AP Sports

Iowa star Caitlin Clark declares for WNBA draft, will skip final season of college eligibility

Iowa star Caitlin Clark says she will leave the Hawkeyes after this season and enter the WNBA draft. Clark made the announcement Thursday on social media. She is 18 points away from passing LSU’s Pete Maravich for the all-time NCAA Division I record for men or women with 3,650 career points. She broke Lynette Woodard’s major college scoring record on Wednesday. Clark is expected to be the top pick in the draft on April 15. The Indiana Fever, who have the first pick, indicated on social media shortly after Clark’s announcement that they intend to select her.

Shohei Ohtani stuns Dodgers — and many around the world — with marriage announcement

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Shohei Ohtani stunned the Los Angeles Dodgers — and many around the world — with his marriage announcement, so manager Dave Roberts said any gift the team gives the two-time MVP would be like most of the money in his contract: deferred. Roberts says: “I’m sure it’s en route.” Ohtani, the two-way Japanese star, revealed on Instagram early Thursday that he was married. Much of the relationship remains shroudded in mystery.

Fanatics founder Michael Rubin says company unfairly blamed for new MLB uniforms

BOSTON (AP) — Fanatics founder Michael Rubin says his company is being unfairly blamed for new Major League Baseball uniforms that have see-through pants and other fit and design problems. Speaking at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, Rubin says “We’re purely doing exactly as we’ve been told, and we’ve been told we’re doing everything exactly right.” Since reporting to spring training this month, some players have complained about the fit of new uniforms. The white pants worn by some teams are also see-through enough to clearly show tucked-in jersey tops.

At Duke, basketball provides the perfect backdrop to salute ‘kid captains’ facing medical battles

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — The Duke men’s basketball program is in its second year of honoring patients of the nearby children’s hospital. That has come through the Scheyer Family Kid Captain Program launched last year. Marcelle Scheyer is the wife of Blue Devils coach Jon Scheyer. She said the program helps “celebrate and honor” those children and their families facing medical challenges. The program includes the patient being honored at midcourt during a first-half timeout to rousing cheers from the famed “Cameron Crazies.” It’s a gameday tradition in its infancy and will recognize its 11th kid captain Saturday when Duke hosts Virginia.

Rublev defaulted and defending champ Medvedev knocked out in Dubai semifinals

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Andrey Rublev has been defaulted from his semifinal at the Dubai Championships for yelling in the face of a line judge, allowing Alexander Bublik to advance to the final. Also, defending champion Daniil Medvedev has been knocked out in the other semi by Ugo Humbert 7-5, 6-3. The second-seeded Rublev erupted after Bublik won a point to lead 6-5 in the deciding set. The Russian ranked No. 5 immediately pointed to the baseline, walked to the line judge, leaned over and shouted in his face. ATP supervisor Roland Herfel came to the court accompanied by a Russian speaker, who said Rublev swore in his native language. Rublev responded: “I was talking to him in English.” The No. 4-ranked Medvedev was undone by Humbert for the third time in four matchups.

Stacy Wakefield had a passion for service that continued after husband Tim Wakefield’s death

Stacy Wakefield is being remembered for her passion for service, which included visits with cancer-stricken kids up until the final months of her life. Wakefield, the widow of former Boston Red Sox pitcher and two-time World Series champion Tim Wakefield, died Wednesday. Both she and her husband had cancer. Lisa Scherber, the director of patient and family programs at Dana Farber’s Jimmy Fund Clinic, said Stacy Wakefield was a “powerhouse” who “put herself last.”

Verstappen on pole for F1 season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix overshadowed by scrutiny of team boss

SAKHIR, Bahrain (AP) — Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen has qualified on the pole for the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix as scrutiny of Red Bull’s boss overshadows the start of the new season. Verstappen was fastest for Red Bull by .228 seconds over Charles Leclerc of Ferrari. George Russell was third for Mercedes and the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez was fifth. Verstappen won 19 out of 22 races last year, with two more wins for Perez. The relatively close qualifying times indicated that other teams have closed the gap on Red Bull.

Anthony Kim has rusty welcome back to golf after 12 years away. He trails Rahm by 14

KING ABDULLAH ECONOMIC CITY, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Anthony Kim is back to competitive golf and has plenty of rust. Kim played for the first time in nearly 12 years and shot 76 at LIV Golf Jeddah. That leaves the 38-year-old Californian in last place and 14 shots behind Masters champion Jon Rahm and Adrian Meronk. Rahm birdied his last three holes for a 62. Meronk finished with three straight pars. But this day was all about the return of Kim. It’s rare for someone to stay away so long from golf. He decided to join LIV and will play as an individual the rest of the year.

Chevrolet heads to Las Vegas undefeated in 2024 across all three NASCAR national series

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Two weeks into the new NASCAR season, Chevrolet heads into Las Vegas Motor Speedway undefeated. Daniel Suarez of Trackhouse Racing won a three-wide photo finish at the checkered flag last week at Atlanta and William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports won the Daytona 500. But the Chevy winning streak crosses all three NASCAR national series as the bowtie brand has swept the start of the year in both the Xfinity and Truck Series’, as well. But NASCAR shifts this weekend to Las Vegas Motor Speedway, which unlike Daytona and Atlanta is not a superspeedway. It’s a traditional 1.5-mile oval — the type of track that comprises the bulk of the NASCAR schedule and will be a closer indicator on where Ford and Toyota stack up against their rival.

Olympic commission suggests wide-ranging changes to SafeSport and USOPC

A commission charged with reviewing the Olympic structure in the U.S. is calling for Congress to consider wide-ranging changes, including government funding of the U.S. Center for SafeSport, severing grassroots from the elite sports system and even removing the word “amateur” in a potential rewrite of the 1978 law that created the modern-day Olympic structure. The commission released its 275-page report, concluding in part that “we need a better long-term vision for how we organize Olympic- and Paralympic-movement sports in America.” The tension between grassroots and elite sports is a common theme throughout the document. Untethering the two could benefit both the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee and the SafeSport center.