Jazz’s Snyder steps down
Quin Snyder resigned as coach of the Utah Jazz, ending an eight-year run in which the team won nearly 60% of its games but never got past the second round of the playoffs.
He went 372-264 with the Jazz, his winning percentage of .585 ranking as 18th best among NBA coaches.
He’s one of only two coaches to have a winning record with the Jazz, Jerry Sloan being the other.
His decision means the Jazz will have a fourth coach in the span of 33 years when next season begins. Sloan was followed by Tyrone Corbin and then Snyder.
Toronto President Masai Ujiri and Boston coach Ime Udoka both spoke out against the decision by Nigeria’s government to withdraw its basketball teams from international competitions for two years and potentially eliminate any chance of qualifying for the Paris Olympics . ... Mike Fratello was announced as this year’s recipient of the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by the National Basketball Coaches Assn. He has been involved in the NBA as a coach or broadcaster since the late 1970s. He spent parts of 17 seasons as a coach in Atlanta, Cleveland and Memphis. He also won an Emmy as best oncamera analyst . ... A Southern California auction house said a jersey worn by Kobe Bryant in his rookie season sold for $2.73 million, the second highest for any basketball game-worn jersey.
Bruins win first of two games
Carson Yates homered leading off the top of the ninth inning to give UCLA a 2-1 win over Florida State in an elimination game in the Auburn Regional.
However, the Bruins were trailing No. 14 seed Auburn 9-0 in the night game when it was suspended by lightning in the sixth inning. It will conclude Monday.
Kyle Karros, who had three hits, tied the first game for the Bruins with a home run in the seventh inning and Alonzo Tredwell (4-1) struck out three in two innings of one-hit relief for the win over the Seminoles.
Jaime Ferrer’s home run in the sixth was all the offense Florida State could muster against four UCLA pitchers.
Bruins starter Kelly Austin went six innings, allowing six hits with six strikeouts. Jake Saum, who gave up the only walk, and Luke Jewett combined in the seventh before Tredwell came on.
UCLA needs two wins to capture the regional title.
Jack Findlay got the final four outs, surviving a basesloaded jam in the bottom of the ninth, and Notre Dame won the Statesboro Regional with a 2-1 victory over Texas Tech to earn a berth in the Super Regionals . ... Leadoff batter Nick Biddison had an RBI triple and a solo home run, Tanner Schobel hit a two-run shot in the first and No. 4 overall seed Virginia Tech cruised past Columbia 7-2 to win the Blacksburg Regional and earn a berth in the Super Regionals . ... Estelle Czech gave up one hit in 32⁄3 scoreless innings of relief, JJ Smith hit a three-run homer and Texas defeated Arizona 5-2 to advance to the Women’s College World Series semifinals to play Big 12 rival Oklahoma State on Monday.
Veryl Switzer, the trailblazing former Green Bay
Packers halfback who traded a career in the NFL for service as a lieutenant in the Air Force, died Saturday. ... Bob Talamini, an offensive lineman on the New York Jets’ Super Bowl-winning team in 1969 after eight seasons with the Houston Oilers, died May 30. He was 83.
Boston Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron won the Selke Trophy as the NHL’s best defensive forward for a record-breaking fifth time . ... Edmonton Oilers forward Evander Kane was suspended for one game for boarding Colorado’s Nazem Kadri in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals.
U.S. national team forward Catarina Macario injured an anterior cruciate ligament in a match with French club team Lyon and will miss World Cup qualifying next month.
Canada’s World Cup warmup match against Panama was canceled when the men’s team refused to play because of a labor dispute with the nation’s governing body that includes a demand the women’s national team get equal match fees. Players, preparing for the nation’s first men’s World Cup appearance since 1986, refused to train Friday and Saturday. Players said they want 40% of World Cup prize money, a friends and family travel package and and “equitable structure with our women’s national team that shares the same player match fees, percentage of prize money earned at our respective FIFA World Cups.”
The Giltinis (11-5) lost their last regular-season game against the Seattle Seawolves 35-26 but earned hosting rights for the Western Conference final June 1819 by finishing on top of the
standings with 54 points.