AP Sports

Caitlin Clark of Iowa is the AP Player of the Year in women’s hoops for the 2nd straight season

Caitlin Clark is capping off her illustrious college career with another record breaking season. The NCAA Division I career scoring leader set numerous records helping Iowa reach the Final Four for a second consecutive season. Clark was honored Thursday as The Associated Press women’s basketball Player of the Year. She received 35 votes from the 36-member national media panel that votes on the AP Top 25 each week. Cameron Brink of Stanford received the other vote.

Police say use of racial slur clearly audible as they investigate racist incidents toward Utah team

COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho (AP) — Police investigating racist incidents directed toward the Utah women’s basketball team when they were near their Idaho hotel while in town for the NCAA Tournament say they’ve found an audio recording in which the use of a racial slur was clearly audible. The Coeur d’Alene Police Department says it’s working to determine the “context and conduct” associated with the slur’s use to determine if there was a violation of law. Police also said they are still reviewing evidence from the March 21 incidents but it appears that a racial slur was used more than once.

LeBron James says popularity of women’s basketball is due to familiar stars

WASHINGTON (AP) — LeBron James figures there’s at least one obvious explanation for the surging popularity of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament — recognizable stars. After his Los Angeles Lakers beat Washington on Wednesday night, James talked a bit about the women’s game. He listed Angel Reese, JuJu Watkins, Caitlin Clark and several other top players. Although James mentioned well-known men’s players like Purdue’s Zach Edey and Tennessee’s Dalton Knecht, he noted that the transfer portal and early NBA draft departures makes it harder for players to became familiar to fans. It’s different on the women’s side.

Athletics announce plans to play the next 3 seasons in minor league park near Sacramento

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — The Athletics will leave Oakland after this season and play temporarily at a minor league park near Sacramento until their planned new stadium in Las Vegas is built. The A’s announced the decision to play at the home of the Sacramento River Cats from 2025-27 with an option for 2028 after being unable to reach an agreement to extend their lease in Oakland. The A’s announced their intention last April to move to Las Vegas. The decision angered the fans in Oakland and the team’s previously low attendance dropped precipitously with the club drawing a league-low 832,352 fans to the outdated Coliseum last season.

Saudi Arabia will host the women’s tennis WTA Finals for the next three years

Saudi Arabia will host the WTA Finals as part of a three-year deal with the women’s professional tennis tour that will increase the prize money for this November’s season-ending championship to a record $15.25 million. That is a 70% increase from 2023. The event for the top eight singles players and top eight doubles teams will be held in Riyadh from 2024-26 under the agreement announced Thursday. It is part of a recent wave of investment by the kingdom in tennis and various sports, despite questions about LGBTQ+ and women’s rights there raised by Hall of Famers Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova and others. WTA Tour Chairman and CEO Steve Simon told the AP he thinks everyone who qualifies for the Finals will want to play.

South African footballer and Olympian Luke Fleurs killed in hijacking

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South African footballer Luke Fleurs has been killed in a hijacking in Johannesburg. His Kaizer Chiefs made the announcement on Thursday. Police say the 24-year-old defender was shot while waiting to be attended to at a petrol station in the Honeydew suburb in Johannesburg. Fleurs previously played for the national under-23 side and represented South Africa at the Tokyo Olympics. Fleurs is the latest among thousands of people who are victims to fatal hijackings in South Africa, which has one of the highest murder rates in the world.

South Carolina’s Dawn Staley is the AP Coach of the Year for the 2nd time

Dawn Staley did a masterful job guiding a young South Carolina team back to the Final Four undefeated for the second straight season. Staley had to replace her entire starting lineup from last season’s team that made the national semifinals and pushed all the right buttons to have the team go 36-0 and earn the No. 1 ranking most of the season. The Gamecocks coach was honored as the AP women’s basketball Coach of the Year for the second time. She received 27 votes from the 35-member national media panel that votes on the AP Top 25 each week.

After flight delay, defending champion UConn arrives in Arizona for Final Four in middle of night

STORRS, Conn. (AP) — Defending national champion UConn finally touched down in Arizona for the Final Four at 3:15 a.m. MST Thursday after a long delay and a red-eye flight. After the plane they were supposed to take at around 6 p.m. EDT had mechanical issues getting to the East Coast, the Huskies took off in a smaller Allegiant Air plane from Bradley International Airport near Hartford at about 1:30 a.m. EDT for the flight to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. No. 1 seed UConn is scheduled to play fourth-seeded Alabama on Saturday night in the semifinals at State Farm Stadium in Glendale. The championship game is Monday night. Alabama and Purdue arrived in Arizona on Tuesday night, and North Carolina State came in Wednesday afternoon.

No hangover for these Dallas Stars, who are streaking toward playoffs with record 8 wins in a row

DALLAS (AP) — Dallas Stars coach Pete DeBoer went into this season a little worried about the potential hangover effect after that long postseason run that ended in a six-game Western Conference Final. With six games left before the playoffs begin again, DeBoer is feeling pretty good about his team. The Stars have won a franchise-record eight games in a row, Jake Oettinger has posted shutouts in the last two, and they are on top of the Western Conference standings with 105 points, one behind the New York Rangers for the most in the NHL.

When voters say ‘no’ to new stadiums, what do professional sports teams do next?

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Voter rejection of a stadium sales tax plan for the Kansas City Royals and Chiefs has raised questions about what happens next. They’re not the first teams to face such questions. Public finance professor Geoffrey Propheter, of the University of Colorado Denver, has tracked stadium referenda. Since 1990, he found voters approved 35 stadium plans and defeated 22. Some teams move after voters reject stadium subsidies, but that’s rare. More often, teams regroup and eventually win public funding for stadiums. Many teams sidestep voters altogether by getting approval straight from local or state lawmakers.