Weber wins Big Ten postgrad scholarship

LINCOLN, NEB. » Nebraska football player Chris Weber is a winner of the Wayne Duke Award, which is given to one male and one female Big Ten senior pursuing a postgraduate degree.

The Big Ten announced Tuesday that Weber will receive a $10,000 scholarship, as will the female winner, Rutgers golfer Emily Mills.

Weber originally was a walkon linebacker at Nebraska. The Elkhorn High graduate earned a scholarship in January 2016 and was a captain last season.

Weber majored in nutrition science with minors in mathematics and business. He has a 3.96 grade-point average and plans to enroll at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in August. NEW ORLEANS » Baseball Hall of Famer Andre Dawson is lending his name to a college tournament formed as part of Major League Baseball’s effort to promote historically black college and university programs.

Now in its 11th year, the New Orleans tournament formerly known as the Urban Invitational has been renamed the Andre Dawson Classic. It will feature six HBCU teams as part of an eight-team round robin from Feb. 16-18.

Dawson, a former Chicago Cubs and Montreal Expos star, played college baseball at Florida A&M. He is one of only two HBCU alumni in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Dawson says he’s honored to be involved.