Texas fires its basketball coach
Texas fired basketball coach Chris Beard on Thursday, telling his attorney he is “unfit” for the position while he faces a felony domestic family violence charge stemming from a Dec. 12 incident involving his fiancee.
Beard had five years left on a seven-year guaranteed contract that included a provision he could be fired for cause if he was charged with a felony or committed other behavior unbecoming of his position or that reflected poorly on the university.
The charge of assault by strangulation/suffocation family violence carries a possible prison sentence of two to 10 years if convicted; the woman told police Beard strangled and bit her, but later denied he choked her.
Beard had been suspended without pay since he was arrested, and school officials had said there was an internal investigation.
The university’s vice president of legal affairs, Jim Davis, wrote in a letter to Beard’s attorney Thursday that Beard engaged in “unacceptable behavior that makes him unfit to serve as head coach at our university.”
ETC. Harbaugh denies NFL rumors
Jim Harbaugh said he expected to coach Michigan’s football team next season, posting a statement on the team’s social media accounts following reports of his interest in returning to the NFL.
“I am aware of the rumors and speculation over the past few days,” Harbaugh said. “... As I stated in December, while no one knows what the future holds, I expect that I will be enthusiastically coaching Michigan in 2023.”
Carolina, Indianapolis and Denver are among teams Harbaugh has been mentioned as a possibility.
A Michigan State football player facing a felony charge for a skirmish inside the Michigan Stadium tunnel after a game pleaded guilty to misdemeanors. The felony was dropped, under a deal with prosecutors, and Khary Crump’s record will be scrubbed clean if he stays out of trouble while on probation, attorney Mike Nichols said.
The Arizona Diamondbacks signed three-time AllStar third baseman Evan Longoria (Bellflower St. John Bosco High/Long Beach State) to a one-year deal. The 37-year-old Longoria is a 15year veteran, spending his first 10 seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays and the last five with the San Francisco Giants . ... Omar Minaya joined the New York Yankees as a senior advisor to baseball operations. He’s the third former general manager in current GM Brian Cashman’s front office.
Jon Rahm birdied three of his last four holes for a nineunder-par 64 and shared the lead with Collin Morikawa and J.J. Spaun in the Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua, Hawaii.
Dylan Guenther scored his second goal of the game at 6:22 of overtime to give Canada a 3-2 victory over the Czech Republic at Halifax, Canada, for its record-extending 20th world junior hockey title . ... In the bronze-medal game,
Chaz Lucius completed a hat trick in overtime and the United States beat Sweden 8-7 . ... Luc Tardif, head of the International Ice Hockey Federation, said he would like a decision on NHL participation in the 2026 Olympics in Italy by spring 2024.
LeBron James is the overall leader in NBA All-Star balloting and Kevin Durant of the Brooklyn Nets leads Eastern Conference players. Injured Lakers star Anthony Davis is third in the Western Conference . ... The NBA hired Lesley Slaton Brown as its chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer, a role she’ll begin Feb. 1.
McNeese has renamed its basketball court for Basketball Hall of Famer Joe Dumars, the two-time NBA champion player who scored a record 2,607 points in his four seasons at the school.
Emma Raducanu
blamed slippery indoor courts for an ankle injury that forced her to withdraw from the ASB Bank Tennis Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, less than two weeks before the start of the Australian Open.