Pacers hire Bjorkgren as coach
The Pacers hired Raptors assistant Nate Bjorkgren, 45, to be their new coach.
“Nate is the right coach for us at the right time,” president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard said in a statement. “He comes from a winning background, has experienced championship success, is innovative and his communication skills along with his positivity are tremendous.”
Bjorkgren spent the last two seasons working under Nick Nurse with the Raptors. Before that, he spent two years as an assistant with the Suns after going 126-74 in four seasons in the G League, coaching the Dakota Wizards, Santa Cruz Warriors, Iowa Energy and Bakersfield Jam.
Despite making five consecutive playoff appearances, the Pacers haven’t won a series since defeating the Wizards 4-2 in the 2014 Eastern Conference semifinals. Since then, they are 8-20 in the playoffs and have endured three first-round sweeps in the last four seasons — the franchise’s only fourgame sweeps since joining the NBA in 1976.
Bjorkgren replaces Nate McMillan, who was fired Aug. 26.
The Clippers confirmed their hiring of Tyronn Lue to replace Doc Rivers as coach.
COLLEGES
Terps won’t name starting QB vs. NU
Maryland coach Mike Locksley has decided on his starting quarterback, but he won’t announce whether Alabama transfer Taulia Tagovailoa or redshirt freshman Lance LeGendre will start Saturday night at Northwestern. The competition opened up after Josh Jackson, who started nine games last season, opted out and Tyrrell Pigrome transferred to Western Kentucky.
Michigan State coach Mel Tucker refused to say who would start at quarterback at Rutgers. The options include Rocky Lombardi, Theo Day and redshirt freshman Payton Thorne, a Naperville Central grad.
No. 8 Penn State said running back Journey Brown could miss the season with an unspecified “medical condition.”
Students at Michigan have been ordered to stay in place for two weeks until Election Day after a surge of coronavirus cases, but the ruling does not affect athletic activities. The No. 18 Wolverines travel to No. 21 Minnesota on Saturday.
The Mountain West opener between New Mexico and Colorado State on Saturday in Fort Collins, Colorado, has been canceled.
The University of Connecticut has agreed to pay a total of just under $250,000 to seven women, including four members of Geno Auriemma’s 2014 women’s basketball coaching staff, after the U.S. Labor Department found they had been underpaid when compared with men in similar positions.
BASEBALL
Longtime ump Cousins dead
Former major-league umpire Derryl Cousins, who worked three World Series during a career that lasted more than three decades, died after a bout with cancer. He was 74.