Markgraf is USWNT’s GM
Former defender Kate Markgraf has been named general manager of the U.S. women’s national team, U.S. Soccer announced Monday.
Markgraf will oversee the search for a new coach to replace Jill Ellis, who is leaving the team in October. Ellis is stepping away from the job after leading the United States to back-to-back Women’s World Cup titles.
The federation also announced that the general manager for the men’s national team, Earnie Stewart, has been promoted to the new position of sporting director, overseeing U.S. Soccer’s Sports Performance Department.
Markgraf appeared in 201 games during a playing career that spanned 12 years. She was a starter on the 1999 team that won the World Cup at the Rose Bowl, and also was part of the 2003 and 2007 World Cup teams. She played on three Olympic teams.
Markgraf, 42, played club soccer for the Boston Breakers of the WUSA and the Chicago Red Stars of the WPS. After her retirement, she earned a master’s degree at UW-Milwaukee and also helped coach at Marquette University.
NCAA
The NCAA has backtracked on its new agent certification standards and will no longer require a bachelor’s degree for those who will be permitted to represent a student-athlete.
The degree requirement drew criticism last week when the certification standards were first revealed, including a social media blast by NBA star LeBron James. It was quickly dubbed the “Rich Paul Rule” in reference to James’ agent, who does not have a college degree.
The NCAA announced Monday it would amend the standards so bachelor’s degrees would not be required for agents currently certified and in good standing with the NBA players’ association. The NCAA modeled its certification requirements after the NBPA’s, but added the degree requirement.
Agent certification and access was among the recommendations made last year by the Rice Commission on College Basketball.
BASKETBALL
Former NBA player Sebastian Telfair was sentenced on Monday to 31⁄2 years in prison in his New York City gun case.
Telfair – a once highly touted point guard with a disappointing pro basketball career and a history of brushes with the law – had been convicted earlier this year of carrying a loaded handgun in his pickup truck.
“The mandatory prison sentence he received today is required by law and he has now been held accountable for the unlawful conduct,” Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a statement.
Gonzalez said that a jury heard testimony describing how at 2:50 a.m. on June 11, 2017, officers in an unmarked police car spotted a Ford F-150 parked on a center median in Brooklyn with the 34-yearold Telfair at the wheel.
The officers stopped the truck after it made a Uturn in front of them and drove off with no headlights on. Seeing a lit marijuana cigarette in the console, they said they searched the vehicle and found a loaded .45-caliber pistol inside.
Lowry out: Kyle Lowry of the NBA champion Toronto Raptors has withdrawn from the pool of candidates USA Basketball is considering to take to the FIBA World Cup later this month.
Lowry said his surgically repaired thumb isn’t ready to allow him to participate in on-court workouts.
He had surgery last month to repair a torn tendon that dogged him during the NBA playoffs.