Friday’s Sports in Brief – Yahoo Sports

OLYMPICS

CLEVELAND (AP) — LeBron James is jamming one of college football’s biggest games into his busy schedule.

James and his Cleveland teammates plan to attend Saturday’s Ohio State-Michigan game in Columbus before they travel to Philadelphia and play the 76ers on Sunday. A rabid Ohio State fan, James has been on the sideline at Ohio Stadium in the past, but not for a game he said is on his ”bucket list.”

This year’s matchup between the No. 2 Buckeyes and No. 3 Wolverines has national championship implications.

The defending NBA champion Cavs hosted Dallas on Friday night before they will take in the OSU-Michigan rivalry.

NFL

NEW YORK (AP) – Houston cornerback Johnathan Joseph has been fined $24,309 by the NFL for unnecessary roughness in the Texans’ 27-20 loss to the Oakland Raiders in Mexico City last Monday night.

Joseph was called for a penalty late in the third quarter after he tackled tight end Clive Walford, who made an 11-yard catch. The penalty helped lead the Raiders to a field goal.

Giants defensive end Olivier Vernon was fined $18,231 on Friday for unnecessary roughness after he drove Chicago quarterback Jay Cutler to the turf after a pass early in New York’s 22-16 win last Sunday.

Minnesota defensive tackle Tom Johnson was also docked $18,231 for what the league deemed an illegal hit on Arizona quarterback Carson Palmer last Sunday. He was called for roughing the passer on the play late in the Vikings’ 30-24 win.

Buffalo linebacker Jerry Hughes was fined $9,115 for attempting to head-butt a Cincinnati player.

Washington safety Su’a Cravens must pay the same amount after grabbing the facemask of Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

PENN STATE

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) – Penn State said Friday it won’t fight a $2.4 million fine stemming from a five-year federal investigation that found the university repeatedly violated campus crime reporting requirements, including in the case of former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, who is now serving decades in prison on child sexual abuse charges.

Penn State President Eric Barron said the university is paying the record fine even though it disagrees with some of the findings in a 239-page investigative report released by the U.S. Department of Education this month.

Investigators found that Penn State failed to comply with various aspects of the 1990 campus crime reporting law known as the Clery Act, including not issuing warnings about potential threats and underreporting crimes in annual statistics submitted to the government.

Barron said Penn State has made a significant commitment to preventing sex crimes and ensuring strict compliance with campus crime reporting requirements.

OLYMPICS

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – Former U.S. Olympic track coach Stan Huntsman, whose men’s team won seven gold medals in the 1988 Games in Seoul, has died. He was 84.

University of Texas women’s athletic director Chris Plonsky says the family told the university that Huntsman died Wednesday in Austin.

Huntsman was the head coach at Texas when he was picked to helm the 1988 Olympic team that included sprinter Carl Lewis. He spent 39 years as a college track and field coach, including stops at Ohio and Tennessee.

He was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2004. He coached 41 NCAA champions and four NCAA championship relay teams.

Huntsman was also an assistant U.S. Olympic coach at the 1976 and 1980 games.