Jul 4, 2021 3 min read

Miles stays in draft, McNeil returns

West Virginia guard Miles McBride will remain in the NBA draft, while fellow Mountaineer guard Sean McNeil said he will opt out of the draft and return to the team for another season.

Both announced their decisions Saturday on Twitter.

The 6-2 McBride led West Virginia in scoring as a sophomore at 15.9 points per game this past season and was the team leader in assists and steals. He was an all-Big 12 second team selection.

“I’m very grateful to have worn the blue & gold these past two years and represent West Virginia!” Miles said. “Thank you to everyone who has helped and supported me on this journey, but I have officially decided with my family and coaches that I’ll be staying” in the draft.

The NBA draft is July 29.

The 6-3 McNeil was fourth in team scoring at 12.2 points per game as a junior and led West Virginia with 69 3-pointers.

West Virginia’s roster has seen an extensive makeover since the Mountaineers lost to Syracuse in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to finish the season 19-10.

All-Big 12 forward Derek Culver announced in April that he had signed with an agent and would skip his senior season to enter the NBA draft. Forward Emmitt Matthews transferred to Washington while guard Jordan McCabe transferred to UNLV.

Guard Taz Sherman announced last month he would return to West Virginia for his fifth season. Top defender Gabe Osabuohien also is returning, taking advantage of an NCAA ruling that gives athletes an extra year of eligibility during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chestnut eats record 76 hot dogs

Chowdown champ Joey “Jaws” Chestnut broke his own record to gulp to a 14th win in the men’s Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest on Sunday, while Michelle Lesco took the women’s title.

Chestnut downed 76 franks and buns in 10 minutes. That’s one more than he did in setting the men’s record last year, when the contest unfolded without fans because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“It just felt good,” Chestnut, of Westfield, Indiana, said in an ESPN interview after his win. “Even if I was uncomfortable, having everybody cheer me and push me, it made me feel good.”

Lesco, of Tucson, Arizona, downed 30¾ dogs in 10 minutes and called her win “an amazing feeling.”

Reigning women’s champ and record-holder Miki Sudo skipped this year because she’s expecting a baby in a few weeks with fellow competitive eater Nick Wehry.

The annual Fourth of July frankfurter fest normally happens outside Nathan’s flagship shop in Brooklyn’s Coney Island neighborhood. But this year’s planning took place amid shifting coronavirus restrictions, and the event was held in a nearby minor league baseball stadium, Maimonides Park, with 5,000 spectators.

Tour de France

Defending champion Tadej Pogacar kept control of the Tour de France on a rain-soaked second day in the Alps as a crash-filled opening week took its toll on rivals on Sunday.

Both last year’s runner-up Primoz Roglic and former overall leader Mathieu van der Poel dropped out of the race before the grueling 144.9-kilometer (90-mile) route from Cluses to Tignes.

Australian rider Ben O’Connor won the stage after launching a solo break with 17 kilometers to go. Sergio Higuita was unable to follow the 25-year-old as O’Connor powered up the Col du Pré for the finish at Tignes.