BASKETBALL
Wake Forest fired men’s basketball coach Danny Manning on Saturday after losing seasons in five of his six years and only one NCAA Tournament appearance.
Manning, a former No. 1 overall NBA draft pick, went 78-111 with the Demon Deacons, with a 30-80 mark in ACC regular-season games.
Athletic Director John Currie said in a statement the change came after”a “comprehensive review” of the program. Currie said associate head coach Randolph Childress will lead the program in the interim.
• Gonzaga sophomore Joel Ayayi declared for the NBA draft but will not hire an agent.
The 6-foot-5 guard from France said his top option remains returning for his junior season. Ayayi averaged 10.6 points and 6.3 rebounds last season and was voted the most outstanding player of the West Coast Conference tournament.
NBA: Players will be allowed to return to team training facilities starting Friday, provided that their local governments do not have a stay-at-home order prohibiting such movement still in place as part of the response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Any workouts that take place would be voluntary and be limited to individual sessions only, according to a person familiar with the league’s decision. Group practices would not be allowed yet, and teams will not yet be permitted to organize in-person workouts.
SOCCER
Poland’s premier soccer league plans to restart on May 29 after the government decided to ease restrictions imposed to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
The decision makes Poland one of the first countries in Europe to set a date to resume a league that was suspended on March 13.
• Aston Villa players will take a 25 percent pay cut to help the English Premier League club during the coronavirus outbreak.
“First-team players, first-team coaches and senior management have all agreed to defer 25% of their salaries for four months to assist the club during this period of uncertainty with a further review taking place at the end of this period,” club chief executive Christian Purslow said in a statement.
• Another Premier League team, Chelsea, says it will not impose a pay cut on its first-team squad and instead will ask players to continue their support for charities during the coronavirus pandemic.
Chelsea also said it will not be furloughing any full-time staff, and casual workers and match day employees are being compensated by the club through to June 30.
AUTO RACING
NASCAR team owner Richard Childress is auctioning off one of racing legend Dale Earnhardt’s cars to raise money for coronavirus relief efforts.
The Charlotte Observer reports that this is the first time Childress has sold or given away an original Earnhardt car from his personal collection.
The eBay site for the auction doesn’t list a deadline for bidding on items or say which No. 3 car is being auctioned.
• Formula One driver Lando Norris embarrassed the field in his IndyCar iRacing debut by dominating a race at virtual Circuit of the Americas in Texas.
Norris, a 20-year-old British driver who was a Formula One rookie last year, dominated qualifying to start from the pole and relinquished the lead only because of a pit stop. He then picked his way back through the 33-driver field on the virtual road course in Austin, Texas, and regained the lead with four laps remaining when Felix Rosenqvist spun.
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