Meyer issues apology to Courtney Smith
Amid withering criticism of his failing to more directly address domestic-abuse issues at a news conference earlier this week, suspended Ohio State football coach Urban
Meyer issued an apology Friday to the exwife of a former assistant coach who was suspected of abusing her.
“Let me say here and now what I should have said on Wednesday: I sincerely apologize to Courtney Smith and her children for what they have gone through,” Meyer said in a statement he tweeted and university officials emailed. “My words and demeanor on Wednesday did not show how seriously I take relationship violence. This has been a real learning experience for me. I fully intend to use my voice more effectively to be a part of the solution.”
◆ Comcast and the Fox Networks Group announced that they reached an agreement for the cable carrier to continue to make the Big Ten Network available to its customers.
◆ Indiana named Peyton Ramsey its starting quarterback and announced that running back Morgan Ellison has been suspended indefinitely.
◆ Rutgers named true freshman Artur
Sitkowski its starting quarterback. ◆ Nebraska running back Tre Bryant is giving up football because of chronic knee pain.
GOLF Koepka surges into tie for lead
Brooks Koepka had an eagle and four birdies in his last seven holes to card a 6-under 65, good for a tie with Jamie Lovemark (10-under 132) after two rounds of The Northern Trust in Paramus, New Jersey.
Adam Scott had a 64 for the low round of the tournament and was one shot behind. Tiger Woods was 10 strokes back but made the cut on the number.
MISCELLANEOUS No more catsuits for Serena
Serena Williams will no longer be allowed to wear her skin-tight black catsuit at the French Open. “It will no longer be accepted,’’ French Tennis Federation president Bernard Giudicelli said. ‘‘One must respect the game and the place.”
◆ Lilly Diabetes pulled its sponsorship of Conor Daly’s No. 6 car in the NASCAR Xfinity race at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, citing a racially insensitive remark made by the driver’s father, Derek Daly, in the 1980s that surfaced this week.
◆ Uplift’s Markese Jacobs, the city’s top basketball player in the class of 2019, decommitted from Kansas.