Press Box: Sports Recap
AUTO RACING: In his weekly podcast, Dale Earnhardt Jr., said there’s no timetable for his return to NASCAR Sprint Cup competition. Earnhardt missed the last two races because of concussion symptoms.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Pittsburgh coach Pat Narduzzi said RB James Conner was recently declared cancer-free and will participate fully in practice when the Panthers open camp Aug. 8. Conner, who was the 2014 ACC Player of the Year after rushing for 1,765 yards with 26 TDs, suffered a seasonending knee injury in last year’s opener and later was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma . ... Baylor will pay interim coach Jim
Grobe $1.25 million this season, ESPN reported. Grobe’s eight-month salary ranks as the third lowest in the Big 12, ahead of only the salaries of Iowa State’s Matt
Campbell and Kansas’ David Beaty. Grobe, 64, took over in May for former coach Art
Briles, who was fired by the school amid a sexual assault scandal that swept the university . ... ESPN reported that Baylor released QB Jarrett Stidham from his scholarship, clearing the path for him to transfer. Stidham must sit out next season and will have three seasons of eligibility remaining. ... QB Treon Harris will transfer from Florida, the school confirmed. Harris must sit out next season and will have two seasons of eligibility remaining . ... USA Today reported that Florida gave defensive coordinator Geoff Collins a $300,000 raise, meaning he has a chance to make $1 million a year. Only nine assistants made $1 million last season . ... Police in Pullman, Wash., said they’re investigating a “handful” of Washington State players for an alleged assault at a party that happened over the weekend and left one student hospitalized.
NBA: The Cavaliers and coach Tyronn Lue agreed to a five-year, $35 million contract extension, ESPN reported. The first four years are fully guaranteed and the fifth is a team option. After being promoted from associate head coach to take over for David
Blatt in January, Lue, 39, led the Cavs to the team’s first league title . ... The Trail Blazers and G C.J. McCollum agreed to a four-year extension worth $106 million, according to reports. The deal will start in the 2017-18 season. McCollum, 24, was the league’s Most Improved Player last season . ... The Heat and free-agent G Dion Waiters, 24, agreed to a two-year contract worth $6 million, according to reports.
NFL: The league determined that former QB Peyton Manning didn’t use HGH or any other PEDs banned under the league’s policy. Manning retired last season after winning the Super Bowl with the Broncos . ... The league reinstated Browns WR Josh Gordon on a conditional basis from his indefinite suspension for multiple drug violations. He must sit out the first four games of the season . ... The league and players association jointly announced that teams will face higher fines and may lose draft picks for violating game-day concussion protocol . ... Redskins LB Junior Galette tore his right Achilles tendon during drills Sunday and will miss a second consecutive season . ... LB Darnell Dockett, 35, OL Phil Loadholt, 30,
and WR Greg Jennings, 32, retired. OLYMPICS: In the wake of allegations of state-sponsored doping, seven Russian swimmers, including reigning 100-meter breaststroke world champ Yulia Efimova, were banned by FINA from the upcoming Rio de Janeiro Games.