Sports briefs
Huggins in rehab, still wants to coach
Bob Huggins says he has checked into a rehabilitation facility following a drunken driving arrest and disputes that he resigned at West Virginia, accusing the university of releasing a “false statement” about him stepping down.
It’s the latest chapter in what is turning out to be an ugly divorce battle between the university and the Hall of Fame coach.
The Associated Press obtained a five-paragraph statement issued by Huggins on Monday through his attorney, David A. Campbell of Cleveland. Huggins said he wanted to “set the record straight on the past two weeks” since his June 16 arrest in Pittsburgh. Huggins said that he has been focused on his rehabilitation at an unspecified facility and has not responded until now to the university’s version of the events.
He said he plans to remain in the rehab center “until I am cleared to return to my active coaching duties.”
WVU announced June 17 that Huggins had resigned. A week later, assistant coach Josh Eilert was promoted to interim head coach for the 2023-24 season. Several of Huggins’ players have already entered the transfer portal, and some have found new teams.
Nassar stabbed multiple times in prison
Disgraced sports doctor Larry Nassar, who was convicted of sexually abusing Olympic and college female gymnasts, was stabbed multiple times by another inmate at a federal prison in Florida that is experiencing staffing shortages.
The attack happened Sunday at United States Penitentiary Coleman, and Nassar was in stable condition Monday, two people familiar with the matter told the Associated Press.
One of the people said Nassar had been stabbed in the back and in the chest. The two officers guarding the unit where Nassar was held were working mandated overtime shifts because of staffing shortages, one of the people said.
Nassar is serving decades in prison for convictions in state and federal courts. He admitted sexually assaulting athletes when he worked at Michigan State University and at Indianapolis-based USA Gymnastics, which trains Olympians. Nassar also pleaded guilty in a separate case to possessing images of child sexual abuse.
In the NBA
Victor Wembanyama’s first, and likely last, Summer League is over.
The San Antonio Spurs have seen all they needed from the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft and won’t play him during their remaining games in Las Vegas.
Wembanyama’s final numbers from two games: 36 points, 20 rebounds, eight blocks and three assists on 41% shooting from the floor. He played about 54 minutes.
The shutdown wasn’t a surprise; the Spurs never planned for Wembanyama to play the entirety of Summer League, and now they’ll have a chance to use the minutes he would have gotten to take a look at other players.
In hockey
Tim Tebow will be part of an ownership group bringing an expansion hockey team to Lake Tahoe, the ECHL announced Monday.
The league, in conjunction with Zawyer Sports & Entertainment, said the team will begin play in the 2024-25 season. The Lake Tahoe team expects to announce an NHL affiliation in February 2024.
Tebow, the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner and former NFL player, will partner with David Hodges, the CEO of Hodges Management Group LLC, in the venture. The team, currently unnamed, will play at the new Tahoe Blue Events Center and help expand the league’s reach.