COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Dykes to replace Morris
SMU will hire former California and Louisiana Tech coach Sonny Dykes as its new head coach, a person with direct knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity Monday because a deal was still being finalized. SMU announced a news conference for today. Dykes, 48, will replace Chad Morris, who left SMU last week to become the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville head coach. The Dallas Morning News reported Monday that Dykes will coach SMU in the Dec. 20 Frisco Bowl. Dykes went 22-15 in three seasons at Louisiana Tech from 2010-2012. He spent four years at Cal, where he had just one winning season. He was fired after the 2016 season and spent last year working as an offensive analyst at TCU.
Michigan to get Patterson
Mississippi quarterback Shea Patterson says he will transfer to Michigan, where Coach Jim Harbaugh has gone through three starting QBs this season. Patterson made his commitment in a tweet Monday after visiting the Ann Arbor, Mich., campus last weekend. Patterson is recovering from a right knee injury that cost him the final month of last season, but he should be ready to compete in 2018. In seven games, Patterson passed for 2,259 yards, 17 touchdowns and 9 interceptions. The sophomore was one of the top recruits in the 2016 class. Ole Miss was hit with NCAA sanctions two weeks ago that included a bowl ban next season. The NCAA said Mississippi's seniors could transfer without sitting out next season, as is usually required. Patterson does not qualify for that but could petition the NCAA to be immediately eligible. Ole Miss said it had granted Patterson, a native of Toledo, Ohio, permission to contact Michigan. Michigan did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation, and Patterson could change his mind before signing a scholarship agreement, but the official Michigan football Twitter account did re-tweet Patterson's announcement.
BASKETBALL
Balls sign in Lithuania
LiAngelo and LaMelo Ball have signed contracts to play with Lithuanian team Vytautas Prienai for the rest of the season, according to Harrison Gaines, the agent for those two players and Los Angeles Lakers point guard Lonzo Ball. The two brothers will travel to Lithuania in the first week of January and have some family with them. LiAngelo, 19, began the season at UCLA but withdrew from school last week amid an indefinite suspension. The school suspended LiAngelo and two teammates who were questioned by police for shoplifting while in China. Last week the brothers hired Gaines. LaMelo, 16, had also been committed to UCLA, but his hiring an agent ensured he would never play college basketball.
Barnes retires
Matt Barnes is retiring from the NBA after playing for nine teams over 14 years and winning a championship with Golden State last season. The 37-year-old small forward hasn't played this season. He posted his retirement announcement on Instagram on Monday. He played with Golden State, Sacramento, the Los Angeles Clippers, the Los Angeles Lakers, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Orlando and Memphis. He averaged 8.2 points and 4.6 rebounds during his career. He often came off the bench and was known for his hard-nosed approach. Off the court, Barnes made headlines during his marriage to Gloria Govan, with whom he has twin sons. The couple divorced and she began dating Barnes' ex-Lakers teammate Derek Fisher (UALR). In October 2015, the two men got into an altercation at Govan's Los Angeles home. Barnes was suspended two games without pay by the NBA for his part in it.
GOLF
Scorecard penalty revoked
Players no longer will be penalized two shots for an incorrect scorecard if they were not aware of a rules violation when they signed their card. The United States Golf Association also will no longer respond to most TV viewers' calls during the tournament. The changes are effective Jan. 1. Rescinding the scorecard penalty, famously applied to Lexi Thompson at the LPGA Tour's first major last April, is part of a broader standard for using video. Thompson had a three-shot lead in the final round of the ANA Inspiration when a TV viewer noticed she had improperly replaced her golf ball on the green during the third round. She was penalized two shots for the infraction. Because that would have made her score two shots higher, she received an additional two-shot penalty for the scorecard error. That became a four-shot penalty in the final hour of the tournament. Thompson rallied, but eventually lost to So Yeon Ryu in the first hole of a playoff. The change also means each tournament will assign one or more officials to monitor the video broadcast and help identify any violations or rules issues that might arise.
BASEBALL
No. 61 pitcher dies
Tracy Stallard, the pitcher who gave up Roger Maris’ record 61st home run in 1961, has died. He was 80.
The Sturgill Funeral Home in Coeburn, Va., said Monday that Stallard died Wednesday at the Holston Valley Medical Center in Kingsport, Tenn.
He was on the mound for Boston in 1961 when Maris broke the single-season record that Babe Ruth had held since 1927. The record stayed until 1998.
Stallard went 30-57 with a 4.17 career ERA while pitching for the Red Sox (1960-1962), New York Mets (1963-1964) and St. Louis Cardinals (1965-1966).
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Ex-Vols AD Currie, Schiano signed six-year, $27M deal
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- 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 of understanding, obtained through a public-records request, states Schiano would have received a six-year, $27 million contract. Tennessee officials say they believe the document isn't legally binding because it was never signed by the school's chief financial officer.
Tennessee Chancellor Beverly Davenport also didn't sign the document with Schiano.
Currie was replaced by Phillip Fulmer on Dec. 1, five days after the Schiano deal fell through. Fulmer took over the search at that point and announced the hiring of Alabama defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt on Thursday.
The memorandum that accompanied Pruitt's hiring included signatures from Pruitt, Davenport, Fulmer and chief financial officer David L. Miller. Pruitt agreed to a six-year deal paying him $3.8 million annually, plus other benefits.
Tennessee was seeking a coach to replace Butch Jones, who was fired Nov. 12 after going 34-27 in five seasons. Tennessee went 4-8 this year and set a school record for losses.
Under the terms in the memorandum of understanding, Schiano would have received $4.4 million in 2018. His annual pay would have increased to $4.45 million in 2019, $4.5 million each in 2020 and 2021, $4.55 million in 2022 and $4.6 million in 2023.
When word got out Nov. 26 that Tennessee had contacted Schiano about its coaching vacancy, fans and state politicians wasted no time venting their frustrations. Four gubernatorial candidates and at least three Tennessee state representatives issued tweets or statements criticizing the school for considering the former Rutgers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach. About 100 people participated in a protest on campus.
Sports on 12/12/2017