PRESS BOX: Nets confirm C Lopez out for season
Brooklyn Nets general manager Billy King confirmed Sunday that center Brook Lopez is out for the season with a broken right foot.
Lopez sustained the injury during the second half of Friday night's overtime loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. Lopez played through the injury, clocking 44 minutes and finishing with 22 points on 9-of-19 shooting and seven rebounds.
It is the same foot that was surgically-repaired from a fracture in 2011.
The injury was revealed when Lopez underwent X-rays after the game.
Lopez's injury is a big loss for the Nets as he is averaging 20.7 points and six rebounds per game.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
---Penn State lowered the buyout cost NFL teams would have to pay the school to hire coach Bill O'Brien away from the Nittany Lions, and there have been talks of reducing the fee even more, according to ESPN.
Reducing the buyout makes it easier for O'Brien to leave Penn State for the NFL.
Last summer, Penn State changed the NFL buyout amount in his contract from $19.33 million last year to $6.48 million for this year. If O'Brien leaves for another college, the school hiring him would have to pay Penn State $11.08 million.
A Penn State official said O'Brien's representatives recently asked the school to reduce the NFL buyout even more, according to a source.
---New USC head coach Steve Sarkisian wants the Trojans two interim head coaches from this season to join him on the USC staff, ESPN.com reported.
Clay Helton, who was USC's head coach for the Trojans' 45-20 win over Fresno State in the Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl on Saturday, has already committed to returning to USC next season.
Sarkisian said on Sunday he will ask Ed Orgeron to be part of the coaching staff next season.
Orgeron went 6-2 as USC's interim head coach and immediately resigned after he was not offered the head coaching job on a fulltime basis.
