NEW ORLEANS (AP) — NCAA President Mark Emmert says investigations into allegations of major violations against several high-profile men’s college basketball programs have taken “way too long.” The implicated programs include current men’s Final Four participant Kansas. Emmert did not specify what solutions to speed the process are on the table. But there’s increasing acknowledgement that the process is broken. SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey says the Division I Transformation Committee he co-chairs is working to recommend ways to modernize and reform NCAA governance and regulatory policies. Emmert also is urging Congress to draft national name, image and likeness policies governing permissible athlete endorsement deals. He says transfer rules also remain under constant scrutiny.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Exactly 10 years after a bunch of one-and-done phenoms for Kentucky cut down the nets in the Big Easy, there is a much more old-school feel to this year’s Final Four. Some of the biggest stars on each team have taken advantage of medical and COVID-19 waivers, along with transfer portals, to produce four national semifinalists long on experience. Villanova and Kansas, and to some extent Duke and North Carolina, feature the kind of savvy veterans that once seemed endangered in the world of big-time college basketball. And together, this quartet is proving on the game’s grandest stage that experience still matters in an era of instant gratification.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The four blueblood programs that have descended upon the Superdome for the men's Final Four all have the ability to recruit on a national scale. Their coaches are able to hop aboard a jet on a moment’s notice to sit in a living room or take in a game. Yet all of the teams in New Orleans have pulled talent from their own backyards. Kansas has mined stars from Kansas City, Villanova from the fertile recruiting grounds of Philadelphia, and Duke and North Carolina have gone head-to-head for local talent with their campuses separated by about 10 miles.
UNDATED (AP) — South Dakota women’s basketball coach Dawn Plitzuweit is taking over at West Virginia. She led South Dakota to a surprising run to the Sweet 16. South Dakota beat Ole Miss and No. 2 seed Baylor in the NCAA Tournament before losing to Michigan, 52-49. The Coyotes finished the season 29-6. At West Virginia she replaces Mike Carey, who retired two weeks ago after 21 seasons. Plitzuweit will have a five-year contract worth a total of $3 million with a starting salary of $550,000, plus incentives. She went 158-36 in six seasons at South Dakota, including four NCAA Tournament appearances. She was named the Summit League’s coach of the year three times. She takes over a West Virginia team that had just one NCAA Tournament appearance in the past five seasons.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Kim Mulkey is The Associated Press women's basketball Coach of the Year in her first season at LSU. The longtime Baylor coach led the Tigers to 26 wins at an NCAA Tournament berth after they won only nine games last season. Mulkey received 10 votes from the 30-member national media panel that votes on the AP Top 25. Dawn Staley of South Carolina was second with eight votes. Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer received three. Nicki Collen, who replaced Mulkey at Baylor, got two votes and so did Wes Moore of N.C. State. Five coaches got one vote apiece.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Linebacker Bobby Wagner has agreed to a five-year deal to join his hometown Los Angeles Rams. Wagner became one of the NFL’s top linebackers during a decade with the Seattle Seahawks. The Seahawks released the six-time All-Pro anchor of their defense on March 9. ESPN reported Wagner’s deal is worth $50 million.
UNDATED (AP) — The Kansas City Royals have exercised their club option on Mike Matheny for the 2023 season. The move eliminates any uncertainty over whether their manager will remain with the club after the coming season. Matheny has gone 100-122 in two seasons with the Royals and is 691-596 as a major league skipper, including his seven years with St. Louis.
UNDATED (AP) — Major League Baseball has decided it will continue to use automatic runners in extra innings for the third straight season. MLB and the players’ association agreed to keep the controversial rule that starts each team with a runner on second base during extra innings. MLB is also expanding active rosters from 26 players to 28 from opening day on April 7 through May 1 this year, due to the delayed start of spring training.
UNDATED (AP) — Purdue’s Jaden Ivey is one of several players to announce today that he's leaving school early to enter the NBA Draft. Ivey averaged 17 points, five rebounds and three assists per game and was named to The Associated Press All-America second team. Wisconsin's Johnny Davis and Notre Dame freshman guard Blake Wesley also said today that they are entering the draft early.
THURSDAY SCORES
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Final Detroit 102 Philadelphia 94
Final Atlanta 131 Cleveland 107
Final OT Milwaukee 120 Brooklyn 119
Final OT Chicago 135 L.A. Clippers 130
Final Utah 122 L.A. Lakers 109
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Final N-Y Islanders 5 Columbus 2
Final Carolina 4 Montreal 0
Final Florida 4 Chicago 0
Final Toronto 7 Winnipeg 3
Final Boston 8 New Jersey 1
Final OT Pittsburgh 4 Minnesota 3
Final Colorado 4 San Jose 2
Final SO Los Angeles 3 Calgary 2
Final OT Dallas 3 Anaheim 2