HORNETS-HANSBROUGH
AP Source: Hornets agree to contract with Tyler Hansbrough
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — A person familiar with the situation says the Charlotte Hornets have agreed to a contract with free-agent power forward Tyler Hansbrough.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on Tuesday on condition of anonymity because the move hasn’t been announced.
Hansbrough, who played college basketball at North Carolina, is the sixth new player to join the Hornets this offseason.
The 6-foot-9, 250-pound Hansbrough is a six-year NBA veteran who spent the last two seasons with Toronto after four seasons with Indiana.
Hansbrough’s best season came in 2010-11 when he started a career-high 29 games and averaged 11 points and 5.2 rebounds. However, his playing time and production have steadily decreased since that season. He averaged just 3.6 points and 3.6 rebounds last year.
SOCON-ESPN
Southern Conference, ESPN extend deal
SPARTANBURG, S.C. (AP) — The Southern Conference and ESPN agreed on a six-year contract through the 2020-21 academic year.
The network will continue to broadcast the Southern Conference men’s basketball championship. The league said Tuesday that over the course of the deal the SoCon and its 10 members will have the chance to produce nearly 2,000 live events that would be shown on ESPN3.
Part of agreement has each Southern Conference school developing production capabilities for ESPN3 by 2017. Only Furman and Mercer produced such content during the 2014-15 school year.
The league said that at least 45 league football games and 200 league basketball games will appear on ESPN3 each of the final four years of the contract.
Other league schools are Chattanooga, Citadel, East Tennessee, UNCG, Samford, VMI, Western Carolina and Wofford.
ACC KICKOFF-FEDORA
UNC’s Fedora doesn’t sound worried by NCAA academic case
PINEHURST, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina coach Larry Fedora doesn’t sound worried about the prospect of NCAA penalties against the football program tied to the school’s academic fraud scandal.
Speaking Tuesday at the Atlantic Coast Conference preseason media days, Fedora says he’s “pretty positive that it’s going to turn out good for us.”
The school faces five NCAA charges regarding irregularities in an academic department.
Most notably, there were lecture classes that didn’t meet and operated as grade-boosting independent studies requiring a research paper or two. Athletes comprised roughly half the enrollments in problem courses from 1993-2011.
UNC is charged with lack of institutional control. Football wasn’t specifically charged with a violation.
Fedora says he’s “not going to sell my soul” by telling recruits it will turn out fine if he didn’t believe it.
ACC KICKOFF-FISHER
FSU coach Jimbo Fisher says Seminoles working on problems
PINEHURST, N.C. (AP) — Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher says the Seminoles are “stepping up” their process of educating players about domestic violence and other issues, after a pair of high-profile allegations overshadowed the program in recent weeks.
Fisher says the team has started a four-step program to address the problems, and that character-building exercises have been part of the FSU football culture for years.
Running back Dalvin Cook has been suspended from the team indefinitely after it was alleged that he punched a woman outside a Tallahassee bar, which subsequently led to him being charged. That news came not long after freshman quarterback De’Andre Johnson was kicked off the team after video showed him punching a woman in the face in a bar.
Fisher says that it’s not just a Florida State problem, “but a national problem.”
INDYCAR-CONDUCT CODE
IndyCar creates conduct code to limit competitor criticism
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — IndyCar has followed through on a promise to curtail criticism of the series with the creation of a new conduct code.
The five-point bulletin issued Tuesday is labeled under “Detrimental Competitor Conduct” and stems from last month’s race at California, when many drivers were critical of the racing. IndyCar CEO Mark Miles vowed after that race to start policing conduct he believed damages IndyCar.
The new code bars comments that call into question the integrity or legitimacy of the rules or their application, construction or interpretation; denigrates the IndyCar Series racing schedule or events; threatens or denigrates any IndyCar business relationship, including those with sponsors or broadcasters; or otherwise threatens the integrity, reputation or public confidence of the sport, IndyCar or IndyCar Series.
