Washington hires Fresno State’s Kalen DeBoer as head coach

Washington has hired Fresno State’s Kalen DeBoer to lead the Huskies, handing a program that has struggled offensively to a coach with a track record of productive and creative offenses.

The 47-year-old DeBoer met with Washington officials in Fresno on Monday and the deal was announced a few hours later.

DeBoer has spent two season at Fresno State, going 12-6. The Bulldogs went 9-3 this season, including a victory against UCLA. They lead the Mountain West in yards per play (6.34) and yards per game (463.6) and are second in scoring (33.6 points per game).

“My family and I are so grateful for the opportunity to lead such a storied program and be part of this prestigious institution,” DeBoer said in a statement. “The tough, hard-nosed tradition of Washington football speaks for itself, and it was obvious throughout this process that UW is committed to competing at the highest level.”

LSU is hiring Brian Kelly away from Notre Dame, a stunning move by one of the most accomplished coaches in college football jumping from the sport’s most storied program to an Southeastern Conference powerhouse.

The 60-year Kelly became the winningest coach in Notre Dame history earlier this season, surpassing Knute Rockne. In 12 seasons with the Fighting Irish, Kelly is 113-40, including the current run of five straight double-digit victory seasons.

Notre Dame just completed an 11-1 season on Saturday and still is in contention to reach the College Football Playoff for the third time in the last four years.

Oklahoma quarterback Spencer Rattler,

a preseason All-American who lost the starting job early in the season, announced on social media that he will enter the transfer portal.

The decision came a day after coach Lincoln Riley’s decision to leave for USC.

Rattler was a five-star prospect and the top high school quarterback in the class of 2019. After a successful 2020 season, he entered this season as a potential Heisman Trophy candidate. But he struggled at times to move the team and was booed by the home fans during a close call against West Virginia.

He was benched after a slow start against Texas, and Caleb Williams took over and rallied the team to victory. Williams kept the starting job, though Rattler eventually regained favor with the fans. For the season, the Phoenix native completed 75 percent of his passes for 1,483 yards with 11 touchdowns and five interceptions.

NHL

PITTSBURGH — Fenway Sports Group has reached an agreement with the Pittsburgh Penguins that would give the conglomerate controlling interest in one of the NHL’s marquee franchises.

The Penguins announced that the two sides have come to terms on a deal, which would need to be approved by the NHL’s Board of Governors. A decision is expected by the end of the year.

Financial details were not released. Sportico valued the Penguins at $845 million last month.

As part of the deal, Penguins Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux and coowner Ron Burkle will remain part of the franchise’s ownership group.

There will be no immediate changes to Pittsburgh’s management structure. CEO David Morehouse, general manager Ron Hextall, president of hockey operations Brian Burke and head coach Mike Sullivan will all remain in their current positions.

BROSSARD, Quebec — After dismissing his general manager and two other executives, Montreal Canadiens owner

and president Geoff Molson said that running the hockey operations of the storied NHL team is a multiperson job and that will be the approach going forward.

Molson said a search is underway for a bilingual GM who will work with recently hired executive vice president of hockey operations Jeff Gorton.

“Jeff is going to come here, and the new person is going to come here, and they’re going to assess the situation and they’re going to develop an identity they want to have for this team,,” Molson said.

Marc Bergevin was in the 10th year as GM when he was dismissed over the weekend with the team off to a 6-15-2 start after reaching the Stanley Cup Final last season.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Duke jumped to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 men’s college basketball poll released after its win against Gonzaga, adding to a record haul of top rankings for Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski.

The Blue Devils earned 51 of 61 first-place votes in the new poll, climbing from fifth last week following a win that knocked the Bulldogs from the top spot. This marks the 127th week at No. 1 for Krzyzewski, who is set to retire after this season.

The Blue Devils are No. 1 for the first time since spending two weeks there in November 2019.

Purdue earned nine first-place votes and moved up a spot to No. 2, while the Zags fell to third.

Reigning national champion Baylor rose two spots to No. 4 after winning the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament while UCLA fell three spots to No. 5 after a 20-point loss to Gonzaga last week.

Villanova, Texas, Kansas, Kentucky and Arkansas rounded out the top 10 in a reshuffled poll that saw no team hold its spot from the previous week and three new teams join the list.

Maryland dropped six spots to No. 8 in The Associated Press women’s basketball poll

after losing two games in a week that saw eight of the top 10 teams change places behind unanimous No. 1 South Carolina.

UConn reclaimed No. 2 spot — up one spot and shared with N.C. State — after the Terrapins were blown out by the Wolfpack and new No. 4 Stanford, which climbed three spots. The Terrapins were shorthanded with only seven available players due to injuries and illness.

The Gamecocks grabbed all 30 first-place votes from a national media panel for the second consecutive week after holiday tournaments that saw many of the top teams play each other.

Baylor was No. 5 while Indiana fell two places to sixth after losing to the Cardinal.

South Florida made the biggest jump this week, moving up five spots to No. 13 after beating then-No. 7 Stanford. It was coach Jose Fernandez’s second consecutive win over a top 10 program and only the third in school history.

MLS

NEW YORK — Bruce Arena won a record fourth Major League Soccer Coach of the Year award after leading the New England Revolution to a league-record 73 points.

The 70-year-old, a member of the U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame, also won the award with D.C. United in 1997 and the LA Galaxy in 2009 and 2011. He tied Sigi Schmid’s record of 240 regular-season wins.