Bay Area’s Ionescu shares honor as top amateur athlete
Oregon women’s basketball star Sabrina Ionescu and Iowa wrestler Spencer Lee shared the Sullivan Award as the country’s top amateur athlete.
They are the third co-winners in the 90-year history of the Amateur Athletic Union award, following Coco Miller and Kelly Miller in 1999 and Keenan Reynolds and Breanna Stewart in 2005.
The ceremony was done remotely and streamed on Facebook on Wednesday night. The scheduled program at the New York Athletic Club was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Ionescu, from Walnut Creek and a Miramonte High product, swept every major women’s basketball award, including being a unanimous choice as the AP player of the year and is the only NCAA player —men’s or women’s — to reach 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 1,000 assists in a career.
She was drafted first overall by the WNBA’s New York Liberty last month.
“This is truly an honor,” Ionescu said. “I just want to say thank you to the University of Oregon and anyone that has been a part of my journey in the past and now in the future. Congrats to everyone that was up for this award. It’s really inspirational to be in a pool with these athletes.”
Lee, from Murrysville, Pennsylvania, was 18- 0 for the Hawkeyes this year as a junior before the season was stopped. The 125-pounder won NCAA titles his first two seasons.
Cal swimmer Abbey Weitzeil, Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence, UCLA gymnast Kyla Ross, Florida hurdler Grant Holloway, Marquette basketball player Markus Howard, Wisconsin volleyball player Dana Rettke, Maryland lacrosse player Megan Taylor and rhythmic gymnast Evita Griskenas also were finalists
NFL
DALTON A FREE AGENT » The Cincinnati Bengals released veteran quarterback Andy Dalton quarterback, less than a week after drafting his successor — Joe Burrow — with the No. 1 pick.
Dalton spent nine seasons in Cincinnati and helped lead the Bengals to five playoff appearances, but his record was 0- 4 in playoff games. He was due to make $17.7 million this season.
The 32-year- old finished his Bengals’ career with a franchise-best 204 touchdown passes. He ranks second on the Bengals’ list with 31,594 yards passing. The three-time Pro Bowl selection was 70- 61-2 in 133 starts. CHIEFS USE OPTION ON MAHOMES » The Kansas City Chiefs are exercising their fifth-year option on Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes according to multiple reports, though both sides remain optimistic that they will agree on a long-term contract before the start of the season. Many agents and front- office executives believe Mahomes will sign a four- or fiveyear deal that could make him the first player in NFL history to land $40 million per season.
Golf
FREEZE ON PGA TOUR CARDS » A shorter season brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic means no one will lose a PGA Tour card this year and the Korn Ferry Tour players will have to wait a year before fully joining the big leagues.
A memo sent to players Thursday to outline the changes was another step in the tour trying to figure out what’s equitable in a season that will be without 13 previously scheduled events.
The tour said players exempt for this season will keep the same status for the 2020-21 season that is scheduled to start in September unless they earn a higher ranking after this shortened season. All of this is contingent on golf resuming June 11-14 at Colonial, the restart of a season that would include only one major championship. The PGA Championship is tentatively set for Aug. 9-12 at San Francisco’s Harding Park.
Little League
WORLD SERIES CANCELED » This year’s Little League World Series and the championship tournaments in six other Little League divisions have been canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Little League President Stephen Keener said it would be “impossible” to hold the events amid ongoing restrictions on large gatherings and travel.
Horse racing
HUBBARD DIES AT 84 » R.D. Hubbard, who bred, owned and raced thoroughbred and quarter horses and was an influential executive in the racing industry, has died. He was 84.
“He lived 262 years’ worth in 84,” Shaun Hubbard, his grandson, said Thursday by phone. “I promise you nobody worked harder and played harder than that man.”
Hubbard was chairman of nowdefunct Hollywood Park in the early 1990s as well as Turf Paradise in Phoenix. He helped bring Hollywood Park from near-bankruptcy to profit, adding a card club casino in 1994.
In 1995, Hubbard was involved in a deal with the Raiders and the NFL to bring a football stadium to Inglewood that would have combined with the racetrack as part of an entertainment complex. The deal fell through when Raiders owner Al Davis refused to add a second team at the stadium.