In brief: Utes coach boots guard
Basketball: Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak dismissed point guard Josh “Jiggy” Watkins for an undisclosed team rules violation.
Krystkowiak made the announcement Wednesday, saying he could not sacrifice the integrity of the program for one individual.
He had suspended Watkins earlier in the season for three days and one game, and subsequently had implemented a “zero tolerance” rule for players who were late to practice or missed meetings.
The Utes have struggled in their first year under Krystkowiak and in the Pac-12. They are 4-13 overall and 1-4 in conference play.
Watkins was the lone senior on Utah’s active roster and was leading the Utes with 15.6 points and 4.8 assists per game. He hit the winner in overtime in Utah’s lone Pac-12 win on Jan. 5 over Washington State.
Associated Press
Just call him Mr. Ambassador
Basketball: The NBA’s all-time scoring leader is now a global cultural ambassador.
The State Department announced Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s appointment Wednesday.
Ann Stock, assistant secretary of state for education and cultural affairs, says Abdul-Jabbar will travel the world to engage a generation of young people to help promote diplomacy.
Stock says the appointment is part of Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s vision of “Smart Power” that combines diplomacy, defense and development to “bridge the gap in a tense world through young people.”
Associated Press
Online chat with Vince Grippi
As an online producer for Sportslink and fill-in yapper on the Patchin, Lukens and Osso talk radio show on 700-AM, “retired” sportswriter Vince Grippi is keeping pace with all the sports in the Inland Northwest.
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