HOUSTON – Denzel Valentine of Michigan State is the Associated Press Player of the Year, edging out Oklahoma’s Buddy Hield by three votes.
Valentine is the first Spartans player to win the award. He accepted the trophy Thursday in Houston.
Valentine received 34 of 65 votes from the national media panel that selects the weekly AP Top 25. Hield was the only other player to receive votes. Hield and Valentine were the only unanimous selections to the AP All-America team.
Valentine, a 6-foot-5 senior, led Michigan State (29-6) to a second-place finish in the Big Ten regular season and was the conference player of the year. He averaged 19.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and 7.6 assists.
The Spartans were ranked No. 1 for four weeks and finished second in the final AP Top 25. They lost to Middle Tennessee State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Voting was done before the tournament.
HOUSTON – Bill Self, who led Kansas to the No. 1 ranking in the final weekly poll and its 12th straight Big 12 title, is the Associated Press Coach of the Year.
The Jayhawks (33-5) were the overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and lost to Villanova in the regional final.
Self received 21 votes from the 65-member national media panel that selects the weekly poll. Chris Mack of Xavier was second with 15 votes and Dana Altman of Oregon received 13.
Self also won the AP Coach of the Year Award in 2009. Roy Williams, in 1992, was the only other Kansas coach to win the award.
The Jayhawks spent a total of five weeks at No. 1 this season and won the Big 12 again to move within one of UCLA’s record for consecutive titles.
Voting was done before the NCAA Tournament.
CINCINNATI – Police in southwest Ohio said a Xavier University basketball player has been charged with disorderly conduct for his behavior at a bar.
A report said J.P. Macura pulled his pants down with several people present early Thursday morning. Police said the 20-year-old sophomore was also charged with obstructing official business for presenting a fake ID indicating he was 21 and from Tennessee.
The Lakeville, Minn., native was held in Hamilton County Jail pending a court appearance later Thursday. No attorney was listed for him in court records.
The 6-foot-5 guard was a key player off the bench during 28-6 Xavier’s run into the NCAA tournament, where the Musketeers were upset by Wisconsin in their second game.
Athletics spokesman Tom Eiser said the school is “working to collect all the facts.”
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Chiefs signed Charcandrick West to a three-year extension and fellow running back Spencer Ware to a two-year extension Thursday, solidifying their backfield alongside Jamaal Charles.
West and Spencer proved to be a potent change-of-pace duo when Charles went down with a season-ending ACL injury last season. Charles is expected to be ready for the start of the upcoming season, but locking up West and Ware will help take some of the load off the two-time All-Pro.
It also makes running back Knile Davis a potential trade piece.
The quick, elusive West started nine games and ran for 634 yards and four touchdowns last season, while the more physical Ware started two games and ran for 403 yards and six touchdowns.
LAKE FOREST, Ill. – The Chicago Bears agreed to a one-year contract with former Tampa Bay and Arizona offensive lineman Ted Larsen.
The Bears continue to add to their line. The move announced Thursday comes one day after they agreed to a one-year deal with former Detroit Lions and Denver Broncos lineman Manny Ramirez.
The 6-foot-2, 305-pound Larsen has appeared in 86 games with 57 starts over six seasons with the Buccaneers (2010-13) and Cardinals (2014-15). He has made 34 regular-season starts at left guard, 13 at right guard and 10 at center.
PITTSBURGH – Defensive end Ricardo Mathews agreed to a one-year deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers that will give the team needed depth next season.
Financial terms were not disclosed Thursday.
The 28-year-old Mathews had one sack and 14 tackles in 16 games with San Diego in 2015. He has four sacks in 80 career games with Indianapolis and San Diego.
The Steelers needed help along the line after nose tackle Steve McLendon signed with the New York Jets and Cam Thomas was not re-signed.
ASHBURN, Va. – Tight end Vernon Davis said he is heading to the Washington Redskins as a free agent.
Davis tweeted Thursday: “I’M COMING HOME. Let’s do this, (at)Redskins.”
He also retweeted a post from his younger brother, Indianapolis Colts defensive back Vontae, that congratulated Vernon “on signing with our fam’s hometown team Redskins!”
Vernon Davis has played 10 seasons in the NFL and twice was a Pro Bowler. He spent his first 9 seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, then was traded to the Denver Broncos in November and won a championship.
Davis, who turned 32 in January, had a combined 38 catches for 395 yards and no touchdowns last season. He adds depth for the Redskins, who have an oft-injured star at tight end, Jordan Reed.
Davis was born in Washington and went to college at Maryland.
MINNEAPOLIS – Minnesota Vikings linebacker Chad Greenway said he is coming back for one more season in purple.
Greenway tweeted Thursday that he will be back next year and plans to end his career as a Viking. The 33-year-old Greenway has played all 10 of his NFL seasons with the Vikings since he was a first-round draft pick in 2006.
In a decade in Minnesota, Greenway has emerged as a pillar for the Vikings both in the locker room and in the community.
Greenway grew up a Vikings fan in tiny Mt. Vernon, S.D. before going on to star in college at Iowa.
Coach Mike Zimmer has said all offseason that he hoped the defensive captain would return for one more year.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Colorado Rockies left-hander Tyler Matzek returned to spring training after spending two weeks taking brain tests and undergoing coaching for performance anxiety.
Matzek started the Rockies’ home opener last year but ended up in the low minors due to control and confidence issues. He failed to get anybody out in his first spring appearance on March 2, was scratched from his next start and then left camp on March 14.
Matzek spent the past two weeks in Denver with the Rockies’ new mental skills coach, former NFL linebacker and psychologist Dr. Rick Perea. Matzek said Thursday he took neurotherapy tests twice a day for two weeks while being coached about handling brain wave imbalances.
Matzek is uncertain when he’ll throw next. He’ll likely begin the season in the minors.
BUFFALO, N.Y. – Buffalo Sabres forward Evander Kane will miss the final nine days of the season because of an upper body injury.
Coach Dan Bylsma said Thursday that Kane likely needs three to four weeks to recover. Buffalo is out of playoff contention and has just five games left, including hosting Toronto on Thursday night.
Kane appeared to hurt his left hand while battling for a puck in a 3-2 loss at Detroit on Monday. He ranks third on the team with 20 goals and fourth with 35 points in 65 games this year.
This was Kane’s first season on the ice with Buffalo. He had just had season-ending shoulder surgery when he was acquired by the Sabres in a multi-player deal with Winnipeg in February 2015.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Jimmy Vesey will become a free agent Aug. 15, and his representatives said the Nashville Predators were told not to factor the Harvard forward’s future into any decisions at the trade deadline.
It’s the latest in bantering between the Predators and Vesey.
Vesey’s representatives at Global Hockey Consultants issued a statement responding to Nashville General Manager David Poile’s comments Monday night. The GM said Vesey told assistant general manager Peter Fenton in February that he would sign with Predators, who drafted him in 2012.
According to the statement, the Predators were told before the Feb. 29 trade deadline that potentially signing Vesey should not factor into any trade decisions the team planned to make.
The Predators declined to comment on the statement, which was first reported by The Sports Network.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones will have to take anger management and driver improvement classes and do more community service for violating his probation from a previous hit-and-run crash.
Jones appeared in court Thursday. He was wearing an orange jumpsuit and had his hands cuffed after having spent three days in jail.
His latest legal troubles came after being stopped last week for allegedly drag racing in downtown Albuquerque, not far from the gym where he trains. He was issued five traffic citations but has denied the allegations.
His attorneys reiterated during Thursday’s hearing that they believe the citations are bogus and that Jones was profiled.
Jones is scheduled to fight Daniel Cormier at the end of April for the light heavyweight title.