AP National Sports

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Former Mississippi and Duke coach David Cutcliffe has joined the Southeastern Conference as special assistant to the commissioner for football relations. The league announced the hiring on Thursday of Cutcliffe, whose 14-year tenure at Duke ended after last season under what the school described as a mutual agreement. He was the

PHOENIX (AP) — Right-handed pitcher Zach Davies has agreed to a one-year deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks that includes a mutual option for the 2023 season. The Diamondbacks hope Davies can have a bounce-back season after a rough 2021 when he was 6-12 with a 5.78 ERA for the Chicago Cubs and the led the

By ROB MAADDI AP Sports Writer Many familiar faces with impressive resumes are in new places following one of major league baseball’s wildest free agent frenzies. Max Scherzer and Corey Seager got megadeals before the lockout. Freddie Freeman had to wait until spring training to get his lucrative contract. Trevor Story jumped leagues and changed

By JENNA FRYER AP Auto Racing Writer Formula One champion Max Verstappen says he has a good relationship with Charles Leclerc and expects a clean title fight against the Ferrari driver this season. Leclerc won the season-opening race in Bahrain last weekend while Verstappen retired with three laps remaining because of a fuel pump issue.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs are bringing back four of their own free agents, announcing Thursday the signing of defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi, center Austin Reiter, quarterback Chad Henne, and tight end Blake Bell for the upcoming season. Nnadi has started 52 of the 64 games he’s played since the Chiefs

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Creighton coach Greg McDermott has signed a new multi-year contract after leading the Bluejays to the NCAA Tournament’s round of 32. McDermott owns a 276-137 record with seven NCAA Tournament appearances in 12 seasons at Creighton and has the second-highest win total in program history. Creighton went 23-12 this season and

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton won’t be playing Thursday night when the Milwaukee Bucks host the Washington Wizards. Middleton will miss a second straight game due to a sore left wrist. Antetokounmpo will be out for the second time in the last three games because of a sore right knee. Antetokounmpo wasn’t

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — The International Skating Union has replaced its commentators at the figure skating world championships after an open mic picked up a demeaning remark directed at retired Canadian skater Meagan Duhamel. The ISU says it was “shocked” by the language and that it apologized to Duhamel. Simon Reed made the comment at

By CHARLES ODUM AP Sports Writer VENICE, Fla. (AP) — Hard-throwing rookie right-hander Spencer Strider, who made his major league debut with Atlanta late last season as a reliever, is being considered for one of the open spots in the Braves rotation. General manager Alex Anthopoulos says Kyle Wright and Huascar Ynoa “are the front-runners”

MADRID (AP) — Striker Raúl de Tomás has injured his right shoulder in training and was dropped from Spain’s squad ahead of friendlies against Albania and Iceland. The Spanish soccer federation says De Tomás is leaving the squad to avoid the risk of aggravating the injury. Spain hosts Albania in Barcelona on Saturday and Iceland

By STEPHEN WHYNO AP Sports Writer The Washington Commanders are bringing back tackle Cornelius Lucas in the latest move to solidify the offensive line in front of new quarterback Carson Wentz. The veteran lineman spent the past two seasons with Washington. He started 15 games and appeared in 29 over that time. Lucas returns to

PARIS (AP) — Criticism from French national team players about a basketball venue planned for the 2024 Paris Olympics has led to a search for a replacement. NBA players Evan Fournier and Rudy Gobert helped France win a silver medal at last year’s Tokyo Olympics. They have been unhappy about the choice of Hall 6

MADRID (AP) — Struggling Spanish club Mallorca has hired veteran Mexican coach Javier Aguirre. Aguirre arrives with the goal of saving Mallorca from relegation with nine rounds to go in the Spanish league. The club owned by American businessman Robert Sarver sits in 18th place with 26 points. Aguirre coached México’s national team during two

By DAVE SKRETTA AP Sports Writer Olympic bronze medalist Shoma Uno edged silver medalist Yuma Kagiyama to lead a Japanese sweep of the first three spots after the men’s short program at the figure skating world championships in France. Uno scored 109.63 points for his program for the second-highest score in the world this season

By MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — New York City’s mayor exempted athletes and performers from the city’s vaccine mandate Thursday, while keeping in place the rule for countless other workers who faced losing their jobs for refusing to get vaccinated. The mandate had kept Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving from playing

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Pablo Larrazábal shot an 8-under 64 to take a two-stroke lead after the first round of the Qatar Masters. The Spaniard birdied his first three holes and had nine total. The 122nd-ranked player dropped only one shot. That was on the par-4 fifth hole as the temperature rose at Doha Golf

By MIKE HOUSEHOLDER Associated Press The University of Michigan has reached an agreement to settle a lawsuit brought by students who sought to force changes in how the school protects the campus from sexual misconduct. The deal was filed in federal court on Thursday. As part of it, the Ann Arbor school will create and

By MIKE HOUSEHOLDER Associated Press The University of Michigan has reached an agreement to settle a lawsuit brought by students who sought to force changes in how the school protects the campus from sexual misconduct. The deal was filed in federal court on Thursday. As part of it, the Ann Arbor school will create and