In new-look draft, Ionescu expected to be top WNBA pick
Oregon guard Sabrina Ionescu is a virtual lock for the No. 1 pick in the 2020 WNBA draft.
Virtual in every sense of the word, as Ionescu and the rest of the draft hopefuls will find out with the rest of the world how the draft drama will play out from their homes.
The WNBA will conduct its annual draft virtually tonight with commissioner Cathy Engelbert announcing picks from her home and anxious prospects also homebound, waiting to find out which of the 12 league logo hats will be the final fit.
The 22-year- old Ionescu, who starred at Orinda’s Miramonte High, was the Naismith Player of the Year and swept most of the national individual player of the year honors. She closed her career as the first NCAA player with career totals exceeding 2,000 points, 1,000 assists and 1,000 rebounds. She had 26 triple- doubles.
The Liberty holds three of the first 12 picks — Nos. 1, 9 and 12. Head coach Walt Hopkins has repeatedly praised Ionescu since the Liberty won the draft lottery and called her a “phenomenal leader.”
NBA
DRAFT WON’T TAKE PLACE UN
TIL SEASON IS COMPLETED » The 2020 NBA draft will likely not take place until the season ends, an NBA source told Field Level Media.
The NBA has no certain plans for when the league will conduct a draft of its own. The NBA draft is currently scheduled for June 25.
“No decisions have been made yet,” the source said. “You can likely expect that the draft wouldn’t be held until after the season concludes.”
ISRAELI PROSPECT AVDIJA ENTER
ING DRAFT » Forward Deni Avdija, an Israeli prospect pegged as a likely lottery pick, has filed paperwork to enter the 2020 NBA draft, he announced Thursday on ESPN’s “Get Up.”
Avdija, 19, has played for Maccabi Tel Aviv in the EuroLeague and Israeli league since 2017, winning the past two Israeli league titles and helping his country win gold at consecutive U20 European Championships. The 6- foot- 9 Avdija is ranked the fifth overall prospect by ESPN and the ninth by NBADraft.net.
Baseball
A’S MINOR LEAGUE MANAGER OFF VENTILATOR » Oakland A’s minor league manager Webster Garrison has resumed breathing completely on his own for the first time in more than three weeks and no longer requires a ventilator as he fights the coronavirus, his fiancee reported.
Garrison, hospitalized in his home state of Louisiana, wasn’t yet speaking when Nikki Trudeaux posted her latest update Thursday.
“Webster Garrison is off the ventilator,” Trudeaux wrote.
Golf
UNDER NEW PGA SCHEDULE, NO FANS FOR FIRST FOUR EVENTS » The PGA Tour released a revised schedule with the first four events played without spectators, starting with the June 11-14 Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas.
The new calendar runs through the beginning of December and includes the final 14 events of the 2019-20 season and the first 13 events of the 2020-21 campaign.
In addition to the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club, the tournaments currently slated to be held without fans are the RBC Heritage (June 18-21) in Hilton Head, S.C.; the Travelers Championship (June 25-28) in Cromwell, Conn.; and the Rocket Mortgage Classic (July 2-5) in Detroit.
The only major championship among the 14 remaining events on the 2019-20 calendar is the PGA Championship from Aug. 6-9 at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco.
Under the current plan, the FedEx Cup playoffs for the 201920 season will conclude with the Sept. 4-7 Tour Championship in Atlanta and feature just one major. The U.S. Open is scheduled for Sept. 17-20 at Winged Foot Golf Club in New York and the Masters is slated for Nov. 12-15.
The 2020-21 season is slated to open with the Safeway Open at Napa’s Silverado on Sept. 10-13.
College football
USC QB DANIELS ENTERS TRANSFER PORTAL » USC quarterback JT Daniels has entered his name in the transfer portal.
Kedon Slovis emerged as the starting quarterback for USC and threw for 3,502 yards, 30 touchdowns and nine interceptions in 2019. Daniels, a star at Mater Dei High, arrived at USC to great fanfare as a four-star recruit. He reclassified from the Class of 2019 to enroll a year early and won the starting spot as a true freshman.
Daniels completed 59.5 percent of his passes for 2,672 yards, 14 touchdowns and 10 interceptions as USC went 5-7 in 2018. But Daniels tore the ACL and meniscus in the first half of last season’s opener against Fresno State.
Boxing
PIONEERING REF DIES, SPORT’S 1ST BLACK OLYMPIC JUDGE » Carmen Williamson, who in the 1940s and ’50s was a top U.S. amateur boxer and then in 1984 became the first black boxing referee and judge at the Olympic games, has died. He was 94.
Williamson died of COVID-19 complications on April 8 at a hospital in Toledo, one of his daughters said. He was just three weeks away from receiving his college degree from the University of Toledo — a pursuit he began 20 years ago, she said.
NFL
MILLER IN GOOD SPIRITS AFTER LEARNING OF CORONAVIRUS INFECTION » Von Miller has the coronavirus and the NFL star wanted to come forward with his diagnosis to show people how serious the disease is.
“Von wants to let everyone out there know it’s serious,” agent Joby Branion told The Associated Press.
Miller told KUSA-TV in Denver that he developed a cough a couple of days ago and when his nebulizer for his asthma didn’t clear things up, he decided to get tested for the coronavirus.
“I’m in good spirits,” Miller told the TV station. LEAGUE STILL PLANS MAY 9 SCHEDULE RELEASE » The NFL still plans to release its 2020 schedule by May 9, based on a full season, according to an ESPN report. Adjustments to the schedule will be made as, and if, necessary, the report indicated. 49ERS’ BREIDA SIGNS FREE AGENT TENDER » San Francisco 49ers running back Matt Breida signed his restricted free agent tender worth about $3.3 million. The Niners placed the tender on Breida last month that gave them the right to match any contract or get a second-round pick as compensation. BROWNS: BECKHAM TRADE RUMORS ‘COMPLETELY FALSE’ » Cleveland Browns chief strategy officer Paul DePodesta told reporters on a conference call that rumors of a possible trade sending wideout Odell Beckham Jr. to the Minnesota Vikings are “completely false.”
A report from WFAN 660 in New York said the Browns and Vikings were discussing a deal in which Minnesota would send second- and fifth-round picks in exchange for Beckham.