Duarte voted Pac-12 player of year, Mobley is the newcomer
Oregon’s Chris Duarte is The Associated Press player of the year in the Pac-12 Conference and Southern California’s Evan Mobley is the newcomer of the year.
Southern California’s Andy Enfield was chosen as Pac-12 coach of the year by a panel of writers who cover the conference. Results of the voting were released Tuesday.
Stanford senior Oscar da Silva made the AP AllPac-12 first team, along with Duarte and Mobley. No Cal players were on the first or second team.
Duarte, a senior guard from the Dominican Republic, was the Pac-12’s third-leading scorer at 17.3 points per game while leading the Ducks to their second straight Pac-12 regular-season title. He also averaged 4.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.9 steals per game.
Mobley was a dominant force during his freshman year, averaging 16.1 points per game while leading the Pac-12 with 8.4 rebounds per game. The 7-footer also led the conference with 2.8 blocked shots per game and was third in shooting percentage at 58%.
NFL
RECEIVERS GODWIN, ROBINSON TOP FRANCHISE TAG LIST >> The big money that accompanies franchise tags
for the 2021 season is going to receivers, safeties and linemen.
No running backs. No tight ends. No linebackers. And, with Dak Prescott reaching agreement with the Dallas Cowboys on a new four-year deal, no quarterbacks.
So wideouts Chris Godwin, who helped the Buccaneers win the Super Bowl, and Chicago’s Allen Robinson were tagged just before Tuesday’s NFL deadline. So were tackles Taylor Moton of Carolina and Cam Robinson of Jacksonville, and defensive tackle Leonard Williams of the New York Giants.
LAMAR JACKSON AMONG THE QBS NEXT UP FOR A NEW CONTRACT >> Now that Dak Prescott got his recordbreaking contract, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen and Baker Mayfield are in line
to top it. Baltimore Ravens general Eric DeCosta said Tuesday he’s had conversations with Jackson but the two sides haven’t started official negotiations.
Jackson, the 2019 NFL MVP, is entering the final season of his rookie contract. He’s scheduled to earn $1.771 million in 2021 and the Ravens could exercise a fifth-year option for 2022. They could also apply a franchise tag in 2023.
NBA
PAUL PIERCE, CHRIS BOSH HEADLINE 2021 HOF FINALISTS >> NBA stars Chris Bosh and Paul Pierce, WNBA great Lauren Jackson and Villanova coach Jay Wright are among the 14 finalists announced Tuesday for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame’s Class of 2021.
Those four are among the nine first-time finalists up for election, along with five previous finalists. The Class of 2021 will be unveiled on May 16 and the enshrinement ceremony is scheduled for September.
The other first-time finalists are: Rick Adelman, the ninth-winningest coach in NBA history; fivetime champion and fivetime All-Defensive Team selection Michael Cooper; seven-time WNBA All-Star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Yolanda Griffith; NCAA national champion and WNBA Coach of the Year Marianne Stanley; and Bill Russell as the first Black NBA head coach (he was inducted as a player in 1975).
Golf
CANADIAN OPEN CANCELED
FOR 2ND STRAIGHT YEAR >> The RBC Canadian Open, the fourth-oldest national championship in golf, has been canceled for the second straight year because of circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The tournament, which dates to 1904, was to be played June 10-13 at St. George’s Golf & Country outside Toronto. The PGA Tour said Tuesday it would stage another event in the United States in place of the Canadian Open, which falls a week before the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines.