Off the wire

FOOTBALL

Baylor releasing players

Baylor is releasing five incoming freshman players from their national letters of intent and allowing them to attend other schools without losing eligibility. The five players were not identified in Baylor's news release, but all requested release prior to May 31. The requests came after Baylor fired coach Art Briles following the release of parts of a report commissioned by the school that found he and other university leaders inappropriately handled or ignored sexual assault allegations by female students. Baylor signed 22 players in February. Another Baylor signee has already switched schools. Devin Duvernay, a highly touted receiver from Sachse, Texas, did not need a release from Baylor because the school failed to process his paperwork with the Big 12. He officially signed with Texas on Thursday.

Game on in Canada

The pro football season has started — in Canada. Jeremiah Masoli threw three touchdown passes and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats beat Toronto 42-20 on Thursday night in the Canadian Football League to spoil the Argonauts’ regular-season debut at BMO Field in Toronto. A crowd of 24,812 attended the game at the stadium originally built for Toronto’s Major League Soccer team. The Argonauts played the previous 27 seasons at Rogers Centre. Toronto defensive back Jeremaine Gabriel left on a stretcher in the fourth quarter with an apparent neck injury. He gave the crowd the thumbs-up and waved as he was driven off. Tonight, Montreal is at Winnipeg. On Saturday night, Ottawa is at defending Grey Cup champion Edmonton and Calgary is at British Columbia.

GOLF

Rahm leads Quicken

Jon Rahm shot a 7-under 64 on Thursday at Congressional to take the first-round lead in the Quicken Loans National, Tiger Woods' annual tournament that started two hours late because of rain. The soft course at Bethesda, Md., allowed players to attack fairways and play aggressively. Rahm took advantage of that with seven birdies in a bogey-free round. The long-hitting Rahm had a one-stroke lead over Jhonattan Vegas and a two-stroke advantage over a pack that included Ernie Els. Rickie Fowler and veteran Vijay Singh were among those four back at 3 under. The 7,569-yard course, which last hosted the U.S. Open in 2011 when Rory McIlroy won it by eight strokes, could play even longer once it dries out by the weekend. After rain that started before dawn, players said the fairways weren't bouncing, so clean shots could get the job done.

Trio shares lead

Curtis Thompson, JT Poston and Kent Bulle shared the first-round lead Thursday at the Air Capital Classic at Wichita, Kan., after each shot a 7-under 63. Nine players were tied at one stroke back. Eight players were tied at 5 under, including Austin Cook (Jonesboro, Arkansas Razorbacks). Matt Atkins (Henderson State) was at 2-under 68 and Sebastian Cappelen (Razorbacks) was 2 under after 7 holes. Tag Ridings (Razorbacks) had a 1-under 69 and Zack Fischer (Little Rock) was even par after 10 holes.

Jacquelin ahead by 1

Raphael Jacquelin leads Oliver Fisher by one stroke after the opening round of the BMW International Open on Thursday at Pulheim, Germany. Jacquelin shot seven birdies to finish the day at 7-under 65 as some of the favorites struggled on the windy Golf Club Gut Laerchenhof outside Cologne. Masters Champion Danny Willett had two double bogeys and two bogeys on the back nine to finish at two over. Sergio Garcia, fresh from a fifth-place finish at last week's US Open Championship, carded a one under par 71. Felipe Aguilar, Zander Lombard and Thorbjoern Olesen were tied at five under. Last year's tournament winner Pablo Larrazabal and runner-up Henryk Stenson were in a group of eight players at four under.

BASKETBALL

Pacers pick up Young

The Indiana Pacers acquired veteran forward Thaddeus Young from the Brooklyn Nets for the 20th overall NBA draft pick, according to a person with knowledge of the deal. The two teams agreed to the trade just a few hours before the start of the draft Thursday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal had not been announced. It's the second big move by Pacers President Larry Bird as he looks to retool the team and make it a faster, sleeker group. The Pacers landed point guard Jeff Teague in a three-team trade with Atlanta and Utah on Wednesday. Young is a versatile steals artist who averaged 15.1 points with the Nets last season. Yahoo Sports first reported the trade.

Storm to honor Jackson

The Seattle Storm will honor three-time WNBA MVP Lauren Jackson by retiring her No. 15 jersey on July 15. The Storm announced their plans Thursday to honor Jackson. The jersey retirement will be the first in franchise history and take place when the Storm host Washington. Jackson retired from basketball in late March. She spent her entire 12-year WNBA career with Seattle, helping lead the Storm to titles in 2004 and 2010. But she hadn't played a full season since 2010 -- playing just 13 games in 2011 and nine in 2012 -- because of numerous surgeries on her right knee and other ailments including a left Achilles tendon injury. Jackson was named to the extended roster for Australia for the Rio Olympics, which would have been her fifth, but decided to retire instead.

HOCKEY

Part-owner sues team

A part-owner of the Nashville Predators is suing the team and its chairman, saying they breached their fiduciary obligations and contractual commitments to him after he helped keep the franchise in Nashville. The lawsuit filed Thursday by David Freeman and Commodore Trust lists Predators Holdings LLC and Predators Chairman Tom Cigarran as defendants. The plaintiffs say they are seeking $250 million in damages. The complaint says Freeman "led the fight" to keep the Predators in Nashville by organizing the Holdings investment group in 2007. It says certain members of that group "have conspired to repay his dedication to the team and community by claiming that Commodore owns less than one percent of Holdings, by refusing to treat it as an owner and by repudiating Holdings' commitment to compensate plaintiffs in return for tens of millions of dollars of loan guarantees that kept the Predators solvent and in Nashville." The complaint names Cigarran "the chief architect of this scheme." The Predators issued a statement calling the suit a "meritless and inappropriate court filing."

BASKETBALL

LeBron out, Carmelo in on road to Rio

NEW YORK — With LeBron James taking a pass, Carmelo Anthony alone will have a chance to become the most-decorated Olympian in men’s basketball history.

The New York Knicks forward has agreed to chase a fourth Olympic medal, a person with knowledge of the details said Thursday.

He and James each have two gold medals and a bronze, but James informed USA Basketball that he has withdrawn from consideration, agent Rich Paul told The Associated Press on Thursday night.

James had told the Americans he wouldn’t make his decision until after the NBA Finals, which ended with the All-Star forward leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to the championship on Sunday. His loss is the biggest yet for a U.S. team that has suffered a number of player withdrawals, as James ranks as the team’s career leader in points and assists in the Olympics, while ranking second in rebounds.

Without him, the Americans still have two spots to fill on their 12-man roster that will be named Monday.

Toronto teammates Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan will be on it, the person told AP, speaking on condition of anonymity because the roster discussions were to remain private.

Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant, Indiana’s Paul George, Golden State’s Draymond Green and Klay Thompson, Sacramento’s DeMarcus Cousins, Chicago’s Jimmy Butler and the Clippers’ DeAndre Jordan are also committed to play for the two-time defending champions in Rio de Janeiro.

The Americans are also holding a spot for Kyrie Irving, James’ Cavaliers teammate.

Kawhi Leonard passed on the opportunity to play, with the San Antonio Spurs announcing his withdrawal in a news release.

Anthony won gold medals in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics and a bronze in 2004. He, James and Hall of Famer David Robinson are the only Americans to play in three Olympics.

DeRozan played for the Americans when they won the gold medal at the Basketball World Cup in 2014, but Lowry’s inclusion on the roster was a surprise, since he wasn’t even in the Americans’ roster pool of 31 players.

But with Stephen Curry, Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook all withdrawing, USA Basketball Chairman Jerry Colangelo said earlier this month he wouldn’t rule out adding another guard.

Durant won gold in 2012. George, Green, Thompson, Cousins, Butler and Jordan would all be making their Olympic debuts.

Sports on 06/24/2016

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