Lady Raiders fall to DeKalb County

Penn State picked up a commitment from four-star cornerback Daryus Dixson on Monday following his official weekend visit to the campus. Dixson plays at Southern California powerhouse Mater Dei, and the 247Sports composite ranks him as the No. 10 overall cornerback in the Class of 2025. He announced his decision with a video posted to social media. "It is about family there," Dixson told On3. "That was big, and the relationships are genuine, so that had an impact on my decision. Then it was about player development. That is big for me, too. I trust in the coaches and believe they can get me to where I want to be." He continued: "When I got out there and saw everything with my family, it looked good, the relationships were strong and I decided Penn State was where I wanted to be." He also credited the rapport he already has built with head coach James Franklin as well as Penn State's academics. Dixson is the 14th -- and highest-rated -- player to commit to the Nittany Lions' 2025 class. The 247Sports composite ranks Penn State's class as No. 11 in the nation and third in the Big Ten behind No. 1 Ohio State and No. 5 Southern California. He chose Penn State over Washington and Tennessee, per On3. --Field Level Media

The Washington Commanders paid kicker Brandon McManus the other half of his signing bonus despite releasing him, Pro Football Talk reported Monday. The team paid McManus the first 50 percent of the $1.5 million bonus at signing, with the other half due Friday. However, the team released him in the aftermath of a civil lawsuit that was filed against him for an alleged incident while the kicker was with the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Commanders signed McManus to a one-year, $3.6 million deal in March. McManus and his former team, the Jacksonville Jaguars, are being sued by two women identified as Jane Doe I and Jane Doe II. The lawsuit was filed May 24 in Duval County, where Jacksonville is located, and it was made public three days later. They allege McManus rubbed and grinded against them during a team flight to London last fall. Jane Doe I said McManus tried to kiss her and Jane Doe II said McManus "smirked and walked away" after she confronted him about grinding against her. The women said the Jaguars did not provide a safe environment for staff on the flight. McManus, 32, spent the first nine years of his 10-year NFL career with the Denver Broncos and signed with the Jaguars in May 2023. --Field Level Media

New York Giants tight end Darren Waller announced his retirement on Sunday, explaining in a YouTube video that "the passion has slowly been fading." Waller, 31, also revealed that a "very scary" health emergency last November made him re-think where his life was at. He did not name the medical condition, but Waller said he struggled to breathe and wound up spending 3 1/2 days in a hospital unable to stand, feed himself or use the bathroom. "I come out of that experience and I'm sitting in the hospital," Waller said, "and I go back into my daily life and I'm like, ‘Pretty clear, I almost just lost my life, and I don't know if I really feel if I would have died that I would have felt great about how my life was going if I died at that time.'" It was reported last week that the Giants expected the veteran to retire. "We have great respect for Darren as a person and player. We wish him nothing but the best," the Giants said in a statement Sunday. Waller, who is also working on a music career, spent the offseason contemplating his decision and was not with the team. He thanked the NFL in his video, saying that being a football player opened doors to help address his past struggles with addiction that he might not have had otherwise. "Eternally grateful for the game of football. I wouldn't be able to have this conversation or to think things through or be self-reflective if it wasn't for an opportunity to save my life and go to rehab, which the NFL offered me," he said. "They also gave me an opportunity to reestablish myself, to come back into the world and do something productive. Provide an example, be a leader, be a difference-maker in my craft but also in my day-to-day wherever I go." Waller joined the Giants for the 2023 season after two seasons with the Baltimore Ravens and five with the Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders. In his lone season with New York, Waller played 12 games (11 starts) and made 52 receptions for 552 yards and one touchdown. Waller was a Pro Bowl selection in 2020, when he hit career highs of 107 catches, 1,196 yards and nine touchdowns with the Raiders. After 86 career games (63 starts), Waller finishes his career with 350 receptions, 4,124 yards and 20 TDs. According to ESPN, the Giants will save $11.9 million against the cap with Waller a post-June 1 cut. --Field Level Media

PARIS (AP) — Catch up on the 2024 French Open with a guide that tells you everything you need to know about what happened at the clay-court Grand Slam tennis tournament, what the early Wimbledon betting odds are and more:

Josh Maravich, the youngest of the two sons of Hall of Fame member Pete Maravich, has died at age 42. LSU, where the elder Maravich starred and his son followed as a walk-on to the basketball program, announced his death Saturday. The school said he died Friday at the family home in Covington, La., but did not reveal the cause. Josh Maravich was a high school basketball standout at St. Paul's in Covington before playing at LSU from 2001-05. In a 2005 interview with the LSU newspaper, The Daily Reveille, he said playing for the Tigers was important to him. "I wanted to come here for my dad to make him proud," the younger Maravich said. "I knew I wasn't going to be a star player, but for me being a walk-on was what I always wanted to do." Josh Maravich was just 5 when his father collapsed and died Jan. 5, 1988, while playing pickup basketball in Southern California. Pete Maravich was 40, and his cause of death was heart failure that was attributed to a previously undiagnosed congenital defect. Josh and his brother, Jaeson, helped to design the statue of their father that was unveiled in July 2022 on the plaza outside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, the Tigers' home court. Pete Maravich set the record for most points ever in NCAA Division I basketball -- 3,667 -- in 1970 after three seasons at LSU. While it remains the record in men's college basketball, Caitlin Clark broke the all-time record for Iowa this spring. --Field Level Media

Ryan Grubb turned Michael Penix Jr. into a Heisman Trophy finalist during his two seasons as Washington's offensive coordinator. His next task is turning Geno Smith back into a high-level starter for the Seattle Seahawks. Grubb, now offensive coordinator of the Seahawks, is installing his system and at some point will have the quarterback to run it. For now, Smith is well ahead of newcomer Sam Howell as Grubb learns what his signal callers do best. "I think that there is a really good marriage there with some of the skillset that Geno has," Grubb said. "I think that we ask our quarterbacks to do a lot. Luckily for us, Geno's really athletic as well. I think for us, we don't have to limit it to just dropback. I think he's really good in the play-action game as well, which will be a big part of our offense. "And I think for us, it's not just the five-step all the time, but I do think that Geno is really good at getting the ball out on time and very efficient with the football, which he obviously showed in '22, led the league in completion percentage. Understanding how to get the ball out on time and really take care of the football is something that works obviously really well." Smith, 33, has been a Pro Bowl selection the past two seasons, but his 2022 season was much better than last year. Smith led the NFL with a 69.8 completion percentage and established career highs of 4,282 yards and 30 touchdowns in 2022. Last season, he completed 64.7 percent of his throws and his numbers dropped to 3,624 yards and 20 scores. That production came under now departed coach Pete Carroll. Mike Macdonald is the new head coach and Grubb has control of the offense after Seattle lured him away from Alabama, where Grubb had followed former University of Washington coach Kalen DeBoer. The trade for the 23-year-old Howell was to obtain someone with experience who might push Smith. Howell was a first-year starter for the Washington Commanders last season and led the NFL with 21 interceptions while throwing for 3,946 yards and 21 touchdowns. "They're freaking awesome," the 48-year-old Grubb said of Smith and Howell. "They are. I think that they're both really, really hard workers. They're very diligent, intelligent and I know that it means a lot to them and I think that their leadership in the room and how they react and work together says a lot about the kind of guys that they are." Smith has liked what he has seen from Grubb in his early dealings with him. "Coach Grubb is doing a great job being demanding, making sure guys are studying and on point and knowing their assignments, but also giving guys some grace," Smith said. "It is a new system ... and guys are going to mess some things up. That's not necessarily a terrible thing. We can gain from that. So Grubb is doing a great job. It's our job to make the plays come alive and make it all look good." Seattle will reportedly add veteran P.J. Walker to the quarterback room. The 29-year-old Walker has started nine NFL games while playing for the Carolina Panthers (2020-22) and Cleveland Browns (2023). --Field Level Media

Iowa's Ava Jones is medically retiring from college basketball, two years after sustaining serious injuries in a car crash that killed her father. Jones, from Nickerson, Kan., was with her parents and brother on July 5, 2022, standing on a sidewalk when they were struck by an allegedly intoxicated driver. Her dad, Trey, succumbed to his injuries days later while her mother, Amy, suffered multiple severe injuries. Several surgeries were required to save her leg from amputation. The player's younger brother received minor injuries. Jones wasn't medically cleared to play last season and never suited up for the Hawkeyes. She committed to Iowa just days before the accident. New Iowa coach Jan Jensen said Jones will remain on scholarship to complete her education. "We wish Ava the best on the road to recovery and fully support the decision she made to step away from the game," Jensen said. "She worked tirelessly to get to this point, but she made the best decision for herself and her well-being." Jones also commented on Friday. "I would like to start by saying how grateful I am to have been a part of the Iowa women's basketball program. I am extremely blessed to have been a part of the journey last season. "It is with great sadness to announce that I am medically retiring from college basketball. My coaches, doctors, teammates and trainers have been amazing since the accident. While I will no longer be a member of the women's basketball program, I will still be on scholarship, receive a world-class education and forever be a Hawkeye." "I'd like to thank my family for the never-ending support and I am excited for the next chapter of my life." The accident occurred in Louisville, Ky., where the family was visiting for an AAU tournament. The car jumped a curb and lunged onto the sidewalk, striking the family. The driver, Michael Hurley, was indicted by a grand jury and charged with one count of murder, two counts of first-degree assault, one count of fourth-degree assault and operating a motor vehicle under the influence. His case has yet to go to trial. --Field Level Media

Sterling Shepard credited quarterback Baker Mayfield for putting the wheels in motion that led to the veteran wide receiver signing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Shepard told the New York Post that Mayfield reached out to him last week. "I got a text from my boy and I just thought it was (a) 'regular old checking in to see how I was doing' type of text, because we do that from time to time to each other," Shepard said. That text was followed by another in which Mayfield inquired about Shepard's physical well-being, with the question posted of "do you think you got any more (football) left in you?" Shepard's agent contacted the Buccaneers, and soon a one-year deal was on the table. "I'm looking forward to it," Shepard said of playing for the Bucs. "It's a new scene. I can't say I wanted to experience that, I always wanted to be a Giant but I'm not mad at it, man. It's a really good situation, they have a really good football team, really talented football team and I get to be reunited with my boy and get to play with him a little bit." Shepard, 31, and Mayfield, 29, were teammates at Oklahoma, with the former reeling in 86 passes for 1,288 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2015. Mayfield started all 13 games that season. Shepard had just 10 catches for 57 yards and one touchdown in 15 games last season with New York. He has 372 receptions for 4,095 yards and 23 scores in 90 career games since being selected by the Giants in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft. --Field Level Media

The Detroit Lions will lose one OTA practice after the NFL and the players' union found they violated rules governing physical contact in the offseason. The Lions announced Friday night that their practice scheduled for next Monday had been forfeited. "On Friday evening the organization was made aware by the NFL and NFLPA that Organized Team Activities (OTA) practices held the week of May 27 violated player work rules pertaining to on-field physical contact pursuant to the Collective Bargaining Agreement," the Lions said in a statement posted to social media. "As a result, the team's OTA practice scheduled for Monday, June 10 has been forfeited. We take very seriously the rules set forth within the NFL's Offseason Program and have worked to conduct our practices accordingly. We will continue to be vigilant with our practices moving forward." The NFL offseason rules say, among other things, that contact work is prohibited. Examples include "'live' blocking, tackling, pass rushing," and "bump-and-run" contact. Players are not supposed to wear pads other than knee and elbow pads. --Field Level Media

Lawyers for former Illinois star Terrence Shannon Jr. learned Friday that they can use video evidence they believe will back their contention that another man, not their client, might have raped a woman in Lawrence, Kan., in September. The defense team for Shannon, who was suspended from the team for six games last season but reinstated before the postseason, says the video shows another man standing by the alleged victim at the bar where the alleged rape occurred on Sept. 9. Shannon's trial is expected to start on Monday. Shannon was charged in December, although the university dropped its investigation of the incident in April. He guided the Fighting Illini to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament before they lost to eventual national champion UConn. Calling the man in the video a "third-party defendant," the judge noted the defense's report that the man was accused of sexually touching another woman at the same bar two weeks earlier. The alleged victim in the case involving Shannon told officers that Shannon sexually penetrated her with his fingers. She identified him through pictures she saw online. The judge added: "The third-party defendant is alleged to have been present at the scene of this case and this alleged crime. The court finds that that evidence is relevant and admissible and the defense will be allowed to present that evidence." Shannon averaged 23 points in 32 games (31 starts) this season. He led the team in scoring and 3-point baskets (77). Shannon hopes to be selected in the NBA Draft, slated for June 26-27. Some draft projections have him being selected in the lottery. --Field Level Media