SPORTS BRIEFS: Darton baseball routs Andrew again

Beasley pitches Darton past Andrew

For the third time this week, the Darton State College baseball team beat Andrew College. On Friday, the Cavaliers won 12-0 behind a complete-game five-hit shutout from Jeremy Beasley.

Both teams were scheduled to play a doubleheader, but heavy rain moved in and forced the cancellation of the second game. That game has been scheduled for 3:30 p.m. this afternoon in Cuthbert.

Mike Huggins led the offense, going 4 for 4 with three RBIs including a double and a triple. Luis Salas went 3 for 4 with a double, while Tyler Morris finished 3 for 5 with a double and an RBI.

Darton improved to 31-13 overall, 18-5 in conference play.

Wisconsin’s Dekker entering draft

Wisconsin forward Sam Dekker announced Friday he will forgo his senior season and enter the 2015 NBA Draft.

The 6-too-9 Dekker averaged 19.1 points and made 15 of 36 shots from beyond the arc in the NCAA Tournament.

“These past three years have been the best, most memorable years of my life,” Dekker said in a statement on the school’s website. “Growing up in the state and being able to wear Wisconsin across my chest has been a dream come true.

“After lots of thoughts and prayers, I’ve decided that it is in my best interest to enter the NBA Draft at this time. It is difficult to leave Madison and the only state I’ve called home, but I’m excited for the next chapter of my life.”

A native of Sheboygan, Wis., Dekker appeared in 113 games with 81 starts in his career at Wisconsin, finishing 15th in school history with 1,363 points. He also had 569 rebounds.

Dekker averaged 13.9 points and 5.5 rebounds this season, helping lead the Badgers to a school-record 36 wins, Big Ten regular-season and tournament championships and the national championship game. He reached double-figure scoring in 27 of the final 31 games of the season, including 23 and 27 points in back-to-back NCAA Tournament wins over North Carolina and Arizona. He averaged 19.2 points and 5.5 rebounds while shooting a team-high 57.1 percent from the field and 41.7 percent from 3-point range during the tournament.

Former Florida coach Graves dies at 96

Former Florida Gators football coach and athletic director Ray Graves died Friday in Tampa, Fla., at the age of 96.

In 10 seasons as the Gators’ head coach from 1960-69, Graves won nearly 70 percent of his games, led Florida to its first appearances in the Orange Bowl and Sugar Bowl, and signed a quarterback named Steve Spurrier, who would become the school’s first Heisman Trophy winner in 1966.

“A tremendous influence on my life,” Spurrier said Friday of Graves. “After my mother and dad, Coach Graves had the biggest influence on my life. I am so thankful for him. I had a chance yesterday to tell him I love him and I sincerely thank him for the influence he had on me.”

Graves compiled a 70-31-4 (.686) record, coached the Gators to five bowl games and into the final top 20 rankings four times. He stepped down after the 1969 season to make room for former Florida quarterback Doug Dickey to become head coach while Graves served as athletic director. Graves held the AD position for 19 years before retiring in 1979.

“You can’t put into words what he has meant to the Gator Nation and the countless lives he has touched from his players, coaches, friends and family,” Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley said in a statement. “Like many others I was fortunate to have a personal relationship with him and will be forever grateful for our time together.”

Graves was a native of Knoxville, Tenn., and attended Tennessee Wesleyan College in Athens, Tenn. After one season, Graves transferred to Tennessee and played two years as a center for coaching legend Robert Neyland. He was team captain in 1941.

Graves is a member of the UF Athletics Hall of Fame and in 1990 was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.