Newsmakers

Announced Jockey Patrick Valenzuela, who won the 1989 Kentucky Derby and Preakness aboard Sunday Silence, is retiring after a 33-year career that was marred by substance abuse problems and suspensions. Valenzuela’s agent, Tom Knust, said Friday that the 49-year-old rider was finished. Knust said Valenzuela made the decision after recent surgery to remove his gall bladder. Valenzuela rode 4,333 winners in his career.

• Illinois will pay newly hired football coach Tim Beckman $9 million over five years. Athletic director Mike Thomas said Beckman will make about $1.6 million his first season and about $1.8 million on average for each year of his deal. Beckman spent three years as head coach at Toledo.

Accused Two former basketball players accused Amateur Athletic Union president Robert “Bobby” Dodd of molesting them as children, according to an ESPN report. The network reported that the AAU is investigating the claims, which date from the 1980s. One of the players, 43-year-old Ralph West, told ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” he was assaulted in Memphis, Tenn., in 1984.

Awarded Southern Mississippi quarterback Austin Davis won the Burlsworth Award, given to the best college football player who began his career as a walk-on. Davis has thrown for 3,331 yards and 28 touchdowns this season, leading the Eagles (11-2) to a win over Houston in the Conference USA championship game.

Revealed A medical examiner said Oregon State defensive tackle Fred Thompson, who collapsed and died during a pickup basketball game on Wednesday, had an enlarged heart. Dr. Karen Gunson said that the 19-year-old had increased thickness of the heart muscle, which can cause an irregular heartbeat during strenuous exercise.

Introduced Joe Gibbs Racing grabbed championship-winning crew chief Darian Grubb and paired him with Denny Hamlin in hopes of pushing the driver the final step toward the Sprint Cup title. Grubb was introduced as crew chief of Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota. He takes over for Mike Ford.

• Former Southern Mississippi coach Larry Fedora was introduced as North Carolina football coach soon after terms of his seven-year contract were approved by the school’s board of trustees. His deal will be worth more than $1.7 million annually.