FOOTBALL
LSU's Marshall opts out
LSU receiving leader Terrace Marshall has decided to opt out for the rest of this season, leaving the Tigers without their top playmaker on the week they're scheduled to host No. 1 Alabama. Marshall, a junior, was one of three highly regarded college players to declare for the draft Sunday with a social media post, along with Texas offensive tackle Samuel Cosmi and Florida State defensive back Asante Samuel. Marshall has caught 48 passes this season for 731 yards and 10 touchdowns in seven games. His final catch came on LSU's lone touchdown near the end of a 20-7 loss at Texas A&M on Saturday night. He had 10 catches for 134 yards against the Aggies. Cosmi, a fourth-year junior, also said he would forgo the rest of the season. Texas (5-3) has two games left, but it is out of the Big 12 title race.
UTEP calls off another game
UTEP suspended football activities Sunday and called off another game after "multiple members" of the football team tested positive for covid-19. The Miners won't play host to Southern Miss as scheduled Friday after scrapping this weekend's game at Rice because of the positive tests. It's the third consecutive UTEP game to be called off, starting with UAB on Nov. 20 because of coronavirus issues in the UAB program. UTEP had moved the UAB game 300 miles east of El Paso to Midland, Texas, because of a significant increase of coronavirus cases in the far West Texas city.
BASKETBALL
Hornets trade for Hayward
The Charlotte Hornets have acquired forward Gordon Hayward and unprotected 2023 and 2024 second-round draft picks from the Boston Celtics in exchange for a heavily protected 2022 second-round draft pick as part of a sign-and-trade transaction. The Celtics will only get Charlotte's draft pick if the Hornets finish in the top five in the league next season, so it's unlikely they will get anything in the deal other than unloading Hayward's contract. Hayward previously agreed to a four-year, $120 million deal to join the Hornets. Hayward, a 10-year NBA veteran, has appeared in 641 regular-season games with 479 starts with the Jazz and Celtics, averaging 15.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists in 30.8 minutes per game. The 6-7 forward has appeared in 29 postseason games with 16 starts, averaging 15 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 33 minutes per game.
Bias selected to college HOF
Maryland basketball star Len Bias, who was chosen No. 2 by the Boston Celtics in the 1986 NBA Draft before dying days later of a drug overdose, was chosen for induction into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame on Sunday. Bias leads a group of six players and two coaches who will be enshrined in Kansas City, Mo., next November. The other players to make up the class are Hersey Hawkins, who scored more than 3,000 points during his career at Bradley; UCLA's David Greenwood, the No. 2 pick of the Chicago Bulls in the 1979 draft; Jim Jackson, the two-time Big Ten player of the year at Ohio State; Antawn Jamison, who led North Carolina to back-to-back Final Fours; and Kansas star Paul Pierce, who went on to play 19 years in the NBA, mostly with the Celtics. The two coaches selected for the Hall of Fame were Rick Byrd, who won 805 games at Maryville, Lincoln Memorial and Belmont, and Tom Penders, who took four different schools to the NCAA Tournament.
U.S. wins AmeriCup qualifier
USA Basketball played inside a bubble for the first time Sunday and didn't miss a beat. Amile Jefferson had 17 points and 11 rebounds, helping the U.S. roll past the Bahamas 99-59 in Indianapolis on Sunday in a qualifier for the 2022 FIBA AmeriCup. The U.S. improved to 3-0 in its six-game qualifying schedule for the AmeriCup -- and has not trailed in any of those games, the first two of which took place back in February. John Jenkins and Tyler Hall each scored 12 points for the U.S., while Levi Randolph had 11 and Travis Trice scored 10. The Americans used a roster of G League players, coached by Mike Fratello, and could clinch a spot in the 12-team AmeriCup field today by beating Mexico.
GOLF
Bezuidenhout wins Dunhill
Christiaan Bezuidenhout came from three shots behind overnight to win the Alfred Dunhill Championship on Sunday as Adrian Meronk faltered in his quest to become the first Polish player to win a European Tour event. Bezuidenhout finished with a 69 to win with 14 under overall, four shots clear of overnight leader Meronk (76) and another three players tied for second at Leopard Creek Country Club in Malelane, South Africa. It didn't look on for home player Bezuidenhout at the turn after he made a double-bogey at No. 7 and a bogey at No. 8. But he pulled it together on the back nine, picking up three birdies and avoiding any more dropped shots to claim a second European Tour title. Bezuidenhout won comfortably at the end after the other contenders all struggled to break par. The 26-year-old South African's career has been difficult. He was handed a doping ban as an amateur because of medication he takes to help with anxiety and a stutter that was caused when he accidentally drank rat poison as a child and nearly died. Bezuidenhout is the first South African to take the title since 2016.
Three in row for Pedersen
Denmark's Emily Kristine Pedersen became the second player in Ladies European Tour history to win three consecutive tournaments, closing with a 6-under 66 for a four-shot victory in the season-ending Andalucia Costa Del Sol Open de Espana in Marbella, Spain. Coming off two victories in Saudi Arabia, Pedersen matched the record streak set by Marie-Laure de Lorenzi in 1989. With her father alongside as her caddie, the 24-year-old Pedersen finished at 15-under 273 at Real Club de Golf Guadalmina. She won for the fifth time in 12 starts and won the season money title. Spain's Nuria Iturrioz had a 69 to finish second.