NCAA
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - The National College Players Association said Tuesday that NCAA President Mark Emmert has informed a group of basketball players who started a social media campaign to protest inequities in college sports that he will meet with them after March Madness.
NCPA executive director Ramogi Huma said in a statement he received a letter from Emmert in response to the advocacy group’s request for a meeting between the head of the NCAA and three players who led the #NotNCAAProperty protest that started last week.
NBA
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - The Hornets say rookie point guard LaMelo Ball underwent successful surgery on his fractured right wrist on Tuesday.
Ball’s wrist will be immobilized and he’ll be reevaluated in four weeks, according a release from the team. The Hornets say additional updates will be provided at that time, although a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press on Monday that Ball is expected to miss the remainder of the NBA season. The person spoke The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team has not publicly said when Ball might return.
- By AP Sports Writer Steve Reed.
MIAMI (AP) - Vaccinated fans will soon have their own sections at Miami Heat games.
The Heat announced plans Tuesday to open two sections in their lower bowl only for fully vaccinated fans starting with an April 1 game against Golden State. They are the first NBA team to reveal such a plan, though other clubs are believed to be working on similar measures.
Masks will still be required, even for the vaccinated fans, but social distancing rules will be slightly relaxed in those areas.
NFL
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The Philadelphia Eagles have signed veteran quarterback Joe Flacco.
Flacco’s agent, Joe Linta, made the announcement on Twitter on Tuesday.
Flacco, the 2012 Super Bowl MVP, started four games for the Jets last season and eight games for the Broncos in 2019. He spent his first 11 seasons with Baltimore, leading the Ravens to six playoff appearances and one Super Bowl title.
The 36-year-old Flacco is 98-77 as a starter in the regular season, 10-5 in the playoffs. He has completed 61.7 percent of his passes for 40,931 yards, 224 touchdowns and 144 interceptions with an 84.1 passer rating.
NHL
NEW YORK (AP) - The NHL is instituting changes to the draft lottery that make it more difficult for the last-place team to drop out of the top three in the selection order.
Beginning with the 2021 draft, only the first two picks will be subject to the lottery instead of the top three, and no team can move up more than 10 picks. Starting in 2022, no team will be able to win the draft lottery - for either of the first two spots - more than twice in a five-year span.
COLLEGE ATHLETICS
Oregon State’s trustees accepted the resignation of university president F. King Alexander on Tuesday, concluding he was unable to rebuild trust at the school because of his role in the mishandling of sexual misconduct cases during his previous tenure at LSU.
The Oregon State board of trustees had placed Alexander on probation last week, but on Sunday, it received his offer to resign, effective April 1.
Board chair Rani Borkar said the outpouring of comments since the probation decision from students, alumni and people who have alleged sexual misconduct led the board to realize “that rebuilding trust is no longer possible.”
The board voted unanimously to accept the resignation.
FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) - Former NBA player and college assistant Kim English was hired to coach George Mason’s men’s basketball team Tuesday, a week after the school fired Dave Paulsen.
English has been an assistant to Rick Barnes at Tennessee.
English went to college at Missouri, was drafted in the second round by the Detroit Pistons in 2012 and played for them before heading overseas to play basketball. He briefly returned to the NBA with the Chicago Bulls in 2014.
He worked as an assistant coach at Tulsa and Colorado before heading to Tennessee for the 2019-20 season.
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - James Jones had 27 points and 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the season and Shawnee State (Ohio) claimed the program’s first NAIA Tournament championship with a 74-68 victory over Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) on Tuesday night.
Shawnee State (31-2), a No. 5 seed, won its 27th straight game - including four tournament victories in five days.
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) - Stefanie Berberabe and Iyree Jarrett each scored 23 points and Westmont (Calif.) beat short-handed Thomas More (Ky.) 72-61 on Tuesday night for its first women’s NAIA national championship since 2013.
Westmont (15-1) won for the 15th straight time this season - with its lone loss coming in overtime to Division-I member Pepperdine.
SOCCER
ATLANTA (AP) - After serving as Atlanta United’s interim coach for most of the 2020 season, Stephen Glass is leaving the Major League Soccer club to become manager of Aberdeen FC in Scotland’s top league.
Glass had moved back to his previous role as coach of Atlanta United 2 in the USL Championship for the upcoming season. The team announced Tuesday that he has taken the Aberdeen job.
The Dons began searching for a new coach after Derek McInnes left the club this month. Aberdeen is fourth in the Scottish Premiership standings heading into the final five games of the season.
WOMEN’S HOCKEY
The National Women’s Hockey League is adding a seventh team by expanding into Montreal next season, two people with direct knowledge of the league’s board of governors’ approved plan told The Associated Press.
The NWHL was initially scheduled to announce it was establishing its second Canadian franchise in early February. That timeline was pushed back after the Isobel Cup playoffs were postponed following an outbreak of COVID-19, according to the two people who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak for the NWHL.
- By AP Hockey Writer John Wawrow.
COURTS
HOUSTON (AP) - An attorney for Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson, who’s accused of sexual assault and harassment in lawsuits filed by 16 women, on Tuesday questioned the allegations against the NFL player, claiming they were made following a failed attempt to blackmail his client for $30,000.
The women, in lawsuits filed in state court in Houston, accuse Watson of exposing himself, touching them with his penis or kissing them against their will while he got a massage. All of the women who have sued Watson are either licensed massage therapists or worked in a spa or similar business.
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