Michigan football hit with NCAA penalties

Michigan was given three years of probation, fined and hit with recruiting limits by the NCAA on Tuesday after football coaches and staff had impermissible contact with recruits and players under then-coach Jim Harbaugh while access was restricted during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The NCAA said it had reached a negotiated resolution with the school that has been approved by the committee on infractions involving five former and current coaches and staffers, but it did not include allegations that Harbaugh failed to cooperate with investigators.

That is now a separate case.

Harbaugh is now coach of the NFL’s Chargers.

The recruiting case is also separate from the NCAA’s investigation into impermissible in-person scouting and sign stealing that roiled Michigan’s national championship season in 2023, and resulted in a three-game suspension of Harbaugh by the Big Ten.

NBA: Bucks coach Doc Rivers said neither Giannis Antetokounmpo nor Damian Lillard practiced Tuesday. Rivers also said he didn’t know whether either injured All-Star player would practice all week, but pointed out both could play Sunday in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round series with the Pacers without practicing beforehand.

NHL: The Sabres fired coach Don Granato, making him the seventh coach to be ousted during what’s grown into an NHL-record 13-season playoff drought.

Tennis: Rafael Nadal looked good in a comfortable 6-2, 6-3 win over Flavio Cobolli at the Barcelona Open in his first competitive match in more than three months. The victory at the center court named after him allowed Nadal, who was returning from another injury layoff, to advance to the second round at the claycourt tournament that the 37-year-old Spaniard won a record 12 times.