Singletary becomes FAU’s 1st All-American Jeter lauded for charity efforts, panned for deals
BOCA RATON — At this point, it would seem Florida Atlantic running back Devin “Motor” Singletary would have gotten used to earning accolades.
That was hardly the case last week when he found out he was the Conference USA’s Most Valuable Player and on Monday when he was named third-team AllAmerican by Associated Press. He is the first FAU player in the history of the program to be named AllAmerican.
They were the latest in a long list of honors for Singletary this season.
“It’s a testament to the work that we’ve put in,” Singletary said. “[Assistant coach Wilson] Love had us put in extra work and it paid off.”
Singletary set the school’s single-season record for rushing yards and touchdowns. His 30 total touchdowns lead the nation. The only thing left to accomplish is possibly reaching the 2,000-yard mark. He needs 204 yards against Akron next Tuesday in the Cheribundi Tart Cherry Boca Raton Bowl at FAU Stadium.
Singletary already has two 200-yard games this season. If he records another, he will become just 30th player in NCAA history to rush for 2,000 yards.
“It would mean a lot,” Singletary said. “Getting 2,000 yards, that’s not easy to do.”
The only downfall for Singletary is the attention he’s received. He prefers to keep a low profile but is adjusting to being more in the spotlight.
“It’s been pretty cool,” Singletary said. “I’ve kind of embraced it. I accepted my role and just keep on going with it.”
Just a sophomore, Singletary potentially has two more seasons to increase his stranglehold on the FAU record book. With just one game remaining, he is already looking forward to next season when he could even become a bigger part of the offense.
“You always want to have that mindset,” Singletary said. “We’re looking to doing even bigger things than we did this year.” BASEBALL: Marlins CEO Derek Jeter said the Marlins traded OF Giancarlo Stanton because the National League MVP didn’t want to be part of the franchise’s rebuilding and instead wanted to move on. The trade with the Yankees was finalized Monday .... Brewers manager Craig Counsell reiterated that RHP Jimmy Nelson will not resume throwing until spring training and won’t be ready for opening day as he comes back from a shoulder injury. Nelson was 12-6 with a 3.49 ERA last season . ... The Phillies agreed with RHP Pat Neshek on a two-year, $16.5 million contact pending a physical. Neshek, 37, was an All-Star last year in his first season with the Phillies before they traded him to the Rockies in late July for three prospects . ... The Rangers and RHP Chris Martin agreed on a two-year, $4 million contract after the reliever spent the last two seasons in Japan . ... Tracy Stallard, the pitcher who gave up Roger Maris’ record 61st home run in 1961, has died at 80. He died Wednesday in Kingsport, Tenn., and his funeral was Sunday in Coeburn, Va.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL: No. 2 Oklahoma placed three players on the AP All-America team. QB Baker Mayfield ,T Orlando Brown and TE Mark Andrews represented the Sooners. Stanford RB Bryce Love, the Heisman runner-up, and Penn State RB Saquon Barkley also made the first team . ... Former Tennessee athletic director John Currie and Greg Schiano signed a memorandum of understanding to make the Ohio State defensive coordinator the new Volunteers football coach before the deal fell apart amid a public backlash. The memorandum stated Schiano we’re going to have to get used to,” safety Jalen Young said. “It’s fun being out here and being able to be out here with my teammates and having extra practices.” would have received a six-year, $27 million contract . ... SMU will hire former California and Louisiana Tech coach Sonny Dykes as its coach. Dykes will replace Chad Morris, who became Arkansas’ coach. Dykes is the son of longtime Texas Tech coach Spike Dykes . ... Mississippi QB Shea Patterson is transferring to Michigan. In seven games last season as a sophomore, Patterson passed for 2,259 yards, 17 touchdowns and nine interceptions . ... Florida DT Taven Bryan and Pittsburgh DB Jordan Whitehead will forgo their senior years and enter the NFL draft.
GOLF: The major tours agreed to a rule that will waive the two-shot penalty for signing an incorrect score if players do not realize they violated the rule when they signed the card. It’s part of a new standard for using TV evidence.
OLYMPICS: Three more Russian athletes, including an Olympic silver medalist, have filed appeals at the Court of Arbitration for Sport against their sanctions for doping at the 2014 Sochi Games. The court said the three are biathlete Olga Zaitseva, who won silver in the women’s relay, and cross-country skiers Yulia Chekaleva and Anastasia Dotsenko. The three were disqualified from the Sochi Olympics and banned from all future games last week by the International Olympic Committee.
ALSO: In the Champions League draw, Real Madrid will play Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona will face Chelsea in the last 16 . ... Las Vegas’ WNBA franchise, formerly the San Antonio Stars, will be known as the Aces.
SUNNY ISLES BEACH — The most vilified man in baseball, at least during the previous 48 hours, glided into the posh oceanfront resort Monday morning appearing as poised and relaxed as always.
“Hi, I’m Derek,” he said before shaking hands along a line of media members waiting for a rundown on a charitable effort to aid hurricane victims in Puerto Rico and the Florida Keys.
Marlins CEO Derek Jeter is teaming up with former New York Yankees teammate Jorge Posada and wife Laura to distribute furniture and other household items to people whose homes were decimated by hurricanes Irma and Maria.
The items — refrigerators, beds, sofas, TVs, kitchen equipment, etc. — are being donated by developer Jules Trump from units of a defunct timeshare complex he is tearing down to build The Estates of Acqualina luxury condos on Sunny Isles Beach.
Trump pointed out that the property was once a favorite vacation getaway of Babe Ruth. Ironic, considering that about the same time Monday, a couple hundred miles to the north in Orlando, Jeter’s new team was announcing the trade of today’s Babe Ruth, Giancarlo Stanton, to the Yankees.
Since word of the deal emerged Saturday morning, Jeter has been the target of more criticism than in he received in his entire 20-year career as a player.
“It’s been a learning experience,” Jeter said later Monday about his newfound unpopularity during a rocky first couple of months as a baseball executive. “I think … there have been a lot of stories out there that have not been entirely true.
“One thing that has been consistent with me throughout my career is I do not operate through the media, especially when you’re talking about players.”
Part of the heat that comes with the painful process in his vision of rebuilding the Marlins by first tearing them down and restocking the minor league system with young talent. It is a blueprint other teams, most recently the Cubs and Astros, have turned into World Series championships.
It is anathema to fans in any city when established stars are being shipped off for so-called prospects, but especially to disenchanted followers of the Marlins, who have done it repeatedly and are now trying to explain why dealing away the National League MVP is for the best.
So the reaction has been vitriolic, on social media and talk radio.
The mood was decidedly friendlier for the charity announcement at the Acqualina Resort and Spa, where Jeter shared the dais alongside the Posadas, both of whom referred to him as family.
Afterward, a man in a suit approached Jeter and said, “You’re doing the right thing,” regarding the Marlins.
Jeter responded with a tight-lipped smile and one word: “Patience.”
It was the only baseball talk at the gala event, where outside the resort a row of Rolls Royces and sleek sports cars were arrayed as if for a quick, glitzy getaway.
Jeter conducted a media conference call immediately after to discuss the Stanton trade and other Marlins matters in which he elaborated.
“It starts with patience,” he said. “But, yes, it’s difficult for me as I’m sure it is for the fan base. The fan base has been waiting for a team to at least be in the playoffs since 2003. So we have to change that. And I’m just as impatient as them.
“I can’t say I understand how the fan base feels because they’ve been through quite a bit. For us here, we haven’t been winning. So if you haven’t been winning it’s time to make a change. … There may be some unpopular decisions at times, but every decision we make as an organization is to try to put us in a better position.”