Michigan football gets 3 years probation for violations during COVID
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.
“We are pleased to reach a resolution on this matter so that our student-athletes and our football program can move forward. We have no additional information and cannot comment further on other aspects of the NCAA's inquiries,” Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel said in statement.
Harbaugh's attorney, Tom
Mars, said the coach was not invited to participate in the settlement process or aware that an agreement had been reached between the school on the NCAA. Harbaugh is now coach of the NFL's Chargers.
“I'm not saying he would have participated. That would have depended on what terms the NCAA wanted,” Mars told AP. “Seems odd they didn't even give Jim the opportunity to participate or decline. What's that say about the NCAA's intentions?”
The NCAA did not name Harbaugh in Tuesday's announcement. The committee said a final decision, including potential violations and penalties for the former coach, was pending.
Dailey announces transfer to UCLA
Oklahoma State transfer Eric Dailey Jr. announced his commitment to the UCLA men's basketball team after a recent visit to
Westwood, explaining that he believes being a member of the Bruins will help him reach his dream of playing in the NBA.
Dailey, a 6-foot-8, 230-pound forward, averaged 9.3 points and 4.8 rebounds while playing 22.3 minutes per game and starting 16 of 32 games as a freshman. He also shot 49.6% from the field, 33.3% from 3-point range and 60.2% from the free-throw line.
He scored in double figures 15 times last season. His career-high is 20 points in an overtime loss against Oklahoma on Feb. 24.
The versatile forward, who also played in spurts as an undersized center, was a four-star recruit in the 2023 class and served as the team captain while playing high school basketball at the famed IMG Academy in Florida.
Dailey comes from a basketball family. His mother, Shell, played college basketball at Texas and has coaching experience in college basketball and professionally with the WNBA's
San Antonio Silver Stars, now known as the Las Vegas Aces. His father, Eric, played college basketball at TCU and professionally overseas for 10 years with stops in Europe, Asia and South America.
— John W. Davis
Woman charged with defrauding Bauer
An Arizona woman who accused former major league pitcher Trevor Bauer of sexual assault has been charged with defrauding the baseball player.
An indictment unsealed Monday in Maricopa County Superior Court charges the woman with fraud and theft by extortion, both felonies, but doesn't provide specific details about the alleged crimes. It says Bauer and one other person were defrauded in a scheme that potentially spanned several years.
The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they have been victims of sexual assault unless they come forward publicly.
The woman sued Bauer in December 2022, accusing him of rape two years earlier that she said resulted in pregnancy in late 2020.
Court records on Tuesday afternoon didn't list an attorney for the woman in the fraud case, and the lawyer representing her in her lawsuit didn't immediately respond to a phone message seeking additional comment.
Bauer was never arrested or charged. He countersued, saying he had one consensual sexual encounter with the woman in 2020 and then accused her of faking the pregnancy to extort money from him.
His attorneys have said that the woman made several million-dollar demands against him.
Bauer said he ultimately paid $8,761 for expenses he believed to be related to the woman's reported pregnancy and its subsequent termination.
The woman later said that she ultimately decided not to terminate the pregnancy, but had a miscarriage.
McIlroy dispels rumor about move to LIV
This wasn't the kind of attention Rory McIlroy was hoping for on the day after the Masters.
A London financial paper, City A.M., cited anonymous sources as saying McIlroy was believed to be close to an $850 million deal to join LIV Golf. The publication did not say how the sources would know. That set off speculation and innuendo across the internet.
McIlroy was able to shut it down when he arrived at the RBC Heritage.
“I honestly don't know how these things get started,” McIlroy told Golf Channel from the range at Harbour Town. “I've never been offered a number from LIV and I've never contemplated going to LIV. I think I've made it clear over the past two years that I don't think it's something for me.”