BRISTOL, Conn. (AP) — Obi Toppin of Dayton won the John R. Wooden Award as the nation’s outstanding college basketball player. Toppin, along with Saddiq Bey of Villanova, Luka Garza of Iowa, Myles Powell of Seton Hall and Peyton Pritchard of Oregon, also earned positional awards from the Basketball Hall of Fame. The winners were announced on ESPN's “SportsCenter” broadcast. They are usually honored at the College Basketball Awards in Los Angeles, but the ceremony was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. The awards named for some of college basketball's greatest players were decided by their namesakes and fan voting.
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Duke freshman Cassius Stanley is entering the NBA draft. The 6-foot-6 guard announced his decision Tuesday after averaging 12.6 points and 4.9 rebounds for the Blue Devils. In a statement, Stanley says he believed the Blue Devils could have attained his goal of reaching the Final Four and contending for a national championship. But he noted that “the NBA values youth” in his decision to enter the draft. Stanley joins sophomore point guard Tre Jones as early entrees to the NBA draft from Duke.
UNDATED (AP) — NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has raised the possibility of not being able to complete the regular season. He tells NBCSN all options remain on the table and the league needs a clearer picture on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Bettman says the ideal scenario would be to complete the season to determine playoff seedings. However, he adds: “We understand that may not be possible.” He also raised the possibility of having games played at neutral sites.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Las Vegas Raiders have signed defensive back Damarious Randall to a one-year contract in their latest move to try to upgrade a porous defense. The Raiders announced the signing after agreeing to the deal last week. The Raiders signed Randall to a $3.25 million contract after another deal with cornerback Eli Apple fell through. The 27-year-old Randall was a first-round pick by Green Bay in 2015 with experience playing outside cornerback, in the slot and at both safety positions.
CHARLOTTE, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Burton and Carl Edwards are among the new nominees for NASCAR’s next Hall of Fame class. Janet Guthrie returns as a nominee in the Landmark category after a one-year absence. The voting structure was changed for this year. There are three ballots: one for Modern candidates, one for Pioneer candidates and one for Landmark candidates. Two entries from the 10 Modern candidates will be elected, along with one entry apiece from the five-candidate Pioneer and Landmark categories.