COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Tonje earns AP weekly award

Wisconsin needed someone to step up after losing all five starters from a year ago and John Tonje has been that guy early in the season. The 6-foot-5 guard transferred from Missouri after four seasons at Colorado State and has had an immediate impact in Madison. Tonje, named Associated Press' National Player of the Week, opened the season by scoring 23 points against Holy Cross and was nearly unstoppable in a 103-88 win over No. 17 Arizona last week. Tonje is averaging 23.5 points and 5.5 rebounds, helping Wisconsin earn its first ranking of the season in the AP Top 25 this week.

Prince spotlighted by AP

Sedona Prince of TCU is The Associated Press women's basketball player of the week. She lifted TCU to its first win over a ranked team in three seasons with a 31-point, 16-rebound effort against then-No. 13 N.C. State on Sunday. It's the most points and rebounds in a game by any player nationally against a Top 25 team this season. Paige Bueckers of UConn was the runner-up. She led her team to a 69-58 victory against No. 14 North Carolina with 29 points, 16 of which came in the first quarter.

RFK adds Preece as third car

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing will field a third car in the Cup Series in 2025, with Ryan Preece joining the team in the No. 60 Ford. Preece will pair with Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher in the team's three-car lineup. Kroger will serve as Preece's primary sponsor. Preece is winless in 187 Cup starts, including 72 over the last two seasons with Stewart-Haas Racing. He previously drove for JTG Daughty Racing, where he fostered a relationship with Kroger. Keselowski and Buescher both won a race this past season to make the 12-car playoffs and finished 10th and 11th, respectively, in the final standings.

Jets fire GM Douglas

The New York Jets fired general manager Joe Douglas after a 3-8 start to the season. Owner Woody Johnson announced in a statement Tuesday that Phil Savage will serve as the interim GM. Douglas was in the final year of his contract after being hired in 2019. The Jets' season began with Super Bowl aspirations with a healthy Aaron Rodgers at quarterback. But the team struggled to a 2-3 start, and Johnson fired coach Robert Saleh on Oct. 8. The Jets decided to also part ways Tuesday with Douglas. Johnson said the Jets will begin the process to find a new GM immediately.

Pep, City ink extension

MANCHESTER, England — Pep Guardiola has agreed to a contract extension to stay at Manchester City for at least another season according to British media reports. The City manager's contract was due to expire at the end of this season. He has overseen a period of unprecedented dominance since joining the club in 2016. City has won six Premier League titles in seven years and won the Champions League. City has not commented on several media reports that the 53-year-old Guardiola would extend his stay into a 10th season with the deal including an option for an additional year.

Miami coach Martino leaves team

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Gerardo "Tata" Martino, who guided Inter Miami to the best regular season record in Major League Soccer history this season, is resigning as coach of the club. According to reports, Martino was stepping down for personal reasons. Martino was hired in July 2023, right around the time that Lionel Messi debuted for the club.

Kang pledges $30M to youth soccer

CHICAGO — Washington Spirit owner Michele Kang has pledged $30 million to U.S. Soccer over the next five years for programs aimed at women and girls. U.S. Soccer, a non-profit organization, announced the gift Tuesday. It represents the largest single investment specifically for women's and girl's programs in the federation's history. Kang is also owner of Olympique Lyonnais women in France and England's London City Lionesses.

Bompastor condemns Mewis-Kerr abuse

LONDON — Chelsea women's team manager Sonia Bompastor has condemned the homophobic abuse that striker Sam Kerr and U.S. midfielder Kristie Mewis faced after they announced they are expecting a baby. Kerr, the Australia captain, and Mewis revealed the news Monday on their respective Instagram accounts with pictures of the couple and a post that read: "Mewis-Kerr baby coming 2025!" Mewis, who plays for West Ham, is pregnant. Some users responded with homophobic comments. Bompastor says "This is just unacceptable to have these kind of comments, especially in our world in 2024."

Hungary, Germany draw

Dominik Szoboszlai scored a penalty in the ninth minute of stoppage time to deny Germany a victorious end to the Nations League group stage and show why Hungary is one of the hardest places to win in world soccer. Szoboszlai's penalty salvaged a 1-1 draw for Hungary, which last lost at home in 2022. The Netherlands drew 1-1 with Bosnia-Herzegovina after Ermedin Demirovic canceled out Brian Brobbey's opening goal for the Dutch team. Viktor Gyökeres scored four goals as Sweden beat Azerbaijan 6-0. Wales and the Czech Republic both won promotion to the top tier of the Nations League.

Vieira set for Genoa takeover

GENOA, Italy — Genoa surprisingly fired coach Alberto Gilardino and reportedly has Patrick Vieira lined up to replace him. That could have implications for new forward Mario Balotelli. Genoa is just a point above the Serie A drop zone having lost half of its league matches. But the news on Tuesday still comes as a surprise as Gilardino appeared to have turned things around, picking up four points from the two matches before the international break. Vieira and Balotelli were teammates at Inter Milan and Manchester City but fell out when Vieira was the Nice coach, eventually leading to Balotelli moving to Marseille.

Slovia advances to King Cup final

MALAGA, Spain — Slovakia rallied to defeat Britain 2-1 and reach its first Billie Jean King Cup final in more than two decades. Viktoria Hruncakova and Tereza Mihalikova defeated Olivia Nicholls and Heather Watson 6-2, 6-2 in the decisive doubles match, putting Slovakia back in the final for the first time since 2002 to face last year's runner-up Italy on Wednesday. Slovakia forced the deciding match after Rebecca Sramkova rallied to defeat Katie Boulter 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the second singles match. Britain had taken the lead when Emma Raducanu defeated Hruncakova 6-4, 6-4 in the first singles.

- Associated Press

PLAYBACK

Related News