Notre Dame gives up independence for one season
Notre Dame will play in the Atlantic Coast Conference this season as part of a plan to play 10 league games and start the week of Sept. 7, alterations brought on by the coronavius pandemic.
The ACC reworked its football schedule Wednesday to allow each team to play 11 games and to incorporate Notre Dame, which is giving up its storied independence in a year rocked by the pandemic.
The ACC’s university presidents approved plans for an 11-game schedule, including one nonconference game, and for pushing back both the first week (to Sept. 7) and the league championship game (from Dec. 5 to either Dec. 12 or 19).
The ACC will eliminate its traditional divisional format this season and the two teams with the best winning percentages in conference play will meet in Charlotte, North Carolina, for the league championship game. The league will release specific dates and broadcast plans later.
Notre Dame, which competes in the ACC in all sports except football and hockey, will play in a football conference for the first time in the 133-year history of the proudly independent program — if the season is played.
“We recognize that we may need to be nimble and make adjustments in the future,” ACC commissioner John Swofford said in a statement. “We will be as prepared as possible should that need arise.”
Notre Dame already had a scheduling agreement with the ACC that puts five or six game with the league on the Fighting Irish schedule every year. They had six this season, including Clemson, Duke, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, Louisville and Pitt. Added to that will be home games against Florida State and Syracuse and road games against North Carolina and Boston College.
NFL
TAGOVAILOA GETS OK TO PRACTICE >> Rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa passed his physical when he reported to Miami Dolphins training camp and will practice without restrictions as he begins his bid to overtake veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick for the starting job.
The all-clear will allow Tagovailoa to practice for the first time since a career-threatening hip injury ended his Alabama career in mid-November.
Tagovailoa spent the offseason in Alabama rehabbing and participating in the Dolphins’ virtual meetings.
CHIEFS’ WILLIAMS OPTS OUT OF SEASON >> Kansas City Chiefs running back Damien Williams opted out of playing in the upcoming 2020 season, the team announced. Williams, 28, joins offensive guard Laurent DuvernayTardif as Chiefs players who will sit out due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Williams scored the final two touchdowns in the Chiefs’ 31-20 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LIV.
College basketball
LONGTIME COACH LOU HENSON DIES >> Lou Henson, the plain-spoken coach who took New Mexico State and Illinois to the Final Four during a 21year career that included nearly 800 victories and a feud with fellow Big Ten coach Bob Knight, has died. He was 88.
Henson died Saturday at his home in Champaign and he was buried in a private service Wednesday, the Illinois athletic department said. Henson left the game as the winningest coach at both Illinois and New Mexico State, and still ranks fifth all-time among Big Ten coaches in total wins (423) and conference wins (214).
He was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma in 2003 and coached for a time from a wheelchair on the sidelines. But Henson left coaching for good the following season, finishing with a 779-412 record.
NBA
WILLIAMSON A GAME-TIME DECISION VS. JAZZ >> New Orleans Pelicans rookie star Zion Williamson is a “game-time decision” for today’s game against the Utah Jazz, according to coach Alvin Gentry.
The contest is the first of the restarted NBA season. Williamson recently returned to the Pelicans after being away due to a family emergency and was cleared to practice with the team on Tuesday night after serving a four-day quarantine.
Golf
SAN JOSE STATE’S SHETLER ADVANCES AT STATE AMATEUR >> San Jose State University’s Caleb Shetler parred the first playoff hole at San Diego’s Torrey Pines South to defeat University of San Diego junior Donald Kay on the first day of match play at the California State Amateur Championship.
Shetler, from Saratoga, advances to today’s round of 16 players. He will face San Diego State senior Puwit Anupansuebsai.
THOMAS TO HAVE ‘BONES’ ON BAG WITH CADDIE ILL >> Justin Thomas said that Jim “Bones” McKay will be on his bag for the next two golf tournaments while his regular caddie battles an unspecified illness.
Looper Jimmy Johnson had to bow out during the third round of the Memorial two weeks after getting light-headed, forcing Thomas to have his father, Mike, finish up the tourney.
Thomas told Golf Channel that McKay will be on his bag for this week’s WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational in Memphis and next week’s PGA Championship.
College baseball
CWS-WINNING COACH AND PLAYER AT USC MIKE GILLESPIE DIES >> Mike Gillespie, who played on and coached College World Series title teams with USC, died Wednesday. He was 80.
He died in Irvine following complications from recent lung issues and a stroke, according to USC, which spoke to his son Mitch.
Gillespie was an infielder/outfielder on USC’s 1961 CWS championship team and the 1960 runner-up squad.
He was USC’s coach from 1987-2006, leading the Trojans to five Pac10 titles, four CWS berths and the 1998 CWS crown.
He won 763 games at USC and coached 30 future major leaguers, including Aaron and Bret Boone, Mark Prior and Barry Zito. Gillespie was one of only two men to play on and coach a CWS championship baseball team.
NHL
BLACKHAWKS BAN NATIVE AMERICAN HEADDRESSES ATHOMEGAMES>> The National Hockey League’s Chicago Blackhawks said they are banning headdresses at home games as part of their pledge to honor the Native American community.
The move comes after conversations with Native American partners to establish new policies and initiatives. While the team will play the remainder of its games this season in an empty arena in Edmonton, Alberta, the no headdresses policy begins as soon as fans are allowed at home.