College Basketball: Game time for Kentucky’s game in the Women’s NCAA tournament against Delaware Saturday in Bridgeport, Connecticut has been announced to be at 11 am Hopkinsville time. Pre game coverage will begin at 10:45 on Lite 98.7.

 Shaka Smart will remain the basketball coach at Virginia Commonwealth.  The school revealed Wednesday Smart and the university have agreed in principle to a contract extension, with details still being finalized.  Smart led the Rams to a 27-9 record this season, which included a berth in the Atlantic 10 championship game and a selection to the NCAA Tournament. 

Smart was courted by UCLA, which fired coach Ben Howland last weekend, but turned down the storied program. VCU has made three straight NCAA tournament appearances, highlighted by a Final Four berth in 2011.

The University of Connecticut and women's head basketball coach Geno Auriemma have agreed to terms on a five-year contract that will run through the 2017-18 season.  Auriemma, who has spent all 27 of his head coaching years at U Conn, has won an unprecedented seven NCAA national championships and made 13 Final Four appearances, including each of the last five seasons.

NFL: League sources tell ESPN Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers are close to finalizing a long term contract extension that will make Rodgers the highest paid player in NFL history. Both Rodgers and the Packers are hesitant to talk about the extension, but a league source says the deal could average $25 million a year.

The former Super Bowl MVP is under contract through 2014 and is scheduled to earn a base salary of $9.25 million in the 2013 season.

MLB: Cactus League action this afternoon has Cincinnati meeting the Kansas City Royals, while the Chicago Cubs host Seattle. Grapefruit League action has St. Louis meeting Miami, while Atlanta plays a Houston Astros split squad.

High School Baseball-Wednesday scores: Trigg County defeated Hopkinsville 8-7, Owensboro Catholic defeated Christian County 15-5.

Today’s games: Christian County travels to Madisonville, Hopkinsville is at Henderson County, Trigg County hosts Stewart County, TN, Russellville hosts Logan County, Todd Central meets Kenwood, TN in the Falcon Classic at Fort Campbell, Livingston Central welcomes Heath, Crittenden County hosts Union County, Paducah Tilghman hosts Apollo, Greenwood at Bowling Green, South Warren at Warren East, Warren Central hosts Glasgow.

High School Softball-Today’s games:   University Heights at Logan County, Russellville at Warren Central, Todd Central hosts Franklin Simpson, Caldwell County at Hopkins Central, Madisonville hosts Dawson Springs, Union County hosts Webster County, Lyon County welcomes Crittenden County, Henderson County hosts Muhlenberg County, Livingston Central hosts Calloway County, Marshall County at Heath, Graves County welcomes Carlisle County and Bowling Green hosts South Warren.

High School Tennis: University Heights met Hopkinsville in a boys singles-doubles match at Ruff Park Wednesday. The Blazers won the match 6-3.

College Basketball

NCAA tournament action continues this evening as East and West Region semi finals take place. In the East Region, Miami meets Marquette at 6:15 Hopkinsville time, followed by Indiana and Syracuse at 8:45.

West Region action has Arizona meeting Ohio State at 6:47, while LaSalle and Wichita State play at 9:15. Coverage of all four games on News/Talk WHOP begins at 6 this evening.

Kentucky Sports Radio reported on its website Wednesday that Madison Central standout Dominque Hawkins will learn by Friday if he will be offered a basketball scholarship by the University of Kentucky. Hawkins has said he will not play for a school that does not offer a scholarship. Hawkins led Madison Central to its first state championship last month.

College Football: The Orlando Sentinel has named Western Kentucky running back Antonio Andrews one of the top 10 backs to watch in the 2013 season. The former Fort Campbell standout had 2,200 all purpose yards last season, setting an NCAA record.

Kentucky coach Mark Stoops announced following Wednesday’s practice defensive lineman Donte Rumph is out indefinitely, after suffering a shoulder injury in Monday’s workout. Stoops says the injury is significant and Rumph could face surgery. Stoops added it’s a big loss defensively, as Rumph is one of the most consistent players.

The Sun Belt Conference announced Wednesday two new members will be coming to the league in the 2014-15 school year. Georgia Southern and Appalachian State will both be departing from the Southern Conference. Both schools will become bowl eligible in the 2015 season.

A former full fledged Sun Belt Conference member is returning as a football only member in 2014. New Mexico State officials made the announcement Wednesday. The Aggies have spent the last eight years as a member of the Western Athletic Conference and will play as an independent this season.

Also returning to the Sun Belt in 2014 as a football only member will be Idaho. The Vandals played in the league in the early 2000’s. The WAC has dropped football as one of its sports.

The Tulsa World said Wednesday Tulsa University has no comment in regards to conference affiliation. The Golden Hurricanes have been a member of Conference USA since 2005, however ESPN reported Wednesday TU plans to move to the newly revamped Big East Conference in July, 2014.  There’s been speculation if Tulsa does leave C-USA, Western Kentucky University could be offered an invitation to join C-USA.

College Baseball: Austin Peay and Murray State open a three game Ohio Valley Conference series this afternoon at Reagan Field in Murray.

College Softball: Austin Peay dropped a pair of games to Middle Tennessee 7-5 and 3-2 in eight innings. Murray State split a pair of games with Evansville, losing 3-0 and winning 6-3.

NHL: The Nashville Predators look for their fourth win in as many games as they close out a home stand with the Phoenix Coyotes this evening. First puck drops just after 7 in Bridgestone Arena.

PGA Tour: Play begins today in the Shell Houston Open, with Nashville native Brandt Snedeker and Danville native Josh Teater both playing this week. Hunter Mahan is the defending champion.

College Basketball: Western Kentucky assistant coach Phil Cunningham was named the new coach at Sun Belt rival Troy University Tuesday. Cunningham came to the Hill this past season after working several years as an assistant at Mississippi State.

Reports indicate Miami center Reggie Johnson did not travel with the team last night for their NCAA East regional semifinal game against Marquette Thursday night in Washington DC.

Johnson had a procedure to repair a minor meniscus issue. The university issued a statement saying the injury occurred in the Hurricanes win last weekend against Illinois. A spokesman also added Johnson would not play this weekend, but would be available if the ‘Canes reach the Final Four in Atlanta.

Georgia Southern University announced today plans to leave the Southern Conference for the Sun Belt Conference beginning with the 2014-15 season. Georgia Southern has had one of the most successful programs in Football Championship Subdivision history, winning a record six national titles since 1985 and winning 10 Southern Conference championships since becoming a member in 1993.

It’s also being reported that Appalachian State will make the move to the Football Bowl Subdivision level, also heading to the Sun Belt Conference. The official announcement is expected later this afternoon.

MLB: Cactus League action this afternoon has Cincinnati taking on San Diego. Grapefruit League action has Washington splitting its squad in one game against Atlanta, the other against St. Louis.

High School Baseball: A couple of teams braved the cold Tuesday, with Christian County defeating Muhlenberg County 6-3, Graves County over Heath 2-0, Paducah Tilghman shut out Reidland 10-0 in 6 innings.

Today’s games: Fort Campbell is at McEwen, TN for a doubleheader.

High School Softball: Paducah Tilghman over Mayfield 12-1.

College Basketball

Women’s NCAA: 7^th ranked Kentucky advanced to the semifinals of the Bridgeport regional with a 84-70 win over Dayton. Adia Mathies matched her career scoring high with 34 points for Kentucky now 29-5 on the season. Kentucky will face Delaware on Saturday, with coverage of the game beginning at 10:45 am on Lite 98.7. Tip off is at 11 am Hopkinsville time.

Louisville also advanced to the semifinals of the Oklahoma City regional with a 76-63 win over Purdue. The 26-8 Cardinals will next face overall number one seed Baylor at 5:30 on Sunday.

Three members of Austin Peay’s men’s team are leaving the program. A news release issued Tuesday says Joe Harms is giving up his basketball career to concentrate on academics, while Herdie Lawrence and AJ Lynch are leaving to pursue other basketball opportunities. The departures will give the Governors five scholarships to offer for the 2013-14 season.

Murray State has announced it will renew its basketball series with Southern Illinois beginning next season. The 2013 and 2015 games will be played in Murray, with the 2014 and 2016 games in Carbondale. The teams have not played since 2006.

Murray State senior Isaiah Cannan was selected Tuesday to the Lou Henson All American team and announced as a semi finalist for the AAU-James E. Sullivan award. Cannan averaged 21.6 points per game during his senior campaign.

College Football: Austin Peay had its first spring practice under new coach Kirby Cannon Tuesday. Cannon tells the Leaf Chronicle he was happy with the effort in the first workout and believed the team had utilized position meetings last week leading up to the first practice. Cannon also said the team needed to practice faster and harder but added you have to teach players to do that.

College Baseball: Austin Peay lost at number 25 Mississippi State 13-5.

NFL: Former Tennessee Titans quarterback Matt Hasselbeck tells the Tennessean he is “still in shock” after being released by the Titans last week. Even though he signed with the Indianapolis Colts, he said it was emotional telling his young children they were leaving the Music City.

Hasselbeck says he knew his $5.5 million salary was too high for the Titans and was willing to restructure his contract. He said conversations were positive at first, but then realized the Titans were not going to rise above a certain amount. Hasselbeck declined to discuss the specific amount, but indications seemed it would have been less than $3 million.

High School Basketball: The new McCracken County High School announced its boys and girls basketball coaches Monday. West Kentucky Star.com reports Burlin Brower, who coached at Heath High School has been named boys coach, while Joshua Barnett was named the girls coach. He recently coached at Lone Oak High School.

Hopkins Central will have a new boys coach next season. The Madisonville Messenger reports the school announced Monday Toby Miles will not return next season. Miles went 26-66 in three seasons as head coach, after serving as an assistant for the previous eight seasons.

College Basketball: Three member of Austin Peay program are leaving the program. A news release says Joe Harms is giving up his basketball career to concentrate on academics, while Herdie Lawrence and AJ Lynch are leaving to pursue other basketball opportunities. The departures will give the Governors five scholarships to offer for the 2013-14 season.

WPSD-Paducah reports on its website that Murray State and Southern Illinois are likely to renew their basketball series next season. Racers coach Steve Prohm said Monday he is close to finalizing a deal to play beginning next season after a six year hiatus.

NCAA women’s tournament action continues this evening as Kentucky plays Dayton in a second round game in the Bridgeport regional in Queens, NY. Coverage of the game begins at 6 on Lite 98.7. The Louisville women also host a second round game this evening, as the Cardinals take on Purdue in the KFC Yum Center.

MLB: The Milwaukee Brewers signed pitcher Kyle Lohse on Monday. According to a Milwaukee newspaper, the three-year deal is worth $11 million per season plus
incentives. Lohse had spent the past five seasons with St. Louis and was coming off
the best year of his career in 2012 with a record of 16-3 and a 2.86 ERA in 33 starts.

The Cardinals offered him compensation as a free agent, meaning any team that signed him would have to forfeit a first-round draft pick.  The Brewers will have to surrender the 17th pick in the draft.