Duke overwhelming choice of AP basketball poll
Duke is the overwhelming top men’s college basketball team in the Associated Press preseason poll released Monday.
Mike Krzyzewski’s Blue Devils were also first in the USA Today coaches poll released on Oct. 20.
Duke received 58 of 65 first-place votes from the national media panel for the AP Top 25 — the eighth time the Blue Devils have held the preseason No. 1 ranking.
The Blue Devils feature a strong trio of returnees from last season’s Sweet 16 team in guards Grayson Allen and Matt Jones as well as forward Amile Jefferson. The Blue Devils also feature a heralded freshman class.
Kentucky is No. 2 after receiving two first-place votes, followed by Kansas, defending champion Villanova (four first-place votes) and Oregon (one first-place vote) to round out the top five.
North Carolina, Xavier, Virginia, Wisconsin and Arizona make up the rest of the top 10.
Celtics exercise contract options on Smart, Rozier
The Boston Celtics exercised the fourth-year contract option on guard Marcus Smart and the third-year option on guard Terry Rozier, the team announced Monday.
Marcus Smart’s fourth-year option is worth $4.5 million and Rozier’s third-year option is worth $2 million.
The 6-foot-4, 220-pound Smart, 22, has posted career averages of 8.4 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.5 steals in 128 career games since the Celtics drafted him sixth overall out of Oklahoma State in the 2014 NBA Draft.
The 6-2, 190-pound Rozier, 22, has appeared in all three games for the Celtics this season with averages of 6.0 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.33 steals in 23.9 minutes per game. During his rookie season last year after being drafted in the first round (16th overall), he appeared in 39 games for the Celtics and totaled 72 points, 63 rebounds and 37 assists in 311 minutes.
Receiver Johnson retires after 14 seasons
Veteran wide receiver Andre Johnson informed the Tennessee Titans he is retiring from the NFL after 14 seasons.
The 35-year-old Johnson joined the Titans on July 30 and played in eight games for the team this season, making nine catches for 85 yards and two touchdowns. He scored the game-winning touchdown in the 16-15 win over the Detroit Lions in Week 2.
Johnson, a seven-time Pro Bowl player with the Houston Texans, had a backup role this season. He had not made a catch since Week 5 against the Miami Dolphins.
Johnson spent his first 12 NFL seasons with the Texans before playing last season with the Indianapolis Colts. He had 1,012 receptions for 13,597 yards and 64 touchdowns with the Texans, all of which are franchise records.
Cardinals lose S Mathieu, LT Veldheer
The Arizona Cardinals absorbed a pair of huge injuries in Sunday’s loss at Carolina, losing safety Tyrann Mathieu for three to six weeks and starting left tackle Jared Veldheer for the rest of the season.
Mathieu, one of the team’s top playmakers on defense, suffered a shoulder subluxation that will not require surgery, according to coach Bruce Arians.
The news was worse for Veldheer, who will require season-ending surgery for a torn triceps and will be placed on injured reserve.
Cardinals tight end Ifeanyi Momah was among the casualties Sunday, sustaining a broken wrist, while star wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald is nursing a low ankle sprain.
Surgery sidelines Stars’ Hemsky for 5-6 months
Dallas Stars right winger Ales Hemsky will be out five to six months after undergoing hip surgery, the team announced Monday.
The initial injury occurred while Hemsky was playing for Team Czech Republic at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
Under the team’s timetable, the earliest Hemsky could be back would be late March or early April.
Now in his 14th NHL season after being selected No. 13 overall in the 2001 draft by the Edmonton Oilers, Hemsky has recorded 565 points (170 goals, 395 assists) in 824 career games.