Apr 22, 2019 4 min read

WVU’s Konate

declares for draft

West Virginia shot-blocking specialist Sagaba Konate, who missed most of this past season with a knee injury, has declared for the NBA draft.

The school announced Konate’s decision Monday, adding that he plans to sign with an agent.

Konate played in eight games as a junior, averaging 13.6 points and eight rebounds.

Coach Bob Huggins says “every kid who plays basketball growing up has a dream of playing in the NBA. We wish Sags nothing but the best as he chases that dream.”

Under new NCAA rules, Konate can still return to school if he chooses. He has until May 29 to make a final decision.

Konate holds the school record with 191 blocked shots.

Pony baseball

Ian Callan hit a solo home run to help Chambers Insurance down Washington Hyundai 9-6 in the Washington Pony opener for both teams.

Callan picked up the win, striking out three. Nathan Barnhart doubled for Washington Hyundai.

W&J athletes honored

Washington & Jefferson College sophomore men’s tennis player Nate Wang was named the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Player of the Week.

Wang, a Peters Township graduate, earned a pair of wins in last Tuesday’s 5-4 victory over Grove City. His singles victory helped the Presidents secure the match and finished the regular season undefeated in the PAC.

• Josh Cummer, a first baseman for the Presidents’ baseball team, was named the PAC Hitter of the Week.

Cummer went 12-for-19 with nine RBI and scored eight runs last week. He had a 1.105 slugging percentage.

Among first baseman in the PAC, Cummer is first in doubles (17), second in batting average (.432) and second in on-base percentage (.509) this season.

In college softball

California University failed to click offensively and dropped both games of a doubleheader against Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference defending champion Gannon, falling the the Knights 4-3 in Game 1 and 4-0 in Game 2.

In Game 1, the Vulcans led 3-1 entering the final inning before Gannon (9-5 in the PSAC West, 20-11 overall) strung together two hits and a pair of walks before Maria Taliani hit a two-run, walk-off double.

The loss spoiled a strong start from Cal starter Emilee Downing, who struck out a career-high 12 batters in 6 1/3 innings.

In Game 2, Gannon’s Kaity Stocker hit a three-run-homer with two outs in the third inning. The only other offense came two innings later when the Knights hit back-to-back doubles to score a run in the fifth to extend their lead to 4-0.

Cal falls into a tie for fourth place in the PSAC West standings. The Vulcans are 6-8 in the conference and 10-20 overall with six regular-season games remaining.

In college baseball

With a doubleheader sweep on Monday afternoon, the California University baseball team earned its first league series win over Seton Hill by securing a 3-2 win in Game 1 before taking a 10-6 victory in Game 2 in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West play.

With the sweep, the Vulcans improved to 30-9 this season and moved back into a tie for first place in the divisional standings with a 15-5 mark. The Vulcans got their first conference series win over Seton Hill, which joined the PSAC in 2013. Head coach Mike Conte also reached the 30-win mark for the ninth time in his career and the first time since 2013. Meanwhile, the Griffins fell to 20-18 overall behind an 11-9 record in conference play.

WNBA signs deal with CBS

CBS Sports has signed a multiyear deal with the WNBA to broadcast 40 games per season beginning next month.

The games will be in primetime and on weekends and will be shown on the CBS Sports Network. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.

The league, which will begin its 23rd season on May 24, also has a deal with ESPN to show 16 regular season telecasts, including three on ABC. Last year, the WNBA had a strong regular season with combined average viewership across ESPN2 and NBA TV up 31% over 2018.

Minnesota versus Chicago on Saturday, May 25, will be the first game on the CBS Sports Network. The TV channel will use the local broadcast feeds for now, similar to what NBA TV does in showing WNBA games.

The sides are still discussing expanding the coverage to include features and other WNBA programming.