Boston College fires coach Earl Grant after 5 seasons

Boston College has fired Earl Grant after five seasons, the school announced Sunday.

Grant, 49, posted a 72-92 record during his time with the Eagles, including 11-20 this season with a 4-14 mark in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

"We are grateful to Earl for his dedication to our student-athletes and to the Boston College community over the past five seasons," Boston College AD Blake James said in a statement. "Earl is a man of high character who represented our institution with class. However, we have greater expectations for our basketball program and I believe a change in leadership is necessary to change the trajectory of our program. We wish Earl and his family nothing but the best going forward."

Boston College notched a 77-69 victory over Notre Dame on Saturday to move into position to potentially seize the 15th and final seed in the ACC tournament. However, Pitt wrested it away by toppling Syracuse later in the day.

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"Our goal remains to compete at the highest level of college basketball and provide a world-class experience for our student-athletes," James continued. "We will begin a national search immediately for a new head coach who shares our vision of excellence, both on the court and in the classroom."

Grant was 127-89 during his seven seasons at the College of Charleston. He guided the Cougars to the NCAA Tournament in 2018. He is 199-181 in 12 overall seasons.

Sunday's news comes one week after Boston College parted ways with women's basketball head coach Joanna Bernabei-McNamee.

--Field Level Media

byMichael Cox

in

March 08, 2026

Boston College fires coach Earl Grant after 5 seasons

Boston College has fired Earl Grant after five seasons, the school announced Sunday. Grant, 49, ...

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Luka Doncic scores 35, Lakers hold off cold-shooting Knicks 110-97 in LeBron's absence

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Luka Doncic had 35 points and eight rebounds, Austin Reaves added 25 points and the Los Angeles Lakers overcame LeBron James' injury absence to grind out a 110-97 victory over the New York Knicks on Sunday.

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Rui Hachimura scored 13 points for the Lakers, who never trailed the surging Knicks in their fourth consecutive victory even while Jamesmissed his second straight gamewith a bruised left elbow and a left foot injury.

The Lakers slumped in the fourth quarter, managing just one basket in a 6 1/2-minute span down the stretch while New York cut its 23-point deficit to 10. But the Knicks couldn't hit enough shots to capitalize and committed eight turnovers in the fourth.

Luke Kennard made a 3-pointer with 1:37 left before Doncic iced it on his fifth 3-pointer with 1:05 left.

Karl-Anthony Towns had 25 points and 16 rebounds for the Knicks, who lost for just the second time in six games.

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Jalen Brunson scored 10 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter, but New York couldn't overcome 8-of-34 shooting on 3-point attempts in the second stop on its five-game trip, which began withan impressive win at Denver. Mikal Bridges went scoreless in 27 minutes.

The Lakers took a 19-point lead into the fourth quarter after a 20-8 run. Doncic, who hit an absurd fallaway 3-pointer during the surge, had 28 points afterscoring 44 in three quarterswhile beating Indiana two nights earlier.

Up next

Knicks: At the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday.

Lakers: Host Minnesota on Tuesday.

AP NBA:https://apnews.com/NBA

byMichael Cox

in

March 08, 2026

Luka Doncic scores 35, Lakers hold off cold-shooting Knicks 110-97 in LeBron's absence

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Luka Doncic had 35 points and eight rebounds, Austin Reaves added 25 points and the Los Angeles Laker...

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Jon Rahm breaks title drought at LIV Hong Kong

Jon Rahm captured his first individual tournament win since September 2024 on Sunday, carding a 64 for a three-stroke victory at LIV Golf Hong Kong.

Tied with Harold Varner III and Belgium's Thomas Detry entering the round, Rahm took over on the back nine with birdies on four consecutive holes, giving himself enough cushion to withstand a bogey at No. 18. His final round put him at 23-under for the event at Hong Kong Golf Club in Fanling.

Also breaking a long title drought was the Dustin Johnson-led 4Aces, who grabbed their first team win in 974 days with their 58-under showing.

Rahm started the season with back-to-back runner-up finishes before hoisting the Hong Kong trophy.

"Very relieving," said Rahm, who has won the past two season-long individual titles. "That's the only way I can describe it. I've been very ecstatic for wins in the past. This one just feels like a big weight off my shoulder. That's all I can say."

Detry shot a 67 on Sunday to finish 20-under and in sole possession of second place. Fellow Belgian Thomas Pieters (66) was a stroke behind Detry in third place, and Varner (69) finished in fourth at 18-under. Matthew Wolff (65) was fifth.

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With the victory, Rahm snapped a streak of 26 events without an individual win, despite the success of his Legion XIII team.

"It's very fun when you can stand on that podium and celebrate with your teammates," Rahm said. "But as far as obviously being a competitor and as myself goes, I wanted to get this done. It feels different. I think I would be way more ecstatic if I was celebrating with my teammates for the win, like the Aces did today, but there's a sense of self-accomplishment and pride that goes with doing it myself."

The 4Aces won the team championship in 2022 and two event titles in 2023 but hadn't managed a win since. But buoyed by Detry and Pieters -- along with solid finishes by Johnson and Anthony Kim -- this week was different.

The group was 16-under on Sunday, led by a 65 from Johnson and a 66 from Kim.

"It's been a while since we've won, especially with the way we started, dominating, pretty much winning every single event, or if we didn't win, we were finishing second for the first couple years," Johnson said.

"Obviously since then, LIV as a whole, the players have gotten a lot stronger, a lot better. The teams have gotten stronger. So it's a lot harder to win. That's a little bit of a factor. I think this year we've put together a really good team, so I think we're going to be competing each and every week. So, I'm very happy with that."

--Field Level Media

byMichael Cox

in

March 08, 2026

Jon Rahm breaks title drought at LIV Hong Kong

Jon Rahm captured his first individual tournament win since September 2024 on Sunday, carding a 64 for a three-strok...

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Daughter of UFC legend Frank Mir wins NCAA wrestling championship

Bella Mir has added to her family's collection of championships.

Her dad Frank was twice the heavyweight champion of the UFC while helping the sport skyrocket in popularity during his 16-year career. He still holds the record for most submission victories in UFC's heavyweight division with eight.

And now Bella is writing her own history. On Saturday night inthe first-ever NCAA Tournament for women's collegiate wrestling, second-seeded Mir – wrestling for Division III North Central – upset No. 1 Reese Larramendy of Iowa with a 5-0 victory in the championship bout of the 145-pound weight class in Coralville, Iowa.

Mir built a 5-0 lead on Larramendy before delivering what would be the first-ever pin in an NCAA women's wrestling final. Mir was in control for much of the match and built that advantage up just 40 seconds into the bout against her former teammate – who handed Mir her only loss of the regular season — with a clinical takedown. Less than three minutes into the match, Mir pulled off a superb reversal of a takedown attempt by Larramendy to put on her back and secure the pin.

It ended a 35-match unbeaten streak for Larramendy.

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The 22-year-old who started her collegiate career at Iowa before transferring to North Central – located in Naperville, Illinois – didn't have a point scored against her at the NCAA championships. She won her opener 11-0, and then took 10-0 victories in the quarterfinals and semifinals.

North Central finished in third place in the overall team standings at the NCAA championships. Division II McKendree won the team title narrowly over second-place Iowa, which is the only Division I school from a Power 4 conference currently sponsoring women's wrestling at the varsity level.

Mir is viewed by many to be the next great women's mixed martial arts fighter in UFC. She's already a two-time world champion in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and owns a 4-0 record as a professional MMA fighter.

Bella was 5 years old when Frank won his second UFC title. Ever since then,she told ESPNin a recent interview, she's wanted one of her own.

"There's been really special people that have stood out in the history of the UFC and the sport," UFC president Dana White told ESPN. "And I truly believe that Bella will be one of those too."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Bella Mir, daughter of UFC legend Frank Mir, wins NCAA wrestling title

byMichael Cox

in

March 08, 2026

Daughter of UFC legend Frank Mir wins NCAA wrestling championship

Bella Mir has added to her family's collection of championships. Her dad Frank was twice the heavyweight...

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Damon Stoudamire fired as Georgia Tech basketball coach after 3 years

Georgia Techhas decided to fireDamon Stoudamireas its coach following a three-year stint, the school announced Sunday, March 8.

The Yellow Jackets made the move one day after their 79-76 loss to Clemson in the last game of the regular season. With a 2-16 mark in Atlantic Coast Conference play, Georgia Tech finished 18th out of 18th in the league and did not qualify for theACC tournament.

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With Saturday's loss, the Yellow Jackets ended the season on a 12-game losing streak. The last win for Georgia Tech was a 78-74 road win over North Carolina State on Jan. 17. The Yellow Jackets won just two out of 17 games since the calendar flipped to 2026. They ended 2025 at 9-5.

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Stoudamire, who played in the NBA for 13 years, went 42-55 in three seasons with Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets failed to make the NCAA Tournament under Stoudamire, who replaced Josh Pastner following a seven-year stint.

Georgia Tech owes Stoudamire $2.6 million during the next two years for the remainder of his contract, unless he takes another job.

Georgia Tech has not made an NCAA Tournament appearance since the 2020-21 season and has just four appearances since finishing as the runner-up in the 2004 tournament to Connecticut.

Prior to taking the job with the Yellow Jackets, Stoudamire was an assistant coach for the Boston Celtics. He also coached Pacific from 2016 to 2021, posting a 71-77 record in five seasons with the program.

Stoudamire played college basketball at Arizona from 1991-95 before becoming a first-round pick in the 1995 NBA Draft by the Toronto Raptors. He was rookie of the year for the Raptors in 1995 and also played for the Trail Blazers, Memphis Grizzlies and San Antonio Spurs.

Damon Stoudamire coaching record

• Pacific (2016-17): 11-22, 4-14 WCC

• Pacific (2017-18): 14-18, 9-9 WCC

• Pacific (2018-19): 14-18, 4-12 WCC

• Pacific (2019-20): 23-10, 11-5 WCC

• Pacific (2020-21): 9-9, 6-7 WCC

• Georgia Tech (2023-24): 14-18, 7-13 ACC

• Georgia Tech (2024-25): 17-17, 10-10 ACC

• Georgia Tech (2025-26): 11-20, 2-16 ACC

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Ga Tech fires Damon Stoudamire as men's basketball coach

byMichael Cox

in

March 08, 2026

Damon Stoudamire fired as Georgia Tech basketball coach after 3 years

Georgia Techhas decided to fireDamon Stoudamireas its coach following a three-year stint, the school announced Sunda...

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