition.

The Canucks, who have not played a game since March 24 due to a COVID-19 outbreak, had been scheduled to host the Edmonton Oilers on Friday night. The league announced Thursday the team would not play that game and did not immediately set a new date for Vancouver’s return.

The decision was made with input from the NHL Players’ Association and medical staff from teams, the NHL said.

MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The NCAA hit Southern California’s men’s basketball program with two years’ probation on Thursday because a former assistant coach violated NCAA ethics rules when he accepted a bribe to steer players to a business management company.

The Division I Committee on Infractions announced the penalties, which include a $5,000 fine and a 1% loss of the private school’s basketball budget. The probation, which does not include a postseason ban, runs until April 14, 2023.

Tony Bland, the former associate head coach under coach Andy Enfield, wasn’t mentioned by name in the NCAA report. He was arrested by FBI agents in September 2017. USC fired Bland four months later. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery in January 2019 and cooperated with the NCAA’s investigation.

CINCINNATI (AP) - Cincinnati has hired UNC Greensboro coach Wes Miller to replace the fired John Brannen.

Miller, regarded as one of the top young coaches in college basketball, won 185 games in 10 seasons at UNC Greensboro. Over the last five years, the Spartans have five-straight 20-win seasons, two NCAA Tournament appearances, two NIT appearances and two Southern Conference tournament championships.

SOCCER

NYON, Switzerland (AP) - Russian referee Sergey Lapochkin has been suspended for 90 days during an investigation of a suspected match-fixing case, UEFA said Thursday.

UEFA did not specify details of the ongoing disciplinary case against Lapochkin, who was provisionally suspended on March 25.

Russian media reported it relates to the referee allegedly failing in his duty to inform UEFA about an approach to corrupt a game.

The game is reportedly a Europa League qualifier in July 2018 between Ventspils and Bordeaux. The French team won 1-0 in Latvia.

OBITUARY

Leroy Keyes, a two-time consensus All-American running back and one of the greatest football players in Purdue history, died Thursday. He was 74.

He died at his home in West Lafayette, Indiana, surrounded by his wife and children, the family said in a statement. Keyes had been in poor health recently, suffering from congestive heart failure and a recurrence of cancer.

Keyes finished third in the Heisman Trophy balloting in 1967 and was the runner-up to O.J. Simpson in 1968. But he wasn’t just a star at Purdue - he was an icon.

After finishing his career as the school’s career leader in touchdowns (37), points (222) and all-purpose yards (3,757), the Philadelphia Eagles drafted Keyes with the third pick overall in 1969. Injuries forced him out of the NFL after just five seasons.

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