Tuesday Sports in Brief

MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL

NEW YORK (AP) - The Associated Press released its men’s All-America team and it is dominated by Gonzaga and Baylor.

Both teams were atop the rankings most of the season.

Gonzaga’s Corey Kispert and Butler’s Jared Butler are on the first team. They are joined by unanimous pick Luka Garza of Iowa, Ayo Dosunmu of Illinois and dynamic freshman Cade Cunningham of Oklahoma State.

NEW YORK (AP) - Richard Pitino was hired on Tuesday as New Mexico’s head coach, hours after Minnesota finalized his firing following eight seasons with the Gophers.

Lobos athletic director Eddie Nuñez picked the 38-year-old Pitino to be the 22nd head coach in the history of their program. He’s replacing Paul Weir, who went 58-63 in four seasons.

New Mexico last reached the NCAA Tournament in 2014, in head coach Craig Neal’s first year.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Six officials won’t be working the NCAA Tournament because one tested positive for COVID-19 and five others were deemed close contacts after arriving in Indianapolis.

NCAA senior vice president of basketball Dan Gavitt confirmed the details Tuesday. CBS Sports first reported that the officials received permission to leave for dinner together when their rooms weren’t ready and no food was available as they arrived at their hotel.

They later returned to the hotel and one of the officials tested positive.

FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) - George Mason fired men’s basketball coach Dave Paulsen on Thursday, ending his tenure after six seasons that did not include an NCAA Tournament or NIT appearance.

The team had four winning seasons under Paulsen and went 95-91 with a 47-57 record in Atlantic 10 Conference play. The Patriots were 13-9 this past season and lost in the quarterfinals of the A10 tournament.

GOLF

Tiger Woods is back at home in Florida to resume his recovery from career-threatening leg injuries he suffered when his SUV ran off a road and down a hill in the Los Angeles suburbs last month.

“Happy to report that I am back home and continuing my recovery,” Woods said in a tweet posted Tuesday night. “I am so grateful for the outpouring of support and encouragement that I have received over the past few weeks.”

Woods was injured Feb. 23, two days after the Genesis Invitational at Riviera.

TENNIS

MIAMI (AP) - Rafael Nadal pulled out of the Miami Open on Tuesday because of the bad back that bothered him during the Australian Open.

The hard-court tournament begins next Tuesday.

The 20-time Grand Slam champion earlier withdrew from this month’s tournament at Rotterdam, Netherlands. At the Australian Open he lost in the quarterfinals to Stefanos Tsitsipas.

SAILING

AUKLAND, New Zealand (AP) - Team New Zealand has retained the America’s Cup, beating Italian challenger Luna Rossa 7-3 in the 36th match for sailing’s oldest trophy.

The defender came into the sixth day of racing Wednesday at match point, with a 6-3 lead in the best-of-13 race series. Team New Zealand won the 10th race by 46 seconds in a shifty north-easterly breeze to complete its defense of the famous Auld Mug.

SPORTS BUSINESS

LOS ANGELES (AP) - LeBron James is becoming a part-owner of the Boston Red Sox.

The Los Angeles Lakers superstar confirmed Tuesday night that he and his longtime business partner, Maverick Carter, are taking an ownership stake in the Fenway Sports Group.

“For me and my partner Maverick to be the first two Black men to be a part of that ownership group, it’s pretty damn cool,” James said. “It gives people who look like me hope and inspiration that it can be done.”

The FSG conglomerate owns the Red Sox, English soccer powerhouse Liverpool and the Roush Fenway Racing NASCAR team.

SOCCER

SAO PAULO (AP) - Brazilians would agree that Pelé is the greatest soccer player ever, but they differ on renaming the historic Maracanã stadium in his honor.

The stadium’s name could soon change if Rio de Janeiro Gov. Cláudio Castro agrees to honor the three-time World Cup winner. He has until next week to decide after being authorized by the state’s legislature to rename the Maracanã as “Edson Arantes do Nascimento - Rei Pelé.”

The stadium is officially named “Jornalista Mario Filho” for the Brazilian sportswriter credited with the idea to build such a colossus for the 1950 World Cup. If Castro agrees with the legislature, Filho’s name will only stay on a nearby sports complex.

WOMEN’S HOCKEY

NEW YORK (AP) - National Women’s Hockey League founder and former commissioner Dani Rylan Kearney resigned Tuesday from her post as an adviser to the league and president of the entity that owns four of its six teams.

The NWHL and W Hockey Partners announced her departure. W Hockey Partners owns the Buffalo Beauts, Connecticut Whale, Metropolitan Riveters and Minnesota Whitecaps.

Rylan launched the NWHL in March 2015 and was commissioner until October.

LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (AP) - A year after the COVID-19 pandemic forced the Little League World Series to be canceled, organizers are hopeful the late-summer Classic will return this August.

“We are planning as if we are going to have a tournament season,” said Steve Keener, the president and CEO of Little League International.

A plan that must include figuring out a way to safely bring together players from all over the globe. Little League has established a Pandemic Response Commission dedicated to figuring out how to pull off the two-week spectacle in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

COURTS

CHICAGO (AP) - An Illinois appellate court ruled Tuesday a woman struck by a foul ball at Wrigley Field can move ahead with a lawsuit she filed against Major League Baseball.

In upholding a lower court ruling, the appellate court said the plaintiff was not limited to arbitrating her case with Major League Baseball. It noted the arbitration provision was hidden in fine print and couldn’t be appreciated by the plaintiff.

Laiah Zuniga was struck in the face by a foul ball during a 2018 Chicago Cubs game.

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