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PAC-12 commish believes league can survive minus UCLA, USC

By Mark Anderson The Associated Press LAS VEGAS — George Kliavkoff was one day short of his one-year anniversary as the Pac-12 Conference commissioner, finally on the second day of his first vacation when he got the shocking news that USC and UCLA were leaving for the Big Ten. He was driving from Montana to Idaho, but was unaware of the 90 text messages populating his cellphone because there was no reception in that area. Kliavkoff quickly cut his vacation short, flying back to Las Vegas the following day to tackle a topic that more than a year later continues to shape the ...

Barkley, NY Giants fail to get deal done

The Associated Press EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Saquon Barkley and the New York Giants failed to reach an agreement on a long-term contract extension by Monday’s deadline for franchised players, leaving the star running back with the option of playing for the tag-mandated $10.1 million salary or maybe taking the season off. The Giants gave the franchise tag to the 26-year-old Barkley in March, giving the two sides four months to reach an agreement on a new deal by the July 17 deadline at 4 p.m. Talks went down to the wire and an agreement was not reached. The Giants had no ...

NCAA will run 2nd women’s tourney

The Associated Press The NCAA announced Monday it is creating another women’s basketball tournament that it will operate like the men’s NIT as an option for 32 teams that do not make the NCAA Tournament. The Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament, which will debut in the upcoming season, brings the men’s and women’s NCAA postseason opportunities to an equal number. An NCAA-operated second option for women was one of the key focuses of an external gender equity report on the NCAA. Women’s teams that didn’t make the NCAA Tournament in the past had the opportunity to ...

PSU Altoona gives wrestling in area a boost

This week’s announcement that Penn State Altoona was bringing back men’s wrestling and also implementing a women’s program, both for the 2024-25 season, was tremendous news for the sport in our area. Think about college wrestling in our area past the high school level. We have the best collegiate wrestling dynasty, maybe in the history of NCAA wrestling, just down the road from us at Penn State. Lock Haven and UPJ also aren’t too far away, and Pitt, Clarion and Edinboro are all a nice day trip. The problem is these are all NCAA Division I schools in wrestling, with the ...

Northwestern suspends head coach Fitzgerald

Northwestern suspended coach Pat Fitzgerald for two weeks without pay Friday following an investigation into alleged hazing within the football program. The school said an investigation led by attorney Maggie Hickey of law firm ArentFox Schiff did not find “sufficient” evidence that the coaching staff knew about ongoing hazing. But investigators found there were “significant opportunities” to find out about it and report the conduct. Fitzgerald started serving his suspension on Friday. He said in a statement he was “very disappointed” when he heard about the hazing ...

NBA buzz should help PSU efforts

By Neil Rudel nrudel@altoonamirror.com Catching up with Penn State related news: Penn State’s NBA profile was raised considerably Thursday night. For the first time in program history, two Nittany Lions were drafted as Jalen Pickett went to newly-crowned NBA champion Denver with the 32nd pick and Seth Lundy followed, going to Atlanta at No. 46. After transferring from Siena, Pickett carried the Lions to this past NCAA Tournament while Lundy spent his entire career in Happy Valley. Pickett showed versatility both in facing the basket and with his back to it while Lundy did ...