ZAGS GET TOP RECRUIT, LOSE SUGGS TO NBA

Chet Holmgren, the nation’s top overall recruit, announced he is heading to Gonzaga on the same day star guard Jalen Suggs announced he is leaving the Bulldogs after one season to enter the NBA Draft.

Holmgren said on ESPN that he will play for the Bulldogs. He will likely play only one college season.

Holmgren had also been considering Ohio State, Michigan, North Carolina, Minnesota, Memphis and Georgetown.

Holmgren combines the skills of a guard with a 7-foot-1 frame and has been projected to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft.

Suggs had a stellar freshman season, capped off by hitting one of the most memorable shots in Final Four history, a buzzer-beating 3-pointer against UCLA that sent Gonzaga into the national championship game. The Zags lost to Baylor in the title game.

Suggs announced in a Twitter post that he will enter the draft, which was anticipated since he’s considered a top pick.

Local colleges

For the fourth time this year, San Diego State’s Jaden Fein was named Mountain West Player of the Week after helping the Aztecs claim their eighth baseball series victory in nine weeks. In three games against Fresno State this past weekend, Fein batted .600 (9for-15) with one home run, three doubles, six RBIs and five runs scored.

• The Big West announced its annual men’s volleyball allconference awards and two UC San Diego’s Kyle McCauley was named to the first team.

Horse racing

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, fined and suspended last year by Arkansas racing officials for a pair of drug positives, sat through nearly nine hours of testimony on the first day of his appeal hearing.

Besides being fined, Baffert was hit with a 15-day suspension by stewards at Oaklawn

Park after both Charlatan and Gamine tested positive for the painkiller lidocaine following their wins on May 2, 2020. Charlatan won a division of the $1 million Arkansas Derby, while Gamine won another race that day. Both horses were disqualified and stripped of their purse money.

Sports and courts

An attorney for Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson accused the 22 women who have filed lawsuits alleging they were sexually assaulted or harassed by the NFL player during massages of lying, claiming their assertions are based on “an avalanche of false accusations.” The statement by Watson’s attorney, Rusty Hardin, comes after the NFL player’s legal team filed in court its initial response to the lawsuits, alleging that eight of the women bragged about giving him massages and five “wanted to get money out of Mr. Watson.”

• A sheriff ’s office in Louisiana issued an arrest warrant of second-degree battery for Seattle Seahawks defensive end Aldon Smith.

Also

The PGA Tour is telling its players they will not have to be tested for the coronavirus if they are vaccinated, and those who aren’t will have to pay for their own tests starting this summer.

In a memo sent to players, the tour strongly encouraged them to get vaccinated. It stopped short of saying it would require players to be vaccinated to compete in tournaments.

• Eighth-seeded Belinda Bencic had to face down a stubborn performance by a 17year-old on tour debut to reach the second round of the Porsche Grand Prix at Stuttgart, Germany. Bencic was broken once in the first set and needed six match points against Nastasja Schunk to finish a 6-4, 6-2 win.

• The World Series of Poker is moving from ESPN to CBS Sports.