Vols tab Pruitt

Tennessee has hired Alabama defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt as its head coach, capping a tumultuous search that cost an athletic director his job as the Volunteers attempt to recover from one of their most disappointing seasons. Pruitt agreed to a six-year deal that will pay him $3.8 million annually plus other benefits.

FOOTBALL Mayfield player of year

Baker Mayfield is The Associated Press college football Player of the Year, becoming the fourth Oklahoma quarterback to win the award since it was established in 1998. Mayfield easily outpointed Stanford running back Bryce Love, who came in second. Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson, the other finalist and last year’s Heisman Trophy winner, was third in the award announced Thursday. Mayfield received 51 first-place votes from the 56 AP college football poll voters who submitted player of the year ballots, and a total of 157 points. Love (83 points) and Jackson (39 points) each received two firstplace votes and Penn State running back Saquon Barkley received one first-place vote and came in fourth. Mayfield, Love and Jackson are also the finalists for the Heisman, which will be handed out Saturday night in New York. Mayfield is a former walk-on who has led the No. 2 Sooners to the College Football Playoff, where they will play No. 3 Georgia in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1.

Browns fire GM

The Cleveland Browns fired top executive Sashi Brown, but are keeping Coach Hue Jackson for another season despite a 1-27 record. Brown, who was named the team’s top executive by owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam during an overhaul following the 2015 season, was relieved of his duties on Thursday. In announcing his dismissal, Jimmy Haslam said Brown was told the team “is going in a new direction.” Haslam also announced Jackson will remain as coach for next season. ESPN was first to report Brown’s dismissal. The Browns are 0-12 for the second consecutive season with Brown in charge.

BASEBALL Cubs sign Chatwood

The Chicago Cubs took their first major step toward addressing their starting pitching Thursday by signing free agent Tyler Chatwood to a three-year contract worth $38 million. Chatwood, 27, is 40-46 with

2 saves and a 4.31 ERA in 130 major-league appearances — including 113 starts — with the Angels (2011) and Rockies (2012-2014, 2016-2017). Chatwood missed all of 2015 because of Tommy John surgery but is tied with Stephen Strasburg of the Nationals for second in the National League in road ERA the past two seasons (2.57).

Marlins’ purge begins

Miami Marlins second baseman Dee Gordon has been traded to the Seattle Mariners for three prospects in a deal that marks the start of the Marlins’ latest payroll purge, this time under new CEO Derek Jeter. The Marlins want to cut their payroll by more than 20 percent to $90 million or less, which is why NL MVP Giancarlo Stanton is also on

the trading block. Seattle has eighttime All-Star Robinson Cano at second base and is expected to move Gordon to center field. While Gordon has never played center in the majors, the Mariners believe he can make the transition and fill perhaps the biggest need among their position players. Miami acquired righthander Nick Neidert, the Mariners’ No. 2 prospect, along with infielder Chris Torres and right-hander Robert Dugger. Seattle also gets international signing bonus pool allotment, increasing the amount it can offer Japanese star pitcher and outfielder Shohei Ohtani.

BASKETBALL

No more college ball

The Ball family’s brief association with college basketball is over. According to LaVar Ball, his younger sons LiAngelo and LaMelo have signed with an agent, ensuring neither will play in the college ranks. The elder Ball told ESPN on Thursday that his plan is for the teenagers to play on the same team overseas. Oldest brother Lonzo is the only Ball brother to have played in college, completing one season at UCLA before entering the NBA Draft and being taken by the Los Angeles Lakers. LiAngelo never played a regular-season game for the Bruins after being indefinitely suspended last month for shoplifting during the team’s season-opening trip to China. Youngest brother LaMelo was headed to Westwood in two years, but that plan has been scuttled. LaVar Ball recently withdrew LaMelo from Chino Hills High, where he was a junior, and said he was going to home school him. LaVar Ball told ESPN that LiAngelo and LaMelo have signed with Harrison Gaines, the same agent who represents Lonzo Ball. LaVar Ball pulled LiAngelo from UCLA earlier this week, saying he was frustrated that the school hadn’t made a final decision on the length of his son’s suspension following the shoplifting incident.

HOCKEY Hurricanes sold

Dallas billionaire Tom Dundon has signed a purchase agreement to buy a majority stake in the Carolina Hurricanes from longtime owner Peter Karmanos. The team announced the agreement Thursday, and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said the team would not move. The move marks the latest step toward the end of Karmanos’ lengthy attempt to sell the team he moved from Hartford, Conn., to North Carolina two decades ago. Karmanos will retain an equity stake in the franchise. Dundon, 46, is the former CEO of Santander Consumer USA, a Dallas-based lending firm. He’s also an investor in the Top Golf chain of golf and entertainment facilities and a key financier of a new golf course in Dallas. In a statement, Dundon called Carolina “a team on the rise.”