Riley sees Dragic’s summer as further validation of trade
BOXING: Andre Ward announced he’s retiring because he no longer has the desire to fight, leaving the sport at age 33 with a 32-0 record and the light heavyweight championship. Ward released a statement on his website titled “Mission Accomplished” thanking those who helped him throughout his career and explaining his reasons for his retirement.
COLLEGES: Nebraska abruptly fired athletic director Shawn Eichorst, citing a failure to improve the “on-field performance” by the Cornhuskers. Chancellor Ronnie Green announced the move five days after the football team dropped to 1-2 for the second time in three years after a 21-17 home loss to Northern Illinois. Eichorst joined Nebraska in October 2012, and has about $1.7 million remaining on a contract that runs through June 2019 . ... North Carolina State coach Dave Doeren said he expects starting CB Mike Stevens to make his season debut in Saturday’s ACC opener against No. 12 Florida State. Stevens missed the first three games with a knee injury . ... Three former Michigan State players charged with sexual assault waived a key hearing and will advance to trial. Michigan judges typically decide whether there’s enough evidence to hold a trial. But Josh King, Donnie Corley Jr. and Demetric Vance waived that hearing in East Lansing. A woman says she was assaulted in an apartment bathroom in January. King, Corley and Vance were kicked off the team when charges were filed in June.
GOLF: birdies
Kyle Stanley ran on the front nine,
off four straight and then added two more late in his round on a steamy afternoon for a 6-under 64 and the lead after the first round of the Tour Championship in Atlanta. Webb Simpson, Daniel Berger, Brooks Koepka and Paul Casey are two shots back and Jordan Spieth was among a groupthree shots back . ... Catriona Matthew was appointed captain of the European team for the 2019 Solheim Cup, which will be staged in her native Scotland. Matthew takes over from Annika Sorenstam. ... Joost Luiten and George Coetzee each shot 7-under 64 to share the lead after the first round of the Portugal Masters.
NBA: Referees will be able to call flagrant or technical fouls on defenders who dangerously close on jump shooters without allowing them space to land, as Zaza Pachulia did on the play that injured Spurs star Kawhi Leonard during last season’s playoffs. After calling a foul, officials will now be able to look at replay to determine if the defender recklessly positioned his foot in an unnatural way, which could trigger an upgrade to a flagrant, or a technical if there was no contact but an apparent attempt to injure . ... The Grizzlies signed F Ivan Rabb, a second-round pick, to a contract days before the opening of training camp.
NHL: General manager Jim Johannson ruled out the possibility of the U.S. having NHL draft-eligible prospects competing at the Winter Olympics in February. Johannson told the Associated Press he doesn’t view anyone from the 18-and-younger pool of prospects capable of cracking the projected lineup of non-league players, many of whom are opening this season on teams in Europe.
MIAMI — The gold-medal payoff wasn’t for the Heat, but Pat Riley said Thursday that Goran Dragic’s performance in the recently completed EuroBasket championships further solidified the team’s confidence in the price previously paid for the veteran point guard.
Dragic led Slovenia to a 9-0 record, closing out the tournament with a 35-point performance Sunday in the championship game against Serbia, before being sidelined late by cramps.
“Going back to when we made the decision to give up two first-round picks to get Goran, who was at the time coming off third-team AllNBA selection, we knew we were getting a great guard and a competitive guard, a two-way player, a great person, all of those things,” the Heat’s president said of the 2015 trade, shortly after announcing Thursday at AmericanAirlines Arena the Heat’s uniform sponsorship by Weston-based Ultimate Software.
Riley said he did not need affirmation about giving up what likely will be 2018 and ’21 first-round picks to the Phoenix Suns. But he nonetheless said Dragic’s emergence as Most Valuable Player at EuroBasket was heartening.
“I think since he’s been here, he has proven to be that,” Riley said of Dragic as an elite presence. “I think last year, he had, to me, an All-Star year last year, if you stop and think about the numbers that he put up.
“What he did over in Slovenia this year in the games, by being the MVP, and getting 35 points in just three quarters of a game — and then I loved his Hulk pose that I saw. So he didn’t have to deal with the conditioning test.”
Heat players during Riley’s stewardship have had to pass a grueling, timed sprint test in order to take the court for training camp. Riley said Dragic’s success against elite NBA talent at EuroBasket offset the requirement outlets.
The three-year agreement with Ultimate Software also includes sponsorship of the team’s 30th anniversary season and involvement in Heat community initiatives.
Ultimate was founded in 1990 and develops software to help companies manage employees. Despite the South Florida homebase, it employs more than 4,000 people across the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia.
Among other uniform sponsors this season are Stubhub for the Philadelphia 76ers, Harley-Davidson for the Milwaukee Bucks and Goodyear for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Thursday’s unveiling also included the announcement of Hurricane Irma relief donations from Ultimate Software and a $1 million donation from the Pat and Chris Riley Family Foundation. It was also announced at the still in place for Erik Spoelstra’s other players.
“I’m just proud of him,” he said. “I’m proud that we have him.”
Teammates reveled in Dragic’s success, particularly in the wake of the Heat missing out on a playoff berth by a tiebreaker after rallying with a 30-11 run over the second half of last season.
“It was heartfelt,” forward James Johnson said Thursday outside the Heat locker room. “It really was for me, to appreciate a champion. It doesn’t matter what level or anything else, here, there. For him to bring that back for his country and then win MVP, that meant a lot for us as brothers in this locker room.
The Heat open training camp Tuesday at Florida Atlantic University after Monday’s media day at AmericanAirlines Arena.
“I think Spo has talked about that with his staff and also with Goran,” Riley said of the 31-year-old point guard. “I don’t think there’s any doubt that his teammates would understand after what he’s done over the last almost two months of conditioning, that there might be, I think, he needs little bit of rest right now. event that the Heat would match all donations made for hurricane relief through youcaring.com/heat.
Riley revealed after Thursday’s announcement that he was among Heat staffers to take part in a 20-hour relief convoy to the Florida Keys in the wake of the storm.
“You don’t realize it until you get out there and see what was going on, especially going down there,” he said. “We couldn’t believe what we were seeing.”
Riley said in the midst of the storm that several team employees scrambled with trash cans to control leaks at the team’s practice court at AmericanAirlines Arena.
“They saved the court,” he said, indicated it otherwise could have limited the team’s practice time after the Sept. 30 conclusion of training camp at Florida Atlantic University.
iwinderman@ sunsentinel.com. Follow him at twitter.com/iraheatbeat or facebook.com/ ira.winderman