USC's Watkins among first-team All-Americans
Caitlin Clark has been a mainstay on The Associated Press All-America team the past few seasons.
The NCAA's all-time scoring leader from Iowa was honored for the third straight year Wednesday, becoming the 11th player to earn the distinction three times. She was a unanimous choice from the 35-member national media panel that chooses the AP Top 25 each week.
Clark was joined on the first team by Stanford's Cameron Brink, UConn's Paige Bueckers and freshmen JuJu Watkins of USC and Hannah Hidalgo of Notre Dame. They are only the fourth and fifth freshmen to make the AP team since it began in 1994-95, joining Oklahoma's Courtney Paris, UConn's Maya Moore and Bueckers.
Clark joins a select group with her third firstteam honor: South Carolina's A'ja Wilson and Aliyah Boston, Baylor's Brittney Griner, Tennessee's Chamique Holdsclaw, Duke's Alana Beard, Paris, Oregon's Sabrina Ionescu, Kentucky's Rhyne Howard and UConn's Breanna Stewart and Moore. Paris and Moore did it four times.
Clark, who earned second-team honors as a freshman, led the nation in scoring averaging 31.9 points per game as well as being tops in assists with 8.9. She became the first Division I player to have consecutive 1,000-point seasons and to also top 3,000 points and 1,000 assists for her career.
Watkins took the country by storm as a freshman. She has already scored 810 points, which is fourth most for a freshman all time. She averaged 27 points, which was second behind Clark and added 7.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 2.4 steals and 1.5 blocks to help the Trojans win the Pac-12 Tournament for the first time since 2014.
Hidalgo was incredible on both ends of the floor for the Fighting Irish, helping lead them to the ACC Tournament title. She averaged 23.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and 5.5 assists and also led the nation in steals, averaging 4.6 a game.
Bueckers finally made it through a season healthy after missing most of the past two years because of injuries. She returned to the form that earned her AP Player of the Year honors as a freshman, averaging 21.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists for the Huskies.
Brink averaged 17.8 points, 12 rebounds and 3.5 blocks, which led the nation.
Draw held for tourneys at the Paris Olympics
The United States women's soccer team will face Germany and Australia at the Paris Olympics when incoming coach Emma Hayes looks to get off to a flying start in the job.
The draw for the men's and women's soccer tournaments were held at a ceremony in Saint-Denis.
The record four-time gold-medallist was drawn against fifth-ranked Germany and World Cup semifinalist Australia in Group B. Those teams will be joined by either Morocco or Zambia from the African Football Confederation.
The U.S. hasn't won Olympic gold since 2012 and is coming off a disappointing Women's World
Cup last year when it suffered its earliest exit from the tournament after being knocked out by Sweden on penalties in the round of 16.
Defending champion Canada was drawn in Group A with host France, Colombia and New Zealand.
World Cup winner Spain is in Group C with Japan and Brazil. Nigeria or South Africin Olympics a will join that group as another CAF qualifier.
The U.S. men's team will face France at the Paris Games after being drawn in the same group as the host nation.
The U.S. is competing at the Games for the first time since Beijing in 2008 and faces a potentially daunting task after being drawn alongside France, coached by soccer great Thierry Henry, in Group A.
Also in the group are New Zealand and the winner of a playoff between teams from the Asian and the African confederations.
World champion Argentina was drawn in Group B with Morocco, Ukraine and a qualifier to be confirmed from the AFC.
Spain, runner-up in Tokyo, is in Group C along with Egypt, Dominican Republic and another qualifier from the AFC, which is yet to be confirmed.
Group D features Paraguay, Mali and Israel as well as a final qualifier from the AFC.
Longtime NHL player Simon dies at age 52
Former NHL enforcer Chris Simon died Monday night in his hometown of Wawa, Ontario. He was 52.
Simon died by suicide, his family said Wednesday.
Simon's family blamed his death on CTE, the degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy, in a statement released through agent Paul Theofanous. “We will not be releasing any further details at this time and ask for privacy during this very difficult time,” the family wrote. “We appreciate everyone who shares in our tragic loss.”
There's no way to confirm CTE while a person is alive, though doctors can identify suspected cases based on symptoms and neurological exams.
Simon played 857 regular-season and playoff games over 15 NHL seasons from 1993-2008. Over his career, he fought more than 100 times and racked up 1,824 penalty minutes to rank 67th in league history.
“For a big tough player, he was also a very kind, caring individual who was always respectful and grateful for advice,” former agent Larry Kelly said.
Simon won the Stanley Cup with Colorado in 1996 and was part of runs to the final with Washington in 1998 and Calgary in 2004. He also spent time with the Quebec Nordiques and played for Chicago, Calgary, Minnesota and the New York Rangers and Islanders, before finishing with five seasons in the KHL from 2008-13 and retiring.
Simon on the ice was a respected teammate and fan favorite, though he occasionally crossed the line. The NHL suspended him eight times totaling 65 games, including a 25game ban in March 2007 while he was with the Islanders for cross-checking the Rangers' Ryan Hollweg in the face and 30 games for stomping on the leg of Pittsburgh's Jarkko Ruutu that December.