CLEMSON-AUBURN GAMES
Auburn-Clemson to meet in 2016, 2017
ATLANTA (AP) β Auburn and Clemson have agreed to play a home-and-home series in 2016 and 2017.
The schools announced the deal on Wednesday.
Auburn will host the game on Sept. 3, 2016. They’ll meet at Clemson on Sept. 9, 2017.
The two programs have met 49 times in football starting in 1899, with Auburn holding a 34-13-2 advantage. They haven’t met since 2012 when Clemson won the opener 26-19 in Atlanta.
This will mark the seventh time in eight seasons that Clemson will play two Southeastern Conference teams. Clemson plays rival South Carolina to end each season.
S CAROLINA-TICKETS
South Carolina sees increase in season tickets
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) β South Carolina has increased its reserve seating for women’s basketball games to accommodate the rise in season-ticket requests for next season.
The Gamecocks are coming off a 29-5 season in which they won the Southeastern Conference regular season title and earned the program’s first-ever No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. Coach Dawn Staley also brought in one of the country’s top recruiting classes, led by 6-foot-5 center A’ja Wilson who picked South Carolina over Connecticut, North Carolina and Tennessee.
The school said Wednesday it had received 4,709 requests for women’s season tickets, a nearly 12 percent increase over sales from last year. South Carolina added three sections for reserved seating at Colonial Life Arena giving them a total of 2,951 available.
DUKE-HILL DONATION
Grant Hill to donate $1.25M to Duke
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) β Former Duke and NBA star Grant Hill and his wife are giving $1.25 million to the school.
President Richard Brodhead announced the donation Wednesday.
He says $1 million will go to the athletic department with the remainder going to the school’s annual fund in support of Trinity College.
Brodhead calls Hill “a beloved part of Duke’s history.”
The 1994 Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year led the Blue Devils to national championships in 1991 and ’92, then made five All-Star teams during an 18-year NBA career.
Hill says he and his wife “are in a fortunate position to be able give back to the university that did so much for me.”
They previously gave $1 million to establish a men’s basketball scholarship fund.
NASCAR-EARNHARDT-CREW CHIEF
Greg Ives to crew chief Earnhardt in 2015
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) β Greg Ives will return to Hendrick Motorsports next season as crew chief for Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Ives was race engineer for Jimmie Johnson’s record five consecutive championships. He moved to JR Motorsports in 2013 for his first crew chief job, with Regan Smith in the Nationwide Series.
Ives was moved to rookie Chase Elliott’s pit stand this season. He has five Nationwide wins, including three with points leader Elliott.
Hendrick has been on a search for a crew chief for NASCAR’s most popular driver all season. Steve Letarte announced in January he was stepping down at the end of the year to take an analyst position with NBC Sports.
Earnhardt and Letarte opened the season with a Daytona 500 victory. Earnhardt is ranked second in the Sprint Cup standings.
SEC-QUARTERBACK QUESTIONS
QB questions abound in SEC with big stars gone
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) β Quarterback battles and signal-caller questions abound in the Southeastern Conference going into preseason camps.
The turnover at football’s most important position has been so significant that division favorites Alabama and South Carolina will be banking on new starters. Ditto for Texas A&M, Georgia and defending East Division champion Missouri.
Gone are stars Johnny Manziel, AJ McCarron and Aaron Murray. Mississippi’s Bo Wallace and Nick Marshall are the most proven returning quarterbacks.
Georgia coach Mark Richt replaces Aaron Murray with fifth-year senior Hutson Mason. Richt says he “wouldn’t count out the quarterbacks … to play great.”
Likewise, South Carolina turns to longtime backup Dylan Thompson.
At least five teams will have quarterback competition in camp, including Alabama. Florida State transfer Jacob Coker is battling Blake Sims to replace AJ McCarron.
