YSU softball moves home opener

YOUNGSTOWN — Due to the threat of weather in this weekend’s forecast, Youngstown State’s softball team is announcing changes to its upcoming series against Cleveland State that is set to open its home and Horizon League schedules.

The Penguins and Vikings will now play one game on Thursday at 3 p.m. and a doubleheader on Friday beginning at 3 p.m. The series at the YSU Softball Complex was originally slated to start on Friday with a doubleheader following on Sunday.

Purdue’s Smith named Big Ten POY

ROSEMONT, Ill. — Purdue’s Braden Smith was named the Big Ten player of the year and Michigan State’s Tom Izzo coach of the year by coaches and the media in voting coordinated by the conference. Smith and Izzo won the same honors from The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The coaches voted Penn State’s Ace Baldwin Jr. the defensive player of the year, Maryland’s Derik Queen the freshman of the year and Illinois’ Will Riley the sixth man of the year.

The coaches’ All-Big Ten first team was made up of Smith, Queen, Nebraska’s Brice Williams, Purdue’s Trey Kaufman-Renn and Wisconsin’s John Tonje. The coaches’ second team included Michigan’s Vladislav Goldin and Danny Wolf, Minnesota’s Dawson Garcia, Northwestern’s Nick Martinelli and Ohio State’s Bruce Thornton.

The media’s first team included Goldin, Williams, Kaufman-Renn, Smith and Tonje. The second team was made up of Queen, Wolf, Garcia, Martinelli and Thornton.

Rodriguez bans TikTok dances

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez, like all football coaches, wants his players to show up on time, work hard and play their best.

Oh, and another thing: Don’t dance on TikTok.

“They’re going to be on it, so I’m not banning them from it,” he said Monday. “I’m just banning them from dancing on it. It’s like, look, we try to have a hard edge or whatever, and you’re in there in your tights dancing on TikTok ain’t quite the image of our program that I want.”

Making TikTok dance videos is a popular activity among high school- and college-age users of the social media platform. Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter, Boise State star Ashton Jeanty and Nebraska’s Dylan Raiola are among college football players who have posted dance videos.

Rodriguez is beginning his second stint as Mountaineers coach. He said he has talked to his players about the tendency in society to emphasize the individual rather than the team and that banning TikTok dancing is something he can do to put the focus where he thinks it belongs.

“I’m allowed to do that. I can have rules,” he said. “Twenty years from now, if they want to be sitting in their pajamas in the basement eating Cheetos and watching TikTok or whatever the hell, they can go at it, smoking cannabis, whatever. Knock yourself out.”

As for now, he said: “I hope our focus can be on winning football games. How about let’s win the football game and not worry about winning the TikTok?”

Three equipment managers get honors

CANTON — Three equipment managers will be honored with the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Awards of Excellence for the 2025 class.

Tom Gray, Dennis Ryan and George Luongo were picked Tuesday as the equipment managers in the fourth class for the Awards of Excellence.

Gray worked for Cincinnati since the team’s inception in the AFL in 1968 and attended all 644 games in the preseason, regular season and playoffs through 1999.

Ryan began his career as a teenager with Minnesota in 1975 as a part-time employee. In 1981, he became the NFL’s youngest equipment manager at 21 years old. He stayed with the organization for 47 seasons, accumulating a streak of 705 consecutive games worked until COVID-19 protocols kept him off the sideline.

Luongo worked as an equipment manager from the Patriots’ origin in the AFL in 1960 until retiring after the 1993 season and never missed a game day.

Longtime assistant coaches Dick Hoak, Elijah Pitts and Jim McNally; public relations directors Pete Abitante, Jason Jenkins and Bill Keenist; and athletic trainers Ed Block, Pepper Burruss and John Norwig were previously selected for awards that will be handed out at a ceremony in June. The Hall will later announce winners for film and video directors.

Ravens reach agreement with Hopkins

The Baltimore Ravens have agreed to a one-year, $6 million contract with veteran receiver DeAndre Hopkins, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press.

The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because free agents can’t sign until Wednesday.

The 32-year-old Hopkins moves from one AFC contender to another after finishing last season with Kansas City. He caught a touchdown pass in the Chiefs’ loss to Philadelphia in the Super Bowl, but 2024 was not his most productive season. He caught 56 passes for 610 yards for Kansas City and Tennessee.

In his 12-year career, spent mostly with Houston and Arizona, Hopkins has 984 receptions for 12,965 yards and 83 touchdowns. He surpassed 1,000 yards receiving as recently as 2023 with the Titans, but they traded him to the Chiefs last year.

Dodgers give Roberts 4-year deal

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Dave Roberts has a signed a four-year contract extension to manage the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers through 2029, the team announced Tuesday.

Multiple reports on Monday said it was worth $32.4 million. At that figure he could have the highest average salary among managers, topping a five-year deal in 2024 for Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell worth more than $40 million.

Roberts heads into his 10th season at the helm with the highest winning percentage in major league history at .627 (851-507). The 52-year-old manager guided the team to World Series titles last year and in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

He is well-liked by his players and known for a calming presence that has helped integrate superstar Shohei Ohtani and his fellow Japanese pitchers Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki into the clubhouse.

Under Roberts, the Dodgers have reached the playoffs nine straight years — a National League record — while winning four NL pennants and eight NL West titles.