Richt pleased to be back on campus
AUTO RACING: The funeral for former NASCAR driver Ted Christopher, 59, took place in Bristol, Conn. He died in a plane crash on Sept. 16.
COLLEGES: In one of the biggest crackdowns on the corrupting role of money in college basketball, 10 men — including a top Adidas executive and four assistant coaches — were charged with using hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to influence star athletes’ choice of schools, shoe sponsors, agents, even tailors. Some of the most explosive allegations appeared to involve Louisville, one of college basketball’s biggest powerhouses, which is already on NCAA probation over a sex scandal. Federal prosecutors said at least three top high school recruits were promised payments of as much as $150,000 — using money supplied by Adidas — to attend two universities sponsored by the athletic shoe company. Court papers didn’t name the schools but contained enough details to identify them as Louisville and Miami. The coaches charged are Chuck Person of Auburn, Emanuel Richardson of Arizona, Tony Bland of USC and Lamont Evans of Oklahoma State . ... Nebraska named former offensive lineman Dave Rimington, 57, interim athletic director as the school searches for a permanent successor to Shawn Eichorst . ... West Virginia junior F Esa Ahmad is ineligible for the first half of the upcoming season after failing to meet NCAA eligibility requirements. Ahmad averaged 11.3 points and 4.3 rebounds last season.
GOLF: U.S. captain Steve Stricker said his team will stand together during the national anthem at the Presidents Cup. NBA: The Cavaliers are the clear frontrunners to sign Dwyane Wade after the Bulls reached a buyout agreement with the veteran. Wade would be reunited with LeBron James, who was his teammate with the Heat from 2010-14. ESPN reported Wade will sign a one-year, $2.3 million veteran’s minimum deal . ... The Suns signed F T.J. Warren to a four-year, $50 million contract extension.
NHL: Former NHL enforcer Georges Laraque said it is “an embarrassment” that the Stanley Cup champion Penguins are willing to visit President Donald Trump at the White House. Laraque, who was a black player in a predominantly white league, told The Canadian Press that even though hockey is more conservative than other sports “this time it’s just wrong.”
SOCCER: Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice to lead two-time defending champion Real Madrid to a 3-1 win over Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League.
TENNIS: Retired pro James Blake says a New York police officer who tackled him in a mistaken arrest should be fired to send a message. Blake said the discipline recommended for James Frascatore is not enough. Frascatore, who arrested Blake outside a Manhattan hotel in 2015, has been accused of using inappropriate force on someone who never resisted or tried to flee. ... Top-seeded Garbine Muguruza defeated Lesia Tsurenko 6-4, 6-4 to advance to the third round of the Wuhan Open in China. No. 2 seed Simona Halep and No. 4 seed Caroline Wozniacki both lost . ... Novak Djokovic’s team said Andre Agassi will remain his coach in 2018.
CORAL GABLES — Hurricane Irma has forced the Miami Hurricanes football team to make plenty of changes in recent weeks, but things are starting to get back to normal.
After the storm forced Miami to cancel one game, postpone another, evacuate campus and spend a week in Orlando practicing for last Saturday’s game against Toledo, the Hurricanes were preparing as usual for their ACC opener against Duke on Friday.
The Hurricanes went through a light practice on campus Sunday night, but returned to the Greentree Practice Field for the first full practice here in nearly three weeks on Tuesday morning.
Before Sunday, the last time Miami practiced at its own facility was on Sept. 5. Hurricanes coach Mark Richt said the field at Greentree looked good, but couldn’t say the same for his offense.
“One good byproduct of the storm and being gone for three weeks is when we came back, the grass looked a lot better,” Richt said. “We had worn out some spots. Now the grass grew back in and it really looked pristine — good job by the grounds crew.
“Today was a little disappointing of a practice, for me . ... I didn’t think the offense came to compete today. It was a little bit upsetting to me. Even the scout team work was just kind of lackluster, not great.”
Running back Mark Walton (ankle) headed into the weight room as Miami went through its prepractice stretching session in a light drizzle Tuesday, but Richt says he expects both Walton and wide receiver Ahmmon Richards (hamstring) to play on Friday.
“Ahmmon practiced,” Richt said. “Mark, we chose not to practice him. He could have practiced .... unless there’s a setback, I expect both Mark and Ahmmon to play.”
Next game: No. 14 Miami at Duke, Friday, 7 p.m., ESPN
Christy Cabrera Chirinos