La Crosse Tribune Sports News

Palmer, a Watertown native, joined the Badgers staff last season as recruiting coordinator for Bobbie Kelsey.

To understand how long Rice coach Wayne Graham has been around baseball, consider this: He recently told one of his players that he was there the day the slider was invented. The freshman believed him.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Dirk Nowitzki's age-defying wizardry has been overlooked lately because of Kobe Bryant.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — On Jackie Robinson Day, Philadelphia is acknowledging its racist treatment of the baseball pioneer when he played in the city nearly 70 years ago.

NEW YORK (AP) — The NBA will begin selling jersey sponsorships in 2017-18, becoming the first major North American sports league to put partners' logos on players' uniforms.

Bill Johnson, the radio announcer for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee basketball program for 16 seasons, is stepping down and slammed the school's upper administration for its lack of leadership.

CLEVELAND (AP) — LeBron James has been in the shadows, somewhat overlooked.

Agent Joel Segal tells The Associated Press that 27-year-old wide receiver Percy Harvin is retiring after seven NFL seasons.

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — At least 14 athletes from Russia and Georgia had their doping suspensions lifted Friday, two days after officials relaxed the rules about meldonium.

NYON, Switzerland (AP) — Falling short of peak drama, Friday's Champions League draw sent Real Madrid to play Manchester City and paired Atletico Madrid with Bayern Munich in the semifinals.

METAIRIE, La. (AP) — Fans of former New Orleans Saints defensive end Will Smith will pay their respects Friday to the fallen sports hero who was shot and killed last Saturday.

LEICESTER, England (AP) — Leicester fans never expected to see their modest team have a shot at winning the Premier League this season.

MONACO (AP) — Andy Murray advanced to the semifinals of the Monte Carlo Masters by beating Milos Raonic 6-2, 6-0 Friday.

Troy Fumagalli caught a team-high seven passes during team and 7-on-7 drills Thursday.

Garcia strikes out 13 in a complete-game 7-0 win Thursday at Busch Stadium.

UW will play at Creighton in the Gavitt Games in the 2016-17 season.

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — The son of three-time Formula One champion Jack Brabham will serve at least six months in prison after being found guilty of the rape and indecent treatment of a young girl.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Joe Pavelski circled out from behind the net while holding off Anze Kopitar, and the San Jose captain slipped the tiebreaking goal past Jonathan Quick.

The NBA playoffs start this weekend, and there's no shortage of story lines worth following. Here's a list of 10 to get you started:

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — Chris Beard has met with Texas Tech about its coaching vacancy, less than two weeks after being named UNLV's coach.