Sports briefs
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Jets agree to one-year
deal with wide receiver Mike Williams
The New York Jets have agreed to terms with former Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Mike Williams on a one-year contract, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press.
The 29-year-old Williams visited the Jets’ facility Tuesday and reportedly had meetings with other teams scheduled — but New York didn’t let him leave its building without a deal.
NFL Network first reported the agreement between Williams and the Jets and said it’s worth up to $15 million.
Williams gives quarterback Aaron Rodgers another playmaker as a complement to No. 1 wide receiver Garrett Wilson in what could be a much-improved offense this season after the Jets ranked last or near the bottom of the NFL in several categories.
Along with Rodgers expecting to be fully healthy after tearing his left Achilles tendon four plays into his debut for New York, the Jets rebuilt their offensive line by signing left tackle Tyron Smith and left guard John Simpson and acquiring Morgan Moses from Baltimore in a trade last week.
Williams comes with some injury concerns, the most recent a torn ACL suffered in the Chargers’ third game last season. He had a strong start before the injury, catching 19 passes for 249 yards and a touchdown.
Williams also missed four regular-season games in 2022 because of an ankle injury and was sidelined for a playoff game at Jacksonville after he hurt his back in the finale at Denver. But after missing the first six games of his rookie season with a back ailment, Williams played in at least 15 games in each of the next four seasons.
Williams was released by Los Angeles last week, a move that freed up $20 million in salary cap space. The seventh overall pick out of Clemson in 2017 was entering the final year of a contract extension worth $60 million that included $40 million guaranteed before his release by the Chargers.
He has 309 catches for 4,806 yards and 31 touchdowns in 88 career games — and the Jets envision the 6-foot-4 receiver as a field-stretching and red zone presence who will take some of the pressure and attention off Wilson. Williams has 22 receptions of at least 40 yards since 2019, ranking him among the leaders in the AFC during that stretch.
Wilson, the 2022 AP Offensive Rookie of the Year, had a team-leading 95 receptions for 1,042 yards and three touchdowns last season even with opponents keying in on him. The Jets lacked a consistent No. 2 wide receiver with Allen Lazard, who signed as a free agent last offseason, finishing with 23 catches for 311 yards and one TD.
Williams gives Rodgers and the Jets a clear-cut No. 2, with Lazard, Xavier Gipson and tight ends Tyler Conklin and Jeremy Ruckert working in the passing game along with running back Breece Hall, who finished second on New York last season with 76 receptions.
Vikings agree to terms with 8th-year veteran CB Shaquill Griffin
EAGAN, Minn. | The Minnesota Vikings agreed to terms on a contract Tuesday with free agent cornerback Shaquill Griffin, adding some needed experience to an unproven position group.
The eighth-year veteran joins his fifth NFL team, after starting last season with Houston and then moving to Carolina after he was released.
Drafted by Seattle in the third round out of UCF in 2017, Griffin has started 79 of 89 games in his career with seven interceptions and 64 passes defensed. He was a Pro Bowl pick in 2019.
The Vikings had success with the addition last year of cornerback Byron Murphy Jr. in free agency, but there isn’t much settled at the position beyond him.
Akayleb Evans was benched down the stretch last season. Mekhi Blackmon showed some promise as a rookie last year, but he played primarily in the slot. Andrew Booth Jr., who was part of the 2022 draft class with Evans, hasn’t been a reliable contributor.
Clemson joins Florida State, becomes second school to sue ACC
Clemson sued the Atlantic Coast Conference in a South Carolina court on Tuesday, joining Florida State in challenging the league’s right to charge schools hundreds of millions of dollars to leave.
The complaint filed in Pickens County says the ACC’s “exorbitant $140 million” exit penalty and the grant of rights used to bind schools to a conference through their media rights should be struck down.
“Each of these erroneous assertions separately hinders Clemson’s ability to meaningfully explore its options regarding conference membership, to negotiate alternative revenue-sharing proposals among ACC members and to obtain full value for its future media rights,” the school said in the lawsuit.
Clemson said it has not given notice that it is exiting the ACC and remains a member of the conference.
“The ACC remains confident that its agreements with all its members will be affirmed by the courts,” ACC Commissioner and Virginia President Jim Ryan, chairman of the conference board, said in a statement. “Clemson, along with all ACC members, voluntarily signed and re-signed the 2013 and 2016 Grant of Rights, which is binding through 2036. In addition, Clemson agreed to the process and procedures for withdrawal. The Conference’s legal counsel will vigorously enforce the agreement and bylaws in the best interests of the ACC’s current and incoming members.”
In December, Florida State’s board of trustees sued the ACC in Florida, making similar claims. The ACC pre-emptively filed a lawsuit against Florida State in North Carolina, where the conference offices are located, saying the school’s actions were a breach of contract.
Florida State claims exiting the ACC before the grant of rights and current media rights deal with ESPN runs out in 2036 would cost $572 million. The first hearing in the North Carolina case is scheduled for Friday.
Clemson is a charter member of the ACC, dating back to its founding in 1953. The school emerged over the last decade as a national college football powerhouse, winning national championships in 2016 and 2018.
Clemson and Florida State are the only ACC schools to reach the four-team College Football Playoff since its inception in 2014.
Nine Bowl Subdivision conferences, including the ACC, agreed last week on a new six-year deal to continue participating in the CFP through the 2031 football season. That includes a revenue-sharing deal that gives the Big Ten and Southeastern conferences almost double the annual distribution to the ACC and Big 12.
With the ACC falling behind the Big Ten and SEC in revenue distribution, mostly tied to media rights deals, some ACC members have grown anxious, worried that schools in those two leagues could soon be bringing in $40 million to $50 million more annually and gain competitive advantages.
In the lawsuit, Clemson maintains the ACC’s interpretation of the grant of rights agreement signed by all 17 members that runs concurrent to the contract with ESPN is wrong. While the conference says the grant of rights allows it to own the media rights to Clemson’s home games after the school leaves the conference, Clemson disagrees.
“By espousing an inaccurate interpretation of the grant of rights agreements and allowing that interpretation to proliferate throughout the media, the ACC has cast a harmful cloud of doubt on Clemson’s ability to engage in meaningful discussions with other conferences and media providers regarding potential future collaborations and/or to negotiate alternative revenue-sharing proposals among ACC members,” Clemson said in the lawsuit.
Florida State has been the most vocal critic of the ACC’s equal revenue distribution model, but Clemson has also been pushing for the conference to direct more money to its top brands, including North Carolina, Miami, Virginia Tech, Virginia and North Carolina State.
The ACC agreed to create a bonus pool to reward schools for postseason success in football and basketball. The conference also expanded last year, adding Stanford, California and SMU, The new schools join in August, and have agreed to drastically reduced annual conference revenue distributions, with the additional money ESPN must pay for new members going into the performance bonus fund.
Clemson and Florida State both voted against expansion, along with Miami and North Carolina, but the conference got the two-thirds majority it needed to add the Northern California schools that were desperate to find a new power conference after the demise of the Pac-12 and Dallas-based SMU.
The rest of the ACC consists of Boston College, Syracuse, Wake Forest, Louisville, Duke, Pittsburgh and Georgia Tech, plus Notre Dame for all sports but football and hockey.
Caitlin Clark behind increased betting
interest in women’s college basketball
LAS VEGAS | Caitlin Clark’s audacious logo 3-pointers and record-breaking accomplishments have driven sports fans who previously wouldn’t walk across the street to watch women’s basketball to set their DVRs for Iowa games.
Bettors have taken an interest, too, using some of their discretionary money on Clark and the Hawkeyes, the top seed in the Albany Regional 2 of the NCAA Tournament. Iowa plays Holy Cross or UT Martin in the first round Saturday.
Caesars Sportsbook reported the number of bets on women’s college basketball games this season compared to a year ago was 190% higher with 153% more money wagered.
“We saw the momentum slowly build toward the end of the regular season last year and then into the tournament,” said Grant Tucker, who heads up college basketball trading for Caesars. “Obviously, Iowa had that great run all the way to the final. So as the tournament went along, the betting increased. Her superstardom grew.
“It all tied in perfectly when you think of (name, image and likeness) and all the stuff going on. We really have never seen a college athlete like this, especially in the women’s game in any sport.”
Caesars and BetMGM plan to offer proposition bets around Clark, and her popularity has created a spillover effect for other women’s college basketball teams. Tucker said Caesars has gone from posting four or five women’s games on any given day to 12 to 15.
She also has affected futures bets, with Iowa going from 12-1 at Caesars to win the national championship to 6-1 because of the money from casual gamblers. The pros haven’t jumped in, preferring to stick with South Carolina, which is a minus-135 favorite.
“I think what’s great about Caitlin Clark is it’s changed a little bit the dynamics of college basketball,” said Derek Stevens, owner of several downtown Las Vegas casinos, including Circa. “The interest in women’s college basketball has definitely taken a big upturn in the last two seasons, and Iowa and Caitlin Clark is the reason. I think it’s something that’s fun. People are liking it. We’re showing it inside Circa Las Vegas, so it’s pretty awesome to see how this has developed.”
Sheldon Jacobson, who operates the site BracketOdds, said brackets remain enormously more popular for the men’s tournament, at a 60-to-1 ratio, but Clark has created more interest for the women.
“When you have Caitlin Clark playing, the longer the Iowa Hawkeyes survive, the more interest there will be,” Jacobson said. “She’s become a rock star among the women’s basketball players, and that’s great for the game. It’s great for the sport, and I hope it continues. Certainly, she’ll be greatly missed when she finishes her career in just a few weeks.”
Which leaves women’s college basketball at a little bit of a crossroads.
Clark will be a difficult act to follow, though USC freshman JuJu Watkins is showing she might have the game to do just that.
“It’s more than just play, it’s also personality,” Jacobson said. “It’s really the whole gestalt. (Clark) really brings something special to the game. I intentionally watched some of the games on TV when she was playing just because she was so interesting to watch. She brings something special to the game, and that’s great for the sport.”
Tucker said he expects some regression in interest when Clark heads to the WNBA after this season, but her departure won’t completely stall the momentum for women’s college basketball.
“Her stardom is very unique,” Tucker said. “NIL is here to stay. There are more stars to come, but I don’t know if anybody can really be at the level of Caitlin Clark. I wouldn’t say it would go down to how it was four or five years ago, but I don’t know if this is really sustainable long term.”
NOTABLE MEN’S BETTING
Tucker said Creighton and McNeese State have taken some notable action on futures bets for the men’s NCAA Tournament.
As for notable line moves, he said Drake has gone from a pick ‘em with Washington State to a 1 1/2-point favorite, BYU has risen two points to a 10-point favorite over Duquesne and Tennessee has gone from 17 1/2 to 21 points over Saint Peter’s.
IOC urges sports and governments to avoid Russia-organized to Olympic Games
GENEVA | Facing a Russia-organized potential rival to the Olympics, the IOC urged sports and political leaders on Tuesday not to take part in the event dubbed the Friendship Games that is set to launch weeks after the Summer Games in Paris.
The International Olympic Committee denounced what it called intensive diplomatic moves to promote the inaugural event in September as “a cynical attempt by the Russian Federation” to bring politics into sports.
“The IOC strongly urges all stakeholders of the Olympic movement and all governments to reject any participation in, and support of, any initiative that intends to fully politicize international sport,” it said in a statement published during a meeting of its executive board chaired by IOC president Thomas Bach.
Later Tuesday, the board decided to exclude all Russian and Belarusian athletes from taking part in the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, even if they are granted neutral status to compete at the games.
Russian President Vladimir Putin decreed last year to start organizing summer and winter events under the banner of the Friendship Games, paying tens of millions of dollars in prize money.
The games aim to counter the country’s increasing isolation in international sports — and growing tensions with the IOC and Bach — since the military invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
At the United Nations in New York four months ago, Russian diplomat Maria Zabolotskaya used a debate on an Olympic truce for Paris to invite the world to the Friendship Games, citing her country’s support for “honest and fair competitions.”
The first games are scheduled in Moscow and Yekaterinburg from Sept. 15-29, with a prize fund reported by Russian media totaling 4.6 billion rubles ($50 million) across almost 40 sports.
The Friendship Games aim to open five weeks after the Aug. 11 closing ceremony at the Paris Olympics. The IOC does not give prize money to medalists.
Russia is excluded from all team sports at the Olympics and individual athletes must pass two layers of checks — by their sport’s governing body and the IOC — to get neutral status to compete without their national symbols of flag, anthem and uniforms in red, white and blue.
The IOC said Tuesday it estimates that 36 athletes with Russian passports will qualify to compete in Paris. Some of those could then be blocked in the vetting process.
One reported goal of the Friendship Games has been to create international competitions for Russian athletes and teams whose careers have stalled during the war in Ukraine.
It is unclear which countries have committed to sending teams to Russia in September and if sports officials are involved in the process.
IOC officials declined to say whether athletes would face consequences for traveling to Russia to compete in the Friendship Games.
The IOC did warn of athletes “being forced by their governments into participating … thereby being exploited as part of a political propaganda campaign.”
“To make their purely political motivation even more obvious, they are deliberately circumventing the sports organizations in their target countries,” the IOC said.
A winter Friendship Games is planned in Sochi in 2026, the IOC said. The Black Sea resort hosted the 2014 Winter Olympics at a time when Russia and the IOC were close allies, with mutual praise expressed by Bach and Putin.
A decade later, the IOC also pointed Tuesday to the Russian government’s “total disrespect for the global anti-doping standards” and competition integrity.
The Sochi games were tainted by the Russian state-backed doping program detailed two years later by a whistleblower who fled to the United States with federal protection.
Despite the state doping and cover-up program being proven, the IOC decided against banning Russia from subsequent Olympics, though its athletes have not been allowed to compete under the team name “Russia” since the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Games.
Within days of Russia invading Ukraine during the Olympic Truce period for the Beijing Winter Games, the IOC urged sports bodies to exclude Russia from competing in and hosting international sports events.
That stance eased as the Paris Olympics approached and Bach began to suggest it would be discrimination to exclude all athletes from Russia and its military ally Belarus.
—From AP reports
