Clingan to depart UConn
Donovan Clingan is leaving UConn after two seasons and entering the NBA Draft, the 7-foot2-inch center announced Friday, four days after he helped lead the Huskies to a second straight national title. Clingan, a sophomore from Bristol, Conn., posted his decision on social media. “It will be very hard for me to leave my brothers after all the success these past two years,” he wrote. “But the time is NOW!!” His decision did not come as a surprise. Huskies coach Dan Hurley has consistently referred to both Clingan and freshman guard Stephon Castle as NBA lottery picks. Castle has yet to announce his future plans. Clingan was an important recruit for Hurley, a five-star prospect who chose to stay in state after leading Bristol Central High School to a state championship . . . Kyle Filipowski and Jared McCain, Duke’s top two scorers this past season, have declared for the NBA Draft. Filipowski is a 7-foot sophomore who led the Blue Devils, averaging at 16.4 points and 8.3 rebounds. McCain is a 6-3 freshman who averaged 14.3 points.
Kentucky hires BYU’s Pope
Kentucky hired BYU’s Mark Pope as men’s basketball coach, bringing home a captain of the Wildcats’ 1996 national championship team to succeed John Calipari. The school announced the 51-year-old Pope’s hiring in a release on Friday morning but did not mention any contract details. Pope replaces Calipari, a Hall of Famer who took Kentucky to its eighth NCAA title in 2012 and stepped down on Tuesday to become coach at Arkansas . . . Dan Monson was hired by Eastern Washington after being fired at Long Beach State, where he guided the team to an NCAA Tournament berth.
TENNIS Djokovic reaches semifinals
Top-ranked Novak Djokovic beat Alex De
Minaur in straight sets to reach the semifinals at the Monte Carlo Masters. Djokovic had not progressed this far at the clay-court tournament since 2015, the year he won the last of his two titles there. He will play Casper Ruud for a place in the final. Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner overcame strong resistance from Holger Rune to set up a meeting with two-time champion Stefanos Tsitsipas ... Naomi Osaka put Japan a step away from reaching the Billie Jean King Cup Finals with a 6-2, 7-6 (5) victory over Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva. The four-time Grand Slam champion’s win in Tokyo followed Nao Hibino’s 6-1, 6-0 victory over Anna Danilina to give Japan a 2-0 lead in the qualifying round for the women’s team competition.
MISCELLANY Iverson perfects practice
Almost 22 years after he ranted about “practice” 22 times in an often-spoofed news conference, former 76ers guard Allen Iverson got a kick out of the location — outside the team’s practice facility, no less — of the sculpture of him the team unveiled. Iverson’s sculpture on the team’s Legends Walk joined the likes of Julius Erving, Wilt Chamberlain, Charles Barkley, and Maurice Cheeks . . . The Seattle Seahawks were expected to sign veteran guard Laken Tomlinson to a one-year deal, according to a person with knowledge of the deal. Tomlinson was a firstround pick of the Lions in 2015 out of Duke and started 114 consecutive games dating to the 2017 season . . . Wrexham can secure another Hollywood ending when the Welsh team, coowned by actor Ryan Reynolds, can guarantee promotion to the third tier of English soccer if it beats Forest Green at the Racecourse Ground Stadium and if both MK Dons and Barrow fail to win. That would leave Wrexham, second in League Two, two steps away from the Premier League . . . Light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira and No. 1 contender and former champ Jamahal Hill will headline a UFC 300 card Saturday in Las Vegas.