UMaine plans fan basketball trip to Dartmouth
The Friends of Maine Women’s Basketball are sponsoring a one-day bus trip to the Black Bears’ 2 p.m. game on Dec. 6 at Dartmouth. The cost is $72 and includes transportation and a ticket to the game.
The bus will depart the Cyr garage in Old Town at 7 a.m. and the Bangor garage at 7:30 with pickups planned in Newport and along I-95 and I-295 as needed.
Sign-up slated at the Friends’ table in Cross Insurance Center at Nov. 25 and Dec. 1 home games or by contacting Evie Smith (viaeviesmith3@roadrunner.com) or 207-356-1811 or P.O. Box 134, Carmel, ME 04419.
Durant to miss 7-10 days
All-Star forward Kevin Durant will be out at least seven to 10 days with a left hamstring strain, the Oklahoma City Thunder announced Wednesday.
At that point, the team said Durant’s hamstring will be re-evaluated. An MRI on Wednesday morning showed the strain.
The 2014 NBA Most Valuable Player was injured on a drive to the basket in the second quarter of the Thunder’s 125-101 win over the Washington Wizards on Tuesday night. He was fouled and grabbed his left leg after landing on the floor.
Durant is averaging 28.1 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists. He was limited to 27 games last season because of three surgeries on his right foot.
Cowboys’ hardy claims discrimination
Dallas Cowboys defensive end Greg Hardy changed his Twitter profile for a brief time Wednesday morning to declare his innocence and state that he is a victim of discrimination.
Hardy’s Twitter handle remained @OverlordKraken, but he changed his name to “Perfection.”
He wrote in the account’s bio: “Innocent until proven guilty-lack of knowledge & information is just ignorance-the unjust/prejudicial treatment of diff categories of people is discrimination.”
Hardy later took that profile down. Domestic violence charges filed last year against Hardy have been expunged.
Chargers, Raiders hand off stadium project to Disney
The San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders have turned to the Walt Disney Company to lead their proposed stadium project in Carson, California.
Bob Iger, chairman and chief executive of Disney, was appointed as non-executive chairman on Wednesday by Carson Holdings, which was formed to bring the Chargers and the Raiders to the proposed facility built by the company.
If the NFL approves the plan, Iger would be responsible for hiring the executive responsible for overseeing the day-to-day functioning of the $1.7 billion stadium that would be built on a 168-acre plot of land that is located 13 miles south of downtown Los Angeles.
Kansas freshman still in limbo
Kansas freshman Cheick Diallo, awaiting a verdict from the NCAA clearinghouse on his eligibility, has hired an attorney with experience battling the NCAA on student-athlete rights issues, according to Yahoo Sports.
Diallo’s legal team is concerned the NCAA could delay Diallo’s ruling this season after it failed to render a ruling by the end of Kansas’ exhibition season Tuesday.
The NCAA is investigating Diallo’s school, Our Savior New American in Centereach, New York. He is one of only a select few players yet to be informed whether he is eligible or ineligible by the clearinghouse.
Woods signs with Tar Heels
Seventh Woods, a 6-foot guard from Hammond High School in Columbia, South Carolina, became the first major surprise of college basketball’s national signing day when he announced a commitment to North Carolina on Wednesday.
Woods, a four-star recruit ranked No. 35 in the Class of 2016, picked the Tar Heels over his hometown team, South Carolina, and Georgetown.
North Carolina already had commitments from two other four-star recruits, 6-10 center Tony Bradley of Bartow, Florida, and 6-5 shooting guard Brandon Robinson of Douglasville, Georgia.
Northwestern forward to miss season
Northwestern forward Vic Law will miss the 2015-16 season due to a shoulder injury that will require surgery.
Coach Chris Collins said Law initially injured the shoulder over the summer and it continued to get worse. The recovery is expected to take four to six months.
Law, who averaged 7.0 points and 4.8 rebounds as a freshman last season, was also fifth in the Big Ten shooting 44 percent on 3-point attempts.
George Mason senior suspended
George Mason announced senior guard Patrick Holloway has been suspended for the team’s first six games of the season due to academic issues.
Holloway was second on the team averaging 10.9 points per game last season and led George Mason with 40 three-pointers made.