Soccer: Reading United signs 3 MAAC players

After receiving more than two dozen Division I offers, Parkland junior offensive lineman Nicholas Dawkins has chosen to continue his football pursuits at Penn State.

Dawkins is the son of the late Darryl Dawkins, who played in the NBA for Philadelphia, New Jersey, Utah and Detroit during a career that spanned from 1975 to 1989.

The 6-4, 300-pound guard made his decision final Monday afternoon and announced it on his Twitter page.

Dawkins tweeted, “Mom I’m staying home!!” , and that led into a message talking about the recruiting process and thanking the many people who helped him on his journey.

In the past week alone, Dawkins had received offers from Central Florida, Northwestern and the Air Force Academy.

Rivals.com lists him as a three-star prospect. He is the ninth player to commit to Penn State’s 2020 class.

Soccer

nReading United will add three new players from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference for the 2019 season: Fairfield goalkeeper Gordon Botterill and Manhattan defenders Callum Carsley and Adrien Awana.

Botterill earned All-MAAC honors the past two seasons and has USL League Two experience. Carsley has played in USL League Two and the NPSL. Awana, an All-MAAC selection, played for United rival New York Red Bulls U23 last season.

United will kick off its 24th season with a U.S. Open Cup first-round matchup against NPSL-side Philadelphia Lone Star May 8 at 7 p.m. at Alvernia University.

Basketball

nAtlanta Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce has been added as an assistant coach for USA Basketball this summer, when the Americans will compete in the FIBA World Cup in China and try to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Pierce is replacing Indiana Pacers coach Nate McMillan, who withdrew because of scheduling conflicts. Pierce, the Golden State Warriors’ Steve Kerr and Villanova’s Jay Wright will be the assistants under head coach Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs.

The World Cup stretches through Sept. 15. The demands of the schedule and the travel would have likely been too daunting for McMillan – whose Pacers are scheduled to open training camp not long after the World Cup gold-medal game, and will then travel to India for a pair of preseason games on Oct. 4-5.

The U.S. is ranked No. 1 in the world and will face the Czech Republic, Japan and Turkey during Group E games in Shanghai.

The Americans will hold training camps in Las Vegas and Los Angeles in August, then have exhibition games in California and Australia before arriving in China.

The U.S. is seeking its third consecutive World Cup gold medal.

nKansas center Udoka Azubuike will return for his senior season, giving coach Bill Self the 7-foot center he hoped to build his offense around last season.

Azubuike averaged 13.4 points and 6.8 rebounds before undergoing season-ending wrist surgery last season. The Jayhawks went on to finish 26-10 and lose in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Azubuike, who led the nation in field-goal percentage as a sophomore, briefly considered heading to the NBA. But the recovery from his wrist injury meant he could not participate in the NBA’s combine or work out for NBA teams, making his return to Kansas a prudent decision.

Obituary

nBrenda Jackson, mother of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and a longtime employee at JR Motorsports alongside her daughter Kelley Earnhardt Miller, has died following a battle with cancer. She was 65.

The team announced her death Monday.

Jackson was the daughter of NASCAR fabricator Robert Gee, who built cars for various racers including the late Dale Earnhardt. She married Earnhardt in 1972, had two children, and Dale Jr. and Kelley remained with their mother when the couple separated and Earnhardt chased a career in NASCAR.

After a fire left the trio homeless, Jackson moved to Virginia and Dale Jr. and Kelley relocated to live with their father.

She married Norfolk firefighter Willie Jackson in 1985 and returned to North Carolina to work with Kelley and Dale Jr.