Las Vegas trip highlights Duquesne’s schedule
Duquesne will face one Power Five opponent — familiar foe Pitt — in Keith Dambrot’s first season as coach.
The Dukes released their 2017-18 non-conference schedule Thursday, and Dambrot will make his debut as coach Nov. 11 against St. Francis Brooklyn at Palumbo Center.
The annual City Game, which the Dukes won last season for the first time since 2000, is Dec. 1 at PPG Paints Arena.
Duquesne, which has three freshmen and a junior college transfer, will close its non-conference slate with four games as part of the Las Vegas Classic.
The Dukes will play host to North Carolina A&T (Dec. 17) and Lamar (Dec. 19) before traveling to Las Vegas to face San Francisco (Dec. 22) and Southern Illinois (Dec. 23).
High schools
New Castle dual-sport standout Marcus Hooker announced his commitment to play football at Ohio State via Twitter Thursday. The basketball star and receiver-defensive back had announced Wednesday that Ohio State had extended him an offer. Hooker’s older brother, Malik, played defensive back for the Buckeyes before the Indianapolis Colts took him 15th overall in the 2017 NFL draft.
Hockey
Tickets to the Penguins’ Sept. 19 exhibition game against the Buffalo Sabres at Penn State’s Pegula Ice Arena are sold out. Student tickets to the game will be available at 7 a.m. Aug. 16.
• Andrei Markov is leaving the NHL after 16 seasons with the Montreal Canadiens to sign in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League. The 38-year-old defenseman hopes to represent Russia in the 2018 Olympics in South Korea, which will happen without NHL players.
Pro basketball
Marreese Speights is returning home. The Orlando Magic announced that the 6-foot-10 veteran center from St. Petersburg has signed a contract. Speights couldn’t be more thrilled to return to his hometown and Gainesville where he won a national title with Florida in 2007. “If I try to explain it it would be an understatement,” he said. The Magic also announced the signing of veteran guard Arron Afflalo and free-agent center Khem Birch.
College football
Utah might have a new No. 1 receiver after former Oregon wideout Darren Carrington transferred to the school. The university confirmed that the senior is in Salt Lake City and will join the team but is not immediately able to be with the Utes on the field. Coach Kyle Whittingham said there are “paperwork things” that must be completed before Carrington is cleared as fall practices begin Friday.
• Tom Osborne is giving up his large skybox at Memorial Stadium, saying the Nebraska athletic department should sell it to someone else rather than have him continue to use it for free. Osborne coached the Cornhuskers for 25 years, retiring after the 1997 season with 255 wins and all or part of three national championships three of his last four years.
Soccer
The LA Galaxy fired coach Curt Onalfo just 20 games into his first season and re-hired veteran coach Sigi Schmid to run the struggling MLS powerhouse. The Galaxy (6-10-4) sit ninth in the 11-team Western Conference after losing six consecutive games in July.