NCAA President Mark Emmert to meet with players over ban of lucrative rights.

BASKETBALL Emmert to meet with players

NCAA President Mark Emmert is planning to meet this week with a group of basketball players who used a social media campaign at the start of March Madness to protest rules banning college athletes from earning money from their names, images and likenesses. Ramogi Huma, executive director of the National College Players Association, said Tuesday that Emmert is scheduled to hold a video conference call with Michigan’s Isaiah Livers, Iowa’s Jordan Bohannon and Rutgers’ Geo Baker on Thursday. The three players used the Twitter hashtag #NotNCAAProperty to raise awareness of what they believe are inequities in college sports two days before the men’s basketball tournament started in Indianapolis. The NCAA is in the process of trying to change its rules to permit athletes to be compensated by third parties for things such as sponsorship deals and personal appearances, but attempts to change have bogged down. The players had originally asked to meet with Emmert last week. He responded that he would be willing to speak with the players after the basketball tournaments.

Payne leaving Florida

Florida sophomore forward Omar Payne entered the transfer portal Tuesday and became the fifth player to leave Coach Mike White’s program since the end of the season. The 6-10 Payne joins shooting guard Noah Locke, backup point guard Ques Glover and reserve forward Osayi Osifo in looking to play elsewhere next season. Star point guard and leading scorer Tre Mann entered the NBA Draft with plans of hiring an agent, meaning he has no intention of returning to school for his junior season. Payne averaged 3.8 points and 3.2 rebounds while playing close to 16 minutes a game this season. He was suspended for Florida’s opening-round win against Virginia Tech in the NCAA Tournament after getting ejected for elbowing Tennessee’s John Fulkerson in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament.

UT-Martin hires coach

Tennessee-Martin has hired Ryan Ridder as the Skyhawks’ new men’s basketball coach. Athletic Director Kurt McGuffin announced the hiring Tuesday, and Ridder will be introduced next week on campus. Ridder, 36, spent the past four seasons at Bethune-Cookman in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. He had a 64.6% winning percentage in league play and won the 2017-18 MEAC regular-season title. He had 48 wins at Bethune-Cookman before the school opted out of all sports for the 2020-21 seasons. The native of Lexington, Ky., has a 143-73 record as a head coach, including four seasons at Daytona State College.

BASEBALL Jimenez has surgery

Chicago White Sox outfielder Eloy Jimenez had surgery Tuesday to repair a ruptured left pectoral tendon, and General Manager Rick Hahn said the slugger still is expected to miss five to six months. Hahn said the timeline hasn’t changed, though he left the door open for Jimenez to return sooner. Jimenez was hurt last week in a spring training game against Oakland when he tried to make a leaping grab at the wall on Sean Murphy’s home run. The injury led to more questions about whether he is better suited for designated hitter than left field, where he has gotten hurt a couple of times since his big-league debut in 2019. The 24-year-old Jimenez, who throws and bats right-handed, was acquired in a July 2017 trade with the crosstown Cubs. He hit 31 home runs in his first year in the majors in 2019. He batted .296 with 14 home runs and 41 RBI in 55 games during the pandemic-shortened season. Chicago is looking for a deep postseason run after it made the playoffs last year for first time since 2008. Manager Tony La Russa said he is leaning toward having Leury Garcia start Thursday’s opener at the Los Angeles Angels in left field with rookie Andrew Vaughn at designated hitter.

Rays’ Choi sidelined

Tampa Bay Rays first baseman Ji-Man Choi will have arthroscopic surgery on his right knee and is expected to be sidelined at least three to five weeks. Manager Kevin Cash said Tuesday that the AL champions should have a better idea of how long the South Korean might be out after today’s operation. Choi, who hit .230 with 3 home runs and 16 RBI in 42 games last season, was slowed much of spring training by the sore knee. He’s set to earn $2.45 million this year after winning a salary arbitration hearing against the AL champions. With Choi out, Yoshi Tsutsugo, Yandy Diaz and Mike Brousseau figure to share most of the playing time at first base.

FOOTBALL Raiders extend LT Miller

The Las Vegas Raiders have agreed to a contract extension with left tackle Kolton Miller that will keep him locked up through the 2025 season. The deal was announced by Miller’s agents at Octagon Football. The total contract tacks on three additional seasons beyond Miller’s fifth-year option in 2022 and is worth $68.7 million. ESPN first reported the deal and said it includes $42.6 million in guarantees and averages more than $18 million a year from 2023-25. Miller is the first member of the 2018 draft class that included quarterbacks Josh Allen, Baker Mayfield and Lamar Jackson to get an extension. Miller played every offensive snap for 29 consecutive games starting in his rookie year and running until this past season when he missed two games with an ankle injury.

GOLF PGA adds S.C. event

The PGA Tour is returning to South Carolina for a third time this year, adding an event at the Congaree Golf Club in Ridgeland to take the spot of the canceled RBC Canadian Open. The tour announced the addition Tuesday. It means the PGA Tour will play three times in the state in as many months, starting with its regular yearly event the RBC Heritage on Hilton Head Island in April. The world’s best will play the PGA Championship at The Ocean Course on Kiawah Island near Charleston in May. Ridgeland is 80 miles southwest of Charleston. Organizers for the RBC Canadian Open said earlier this month the event had to be called off because of logistical challenges related to the covid-19 pandemic. The tour said the new tournament, which does not yet have a name, will take place June 10-13, the week the RBC Canadian Open was set to be played.

TENNIS Barty advances

World No. 1 Ash Barty of Australia won the final nine points to finish off the seventh-seeded Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3 in a women’s quarterfinal Tuesday at the Miami Open. Men’s top seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia reached the quarters with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Frances Tiafoe — part of a day where the American men’s contingent was pared from four to one, with Sebastian Korda the lone round-of-16 survivor for the U.S. The 20-year-old Korda stunned fifth-seeded Diego Schwartzman of Argentina 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 for the biggest win of his career to date. And it’ll make for an interesting Thursday for the Korda family: he’ll be in the Miami quarterfinals that day while his sisters, Jessica and Nelly, will be playing in the first round of the first women’s golf major of the year, the ANA Inspiration. Korda will play fourth-seeded Andrey Rublev of Rossuia, who defeated Marin Cilic 6-4, 6-4 on Tuesday. American John Isner fell to seventh-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7). Bautista Agut will face Medvedev in the quarterfinals.

Emmert