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Sports in brief

 
Published March 11, 2016

college football

gaither high's brooks: lovie offered me a scholarship

New Illinois coach Lovie Smith might bring another familiar name from the NFL to Champaign.

Gaither High junior linebacker DeCalon Brooks, son of Bucs Hall of Fame linebacker Derrick Brooks, said on Twitter that he had received what was believed to be the first scholarship offer Smith extended after being introduced as coach Monday. "Extremely Blessed to receive an offer from University of Illinois," DeCalon posted Wednesday.

DeCalon has four other offers, USA Today reported. They are from Florida State — where his father played — USF, Louisville and Florida International.

Texas-San Antonio: Larry Coker, fired in January as coach with three years left on his contract, agreed to accept a $650,000 settlement from the university, the San Antonio Express-News reported Thursday. Coker, who won a national title at Miami in 2001, could have received as much as $1.56 million under his contract's buyout provision.

et cetera

Arena football: The Storm began its two-week training camp in Tampa. It begins its 25th season April 1 against Orlando at Amalie Arena. … Monumental Sports & Entertainment, owned by Washington Capitals and Wizards owner Ted Leonsis, said it has acquired an expansion team to begin play at Verizon Center in spring 2017.

Drugs: More than 60 athletes, including Olympic medalists and world champions, have tested positive this year for meldonium, the drug Maria Sharapova admitted to using, anti-doping officials said. Meldonium, developed for heart patients, aids blood flow. It was placed on the World Anti-Doping Agency's banned list Jan. 1. Sharapova is the most prominent athlete known to be affected so far. … Armed with enhanced techniques, the International Olympic Committee is retesting hundreds of doping samples from the 2008 Summer Olympics to weed out drug cheats before they can compete in this year's Games.

Soccer: Host Liverpool beat Manchester United 2-0 in the first leg of a Europa League final-16 match. Germany's Borussia Dortmund was the biggest first-leg winner, 3-0 over visiting Tottenham.

Tennis: Maria Sharapova's racket supplier became the first main sponsor to publicly back her after she admitted to failing a doping test at the Australian Open in January. Head announced it would extend its sponsorship deal, three days after Sharapova revealed her use of meldonium. Sharapova made an error but there was no evidence she was trying to gain an unfair advantage, Head CEO Johan Eliasch said. At least three other sponsors, including Nike, were quick to suspend their support of Sharapova.

Times wires