Sports briefs
Fields granted
immediate eligibility
Quarterback Justin Fields has been granted a waiver that will allow him to play immediately for Ohio State after transferring from Georgia.
The former five-star recruit transferred to the Buckeyes after he got stuck behind Jake Fromm on Georgia’s depth chart.
Ohio State announced Friday that the NCAA has approved Fields’ request for a waiver of the rule requiring transfers to sit out a year. Fields is expected to compete for the starting quarterback spot after Dwayne Haskins Jr. left early to enter the NFL draft.
Fields was the target of a racial slur from a Georgia baseball player during a football game in September, and there was speculation the incident would become part of his appeal for a waiver. The NCAA can grant immediate eligibility to a transferring player who has “documented mitigating circumstances that are outside the student-athlete’s control and directly impact the health, safety and well-being of the student-athlete.”
College softball
California University opened the season Friday with a pair of losses at the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Leadoff Classic in Clearwater, Fla., 5-0 loss to Eckerd (Fla.) and 4-2 to Molloy (N.Y.).
Against Eckerd (2-3), Cal was limited to five hits and committed three errors. Triton starter Nikole Van Gennep threw a complete-game shutout with nine strikeouts and no walks. Brooke Wilson had two hits for Cal.
Against Molloy (1-1), the Vulcans left eight runners on base and again committed three errors that resulted in three unearned runs.
In the NBA
Andre Drummond had 29 points and 20 rebounds, and the Detroit Pistons handed New York its 15th straight loss, beating the Knicks 120-103 Friday night.
The Knicks rallied from a 21-point second-quarter deficit, tying the game in the third quarter.
- Bobby Portis scored 30 points in his Wizards debut, Bradley Beal added 25 points and 12 assists, and Washington beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 119-106.
- JJ Redick scored a season-high 34 points, Jimmy Butler had 22 and the new-look Philadelphia 76ers beat the Denver Nuggets 117-110.
Tobias Harris had 14 points and eight rebounds in his first game for Philadelphia and Joel Embiid scored 15 and grabbed 12 boards despite playing with a stomach flu.
In golf
Jesper Parnevik shot a 9-under 63 on Friday in the Oasis Championship to take a one-stroke lead over Bernhard Langer.
Parnevik had four straight birdies on Nos. 4-7 on his final nine on The Old Course at Broken Sound. The 53-year-old Swede won the 2016 Insperity Invitational for his lone PGA Tour Champions victory.
Langer closed with birdies on Nos. 17 and 18. The 61-year-old German won the 2010 event and finished second last year, two strokes behind Mark Calcavecchia.