NFL:
A person familiar with the decision tells The Associated Press the Giants are hiring offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo as their next head coach. The 38-year-old McAdoo succeeds Tom Coughlin, who stepped down after 12 seasons last week.
The Cleveland Browns have hired their eighth coach since 1999 when they entered the NFL as an expansion team. He's Hue Jackson, formerly offensive coordinator with the Bengals, who replaced Mike Pettine, who was let go after two losing seasons.
New England Patriots Pro Bowl defensive lineman Chandler Jones missed the team's media availability Wednesday after being taken to a hospital with an unspecified medical emergency Sunday. Jones was admitted to a local hospital and released later the same day. The matter also involved the Foxborough police. Jones was not available during the 45 minutes that the Patriots locker room was open to reporters before practice on Wednesday. He was seen on the field during the stretching portion of practice. The team said in a statement that he has not missed practice or any team meetings.
NBA:
In the NBA, Brooklyn beat New York 110-104, Boston topped Indiana 103-94, Washington bested Milwaukee 106-101, Charlotte defeated Atlanta 107-84, Oklahoma City trumped Dallas 108-89, Houston won against Minnesota 107-104, Denver beat Golden State 112-110, New Orleans topped Sacramento 109-97, Portland beat Utah 99-85, and it was the Clippers over Miami 104-90.
NHL:
In the NHL, Philadelphia edged Boston 3-2, Columbus won against Toronto 3-1, Calgary blanked Florida 6-0, and it was Anaheim over Ottawa 4-1.
NCAA:
Clemson's Dabo Swinney has won the Paul "Bear" Bryant Coach of the Year award. Swinney is the first ACC coach to be honored with the trophy named for the late Alabama coach. Clemson was undefeated until losing to Alabama 45-40 Monday night in the national championship game. The Tigers finished 14-1.
In college women's basketball, top-ranked UConn beat Memphis 86-46 last night. Moriah Jefferson matched her season-high with 21 points, and Breanna Stewart had 11 points and eight rebounds. The Huskies led by double-digits about 7 minutes in and never trailed.
In college men's basketball, Syracuse seized control with a 21-2 run in the first half to defeat Boston College 62-40 last night. Malachi Richardson scored 15 points. Michael Gbinije had 14, and Dajuan Coleman added 11 points apiece for the Orange. Eli Carter topped the Eagles with 13 points.
Maine's up-tempo offense hit 13 3-pointers in a 95-81 victory over UMass Lowell yesterday. Freshman Devine Eke scored 25 points. Maine closed the first half on a 7-0 run, capped by Shaun Lawton's deep 3-pointer just before the halftime buzzer, to take a 48-38 lead. Eke made 6 of 8 shots for 14 points in only seven minutes of play.
The University of Missouri admitted NCAA violations in its men's basketball program dating to 2011 and banned itself from the postseason this year and vacated all 23 wins from the 2013-14 season. The NCAA is still investigating and Missouri says it's working with the organization in hopes of limiting the punishment to its self-imposed sanctions, which includes the SEC tournament.
OBIT:
Sportscaster Jim Simpson has died. He was 88. ESPN says he died yesterday in Scottsdale, Arizona, after a short illness. Simpson worked for NBC, ABC, CBS and TNT, and when he joined ESPN in 1979, he gave the fledgling cable sports network instant credibility.
Former All-Star pitcher Luis Arroyo (uh-ROY'-yoh) has died. He was 88. The New York Yankees say Arroyo's daughter, Milagros, told the team Wednesday night that he had died earlier in the day in Puerto Rico. She said he had been diagnosed last month with cancer. Arroyo helped pitch the Yankees to the 1961 World Series championship. The 5-foot-8 lefty was 15-5 with a major league-leading 29 saves that season, then earned another victory in the Series against Cincinnati.
Former Nebraska star running back Lawrence Phillips has been found dead in his California prison cell and officials say they suspect suicide. Guards at Kern Valley State Prison found the 40-year old unresponsive in his cell. He had been housed alone in a segregation cell since April 2015 after he was suspected of killing his cellmate. Phillips was a former No. 1 draft pick of the before his NFL career was cut short by disciplinary problems. Phillips went to prison in 2008 to serve a sentence of more than 31 years after he was convicted of twice choking his girlfriend in 2005 and of driving his car into three teens later that year.
Hockey – Russia:
The Kontinental Hockey League has launched a racism investigation after bananas were reportedly thrown at a black player during a game in Moscow.
Russian media said that Spartak Moscow fans threw two bananas onto the ice at Swedish wing Edwin Hedberg, who plays for Medvescak Zagreb, after the Croatian team won 4-1 on Wednesday.
The KHL says in a statement that it is "looking into the matters of the racist incident during the Spartak-Medvescak match" and will decide what action to take in line with league regulations, adding that "the league considers any actions of this kind inadmissible."
While racism is rare in Russian hockey, the country has long struggled with racist incidents in soccer and is trying to crack down ahead of holding the World Cup in 2018.
Tennis:
Defending champions and No. 1-ranked Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams top the Australian Open seedings lists, which follow rankings ahead of the first Grand Slam tournament of 2016. Two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka moved back into the top 16 with her victory at the Brisbane International last week, her first title since 2013.
MLB:
Free agent pitcher Edwin Jackson has signed a one-year contract with the Miami Marlins. The right-hander made 47 relief appearances for the Cubs and Braves last season. He really fits the term journeyman as the Marlins are his 10th franchise, after past stints with the Dodgers, Rays, Tigers, Nationals, Diamondbacks, White Sox and Cardinals along with the Cubs and Braves last year.
He's made 340 career appearances, 262 of them starts, with an 88-107 record and 4.58 ERA.
In other baseball:
__ A person familiar with the negotiations says reigning NL batting champion Dee Gordon has agreed to terms on a $50 million, five-year contract extension with the Miami Marlins, avoiding salary arbitration. Gordon led the majors last season with 205 hits and 58 stolen bases, and he batted .333.
— The Nationals have avoided salary arbitration with catcher Wilson Ramos by agreeing to a contract. The 28-year-old hit .229 last season in a career-high 475 at-bats, with 15 homers, 68 RBIs and 101 strikeouts.
__ First baseman Yonder Alonso and the Oakland Athletics have agreed on a $2.65 million, one-year contract, avoiding salary arbitration.
Track & Field:
The leader of the track's governing body told a lawyer he'd need to cut a deal with Russian president Vladimir Putin to ensure nine Russian athletes accused of doping wouldn't compete at the 2013 world championships in Moscow. That's according to a new report on the scandal that reached the top of the sport and country.
Details of the 89-page investigation, to be released by the World Anti-Doping Agency on Thursday, were provided to The Associated Press early by a person who had reviewed it.
©2016 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.