LAS VEGAS (AP) — Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels says he could be ready to play a game now. Coach Lance Leipold and the Jayhawks just need him to be ready for the season. Daniels played only three games in September before missing the rest of the season because of a back injury. Leipold said Wednesday during Big 12 media days that Daniels is doing everything he's being asked to do and wouldn't have been in Las Vegas if the Jayhawks didn't think he would be ready for this season. Kansas is picked fourth in the Big 12 preseason media poll,
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Colorado coach Deion Sanders took some time at the start of his first Big 12 media days appearance to give props to some of the other coaches in the league. Buffaloes quarterback Shedeur Sanders, the coach’s son, was recruited by Gus Malzahn when the current UCF coach was still at Auburn. The younger Sanders played in high school for current Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire. Deion Sanders said Wednesday that he was highlighting some coaches that have been so kind and considerate to him. Colorado is returning to the Big 12 after the past 13 seasons in the Pac-12.
IRVING, Texas (AP) — Big 12 newcomer Utah has been picked to finish first in the expanded 16-team football conference this fall. The Utes got 20 of 61 first-place votes in the poll released Tuesday from the votes of media who cover the league. Kansas State got 19 first-place votes and was picked second, with last year’s Big 12 runner-up Oklahoma State third with 14 first-place ballots. Pac-12 teams Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah officially became Big 12 members this week, at the same time that reigning Big 12 champion Texas and Oklahoma joined the Southeastern Conference. Colorado and coach Deion Sanders were picked 11th in the Big 12 preseason poll, with Arizona State picked 16th.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Salvador Perez homered in both games and MJ Melendez added a solo shot in the nightcap to help the Kansas City Royals beat the St. Louis Cardinals 8-5 for a sweep of a day-night doubleheader Wednesday. Kansas City took the opener 6-4. The Royals have won three in a row to improve to 51-43 — a season after winning just 56 games. Former Cardinals pitcher Michael Wacha (6-6) went five innings for the victory in the second game. Closer James McArthur picked up his 17th save of the season and second of the day. Alec Marsh (7-6) win the opener, giving up three runs and three hits in six innings.
NEW YORK (AP) — Adolis García will represent the host Texas Rangers in Monday night’s Home Run Derby at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, and Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernández completed the eight-man field. García was knocked out by Tampa Bay’s Randy Arozarena last year in the first round at Seattle’s T-Mobile Park. The New York Mets’ Pete Alonso, Philadelphia’s Alec Bohm, Baltimore’s Gunnar Henderson, Atlanta’s Marcell Ozuna, Cleveland’s José Ramírez and Kansas City’s Bobby Witt Jr. previously committed to the competition. García, last year's AL Championship Series MVP, is the only player in the derby who wasn't selected to the All-Star Game.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — For USA Basketball, the road to the Paris Olympics has started with a win. Anthony Davis scored 13 points, Stephen Curry added 12 and the United States opened its tune-up schedule for the Paris Games by topping Canada 86-72 on Wednesday night. Jrue Holiday scored 11 points and Anthony Davis finished with 10 for the U.S., which has four more exhibitions before getting to France. RJ Barrett scored 12 points for Canada, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Dillon Brooks each had 10. President Barack Obama was at the game, as were many NBA coaches and dozens of USA Basketball dignitaries in town for the federation’s 50th anniversary celebration.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Derrick White has been named to the U.S. men’s basketball team for the Paris Olympics as a replacement for Kawhi Leonard. The announcement Wednesday from USA Basketball marked the first shakeup to a roster that was announced in the spring. Leonard missed 12 of the Los Angeles Clippers’ final 14 games this past season with right knee inflammation, though he said in recent days that he felt fine and the knee was doing well. USA Basketball said it, along with the Clippers, made the decision on Leonard’s status for Paris. He was replaced by White, who averaged 15.2 points and 5.2 assists for the NBA champion Boston Celtics this past season.
UNDATED (AP) — The NBA has agreed to terms on its new media deal, an 11-year agreement worth $76 billion that assures player salaries will continue rising for the foreseeable future and one that will surely change how some viewers access the game for years to come. A person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press that the networks have the terms sheets, with the next step being for the league’s board of governors to approve the contracts. The deal sets NBA records for both its length and total value and goes into effect for the 2025-26 season.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Jefferson Lerma scored in the 39th minute, and Colombia played a man short the entire second half in a 1-0 win over Uruguay to reach the Copa America final against Lionel Messi and Argentina. Daniel Muñoz was ejected in first-half stoppage time for his second yellow card, but Colombia held on to reach the championship for the first time since winning its only Copa title as host in 2001. Colombia extended its unbeaten streak to a team record 28 games. Players from both teams pushed and shoved on the field at the final whistle and some players went into the stands to scrap with fans.
NEW YORK (AP) — Gregg Berhalter was fired as U.S. men’s soccer coach, nine days after his team’s first-round exit from the Copa America flamed doubts he was the right person to remain in charge for the 2026 World Cup. Berhalter’s second term as coach was cut short 10 months after he returned to the bench with high hopes and proclaimed the team’s goal was “to change soccer in America forever.” The U.S. had seven wins, six losses and one draw in his second stint, leaving his overall record at 44 wins, 17 losses and 13 draws.
DORTMUND, Germany (AP) — England has reached a second straight European Championship final by beating the Netherlands 2-1 thanks to substitute Ollie Watkins’ stoppage-time winner. Watkins came on for captain Harry Kane in a bold call by coach Gareth Southgate. He turned and smashed a fierce shot into the bottom corner in the first minute of added-on time. It was a late goal that left King Charles III on the edge of his seat. England will play Spain in Sunday’s final in Berlin. It will be the nation’s first title match on foreign soil having won the World Cup in 1966 and lost to Italy in the Euro 2020 final.
DORTMUND, Germany (AP) — Dutch fans came to the stadium in a rousing march, 100,000 strong. It will feel like a long journey home. Ollie Watkins’ added-time goal sealed a 2-1 win for England over the Netherlands in the Euro 2024 semifinals on Wednesday and ended the orange-clad Dutch fans’ dream of a first European Championship title since 1988. The journey home will not be without some bitterness after a hotly disputed penalty decision in England's favor after Dutch defender Denzel Dumfries made contact with Harry Kane while trying to block a shot.
LONDON (AP) — Lorenzo Musetti has reached his first Grand Slam semifinal by eliminating Taylor Fritz at Wimbledon and will face Novak Djokovic next. The 25th-seeded Musetti beat the 13th-seeded Fritz 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. It was the 37th five-setter at the All England Club this year, the most at any Grand Slam tournament. Djokovic’s trip through the bracket was made even easier when he moved into a record-tying 13th semifinal at the tournament via a walkover. Alex de Minaur withdrew before the match with a hip injury. Elena Rybakina and Barbora Krejcikova earned spots in the women's semifinals. Rybakina won Wimbledon in 2022. Krejcikova won the 2021 French Open.
NORTH BERWICK, Scotland (AP) — Rory McIlroy's recovery from a devastating U.S. Open loss was to walk the High Line in Manhattan. He says it allowed him to be alone in his thoughts. That follows a final hour in the U.S. Open where he says he got out of his own world and started thinking too much about Bryson DeChambeau. McIlroy is at the Scottish Open this week. It's his first time speaking about the two short putts he missed at Pinehurst No. 2. He doesn't see the British Open next week at Royal Troon as a chance for redemption. It's just another chance to end a decade without a major.
NEW YORK (AP) — Former NBA player Jontay Porter has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in a federal criminal case. The charge is tied to the betting scandal that got Porter banned from the league. The former Toronto Raptors center entered the plea Wednesday at his arraignment in a New York federal court. Porter admits he agreed to withdraw early from games so that co-conspirators could win bets on his performance. He says he's undergone inpatient treatment for a gambling problem and remains in therapy. The former center is free on $250,000 bond while awaiting his sentencing Dec. 18.
WEDNESDAY SCORES
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE
Final Kansas City 6 St. Louis 4
Final Seattle 2 San Diego 0
Final Chicago Cubs 4 Baltimore 0
Final Kansas City 8 St. Louis 5
Final Houston 9 Miami 1
Final Toronto 10 San Francisco 6
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Chicago White Sox 3 Minnesota 1
Final Minnesota 3 Chicago White Sox 2
Final Detroit 5 Cleveland 4
Final N.Y. Yankees 2 Tampa Bay 1
Final Oakland 5 Boston 2
Final L.A. Angels 7 Texas 2
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final N.Y. Mets 6 Washington 2
Final Philadelphia 4 L.A. Dodgers 3
Final Colorado 6 Cincinnati 5
Final Milwaukee 9 Pittsburgh 0