Bueckers, Boston, Clark lead list of AP preseason All-Americans
Paige Bueckers made history as a freshman and is poised for an even better sophomore season.
UConn’s sensational guard was the latest Huskies player to be honored as a preseason Associated Press All-America on Tuesday. She was a unanimous choice from the 29-member national media panel that selects the AP Top 25 each week.
Bueckers was joined on the five-player team by fellow sophomore Caitlin Clark of Iowa, junior Aliyah Boston of South Carolina, and seniors NaLyssa Smith of Baylor and Rhyne Howard of Kentucky. Boston and Howard were on the preseason team last year.
Bueckers became the first freshman ever to win the AP’s Player of the Year award last March as she helped UConn reach the Final Four. She averaged 20 points, 5.8 assists and 4.9 rebounds last season.
While Bueckers is the latest Huskies great to be honored as a preseason All-America, Clark is the first in Iowa’s history. She averaged an NCAA-best 26.6 points to go along with seven assists and six rebounds a game. Clark is a big reason the Hawkeyes are ranked ninth, its highest preseason ranking since 1996.
MLB ASTROS’ URQUIDY FACES
BRAVES’ FRIED IN GAME 2 » Right-hander José Urquidy will start Game 2 for the Astros against Braves lefthander Max Fried.
It will be the sixth career postseason start, and second this year, for Urquidy. He allowed six runs (five earned) in only 1 2/3 innings against Boston in Game 3 of the AL Championship Series.
Urquidy was the winning pitcher as a rookie in Game 4 of the 2019 World Series against Washington.
Fried is 1-1 with a 3.78 ERA in three starts this postseason.
NFL
TOMLIN SAYS NO TO COLLEGE JOBS » Note to bigtime college football programs looking for new coaches: Mike Tomlin isn’t interested.
The Pittsburgh Steelers coach said he considers it a “joke” that his name has popped up as a potential candidate for places such as Southern California.
“I got one of the best jobs and in all the professional sports, why would I have any interest in coaching college football?” Tomlin said.
Former Heisman Trophy winner and USC star Carson Palmer told The Dan Patrick radio show that Tomlin was a “wild card” as the Trojans look for someone to replace Clay Helton, who was fired in September.
LAZARD IS LATEST PACKERS
WR TO GO ON RESERVE » Green Bay’s decimated receiving group has taken one more hit as the Packers prepare to face the unbeaten Arizona Cardinals.
Allen Lazard joined 2020 All-Pro wideout Davante Adams on the reserve/COVID-19 list Tuesday. Adams was placed on the list Monday.
That means neither receiver is likely to play Thursday at Arizona (7-0).
Lazard’s potential absence would make it even tougher for the Packers to maintain their uncanny level of success in games Adams has missed.
Adams has sat out six games since 2019 because of injury. The Packers have won them all.
NFL NOT PLANNING TO ISSUE REPORT ON WFT » The NFL is not going to issue a report on its 10-month investigation into allegations the Washington Football Team engaged in harassment and abuse because of its promise to protect the identities of those who testified, Commissioner Roger Goodell said.
Goodell said the league wanted to protect the roughly 150 former employees who spoke to outside counsel Beth Wilkinson, who conducted the NFL investigation and amassed six million pages of evidence.
NHL
BLACKHAWKS GM BOWMAN RESIGNS AFTER SEXUAL ASSAULT PROBE » Stan Bowman, the Chicago Blackhawks’ general manager and president of hockey operations, resigned after an investigation commissioned by the team found he was among a group of leaders who failed to respond promptly to allegations that an assistant coach sexually assaulted a player in 2010.
The Blackhawks hired Jenner & Block to conduct what they called an independent review in response to two lawsuits filed against the franchise: one alleging sexual assault by then-assistant coach Brad Aldrich during the team’s Stanley Cup run in 2010 and another filed by a former student whom Aldrich was convicted of assaulting in Michigan.
Bowman also resigned as general manager of the U.S men’s hockey team at the 2022 Winter Olympics.