BASKETBALL
Connecticut men’s basketball coach Dan Hurley agreed to a six-year, $50 million contract through the 2029-30 season that makes him one of the nation’s highest-paid college coaches nearly a month after he turned down a lucrative offer to coach the Los Angeles Lakers.
Hurley, who passed on guiding the Lakers to return to the two-time defending NCAA champions, can also earn more through performance-based incentives, a Monday release from the school stated. He will receive $6.375 million next season in addition to his $400,000 base annual salary, which includes compensation from speaking, consulting and media obligations.
The agreement, which includes a $1 million annual retention bonus, will be covered by increased ticket sales revenue and donations from the Husky Athletic Fund, the release said. It replaces the six-year, $32.1 million agreement reached in June 2023 after Hurley won his first national title with UConn.
HOCKEY
The Maine Mariners re-signed rookie forward Ty Cheveldayoff.
Cheveldayoff joined the Mariners with two games remaining in the regular season, scoring his first professional goal in overtime against the Adirondack Thunder to give Maine a spot in the playoffs. He also played in Maine’s seven playoff games against the Thunder.
The Mariners also issued qualifying offers to forwards Tyler Drevitch, Felix Pare, Christian Sarlo, Sebastian Vidmar and Chase Zieky, and defensemen Gabriel Chicoine, Darien Kielb and Andrew Peski.
Although not equal to a signing, the offer generally ensures that each player cannot play for another ECHL team in 2024-25, unless their rights are traded.
SOCCER
U.S. TEAMS: Emma Hayes, the U.S. women’s coach, sidestepped a question on whether she should get a raise if a high-priced star such as Jürgen Klopp is hired to replace Gregg Berhalter with the American men.
“I think with regards to matters relating to the men’s team and gender equity, they’re not questions for now or for me, knowing that my absolute focus is on the preparation this week (for the Olympics),” said Hayes.
• Defenders Miles Robinson and Walker Zimmerman, and forward Djordje Mihailovic will be the three overage players on the 18-man U.S. Olympic men’s soccer roster after failing to get used by the senior national team at the Copa America. Olympic soccer is limited to players under 23, with each team allowed three over the age limit.
COPA AMERICA: Paraguay fired coach Daniel Garnero after a winless tournament.
Paraguay lost its group matches to Colombia 2-1, Brazil 4-1 and Costa Rica 2-1.
GYMNASTICS
EX-OLYMPIAN CRITICIZED: MyKayla Skinner Harmer, an Olympic medal-winning gymnast, is drawing criticism for a since-deleted YouTube video in which she said the U.S. Center for SafeSport is making it difficult for coaches to do their job.
Skinner, who won silver on vault at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, said coaches “can’t get on athletes” out of fear of being reported to SafeSport, an independent entity that handles allegations of abuse from various governing bodies across the U.S. Olympic movement.
“(Coaches) have to be really careful about what they say, which in some ways is really good, but at the same time, to get where you need to be in gymnastics, you have to be … a little aggressive,” Skinner said.
FOOTBALL
NFL: Pittsburgh Steelers safety Cam Sutton was suspended by the league for the first eight games of the season for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy.
The discipline stems from Sutton’s involvement in an alleged domestic violence dispute in Florida in March.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Modify your screen name
Join the Conversation
Please sign into your Press Herald account to participate in conversations below. If you do not have an account, you can register or subscribe. Questions? Please see our FAQs.