Newsmakers

Fri., June 8, 2012

Announced Women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma expects injured star Diana Taurasi to be fine for the Olympics next month, he said Thursday. Taurasi has missed the Phoenix Mercury’s past three games with a hip flexor injury and is out indefinitely according to the team. Taurasi sustained the injury during the team’s training camp after reporting just seven days before the season opener following a full Eurolegue season in Turkey and training camp with USA Basketball.

Agreed Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney agreed to stick around through 2017. The school and Swinney announced they agreed on a three-year contract extension. It had been previously announced Swinney would earn more than $1.9 million plus incentives. Swinney led the Tigers to their first Atlantic Coast Conference title in 20 years and their first 10-win season since 1990 this past fall. He won the Bobby Dodd Award as national coach of the year.

Died NASCAR pioneer Cotton Owens died Thursday morning. The Hall of Famer was 88. Kimberly Meesters of the NASCAR Hall of Fame confirmed Owens’ death through his family. Meesters said Owens died peacefully. The Owens family thanked fans for their well-wishes, but requested privacy in this difficult time. Owens, who lived in Spartanburg, S.C., was part of the Hall’s class of 2013 that was announced two weeks ago in Charlotte, N.C. He’ll be inducted in February along with Rusty Wallace, Leonard Wood and the late Buck Baker and Herb Thomas.

Resigned Toronto FC head coach Aron Winter is stepping down after a dismal start to the season that has left the club with the fewest points in the MLS. Toronto FC is 1-9-0 and has been outscored 21-8 this season. The 45-year-old Winter leaves Toronto with a regular-season mark of 7-22-15, winning just one game on the road.

Signed The Colorado Avalanche agreed to a four-year deal with forward David Jones, one of the team’s top offensive players the last two seasons. Jones finished with 20 goals and 17 assists last season. He also tied for the team lead with five winning goals. The 27-year-old was taken by Colorado in the ninth round of the 2003 draft. When he made his debut in 2007-08, he became the lowest draft pick in franchise history to make it to the NHL.

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Newsmakers

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