COLLEGES
Alabama All-American forward Brandon Miller is heading to the NBA after displaying versatile talent and athleticism in a lone season of college ball that was blemished by revelations he was present at a fatal shooting in January near campus.
ESPN first reported on Miller’s decision, and a person with knowledge of the situation confirmed the report to The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because Miller hadn’t yet made an official declaration for the draft.
The 6-foot-9, 200-pound freshman, who was one of the nation’s top high school recruits, is projected as a potential top 5 draft pick.
Miller displayed his accurate 3-point shooting and athleticism in the most productive season of any freshman in Alabama history. He led the Tide to their first No. 1 ranking in 20 years and first No. 1 NCAA Tournament seed.
Miller was described as a cooperating witness after the Jan. 15 shooting and was never charged with a crime.
• Drew Timme of Gonzaga is one of five finalists for the John R. Wooden Award as the men’s college basketball player of the year.
He’s joined by Zach Edey of Purdue, Trayce Jackson-Davis of Indiana, Houston’s Marcus Sasser and Jalen Wilson of Kansas.
The winner will be announced April 4 on ESPN. All five players have been invited to Los Angeles for the 47th annual presentation on April 7.
BASEBALL: Clemson is retiring the No. 7 of former baseball coach Jack Leggett, who reached the College World Series six times in his 22 seasons.
Leggett played for UMaine and was captain of the 1976 College World Series team.
Clemson said Leggett’s number will be retired in pregame ceremonies before Clemson hosts Notre Dame on April 15.
Leggett was the Tigers coach from 1994 to 2015 and won 955 games during his tenure. He took the team to 21 NCAA Tournaments including trips to the CWS in 1995, 1996, 2000, 2002, 2006 and 2010.
The Tigers won three ACC Tournament titles under Leggett. He was named ACC coach of the year three times.
MEN’S HOCKEY: Wisconsin has filled its men’s hockey head coaching vacancy by hiring Mike Hastings away from Minnesota State.
FOOTBALL
NFL: The Atlanta Falcons added depth at receiver by signing free agent Scotty Miller to a one-year contract.
Miller spent the past four seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who selected him in the sixth round of the 2019 draft out of Bowling Green.
• Wide receiver and return specialist DeAndre Carter signed a free-agent contract with Las Vegas, and the Raiders also re-signed guard Alex Bars.
Carter caught 46 passes for 538 yards and three touchdowns last season for the Los Angeles Chargers.
GOLF
PGA: Veterans Padraig Harrington and Matt Kuchar each shot a 4-under 68 to share the early lead with MJ Daffue and Roberto Diaz in the weather-delayed first round of the Valero Texas Open at San Antonio.
Daffue eagled the par-5 18th hole at TPC San Antonio and Diaz made birdie on 18 to join the 51-year-old Harrington — who has played on the PGA Tour, European tour and PGA Tour Champions this year — and the 44-year-old Kuchar atop the leaderboard.
Play was delayed by fog in the morning, which prevented the afternoon half of the field from finishing their rounds.
Matt Wallace — a winner last week in the Dominican Republic — was one shot back along with Garrick Higgo, Harry Higgs, Chez Reavie and Nick Taylor.
LPGA: Mi Hyang Lee shot a 6-under 65 in her first LPGA Tour event of the year for a one-stroke lead in the opening round of the DIO Implant LA Open at Palos Verdes Estates, California.
Lee, a 30-year-old South Korean who has slipped to 378th in the world, played bogey-free and closed with a birdie on the par-4 18th hole at chilly Palos Verdes.
Megan Khang and Hyo Joo Kim each shot 66. Nasa Hataoka, Lucy Li and Maude-Aimee LeBlanc were another shot behind.
TENNIS
MIAMI OPEN: Carlos Alcaraz took his spectacular arsenal to the highest-ranked American man in No. 10 Taylor Fritz and blasted into the semifinals with a 6-4, 6-2 victory at Hard Rock Stadium at Miami Gardens, Florida.
Alcaraz, who won the Indian Wells title last week, will play Jannik Sinner in Friday’s semifinals.
SOCCER
WOMEN’S CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Chelsea goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger saved two penalties to help Chelsea knock out title holder Lyon 4-3 in a shootout and reach the semifinals at London after a suspenseful and hard-fought contest at Stamford Bridge.
It was a bad evening for French clubs as Paris Saint-Germain also exited the tournament with a 2-1 loss on aggregate against Wolfsburg.
FRANCE: French Coach Hervé Renard has been appointed to guide France’s women’s team at the World Cup this summer and at the Paris Olympics next year.
The 54-year-old Renard quit as coach of Saudi Arabia’s national team earlier this week, ending a four-year spell highlighted by a win over eventual champion Argentina in the group stage of the World Cup in Qatar last year.
He signed a contract that runs until August 2024, the French federation said.
The Women’s World Cup is scheduled to be played from July 20-Aug. 20 in Australia and New Zealand.
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