Bowers wins Cal’s starting quarterback job
Redshirt sophomore Ross Bowers has been named the starting quarterback for Cal’s season opener Saturday at North Carolina, first-year coach Justin Wilcox announced Monday.
Bowers, from Bothell, Washington, battled throughout spring ball with redshirt junior Chase Forrest for the No. 1 spot, before freshman Chase Garbers and South Carolina transfer Brandon McIlwain joined the competition in camp this month.
The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Bowers, listed last season as the co-No. 2 behind starter Davis Webb, played in one game in 2016 but did not attempt a pass. He was redshirted as a true freshman in 2015.
“Ross is our starter,” said Wilcox, dismissing the suggestion he may play multiple quarterbacks on Saturday. “Over the course of the camp, he earned the right. It wasn’t one play or one day or one practice, but the body of work.
“Ross has got to continue to improve and he knows that. We’re excited to get him out there and compete.”
Forrest and Garbers are listed as co-backups on the depth chart Cal released Monday.
McIlwain, a transfer from South Carolina, has taken practice reps all month but is not eligible to play, Wilcox confirmed.
Football
CFL TEAM HIRES, RELEASES BRILES >> Less than 11 hours after the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the CFL announced the hiring of former Baylor coach Art Briles, the league and the team backtracked in the face of public pressure and said he will not be joining the team as an assistant after all.
“Art Briles will no longer be joining the Hamilton Tiger-Cats as a coach,” read a statement release Monday night from the CFL and Tiger-Cats. “We wish Mr. Briles all the best in his future endeavours.”
Briles, 61, was fired in May 2016 by Baylor after an investigation found the school mishandled numerous sexual assault allegations, including some against football players. The review also led to the departures of Baylor president Kenneth Starr and athletic director Ian McCaw.
ALABAMA PLAYER OUT OF HOSPITAL >> Alabama coach Nick Saban says defensive lineman Raekwon Davis has been released from the hospital.
Davis was shot in the right leg outside a Tuscaloosa bar early Sunday morning. Saban said Monday he’s getting treatment and is “day to day” for Saturday’s opener for the top-ranked Crimson Tide against No. 3 Florida State. Davis is battling with Joshua Frazier for a starting defensive end spot.
Figure skating
OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST RETIRES >> Russian figure skater Yulia Lipnitskaya has retired at the age of 19 following a battle with anorexia.
Lipnitskaya won gold in the team event at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi when she was 15, becoming the youngest Olympic skating champion since 1936.
However, she missed the medals in the individual competition, where she had been considered a potential champion. Lipnitskaya bounced back with silver at the world championships in April 2014, which was her last major event.
Basketball
HEATHCOTE DIES AT 90 >> Jud Heathcote, who led Michigan State and Magic Johnson to the 1979 NCAA championship, has died. He was 90. The school says Heathcote died Monday in Spokane, Washington.
Heathcote won three Big Ten titles and appeared in nine NCAA tournaments during his 19-year career at Michigan State. He got his start as a head coach in college at Montana in 1971. NOEL SIGNS OFFER FROM MAVERICKS >> Nerlens Noel has signed his $4.1 million qualifying offer from the Dallas Mavericks.
The sixth overall pick in 2013 out of Kentucky has averaged 10 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in his 193 NBA games. He missed all of his first NBA season recovering from a left knee injury.