Brendan Quinn

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Juwan Howard entered a South State Street restaurant through the backdoor last week, slipping in to meet at a secluded second-floor table. The 51-year-old has had a lot of attention on him this year, over the last five seasons as head men’s basketball coach, and for most of his life as , Michigan alum and McDonald’s All-American. Advertisement On March 15, Howard after an 8-24 season that included a 3-17 mark in the Big Ten Conference. The ending, a meeting with athletic dir…

GLENDALE, Ariz. — brought his hand to his mouth, checking for blood. ’s had caught him with a swinging elbow on a move to the basket in the waning moments of a game already decided. Now Diarra was on the court, hoping no teeth were jarred loose. The shot to the head mightn’t have been so bad if Diarra weren’t defending this meaningless possession as if his entire life depended on it. But he was. Advertisement The Connecticut bench erupted in joy as Diarra got up, finding a smear of red upon hi…

Long ago, but not too long, Trevor Immelman was one of South Africa’s finest junior golfers in the late 1980s and into the ’90s. Loads of natural talent. Good enough to get the attention of the country’s icon, Gary Player, and his generation’s hero, Ernie Els. Advertisement But Immelman was small and the wind was strong. Cape Town, his hometown, sits between the Indian and Atlantic Oceans, where the cold Benguela Current and the warm Agulhas Current smash together, forming a southeasterly wind t…

AUGUSTA, Ga. — While 13 of the 89 players in this year’s field are members of LIV Golf, including defending champion Jon Rahm, five of the top 10 finishers in the 2023 LIV standings will spend this week at home as Augusta National Golf Club wrestles with questions of access to its field amid professional golf’s divide. Advertisement While the pathway is clear for players, it remains limited for those on LIV. Furthermore, that dynamic doesn’t appear to be changing anytime soon. Augusta National…

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Tommy Fleetwood hung back a little, easing his gait, the way friends do. Gray Moore shuttled along, trying to keep up, but resigned to his own speed. Sometimes it’s tough to tell which side his limp favors, right or left. The hobble sure seems painful. Advertisement It was a little after 4 o’clock on Friday. Fleetwood and Moore were completing their 26th hole of the day, up and down and around Augusta National, where the hills and slopes rise and fall and the fairways are shaped l…

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Jon Rahm stood in front of a microphone outside the Augusta National clubhouse, trying to figure out the next day’s plans. At 5 over through three rounds of the 88th Masters, this Sunday will be far different than a year ago when he won his second major, conjured the spirits of Seve and José María, and cemented his place as a Masters champion. Advertisement This Sunday, Rahm will tee off at 11:45 a.m., wrap up his tournament around mid-afternoon, and then sit around a few hours wa…

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Neal Shipley, who has finished this Masters as low amateur, just sat with reporters in the Augusta National interview room, an appetizer before heading to Butler Cabin later Sunday to be presented with the Silver Cup as the tournament’s low amateur finisher. Shipley seemingly spent this week in a dreamscape. He stayed in the crow’s nest on Monday night, watching Connecticut beat Purdue in the men’s national championship game. Then shot 71-76 on Thursday and Friday to stand as the…

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Late Sunday afternoon, along the pine straw lining the right side of Augusta National’s 13th fairway, a pack of patrons followed the action, unaware what was happening, who was doing what, or what the scoreboard said. “OK,” said Pat Mueller, “I think Scottie is putting for birdie.” The expert commentary came via eyes pressed onto binoculars, roughly 400 yards or so away from Augusta’s 12th green. Mueller pulled away from the binoculars, tried to see for himself, squinted, and look…

is hiring Phoenix Suns assistant coach Kevin Young to fill the men’s basketball head coach vacancy left by Mark Pope, the university confirmed Tuesday. Young, 42, is originally from Salt Lake City. He has spent nearly his entire 18-year coaching career in the professional ranks, moving from G League assistant to G League head coach to assistant to his current role as NBA associate head coach. Young is the highest-paid assistant coach in the NBA and will remain with the Suns through the playoffs…

Juwan Howard is returning to the . The former Michigan basketball head coach has agreed to join the as an assistant coach, a source briefed on the deal confirmed Friday. ESPN first reported the news. Howard was an assistant for the from 2013-19 before spending the last five years at Michigan. He was after an 8-24 season with the Wolverines, including a 3-17 mark in the Big Ten Conference. An iconic figure at Michigan, Howard starred as one of the Fab Five and went on to play 19 seasons in the…