0xbt

Washington State quarterback Tyler Hilinski has died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The 21-year-old Hilinski was discovered in his apartment after he didn’t show up for practice. A rifle ”was recovered next to Hilinski and a suicide note was found Youth Antonio Callaway Jersey ,” according to the Pullman Police Department.

Hilinski was the presumptive starting quarterback going into next season. He started Washington State’s Holiday Bowl loss to Michigan State after Luke Falk was unable to play due to a wrist injury.

Hilinski appeared in eight games during his sophomore season, throwing for 1,176 yards and seven touchdowns. His most memorable outing came in the second week of the season when he led Washington State from a 21-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat Boise State 47-44 in triple overtime. Hilinski threw for 240 yards and three touchdowns coming off the bench, and was carried off the field after the victory.

His only start came in the bowl game against Michigan State, although he played extensively in a loss to Arizona.

OLYMPICS

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – North Korea plans to send a 230-member cheering squad to South Korea as part of its delegation to next month’s Winter Olympics, Seoul officials said, the latest in a series of conciliatory gestures the North has abruptly taken recently following a year of heightened nuclear tension.

North Korea informed South Korea of the size of its Olympic cheering squad when officials from the rivals met at the border for the third time in less than 10 days to discuss how to cooperate in the Olympics.

A flurry of Olympics-related meetings has provided a tentative thaw in long-strained ties between the Koreas. But the North’s reluctance to discuss its nuclear weapons program is raising skepticism over how long this mood of reconciliation will last.

During Wednesday’s talks, the North also told South Korea that it has a plan to send a delegation to the Pyeongchang Paralympics set for March 9-18, Seoul’s Unification Ministry said in a statement.

The Koreas also discussed fielding a joint women’s hockey team and having their athletes march under a ”unification flag” depicting the Korean Peninsula, instead of their respective national flags, during the opening ceremony for the Feb. 9-25 Games in Pyeongchang, the ministry statement said.

PRO BASKETBALL

LOS ANGELES (AP) – The NBA has spoken to Clippers star Blake Griffin as well as other players from the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles as part of its investigation into late-game and postgame incidents involving the teams.

Griffin confirmed that he had been contacted by league officials.

”I’ve spoken to them,” he said after attending a L.A. Clippers Foundation event at an elementary school. ”I’m sure they’ve talked to everybody by now. We’ll see what they come up with.”

Tempers boiled over Monday night late in the Clippers’ 113-102 victory , to the point where several security guards were needed outside the Houston locker room afterward.

Citing anonymous NBA sources, ESPN reported several Rockets players headed toward the Clippers’ locker room afterward Youth Dorance Armstrong Jr. Jersey , seeking a confrontation, but were escorted away by security before anything got physical.

PRO FOOTBALL

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) – Jacksonville Jaguars running back Leonard Fournette escaped injury after he was involved in what authorities say was a minor three-car crash.

The team says the rookie’s car was rear-ended about 11:30 a.m., and that he was not hurt. He was able to drive home after the crash.

The Jaguars also say Fournette signed the rear bumper of his 2017 Mercedes-Benz Maybach – it was knocked off in the wreck – and gave it to one of the first responders on the scene.

The Florida Highway Patrol says Fournette was not at fault in the crash.

Fournette and the Jaguars play at New England on Sunday in the AFC championship game.

Fournette ran for 109 yards and three touchdowns in Jacksonville’s 45-42 victory at Pittsburgh last Sunday.

PITTSBURGH (AP) – Todd Haley’s contract as the offensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers is up.

And coach Mike Tomlin doesn’t sound as if he’s in a rush to decide whether Haley will be back next season.

Tomlin sidestepped several attempts to endorse Haley’s return on Tuesday as the AFC North champions continued to dissect what went wrong in an upset home playoff loss to Jacksonville . Asked if he anticipated any changes to his staff, Tomlin demurred.

”I don’t know where these roads are going to lead,” Tomlin said. ”Some contracts are up. Some aren’t. I’m not ready to discuss that.”

Haley just finished his sixth season with the Steelers and has helped design one of the NFL’s most dynamic offenses.

Leonard Fournette’s thousand-yard season is costing him thousands.

Maybe even tens of thousands.

The Jacksonville Jaguars running back bought seven offensive linemen – five starters and two backups – Rolex watches.

Fournette ran 268 times for 1,040 yards and nine touchdowns as a rookie. He also had 36 receptions for 302 yards and a score.

”I couldn’t do it myself,” Fournette said Thursday, three days before Jacksonville (10-6) hosts Buffalo (9-7) in an AFC wild-card game. ”I can’t block 11 guys on my own. That’s the O-line and wide receivers, too. They played a big part of contributing to me getting 1,000 yards.”

The former LSU star rewarded his linemen with some wrist bling. Left tackle Cam Robinson, left guard Patrick Omameh, center Brandon Linder, right guard A.J. Cann and right tackle Jermey Parnell will get their watches Friday. Backups Tyler Shatley and Josh Wells, both of whom started four games because of injuries, also will get Rolexes.

”Just show them the dedication for all the hard work they put in to help me to get me where I’m at and all for this team Marquez Valdes-Scantling Color Rush Jersey ,” Fournette said. ”Their hard work doesn’t go unnoticed.”

Fournette said he picked the watches out himself and had each lineman’s number and initials engraved on the back.

”They got me my 1,000 yards,” he said. ”That’s what I need.”

Fournette finished eighth in the NFL and fifth in the AFC in rushing despite missing three games. He averaged 3.9 yards a carry against the most eight- and nine-man boxes in the NFL. His average was buoyed by touchdown runs of 90 and 75 yards in consecutive games.

Fournette missed one game in October because of a sprained right ankle, another in November because he violated an undisclosed team rule during the bye week and sat out a third time last month because of a bruised right quadriceps muscle.

He has a combined 117 yards rushing the last two games, averaging 3.2 yards a carry.

”I think it’s tough,” coach Doug Marrone said. ”When you’re out for a bit, whether you’re injured or not, especially early in your career, to be able to come back, you don’t come back and start where you left off. … For him, he comes back and starts getting in a groove and you go.”

Fournette hopes to get back on track against the Bills, who rank 29th in the league against the run. Buffalo gives up 124.6 yards rushing a game. In the past five weeks, the Bills have allowed nearly 150 yards a game on the ground.

Fournette stopped short of committing to buying expensive watches every year.

”We’ll see how it goes,” he said, laughing.

—