Dayton’s Toppin caps college career with Wooden Award
Dayton star forward Obi Toppin received the topper for his collection of postseason awards when he was named the winner of the John R. Wooden Award as the nation’s most outstanding player on Tuesday.
Toppin previously won the Naismith and Associated Press player of the year awards in addition to becoming Dayton’s fist consensus All-American.
Toppin, a sophomore, won the Wooden Award over Iowa junior center Luka Garza. The other finalists were Kansas senior center Udoka Azubuike, Marquette senior guard Markus Howard, and Seton Hall senior guard Myles Powell.
He averaged 20 points and 7.5 rebounds while leading Dayton to a school-best 29-2 record and a final No. 3 ranking. ARIZONA’S MANNION, OTHERS DECLARE FOR DRAFT >> Arizona point guard Nico Mannion has joined fellow freshman teammate Zeke Nnaji in declaring for the NBA draft. Mannion averaged 14 points and was second in the Pac-12 with 5.3 assists per game during his lone season at Arizona. The 6-foot-3 guard from Phoenix earned second-team all-Pac-12 honors.
• Maryland forward Jalen Smith intends to enter the NBA draft and forgo his remaining two years of eligibility.
Smith averaged 15.5 points and 10.5 rebounds as a sophomore, helping the Terrapins to a 24-7 finish and a share of the Big Ten regular-season title. He ranked first in the conference and third nationally with 21 double-doubles.
• Duke freshman Cassius Stanley is entering the NBA draft. Stanley averaged 12.6 points and 4.9 rebounds for the Blue Devils.
• UCLA forward Chris Smith is declaring for the draft, the junior told ESPN.
Smith averaged a team-best 13.1 points while being named the Pac-12’s Most Improved Player of the Year for the 2019-20 season. He also averaged 5.4 rebounds and had 31 steals while earning first-team allconference honors.
NFL
RANDALL SIGNING OFFICIAL FOR RAIDERS >> The Raiders announced the signing of defensive back Damarious Randall to a oneyear contract. They agreed to the deal last week, pending a physical.
College football
LEACH DRAWS SCORN FROM MISSISSIPPI STATE AD >> Mississippi State coach Mike Leach is expected to participate in “listening sessions” with student and community groups and tour the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum after he tweeted an image of a noose last week.
Mississippi State athletic director John Cohen released a statement Tuesday that said, “No matter the context, for many Americans the image of a noose is never appropriate and that’s particularly true in the South and in Mississippi. Mississippi State University was disappointed in the use of such an image in a tweet by Coach Mike Leach.”
Leach apologized on social media last week for posting a tweet that drew criticism from Bulldogs players and an assistant professor at the school before it was deleted. The image Leach tweeted depicted an elderly woman knitting, with the caption: “After 2 weeks of quarantine with her husband, Gertrude decided to knit him a scarf...”, but the picture showed her knitting a noose with the hangman’s knot already tied.
Soccer
RUSSIA DENIES ALLEGATION OF WORLD CUP BID BRIBES >> Russian officials on Tuesday flatly denied bribing a FIFA voter with millions of dollars to support the country’s winning 2018 World Cup bid, after American prosecutors revealed new details about the alleged payments.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia had no part in bribing FIFA executive committee members to win the World Cup hosting vote in December 2010. So did Russia’s top soccer official Alexey Sorokin, who led the bid.
The indictment said high-ranking FIFA official Jack Warner of Trinidad and Tobago received $5 million in bribes to vote for Russia from 10 different offshore shell companies, which used correspondent accounts in the U.S.
NHL
OILERS’ CAVE HOSPITALIZED AFTER BRAIN BLEED >> Edmonton Oilers forward Colby Cave has been placed in a medically induced coma after suffering a brain bleed.
The Oilers said Tuesday on their Twitter account that the brain bleed happened overnight and that Cave was in the critical care unit at Toronto’s Sunnybrook Hospital.
A 25-year-old from Battleford, Saskatchewan, Cave scored once in 11 appearances with Edmonton this season. He had 11 goals and 23 points in 44 games with the American Hockey League’s Bakersfield Condors.
THIRD AVALANCHE PLAYER TESTS POSITIVE FOR COVID-19 >> A third member of the Colorado Avalanche has tested positive for the coronavirus, the NHL announced. The unidentified player is in self-isolation and has not had close contact with any other Avalanche players or staff members, according to the league.
He is the eighth NHL player to test positive for COVID-19. The five others all play for the Ottawa Senators.
The Avalanche played at San Jose on March 8, one day after the Sharks played host to the Senators.
Motorsports
BURTON, EARNHARDT, EDWARDS HEADLINE
HALL OF FAME NOMINEES >> Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Burton and Carl Edwards were among the new nominees for NASCAR’s next Hall of Fame class announced under a revamped voting protocol.
Voters for 11 years elected five members per class first from a list of 25 candidates; it was trimmed to 20 beginning with the 2015 class.
The new process starting this year splits the nominees into three ballots; Modern candidates, Pioneer candidates and Landmark candidates. Two entries from the 10 Modern candidates will be elected, along with one entry apiece from the five-candidate Pioneer and Landmark categories.
Janet Guthrie, the first woman to run in the Indianapolis 500, Daytona 500 and Coca-Cola 600, returns as a nominee to the Landmark category.
Track and field
OLYMPIC QUALIFICATION SUSPENDED UNTIL DECEMBER >> The governing body of track and field has suspended Olympic qualification until December due to the coronavirus outbreak, which has forced the Tokyo Games to be postponed until 2021, it said Tuesday.
“During this period, results achieved at any competition will not be considered for Tokyo 2020 entry standards or world rankings,” World Athletics said in a statement.
Qualification would restart on Dec. 1, subject to the global situation returning to normal, and continue until the end of May for the marathon and 50 kilometer race walk or June next year for all other events.
Golf
IMMELMAN TO CAPTAIN INTERNATIONALS IN ‘21 PRESIDENTS CUP >> South Africa’s Trevor Immelman was officially named as the International team captain for the 2021 Presidents Cup. Next year’s event will be held at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, from Sept. 30-Oct. 3.