Tuesday’s Sports In Brief
NFL
HOUSTON (AP) — DeMeco Ryans has been hired as coach of the Houston Texans, giving him his first head coaching job and bringing him back to the place where he started his playing career.
Ryans joins the Texans from the San Francisco 49ers, where he spent the past two seasons as their defensive coordinator.
He replaces Lovie Smith, who was fired after just one season where the team went 3-13-1.
Ryans issued a statement thanking the 49ers, coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch for his time in San Francisco before looking ahead to his future with the Texans.
A fan favorite during his playing days in Houston, Ryans could help the team win back some fans that have become disenchanted with the direction of the Texans as they muddled through three straight dreadful seasons after winning the AFC South in 2018 and 2019.
NBA
Paolo Banchero’s rookie season will include a trip to NBA All-Star weekend.
The Orlando Magic forward and No. 1 pick in last year’s draft was announced Tuesday as a participant in this year’s Rising Stars Game, to be held in Salt Lake City on Feb. 17, two nights before the All-Star Game.
Banchero — who leads all rookies with a 20.7 points-per-game average — may still be selected as an All-Star reserve. Those players will be revealed Thursday.
Banchero is on pace to be the first rookie to average 20 points per game since Luka Doncic in 2018-19. He also is fourth among rookies in rebounds per game entering Tuesday and third among them in steals per game.
Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said the All-Star experience — whether just for Rising Stars or not — will have an impact on Banchero.
MLB
LOS ANGELES (AP) — All-Star pitcher Tony Gonsolin and the Los Angeles Dodgers agreed on a $6.65 million, two-year contract Tuesday that avoided an arbitration hearing.
Gonsolin gets $3.25 million this year and $3.4 million in 2024.
His salary in the second season can escalate by up to $3 million based on a points system in which he will be credited one point for each start, or each relief appearance of 3 1/3 innings: $500,000 apiece for 14, 16, 18, 20, 24 and 28 points. The 2024 salary also would increase by $1,125,000 for winning a Cy Young Award this year, $625,000 for finishing second or third in the voting and $500,000 for finishing fourth or fifth.
The sides exchanged salary proposals on Jan. 13, with Gonsolin seeking a raise from $720,000 last season to $3.4 million this year, while the Dodgers offered $3 million.
COLLEGES
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — Longtime University of California women’s swimming coach Teri McKeever was fired Tuesday following an investigation into alleged harassment, bullying and verbally abusive conduct, the school said in a statement.
McKeever led the Golden Bears to four NCAA team titles over 29 years. She coached the U.S. women’s swim team at the London Olympics in 2012, the first woman to serve in that role.
Cal Director of Athletics Jim Knowlton said in a letter to team and athletic staff that an investigative report by an independent law firm detailed “numerous violations of university policies that prohibit race, national origin, and disability discrimination. ... The report also details verbally abusive conduct that is antithetical to our most important values.”
Knowlton said the 482-page report substantiated many allegations of unacceptable behavior and said it was in “the best interests of our student-athletes, our swimming program and Cal Athletics as a whole” that the program part ways with McKeever.
WNBA
Diana Taurasi’s USA Basketball career isn’t done just yet.
The five-time Olympic gold medalist will take part in a national team training camp in Minnesota next month. Taurasi told The Associated Press last summer that she would consider playing with USA Basketball if she was healthy enough. She injured her quad shortly after and didn’t participate in the FIBA World Cup that the Americans won in Australia.
While Taurasi will be at the camp, Brittney Griner won’t. She is still part of the pool that the 2024 Olympic team will be chosen from, but Griner hasn’t been out in public much since a prisoner swap in December brought her home from Russia after a 10-month ordeal that captivated world attention. Griner said she plans on playing in the WNBA this year.
Other players expected at the training camp that will run from Feb. 7-9 include former Olympic or World Cup gold medalists: Ariel Atkins and Elena Delle Donne of Washington; Napheesa Collier of Minnesota; Allisha Gray of Dallas; Sabrina Ionescu and Betnijah Laney of New York; Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young of Las Vegas; Kahleah Copper of Chicago and free agent Angel McCoughtry.