US JUNIOR AMATEUR
Cole Hammer wins opening match in US Junior Amateur
BLUFFTON, S.C. (AP) — Cole Hammer advanced in the U.S. Junior Amateur on Wednesday before darkness forced the suspension of first-round play.
Hammer, the 15-year-old from Houston who played in the U.S. Open last month, beat David Snyder of McAllen, Texas, 2 and 1 at Colleton River Plantation Club’s Pete Dye Course.
Hammer won the par-3 13th and par-4 14th with birdies and halved the next three holes to wrap up the match before rain delayed play for 2 hours, 45 minutes.
Stroke-play medalist Brandon Mancheno of Jacksonville, Florida, had a 2-up lead over Jack Li of China after 14 holes. The 15-year-old Mancheno completed a 69 in the morning in the delayed second round of stroke-play qualifying.
Only 12 of the 32 matches were completed.
SOUTH CAROLINA-SPURRIER
Spurrier: Not too old to coach, will be around ‘a long time’
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina football coach Steve Spurrier has once again reiterated that he is not too old at 70 to coach the Gamecocks.
Spurrier repeated his position in response to reports that time is catching up with him on the sidelines, saying Wednesday that he is not leaving South Carolina.
The coach made similar comments last week during the Southeastern Conference media days. That hasn’t stopped the questions about how long Spurrier might remain the Gamecocks coach.
Spurrier says questions about his future plans did not come up when the Gamecocks went 11-2 three straight seasons from 2011-13, but sarcastically notes that it’s suddenly an issue after South Carolina went 7-6 last year.
Spurrier says he plans on coaching “a long time.”
SOCON-FOOTBALL
Chattanooga, QB Huesman voted tops in Southern Conference
SPARTANBURG, S.C. (AP) — Chattanooga was picked to win a third straight Southern Conference football championship and Mocs quarterback Jacob Huesman was selected to take his third consecutive offensive player of the year award.
The predictions were announced Wednesday at the league’s media gathering.
Chattanooga was the overwhelming choice for the top spot in polls by both league coaches and media. The defending SoCon champs received seven of eight first-place votes from the football coaches, who are not permitted to vote for their own teams. Mocs head coach Russ Huesman voted for Samford with his pick.
Chattanooga gained 29 of the 30 media first-place votes to outpoint runner-up Western Carolina in polling.
Jacob Huesman led the Mocs (10-4) to their first-ever NCAA playoff victory last fall, throwing for 2,731 yards and 23 touchdowns.
HORNETS-HANSBROUGH
Hornets sign 6-foot-9 free agent forward Tyler Hansbrough
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The Charlotte Hornets have signed free agent power forward Tyler Hansbrough.
Terms of the deal were not released during Wednesday’s announcement.
The 29-year-old Hansbrough spent the past two seasons with Toronto after four with Indiana.
His best season was 2010-11, when he averaged 11 points and 5.2 rebounds and started a career-high 29 games. His playing time and production have decreased each of the past four seasons. He averaged 3.6 points and 3.6 rebounds per game in 2014-15 for the Raptors.
Hornets general manager Rich Cho says in a release the 6-foot-9, 250-pound Hansbrough “brings energy and physicality every time he steps on the floor.”
Cody Zeller is expected to start at power forward for Charlotte. Hansbrough is likely to battle for playing time with first-round draft pick Frank Kaminsky.
NASCAR-TRUCKS
Christopher Bell wins Mud Summer Classic at Eldora
ROSSBURG, Ohio (AP) — Christopher Bell won the Mud Summer Classic on Wednesday night at Eldora Speedway in his third career start in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
The 20-year-old Norman, Oklahoma, dirt racer held off 18-year-old Bobby Pierce in a green-white-checker finish in NASCAR’s lone dirt race in its top three series.
Bell fended off Pierce in a series of late restarts in the caution-filled race, running the outside line on the half-mile clay oval in his No. 54 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota.
Pierce, a dirt racer from Oakwood, Illinois, finished second after starting from the pole in his series debut.
Tyler Reddick was third, followed by Erik Jones and Daniel Hemric.
Kyle Busch also fielded the winning track last year for Darrell Wallace Jr.
ACC-SLEEPING GIANTS
Miami, UNC, Virginia Tech look to get rolling again
PINEHURST, N.C. (AP) — Some of the Atlantic Coast Conference’s sleeping giants hope this is the year they return to prominence.
Neither Miami nor North Carolina has ever been to the ACC championship game. And lately, once-frequent division winner Virginia Tech has been no better than mediocre.
Those three big-name Coastal Division programs have been hovering around .500 for the past few years.
Now they’re feeling a sense of urgency to at least make a strong push in a wide-open division race.
Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer says “if you don’t feel pressure in this business, you’re misguided.”
