BASKETBALL
Reports: White to Florida
The Florida Gators reportedly have identified the basketball coach to replace Billy Donovan. Yahoo Sports reports Louisiana Tech's Mike White is Florida's leading candidate and could interview as soon as today. White is a rising star in college coaching who was targeted by Tennessee in 2014 to replace Cuonzo Martin, but ended up turning down the job. White is 81-23 in four seasons at Louisiana Tech, leading the Bulldogs to three regular-season conference titles, but has never reached the NCAA Tournament. White, 38, is the son of Duke Athletic Director Kevin White. Mike White is a former guard at Ole Miss who spent seven seasons as an assistant coach in Oxford before leaving for Louisiana Tech. White's emergence as a leading candidate comes a week after Donovan accepted the head coaching job with the Oklahoma City Thunder. During 19 seasons at Florida, Donovan coached the Gators to two national titles, four Finals Fours and 14 trips to the NCAA Tournament.
• Jimmy Butler of the Chicago Bulls has been named the NBA's Most Improved Player after making his first All-Star team and averaging a career high in scoring. The 25-year-old Butler received 92 of 129 first-place votes and 535 total points from a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors (11 first-place votes, 200 points) was second and Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz (12 first-place votes, 189 points) finished third. That the award went to Butler is hardly a surprise given the big jump he made while helping the Bulls fight through injuries to win 50 games. In his fourth season, the 6-7 guard went from averaging 13.1 to 20 points. His shooting improved from 39.7 to 46.2 percent, his rebounding jumped from 4.9 to 5.8 and his assists increased from 2.6 to 3.3 per game. Butler is also in line for a huge payday as a restricted free agent after he and the Bulls were unable to agree to a contract extension before the season.
• The Washington Wizards say All-Star guard John Wall suffered five non-displaced fractures in his left wrist and hand, and his playing status has not been determined. Wall was hurt in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Atlanta Hawks. Initial X-rays were negative, but "multiple examinations" on Wednesday revealed the injuries, the team announced Thursday. Washington hosts Atlanta for Game 3 on Saturday. The Hawks won Game 2 to even the series at 1-1.
FOOTBALL
Out: Big 12 ties for 1st
The Big 12 will only need one championship trophy this season. Conference officials have agreed to break a tie for first-place in the standings with head-to-head results. Last season, Baylor and TCU both finished 8-1 in the Big 12 and were deemed co-champions, even though the Bears beat the Horned Frogs. After the conference had touted its full round-robin schedule and "One True Champion" slogan, the co-championship put the league and Commissioner Bob Bowlsby in an awkward spot. Both teams were also left out of the College Football Playoff. That won't be a problem anymore. In the case of a tie between three or more teams, the records among those teams will be used to determine a champion. The next step would be the record against the next highest ranked team and then scoring differential in games between the tied teams. If none of those break the tie, a draw will be held at the league office to determine the champion.
BASEBALL
Sale on suspension
Chicago White Sox pitcher Chris Sale has dropped his appeal of a five-game suspension for his actions during an April 23 brawl with the Kansas City Royals. Sale allowed five runs and seven hits Wednesday against Detroit and started serving the penalty Thursday. If there are not any postponements, he would be eligible to rejoin the active roster for the May 12 game against Milwaukee. Chicago pitcher Jeff Samardzija dropped his appeal of his five-game suspension Wednesday, the day after he started.
• The Arizona Diamondbacks have agreed to terms on a minor league contract with Jarrod Saltalamacchia. The 30-year-old catcher was released by the Miami Marlins on Tuesday, one month into the second season of a $21 million, three-year contract. Saltalamacchia is to report to the team's spring training facility in Scottsdale, then be sent to one of the Diamondbacks' affiliates, probably Class AAA Reno. He is a career .240 hitter with 90 home runs and 320 RBI in 718 games over nine seasons with Atlanta, Texas, Boston and Miami. But he was just 2 for 29 at the plate in 9 games with the Marlins this season. Saltalamacchia hit .273 with 14 home runs and 65 RBI in 121 games with the World Series champion Red Sox in 2013, the last of his three full seasons with Boston. He hit a career-high 25 home runs in 2012. He signed with the Marlins that offseason. Last year, he hit .220 with 11 home runs and 44 RBI in 121 games with Miami, committing 15 errors. This year, Saltalamacchia lost his starting job to Miami rookie J.T. Realmuto.
• The Kansas City Royals have acquired catcher Drew Butera from the Los Angeles Angels for minor league infielder Ryan Jackson. Butera, 31, hit .190 (4 for 21) in 10 games with the Angels this season. He batted .188 for the Los Angeles Dodgers last year following four years with Minnesota. Jackson, acquired in November from the Dodgers, has an .083 average in 20 big league games with St. Louis in 2012-13. To make room for Butera on the 40-man roster, Kansas City transferred left-hander Tim Collins to the 60-day disabled list. He is recovering from Tommy John surgery in March. Right-hander Luke Hochevar, who missed last season after elbow surgery, was activated from the disabled list Thursday after nine injury rehabilitation appearances with Class AAA Omaha. The Royals optioned rookie left-hander Brandon Finnegan, who went 1-0 with a 2.70 ERA in four relief appearances, to Class AA Northwest Arkansas.
NFL
Cowboys sign Collins to free-agent deal
La’el Collins came to Dallas on Wednesday night and became a Dallas Cowboy on Thursday.
Collins, a second-team All-American and first-team All-SEC offensive tackle who was considered a can’t-miss, first-round prospect in the 2015 NFL draft, signed a three-year, fully guaranteed contract to join the Cowboys.
Rookie free agents generally sign three-year deals worth $435,000 in 2015, $525,000 in 2016 and $615,000 in 2017. A top-20 first-round pick usually gets a four-year contract worth more than $10 million with a signing bonus in excess of $4 million.
Collins started at left guard as a sophomore before moving to left tackle in his final two seasons.
He went undrafted last weekend because he was sought for questioning by Baton Rouge, La., police in the April 24 shooting death of his pregnant former girlfriend Brittney Mills. Collins has never been listed as a suspect, and Baton Rouge homicide detectives have not wavered from that stance even after questioning him Monday night.
Police said paternity tests revealed Collins was not the father of Mills’ son Brenton, who was born after her death but died May 1.
Collins has maintained his innocence all along, telling police he wasn’t in Baton Rouge during the time of the shooting.
After losing millions by not being drafted, Collins was looking to find a home as an undrafted free agent.
Buffalo Bills Coach Rex Ryan had dinner with him at a Baton Rouge restaurant Monday. A number of Miami Dolphins players, including Jarvis Landry, Kelvin Sheppard and Anthony Johnson, who played with him in college at LSU, lobbied him to join their team in a meeting Tuesday night in Baton Rouge.
According to reports, the New England Patriots also were interested, among others.
The Cowboys were the first team to get Collins on a road trip. He made a visit to Dallas on Wednesday night where he was greeted at the home of owner Jerry Jones with a full-court press from every level of the organization, according to a source. In addition to Jones, coaches and players, including members of the offensive line and quarterback Tony Romo, were all on hand to meet Collins, the source said.
Sports on 05/08/2015