Packers fill general- manager spot from within,
Multiple outlets reported Sunday that the Packers are promoting director of player personnel Brian
Gutekunst to be their general manager. Gutekunst would replace
Ted Thompson, who is transitioning to a senior advisory role in the front office.
Gutekunst has been the Packers’ director of player personnel for nearly two years, though he has been with the scouting department for nearly two decades. His first job in the department was as an intern in the summer of 1997, and he joined the department as a full- time college scout in December 1998.
The Packers ( 7- 9) finished with a losing record and out of the playoffs this season for the first time since 2008.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL Loyola finishes with flourish
Clayton Custer scored 11 points, and Loyola ( 12- 4, 2- 2) overcame 35.2 percent shooting by closing the game with a 9- 2 burst to earn a 56- 50 victory against Northern Iowa ( 8- 8, 0- 4) in Missouri Valley Conference action in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The Ramblers held the Panthers to 36.5 percent shooting.
† Keita Bates- Diop scored a career- high 32 points, and Ohio State ( 13- 4, 4- 0) shot 52.5 percent en route to an 80- 64 rout of No. 1 Michigan State ( 15- 2, 3- 1) in Big Ten play in Columbus, Ohio. The score was tied at 29 before the Buckeyes closed the first half with a 12- 0 run.
FIGURE SKATING Localwoman Olympics- bound
U. S. Figure Skating selected Addison native Alexa Scimeca
Knierim and husband ChrisKnierim to represent the United States in the pairs figure- skating event at theWinter Olympics next month in Pyeongchang, South Korea. The duo won the pairs title Saturday at the U. S. Figure Skating Championships in San Jose, California. MISCELLANEOUS
Spurs’ Leonard has shoulder tear
The Spurs said forward Kawhi Leonard suffered a partial tear in his left shoulder Friday against the Suns, but the severity of the injury wasn’t immediately known. Leonard missed the Spurs’ first 27 games because of tendon issues in his right quadriceps.
† Dustin Johnson closed with an 8- under- par 65 and pulled away to a whopping eight- stroke victory over Jon Rahm in the Tournament of Champions — the first event of the calendar year on the PGA Tour — in Kapalua, Hawaii. Johnson completed 72 holes at 24- under 268.
† U. S. star Mikaela Shiffrin earned her 40thWorld Cup victory by capturing the women’s slalom by 1.64 seconds in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia. She has won 20 of the last 25 slaloms she has competed in and reached the podium in four others.