Newsmakers
Hired Utah State has hired Tim Duryea as its new men’s basketball coach. The 50-year-old Duryea succeeds Stew Morrill, who retired after the season. Duryea has been an assistant with the program for 14 seasons and held the associate coach title the last seven seasons. The Aggies advanced to the NCAA tournament six times since Duryea was hired as an assistant. They finished 18-13 this season and will return all five starters next season.
Announced Former Seattle Mariners favorite Raul Ibanez is moving from the field to the broadcast studio. The 19-year MLB veteran outfielder will be a studio analyst for Fox this season. He played last season for the Los Angeles Angels and Kansas City. Fox also hired Joe Davis and the Mariners’ Aaron Goldsmith as play-by-play announcers. Fox’s lead crew is unchanged, with play-by-play announcer Joe Buck joined by analysts Harold Reynolds and Tom Verducci, and reporters Ken Rosenthal and Erin Andrews. John Smoltz, Eric Karros and C.J. Nitkowski return as analysts.
• Georgia State junior guard R.J. Hunter is entering the NBA draft after making one of the most memorable shots of the NCAA tournament. In Georgia State’s opening tournament game against third-seeded Baylor, Hunter capped a remarkable comeback by hitting a long 3-pointer that gave the Panthers a 57-56 victory. The shot sent his father tumbling off the rolling chair he was forced to use after tearing his Achilles tendon.
Traded The Seattle Reign FC and Western New York Flash have swapped U.S. women’s national team stars as part of a major trade in the National Women’s Soccer League. Seattle sent forwards Sydney Leroux and Amanda Frisbie to Western New York in exchange for the rights to Abby Wambach, midfielder Amber Brooks and a first-round pick in the 2016 NWSL draft. Wambach had previously announced her intention not to play in the NWSL this season because of the World Cup in Canada. Seattle said Wambach – the all-time international goal scoring leader – is still not expected to play this season even with the trade.
Introduced DePaul introduced for the second time Dave Leitao as its new men’s basketball coach. He is charged with a big task as he tries to revitalize a struggling program and get it back at least to the level when he led the Blue Demons from 2002 to 2005. DePaul went 58-34 during his first tenure and made the NCAA tournament, something it has not done since.