Brian Wardle (AP)It took more than a month for Wisconsin-Green Bay to fully evaluate claims that coach Brian Wardle mistreated players, but the university has found that "a good deal of what was alleged did not occur."

As a result, Wardle will not only retain his job but also avoid either a fine or suspension.

What led UWGB to hire an independent investigator to look into Wardle's behavior was a series of alarming accusations by former forward Brennan Cougill and walk-on center Ryan Bross. In a story published last month by the Green Bay Press-Gazette, Bross claimed Wardle called him derogatory and homophobic slurs, interfered with his academic course choices and ran him when he was ill during preseason conditioning to the point where he lost control of his bowels.

The statement UWGB chancellor Tom Harden released Friday mostly defended Wardle's conduct, especially how he handled Bross' illness during preseason drills.

Evidence culled from interviews with more than two dozen individuals suggested Wardle neither forced Bross to keep running even though he wasn't feeling well or humiliated him in front of the team. Harden does acknowledge, however, that "Wardle should have more appropriately sent the player back to the locker room at an earlier point in the drill."

UWGB also largely dismissed Bross' claims that he was prevented from pursuing a certain major because the course load would interfere with basketball. The investigator found that, like all freshmen, Bross' course preferences weren't given the same priority when the team's practice schedule was set as they would have been were he an upperclassmen.

The only folks who didn't see the humor in a Knoxville barbecue chain's clever radio ad poking fun at former Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl were members of the Ohio State compliance department.

They told Sporting News they intervened this week, requesting point guard Aaron Craft's name be removed from the ad out of fear the use of it could result in a minor NCAA violation. NCAA rules stipulate that a current student-athlete’s name or likeness cannot be used for commercial ventures.

"We have taken the necessary steps with all parties involved to alleviate any potential NCAA issues," Ohio State associate athletic director for compliance Doug Archie told Sporting News. "Aaron Craft's eligibility was never in danger. He had no knowledge nor provided consent."

Craft's name pops up in the commercial because of his role in the career-altering mistake that got Bruce Pearl fired as Tennessee's basketball coach.

Pearl hosted a backyard barbecue at his home for Craft while Tennessee was recruiting the point guard, a violation uncovered by the NCAA enforcement staff when they found pictures of the future Ohio State star at Pearl's home. Bruce Pearl later lied to NCAA investigators when questioned about the location of the barbecue, resulting in his firing.

(USA Today Sports Images)

Ryan Kelly already was assured plenty of lifelong memories from 2013 but now he's made it one of the best years of his life no matter what is to come.

The former Duke forward used his Twitter account Thursday night to announce his engagement to longtime girlfriend Lindsay Cowher, the daughter of former Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher.

(Getty Images)

At the end of Thursday's news conference formally announcing his return as U.S. men's national team coach, Mike Krzyzewski made a brief but intriguing comment sure to spark debate.

Asked if the opportunity to coach in the NBA still intrigues him, Krzyzewski explained he is happy at Duke, especially because of the challenge the revamped ACC will provide.

"I love what's happening with our conference," Krzyzewski said. "We're going to be a 10-bid conference. We're going to be the best conference in the history of the game. It's exciting to be part of that."

The ACC will certainly improve dramatically thanks to the addition of Syracuse, Pitt and Notre Dame next season and Louisville the following year, but Krzyzewski's suggestion it will be the best league of all time is a bit more dubious.

Don't forget the powerful Big East produced three Final Four teams in the same season during its Chris Mullin-Patrick Ewing heyday in 1985 and sent two different schools to the Final Four two years later. Or that the more recent version of the Big East earned three No. 1 seeds in 2009 and landed a record 11 NCAA tournament bids in 2011, with its ninth-place team capturing the national championship. Heck, you could argue this may not even be the strongest incarnation of the ACC considering the caliber of the league before it added Miami, Boston College and Virginia Tech in a bid to improve in football.

For this upcoming era of ACC basketball to compare favorably, the league will need not only Duke, North Carolina, Syracuse and Louisville to remain powerhouses but some of its lower-echelon programs to step up in class.

via SoonerSports.comOklahoma's three most well-known universities have found a clever way to raise money for victims of the tornadoes that ravaged the state earlier this week.

Tulsa, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State are jointly selling T-shirts with the logos of each school on the front underneath the phrase "OKTOGETHER." All proceeds from the sale of each $19.95 short-sleeved shirt and $24.95 long-sleeved shirt will go to The United Way and will be used to aid disaster relief efforts in the towns struck by tornadoes.

[Related: Kevin Durant gets Nike to join in on tornado relief]

"It’s the Oklahoma Standard," the blurb describing the T-shirt to potential buyers reads. "In times of need, our communities rally around each other with an outpouring of love and compassion. As a Cowboy, Hurricane and Sooner fan, you can do your part to help the Oklahomans that have been affected by the recent devastation by supporting those in need with this 2013 Disaster Relief Efforts tee."

The shirt is one of numerous T-shirts being sold to benefit tornado victims in Oklahoma. It will take a lot of T-shirts purchased to match Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant's generous $1 million donation earlier this week, but every little bit helps.

Mike Krzyzewski (YouTube)

When Mike Krzyzewski and his wife were discussing earlier this spring whether he ought to return as U.S. men's national coach, she asked if that commitment would be easier for him if he resigned from his post at Duke prior to the 2016 Olympics.

[Related: Coach K: New-look ACC the best basketball conference ever]

Krzyzewski's response will make all Blue Devils fans smile.

"Really it's just the opposite," Krzyzewski told reporters at a news conference in Durham on Thursday. "I don't think anybody should coach the (Olympic) team unless they're still coaching. You've got to stay sharp. I'm coaching in the best league against the best competition and the best players that I can. Doing that, it becomes easier."

Asked to clarify if that meant he'd definitely coach at Duke through at least the 2015-16 season, the 66-year-old Krzyzewski said, "Obviously I'm not going to end before the Olympics."

And with that, any chatter about Krzyzewski retiring soon should die down for the foreseeable future. Barring a sudden reversal, college basketball's winningest coach will be on the Duke bench for at least the next three seasons, and he doesn't sound as though he's certain he'll be ready to step down even then.

Krzyzewski has long maintained coaching the U.S. national team has energized him and rekindled his passion for his profession, a point he emphasized again on Thursday. He reiterated the point Duke president Richard H. Brodhead made earlier in the news conference when he said that Krzyzewski had become an even better coach as a result of taking on the challenge of coaching the NBA's biggest stars.

Andrew and Aaron Harrison (Getty Images)

The release of USA Basketball's training camp roster Wednesday afternoon for the U-19 world championships inspired one obvious question: Why weren't any Kentucky players participating?

It's not that USA Basketball wasn't interested or that John Calipari advised against it. Forward Julius Randle, guards Andrew and Aaron Harrison and the rest of the members of Kentucky's top-ranked recruiting class simply preferred to spend the summer getting acclimated to college life and preparing for a run at the national title.

"Most of it is, they didn’t want to play. I’m not forcing kids to do anything," Calipari told Sporting News. "I think the reason they all turned it down is, they want to get started."

"I’m happy they’re thinking in those terms. They know the spotlight’s on them."

The knee-jerk reaction here is to criticize players for turning down a potentially once-in-a-lifetime chance to represent their country, but in this case that doesn't seem fair.

First of all, the Kentucky incoming freshmen were far from alone in their decision. Arizona-bound Aaron Gordon was the lone top 20 Class of 2013 recruit who chose to try out for the U-19 team and the only other incoming freshmen on the roster are Arizona's Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Washington's Nigel Williams-Goss and UCLA's Bryce Alford.

Erik Murphy (Getty Images)

Had Cody Larson opted to attend South Dakota State straight out of high school a few years ago, the highly touted in-state product's decision would have been celebrated as a tremendous recruiting coup.

The response was far more muted Wednesday, however, when Larson announced he is leaving Florida after three tumultuous years and transferring back home to play for the Jackrabbits.

It's difficult to project how big an impact Larson can make at South Dakota State because the former top 100 recruit rarely saw the floor at Florida. Larson played for the Gators just one of his three years in Gainesville, redshirting as a freshman, averaging 0.5 points and 0.8 rebounds during the 2011-12 season and leaving the team altogether in October after Billy Donovan pulled his scholarship.

Part of the reason Larson's once-promising career stalled is because of a spate of off-the-court problems.

Larson was suspended during his senior year of high school for sharing prescription pain pills with a teammate. He violated the plea agreement he reached after that incident in April 2011 when he was arrested in St. Augustine for breaking into a vehicle outside a bar after closing time.

Donovan set certain conditions for Larson to meet in order to keep his scholarship for the 2012-13 season, but the 6-foot-9 forward did not satisfy them. He declined to remain on the team as a walk-on last season, opting instead to merely attend classes and focus on his academics and personal issues.