Santa Cruz to host two U.S. World Cup hoop qualifiers
The U.S. men’s basketball team will host its next two World Cup qualifying games in Santa Cruz, at the home of the Warriors’ G League affiliate.
The Americans will play Cuba on Feb. 23 and Puerto Rico on Feb. 26 at Kaiser Permanente Arena, USA Basketball announced Monday.
The Americans beat Puerto Rico last month during their 2-0 start in the new qualifying format for the 2019 World Cup in China.
The U.S. is expected to again use G League players to form Jeff Van Gundy’s team with NBA players unavailable during the regular season.
The Americans will wrap up the first round of qualifying with games at Mexico and Cuba next summer.
Football
SJSU’S GINDA WEIGHING OPTIONS >> San Jose State linebacker Frank Ginda, disputing a report from last week, said Monday he has not declared for the NFL draft.
“I have yet to make a decision,” Ginda told the Bay Area News Group. “I am still weighing out all options.”
Ginda, a 6-foot-1, 245-pound junior, led the nation in tackles this season with 173, an average of 13.3 per game.
The 173 tackles is the most in Mountain West Conference history and ranks eighth in FBS history.
Scouts project Ginda as a third-day pick, going as high as late in the fourth round.
Soccer
STANFORD PLACES FIVE ON FAR WEST TEAM >> Stanford has placed five players on the United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Men’s AllFar West Region Teams for the third consecutive season.
Forward Corey Baird, defender Tomas HilliardArce and, forward Foster Langsdorf and midfielder Drew Skundrich were first-team selections and goalkeeper Nico Corti was named to the third team.
Stanford’s four firstteam performers are a school record, besting the three from 2016, 2015 and 1998.
All seniors, they have won a pair of national championships and four Pac-12 titles with Stanford being the country’s winningest program the past four years with an overall record of 63-10-13 (.808).
The all-region honor is the second for Baird, who received second-team honors as a freshman in 2014. It’s the second consecutive first-team all-region honor for Hilliard-Arce and the third of his career.
It’s also the second consecutive first-team all-region award for Langsdorf.
NCAA Division I AllAmerica teams will be announced Thursday.
The five have led the Cardinal to its third straight College Cup where it will face Akron at Talen Energy Stadium in Philadelphia on Friday in one national semifinal at 3 p.m. PT on ESPNU.
Gymnastics
CAL’S WILLIAMS GRANTED FIFTH YEAR >> Olympian and four-time regularseason All-American Toni-Ann Williams of Cal has been granted a fifth year of eligibility by the NCAA.
The senior gymnast has two years of eligibility remaining and will be available to compete in 2018 and 2019.