Feb 6, 2019 4 min read

Washington-Greene HOF class announced

The Washington-Greene Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame announced Wednesday that it has recently elected 11 individuals and a Team of Yesteryear for its 2019 induction class.

The 1973 and ’74 Jefferson-Morgan football squads that won back-to-back WPIAL championships has been selected as the Team of Yesteryear.

The individuals elected for the 2019 class are Emily Briggs (basketball), Jeff Casper (football), Mike Deegan (baseball), Blanca D’hoedt-Erickson (track and field), Andrew “Drew” Headlee (wrestling), Mark Kern (football), Jim Morris (coach), Sarah Riske McGlamery (tennis), Patrick Sadler (baseball), Brian Simmons (baseball) and Penny Starkey (coach).

Also, George Linck (athletic director, official), who was elected in 2018 but could not attend the banquet because of scheduling conflicts, will be inducted in 2019.

The Hall of Fame banquet will be held June 14 at the Doubletree Hotel in Meadow Lands. Tickets can be purchased through PayPal at wash-greenesportshall.org.

Biographical information on each inductee will be published at a later date.

Pens’ Murray ‘day

to day’ with injury

Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Matt Murray missed practice Wednesday while being evaluated for an upper-body injury.

Murray, who played in a 4-0 loss to Carolina on Tuesday night, will travel with the team when it heads to Florida to start a three-game road trip on Thursday night against the Panthers. Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan described Murray as “day to day.”

Murray already has missed time this season because of a concussion and an unspecified lower-body injury. Sullivan says Murray is not dealing with a concussion this time around.

Center Evgeni Malkin, who has sat out the last three games with an upper-body injury, also will travel with the team on the trip. So will defenseman Justin Schultz, who is nearing his return after fracturing his left leg in Montreal in mid-October.

Southern Miss passes on hiring Briles

Southern Mississippi has decided not to hire Art Briles after interviewing the former Baylor football coach, a decision Golden Eagles coach Jay Hopson disagrees with.

The school released a statement Wednesday from President Rodney D. Bennett and interim athletics director Jeff Mitchell saying “following that meeting (with Briles), we informed him that he is not a candidate.”

Hopson released his own statement just minutes after the school, saying that he respects the president’s decision, but disagrees with it.

Southern Miss has been searching for a new offensive coordinator.

The 63-year-old Briles, who led the Bears to consecutive Big 12 titles in 2013 and 2014, was fired after an external investigation revealed in May 2016 that Baylor had for years mishandled numerous sexual assault allegations by students, including some against football players.

The Pepper Hamilton firm’s investigation found at least 17 women who reported being sexually assaulted by 19 football players.

In the NBA

D’Angelo Russell had 27 points and 11 assists, and the Brooklyn Nets surpassed last season’s win total by beating the Denver Nuggets 135-130 on Wednesday night.

Russell made six of the Nets’ 19 3-pointers, one game after they made only five as a team in their poorest shooting performance of the season.

In college basketball

Kerwin Roach II scored 21 points and Matt Coleman III added 18 and Texas cruised to an 84-72 win over Baylor on Wednesday night that knocked the Bears out of a tie for first place in the Big 12.

Baylor had won six in a row to claw to the top of the league before running into a Texas team that could hardly miss on its home court. Texas shot 61 percent in the first half, led by 15 at halftime and was in control the entire way.