Boston College retains Jim Christian as men’s basketball coach

Amid the uncertainty brought about by the spread of the coronavirus, Boston College athletic director Martin Jarmond said Monday "it was not a time to introduce a lot of change when there’ a lot of uncertainty,'' in explaining his decision to retain men’s basketball coach Jim Christian. “The biggest thing is there’s just so much uncertainty with college athletics, with our university, with the community worldwide,'' said Jarmond, who had a “heart-to-heart” discussion with Christian last week and another meeting with him on Monday. “There’s uncertainty when we’re going to have students back on campus, there’s uncertainty about graduation, there’s uncertainty about the fall. With so much uncertainty, I just feel it’s important to have stability in your leadership.” The Eagles finished 13-19, marking their fifth losing campaign in six seasons under Christian after a one-and-done showing in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, which was eventually canceled by the spread of the virus. “Any time that you have a season that you lose more games than you win, there’s going to be disappointment,” Jarmond said. “So I certainly understand disappointment. We all are disappointed. Jim’s disappointed. Our guys are disappointed that we had more wins than losses. So I understand fans’ disappointment. But my job is to look at the totality of the program and also our athletic program and the university and really weigh all the factors and make an informed decision. So with everything that we’re facing right now in our landscape, this is the right course of action for us.”

Julian Benbow

Behn steps down as Brown’s women’s basketball coach

Sarah Behn stepped down from her position as Brown University’s head women’s basketball coach. "I would like to thank Brown University for allowing me to serve as head women’s basketball coach for the last six years,” Behn said. "I have truly appreciated the opportunity to work with so many impressive young women.” Behn, a Boston College standout, served as the Bears’ head coach for six seasons from 2014-20, compiling a 74-96 overall record and 20-64 Ivy League mark.

Oregon’s Ionescu AP’s unanimous Player of Year

Oregon star guard Sabrina Ionescu capped off a unprecedented college career as a unanimous choice as The Associated Press women’s basketball player of the year, receiving all 30 votes from the national media panel that selects the Top 25 each week during the season. Since the award was first given in 1995, the only other player to receive all the votes is former UConn star Breanna Stewart. “That’s pretty crazy. Someone I look up to and have a good relationship with,” Ionescu told the AP. “To be in that class with her is an honor.” Ionescu, who was only the eighth player to earn AP All-American honors three times, shattered the NCAA career triple-double mark and became the first player in college history to have 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 1,000 assists … Dawn Staley was named the AP women’s basketball coach of the year after she helped guide South Carolina (32-1) to a season-ending 26-game winning streak capped by the Southeastern Conference regular-season title and tournament championship.

Golf

MGA pushes to keep courses open

Unless there’s an exemption from the State House, some 400 golf courses across the Commonwealth will be out of bounds to the playing public as of Tuesday noon, in keeping with the statewide stay-at-home directive issued late Monday morning by Governor Charlie Baker in light of the coronavirus epidemic. The Massachusetts Golf Association, which last week made its pitch to keep its some 360-member courses open if such an order were invoked, awaited word late Monday afternoon from the Mass. Department of Health on whether clubs could remain open and operational. "I’m trying to glean some additional information,” said Jesse Menachem, the MGA’s Executive Director and CEO. “There’s a lot of us who are helping to lead the industry that are, frankly, not clear right now. We are not trying to promote people to play or not — we just want facilities to have the ability to make their own decisions rather than be mandated.” If nothing else, as Menachem noted, the MGA would like courses to continue having workers on site to maintain their grounds, particularly with the imminent arrival of warmer weather and the growing season. ”The short-term priority,” Menachem said, "is going to be to make a formal request to allow course maintenance practices to continues. We really want to protect assets out there and facilities want to protect their No. 1 asset.”

Kevin Paul Dupont

Coronavirus

Barkley reports negative result

Over a week after Charles Barkley announced he had been tested for the novel coronavirus, the Hall of Famer and Turner Sports NBA studio analyst reported the result was negative. “I’d like to thank everyone for reaching out and expressing your concern and support.” … The Kansas City Chiefs are matching the charitable work of their players, announcing the organization will donate a number of meals equal to the number players donate to food pantries in the metropolitan area. Wide receiver Tyreek Hill started the challenge to his teammates when he donated 6,000 meals. Tight end Travis Kelce (12,000 meals) quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15,000 meals), and safety Tryann Mathieu (30,000 meals) helped drive up the total to 100,000 meals with their respective donations … The Green Bay Packers are establishing a $1.5 million fund that will provide financial assistance in Brown County, Wisc. — which includes Green Bay and the Milwaukee area … The New York Jets and their owners, the Johnson family, made a $1 million joint donation to multiple United Way agencies in the New York/New Jersey area to help deal with the coronavirus outbreak … The top three Canadian junior hockey leagues (the Quebec Major Junior, Ontario and Western Hockey League) have called off the remainder of their seasons and playoffs, and the Memorial Cup trophy given out to the national champion will not be awarded for the first time in its 102-year history … The acclaimed equestrian summer tournament at Spruce Meadows in Canada schedule for June 4 has been canceled … Formula One postponed the Azerbaijan Grand Prix set for June 7, and delayed the start of the Formula One season until the middle of June at the earliest after either postponing or canceling the first eight races of the 2020 season.

Miscellany

US Soccer Federation tabs Wilson as CEO

The embattled US Soccer Federation filled a major vacancy by naming veteran sports executive Will Wilson as CEO and secretary general. He replaces Dan Flynn, who retired in September after 19 years at the Chicago-based governing body. Wilson, 52, arrives at a turbulent time for the federation, which is in a legal battle with the women’s national team and facing myriad challenges, both on the field and behind the scenes. This month, Carlos Cordeiro ended his two-year stint as president. Wilson, a native of England, has ties to American soccer, having worked from 2008 to 2012 with MLS (and its marketing arm, Soccer United Marketing) as executive vice president for international business and special events … The Nashville Predators signed goaltender Connor Ingram to a three-year contract, according to Predators general manager David Poile. Ingram, 22, posted a 21-5-5 record for the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals in the 2019-20 season. He ranked third among AHL goaltenders in save percentage and goals-against average and he tied for third in wins … The Buffalo Sabres agreed to sign college free-agent forward Dawson DiPietro of Western Michigan to a one-year entry-level contract. DiPietro, 24, had 12 goals and 17 assists to finish second on the the team with 29 points in 35 games his senior season …Boris Stankovic, the longtime head of basketball’s worldwide governing body and a driving force in the fight to allow NBA players to participate in the Olympics, died Friday in Belgrade, Serbia. He was 94.