Edmonton chooses Tippett as head coach

The Edmonton Oilers hired Dave Tippett as their head coach Tuesday, the first big move for new general manager Ken Holland.

Tippett, who had been working as a senior adviser to Seattle’s expansion NHL team since June, becomes the Oilers’ ninth head coach in the past 11 years. He is tasked with helping a team that has missed the playoffs 12 of the past 13 seasons and reached the postseason just once during the four-year career of Connor McDavid.

Holland, the longtime former Detroit Red Wings GM, announced this month that interim head coach Ken Hitchcock would not return.

Tippett, with more than 1,000 NHL games as a head coach in Dallas and Arizona, noted he has a construction background but suggested the Oilers are not in need of a teardown.

“I come to a team here that obviously has good pieces (and) lots of upside,” he said. “Everybody talks about McDavid and (Leon) Draisaitl. There are more pieces here than McDavid and Draisaitl. There are good players here to build on.”

The Oilers fired general manager Peter Chiareilli in January and also parted ways with Duane Sutter, the vice president of player personnel. Executive Craig MacTavish, from the team’s glory years, left to coach in Russia.

ELSEWHERE Jags’ Foles out for ‘personal reason’

Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Nick Foles is skipping organized team activities for what the club called “a personal reason.”

Head coach Doug Marrone said “our thoughts and prayers are with Nick and his family.” Marrone offered no other details, and the team said there is no timetable for Foles’ return.

Foles led the Philadelphia Eagles to four playoff victories over the past two seasons, including the franchise’s first NFL title since 1960. He was named the 2018 Super Bowl MVP.

Foles signed a four-year, $88 million contract with Jacksonville in March that included a franchise-record $50.125 million guaranteed. He and his wife, Tori, bought a home in Jacksonville in April and finished moving this month. College basketball: Marquette 6-foot-9 forward Joey Hauser is transferring to Michigan State. The Spartans announced the addition of Hauser on Tuesday. He averaged 9.7 points and 5.3 rebounds a game as a freshman in 2018-19.

South Carolina’s A.J. Lawson has withdrawn his name from the NBA draft. Lawson is a 6-6, 172-pound guard from Toronto who was the Gamecocks’ second-leading scorer at 13.4 points a game. He was selected to the All-SEC freshman team. Soccer: The ESPN+ streaming service has obtained U.S. English-language television rights for the Copa America, South America’s championship, to be played in Brazil from June 14 to July 7.

ESPN, part of the Walt Disney Co., said all 26 matches will be streamed. None will be televised by ESPN’s linear telecast networks.