USC looking into Shaw’s heroic story

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Southern California coach Steve Sarkisian says the school is investigating defensive back Josh Shaw’s claim that he injured both of his ankles jumping off a balcony to save his nephew from drowning.

Sarkisian said USC has received several calls contradicting Shaw’s story about the circumstances leading to his two high ankle sprains. Shaw’s story was told in a detailed post on the Trojans’ website Monday hailing the team captain’s heroism, but Sarkisian acknowledged USC isn’t exactly sure what happened.

Lt. Andy Neiman of the Los Angeles Police Department also said that a man named Joshua Shaw was mentioned ”“ but not as a suspect ”“ in a report involving a Saturday night break-in at a downtown apartment building.

Sarkisian said he had “no history to not believe Josh and his story,” but acknowledged the situation was increasingly murky. The first-year USC coach declined to discuss the discrepancies in detail, or the identity of the callers who contradicted the story.

Davis leads U.S. hoops in final exhibition

LAS PALMAS, Canary Islands (AP) — Anthony Davis scored 18 points and teamed with forward Kenneth Faried to dominate the inside, leading the U.S. national team to a 101-71 victory over Slovenia in its final exhibition game before the FIBA World Cup of Basketball.

Faried finished with 14 points for the Americans, who next head to Bilbao, Spain for their tournament opener Saturday against Finland. The defending world champions will also face Turkey, New Zealand, the Dominican Republic and Ukraine in pool play.

The Americans weren’t particularly impressive throughout the last of their four warmup games, their first since picking their final 12-man roster on Saturday. But they were aggressive, with Davis and Faried wearing out the Slovenians.

Kyrie Irving added 13 points while starting at point guard for the Americans ahead of Derrick Rose, and they played together at times. Rose had three points.

NCAA COO Isch set to retire

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The NCAA’s massive overhaul is hitting the organization’s Indianapolis headquarters.

Chief operating officer Jim Isch announced he would retire early next year, a move that is prompting NCAA President Mark Emmert to reorganize his top staff. He will create a new executive vice president position to oversee regulatory matters and will delegate most of Isch’s other responsibilities to others already working at college sports’ largest governing body. Those changes will take effect Oct. 1.

Isch, who joined the NCAA in 1998, will continue to assist Emmert in an advisory capacity until he leaves at a yet to be determined date.

Donovan to make final U.S. cap in Oct.

CARSON, Calif. (AP) — Landon Donovan says he will make his final appearance for the U.S. national team Oct. 10 in a friendly against Ecuador.

Donovan announced the plan Tuesday.

Donovan is the top scorer in U.S. history with 57 goals and 58 assists in 156 appearances, but he wasn’t chosen for his fourth World Cup roster earlier this summer by coach Jurgen Klinsmann.

Earlier this month, the 32-year-old Donovan announced he will retire from the LA Galaxy after the season. The five-time MLS champion is the North American league’s career goals leader.

The U.S. team will face Ecuador at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Connecticut.

Klinsmann expressed excitement about Donovan’s final appearance in a post on his Twitter account.

AP adding assistant award to NFL honors

NEW YORK (AP) — The Associated Press will recognize the NFL’s top assistant coach with a new award beginning this season, the news organization announced Wednesday.

The Assistant Coach of the Year award will be the AP’s eighth NFL honor, joining MVP, Coach of the Year, Comeback Player of the Year, Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year, and Offensive and Defensive Rookies of the Year.

A nationwide panel of 50 media members who regularly cover the league will vote on all the awards, and the winners will be announced on Super Bowl eve. The award will be open to any assistant coach, from coordinators to position coaches to quality control coaches.