The NBA has never confirmed the worst-kept secret in basketball, that Jerry West is the player whose silhouette is depicted in the league’s logo.

There’s probably a reason for that: West never wanted to be the logo.

“I’m just part of the game,” West said in a 2021 interview. “I never wanted to be any more than that. I’m extremely fortunate to have had the life that I’ve had, and that’s enough for me.”

His was a life like few others: an NBA and Olympic champion as a player, a champion as an executive and someone selected to be enshrined by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame not once, not twice, but three times. West died on Wednesday at age 86, the Los Angeles Clippers announced.

“We can only hope there is someone we meet during a crucial time in our lives that will change you in ways you could dream about,” said Miami Heat President Pat Riley, who played with and worked with West during their time together as Los Angeles Lakers. “Jerry was that person for me.”

West, nicknamed “Mr. Clutch” for his late-game exploits as a player, went into the Hall of Fame as a player in 1980 and again as a member of the gold medal-winning 1960 U.S. Olympic Team in 2010. He will be enshrined for a third time later this year as a contributor, and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver called West “one of the greatest executives in sports history.”

“He helped build eight championship teams during his tenure in the NBA — a legacy of achievement that mirrors his on-court excellence,” Silver said. “And he will be enshrined this October into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor, becoming the first person ever inducted as both a player and a contributor. I valued my friendship with Jerry and the knowledge he shared with me over many years about basketball and life.”

West was “the personification of basketball excellence and a friend to all who knew him,” the Clippers said in announcing his death. West’s wife, Karen, was by his side when he died, the Clippers said. West worked for the Clippers as a consultant for the last seven years.

He was an All-Star in all 14 of his NBA seasons, a 12-time All-NBA selection, part of the 1972 Lakers team that won a championship, an NBA Finals MVP when the Lakers lost to the Boston Celtics in 1969 — the first year that award was given out, and still the only time it went to a player on the losing team — and was selected as part of the NBA’s 75th anniversary team.

“He was absolutely my basketball sage: wise, loyal and so much fun,” Clippers owner Steve Ballmer said. “If you were in his presence, you felt his competitiveness and his drive. He cared about everything and everyone. From the first day I met Jerry seven years ago, he inspired me with his intellect, honesty and enthusiasm. He never stopped.”

West was general manager of championship teams with the Lakers, helping build the “Showtime” dynasty. He also worked in the front offices of the Memphis Grizzlies, the Golden State Warriors and the Clippers. Among his many highlights as an executive with the Lakers: He drafted Magic Johnson and James Worthy, then brought in Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal to form a powerhouse title-winning duo.

His basketball life bridged generations: West played with Elgin Baylor, whom he called “the most supportive and the greatest player of that era,” and Wilt Chamberlain. As a coach and executive, he worked with a who’s-who of NBA stars from the last 40 years: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Johnson, Worthy, O’Neal, Bryant, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George among them.

“I marvel at them, at the joy they brought basketball fans all over the world,” West said in 2019.

Even in the final years of his life, West was considered basketball royalty. He routinely sat courtside at Summer League games in Las Vegas, often watching many games in a day while greeting long lines of players — LeBron James among them — who would approach to shake his hand.

“The game transcends many things,” West said while attending Summer League last year. “The players change, the style of play may change, but the respect that you learn in this game never changes.”

James, on social media, offered his condolences: “Will truly miss our convos my dear friend! My thoughts and prayers goes out to your wonderful family! Forever love Jerry! Rest in Paradise my guy!” the NBA’s all-time scoring leader wrote Wednesday.

West is 25th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. He knew he was the model for the league’s logo — a player dribbling a ball, set against a red-and-blue background — but suggested in recent years that he wouldn’t mind if the league changed it.

“While it’s never been officially declared that the logo is Jerry West,” Silver said in 2021, “it sure looks a lot like him.”

West is still the NBA Finals’ all-time leader in total points, along with field goals made and attempted as well as free throws made and attempted. He played in the title series nine times with the Lakers; his teams went 1-2 against the New York Knicks, and 0-6 against the Celtics.

“Those damn Celtics,” he often said.

West also hit one of the most famed shots in finals history, a 60-footer at the buzzer of Game 3 of the 1970 series between the Knicks and Lakers to force overtime.

Tributes from across the sports world flowed freely Wednesday. The Los Angeles Dodgers released a statement calling West “an indelible figure on the Los Angeles sports landscape for more than 60 years,” and the NBA quickly organized a pregame tribute to West that was held before Game 3 of the NBA Finals between the Celtics and Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night.

West is survived by sons David, Mark and Michael from his first marriage to Martha Jane Kane, which ended in divorce. He and second wife Karen had two sons, Ryan and Jonnie, who is married to former LPGA Tour star Michelle Wie.

Riley recalled times where, after a Lakers shootaround practice, he and West would head to a nearby drugstore “to eat the best burgers, drink milkshakes and savor a great custard pudding with fresh whipped cream” before going home to nap and get ready for that night’s game.

Evidently, burgers, milkshakes and custard worked wonders for West.

“Jerry would kick (butt) in a way that was so skilled and relentless,” Riley said. “I was so proud to be there in his presence. I watched, I learned. He made me believe. Being in that aura of greatness was mesmerizing.”

Michael Jordan said he considered West “a friend and mentor — like an older brother to me.”

“I valued his friendship and knowledge,” Jordan said. “I always wished I could have played against him as a competitor, but the more I came to know him, I wish I had been his teammate. I admired his basketball insights and he and I shared many similarities to how we approached the game.”

A native of Chelyan, West Virginia, West was known as a tenacious player who was rarely satisfied with his performance. He grew up shooting at a basket nailed to the side of a shed and often shot until his fingers bled. He became the first high school player in state history to score more than 900 points in a season, averaging 32.2 points in leading East Bank High to a state title.

Basketball, he would later reveal, was his therapy.

In his 2011 memoir, “West by West: My Charmed, Tormented Life,” West chronicled a lifelong battle with depression. He wrote that his childhood was devoid of love and filled with anger as a result of an abusive father. He often felt worthless, and to combat that, he said he put his energy into playing the game.

West led West Virginia University — where he is still the all-time leader in scoring average — to the NCAA final in 1959, when the Mountaineers lost by one point to California.

“Today is one of the saddest days ever for West Virginia University and the state of West Virginia,” Mountaineers athletic director Wren Baker said. “Mountaineer hearts all over the world are broken with the passing of the great Jerry West.”

A year after he won Olympic gold in Rome, West joined the Lakers, where he spent his entire pro playing career. He was honored as one of the league’s 50 greatest players in 1996 and when the league expanded the polling to 75 players to commemorate its 75th anniversary in 2021, West was selected again.

“You know, it never ceases to amaze me the places you can go in this world chasing a bouncing ball,” West said in 2019, when he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom — the nation’s highest civilian honor — by then-President Donald Trump. “My chase began in Chelyan, West Virginia, where I strung a wire basket with no net to the side of a bridge. If your shot didn’t go in, the ball rolled down a long bank and you would be chasing it forever. So, you better make it.

“I was a dreamer. My family didn’t have much, but we had a clear view of the Appalachian Mountains, and I’d sit alone on our front porch and wonder, ‘If I ever make it to the top of that mountain, what will I see on the other side?’ Well, I did make it to the other side, and my dreams have come true. I’ve been able to see the sides, thanks to that bouncing ball.”

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Associated Press Writer John Raby contributed to this report.

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Bill Walton was never afraid to be himself.

Larger than life, only in part because of his nearly 7-foot frame, Walton was a two-time NCAA champion at UCLA, a two-time champion in the NBA, a Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, an on-court icon in every sense of the word. And off the court, Walton was a chronic fun-seeker, a broadcaster who adhered to no conventional norms and took great joy in that, a man with a deeply serious side about the causes that mattered most to him.

“Bill Walton,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said, “was truly one of a kind.”

Walton died Monday at the age of 71 after a prolonged fight with cancer, the league announced on behalf of his family. He was the NBA’s MVP in the 1977-78 season, the league’s sixth man of the year in 1985-86 and a member of the league’s 50th anniversary and 75th anniversary teams. That followed a college career in which he blossomed while playing under coach John Wooden at UCLA, becoming a three-time national player of the year.

“I am sad today hearing that my comrade and one of the sports world’s most beloved champions and characters has passed,” Julius “Dr. J” Erving, a fellow Hall of Famer, wrote on social media. “Bill Walton enjoyed life in every way. To compete against him and to work with him was a blessing in my life.”

Tributes immediately began pouring in, and the NBA held a moment of silence to commemorate Walton’s life before Game 4 of the Boston Celtics-Indiana Pacers matchup in the Eastern Conference finals on Monday night.

Walton, who entered the Hall of Fame in 1993, was one of the game’s most celebrated figures. His NBA career — disrupted by chronic foot injuries — lasted only 468 games combined with the Portland Trail Blazers, the San Diego/Los Angeles Clippers and the Celtics. He averaged 13.3 points and 10.5 rebounds in those games, neither of those numbers exactly record-setting.

Still, his impact on the game was massive.

“I love him as a friend and as a teammate,” Celtics legend Larry Bird said. “It was a thrill for me to play with my childhood idol and together we earned an NBA championship in 1986. He is one of the greatest ever to play the game. I am sure that all of my teammates are as grateful as I am that we were able to know Bill. He was such a joy to know and he will be sorely missed.”

Walton’s most famous game was the 1973 NCAA title game, UCLA against Memphis, in which he shot 21 for 22 from the field and led the Bruins to another national championship.

“One of my guards said, ’Let’s try something else,’” Wooden told The Associated Press in 2008 for a 35th anniversary retrospective on that game.

Wooden’s response during that timeout: “Why? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

They kept giving the ball to Walton, and he kept delivering in a performance for the ages.

“It’s very hard to put into words what he has meant to UCLA’s program, as well as his tremendous impact on college basketball,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said Monday. “Beyond his remarkable accomplishments as a player, it’s his relentless energy, enthusiasm for the game and unwavering candor that have been the hallmarks of his larger-than-life personality.

“It’s hard to imagine a season in Pauley Pavilion without him.”

When Walton retired from the NBA he turned to broadcasting, something he never thought he could be good at — and an avenue he sometimes wondered would be possible for him, because he had a pronounced stutter at times in his life.

Turns out, he was excellent at broadcasting: Walton was an Emmy winner, eventually was named one of the top 50 sports broadcasters of all time by the American Sportscasters Association and even appeared on The New York Times’ bestseller list for his memoir, “Back from the Dead.” It told the story of a debilitating back injury suffered in 2008, one that left him considering taking his own life because of the constant pain, and how he spent years recovering.

“I lived most of my life by myself. But as soon as I got on the court I was fine,” Walton told The Oregonian newspaper for a story published in 2017. “But in life, being so self conscious, red hair, big nose, freckles and goofy, nerdy looking face and can’t talk at all. I was incredibly shy and never said a word. Then, when I was 28 I learned how to speak. It’s become my greatest accomplishment of my life and everybody else’s biggest nightmare.”

The last part of that was just Walton hyperbole. He was known for his on-air tangents and sometimes appeared on-air in Grateful Dead T-shirts; Walton was a huge fan of the band and referenced it often, even sometimes recording satellite radio specials celebrating what it meant to be a “Deadhead.”

And the Pac-12 Conference, which has basically evaporated in many ways now because of college realignment, was another of his many loves. He always referred to it as the “Conference of Champions” and sang its praises all the way to the end.

“It doesn’t get any better than this,” he once said on a broadcast, tie-dyed T-shirt on, a Hawaiian lei around his neck.

Walton was involved in the broadcasts of college and NBA games for CBS, NBC and ABC/ESPN in his career, along with stints working for the Clippers and Sacramento Kings as an analyst. He returned to ESPN and the Pac-12 Network, further touting the roots of his league, in 2012.

“Bill Walton was a legendary player and a singular personality who genuinely cherished every experience throughout the journey of his extraordinary life,” ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro said. “Bill often described himself as ‘the luckiest guy in the world,’ but anyone who had the opportunity to interact with Bill was the lucky one. He was a truly special, giving person who always made time for others. Bill’s one-of-a-kind spirit captivated and inspired audiences during his second career as a successful broadcaster.”

But Walton will always be synonymous with UCLA’s dominance.

He enrolled at the school in 1970, before freshmen could play on the varsity team. Once he could play for Wooden, the Bruins were unbeatable for more than two years — Walton’s UCLA teams won their first 73 games, the bulk of the Bruins’ extraordinary 88-game winning streak. It was snapped against Notre Dame in 1974, a 71-70 loss in which Walton shot 12 for 14 from the field.

“Bill Walton’s passing is a sad tragedy. One of the great ones in UCLA basketball history,” Digger Phelps, who coached that Notre Dame team, posted Monday on social media. “We were great friends over the years. It won’t be the same without him.”

UCLA went 30-0 in each of Walton’s first two seasons, and 86-4 in his career on the varsity team.

“My teammates … made me a much better basketball player than I could ever have become myself,” Walton said at his Hall of Fame speech in 1993. “The concept of team has always been the most intriguing aspect of basketball to me. If I had been interested in individual success or an individual sport, I would have taken up tennis or golf.”

Walton led Portland to the 1977 NBA title, then got his second championship with Boston in 1986.

“Bill Walton was an icon,” said Jody Allen, the chair of the Trail Blazers. “His leadership and tenacity on the court were key to bringing a championship to our fans and defined one of the most magical moments in franchise history. We will always treasure what he brought to our community and the sport of basketball.”

The Celtics released a statement saying: “Bill Walton was one of the most consequential players of his era. … Walton could do it all, possessing great timing, complete vision of the floor, excellent fundamentals and was of one of the greatest passing big men in league history.”

Walton considered himself fortunate to have been guided by two of the game’s greatest minds in Wooden and Celtics patriarch Red Auerbach.

“Thank you John, and thank you Red, for making my life what it has become,” Walton said in his Hall of Fame speech.

Walton was the No. 1 pick by Portland in the 1974 draft. He said Bill Russell was his favorite player and referred to Bird as the toughest and best he played with, so it was appropriate that his playing career ended as a member of the Celtics. “Playing basketball with Larry Bird,” Walton once said, “is like singing with Jerry Garcia,” referencing the co-founder of the Grateful Dead.

In his final years, Walton spoke out about issues that mattered most to him, such as the problem of homelessness in his native San Diego, urging city leaders to take action and create shelter space to help those in need.

“What I will remember most about him was his zest for life,” Silver said in a statement. “He was a regular presence at league events — always upbeat, smiling ear to ear and looking to share his wisdom and warmth. I treasured our close friendship, envied his boundless energy and admired the time he took with every person he encountered.”

Walton died surrounded by his loved ones, his family said. He is survived by wife Lori and sons Adam, Nate, Chris and Luke — a NBA championship-winning player and now a coach.

Said Pacers coach Rick Carlisle, who was teammates with Walton in Boston: “He defiantly competed for every moment in life to be the greatest it could possibly be.”

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Either way, the final day of the NBA’s regular season should be wild.

Oklahoma City, Minnesota and Denver all have a shot at No. 1 in the Western Conference. Every seed from No. 2 to No. 8 is up for grabs in the Eastern Conference. Sunday’s slate, with all 30 teams playing, will see nine seeds get decided, three first-round playoff matchups determined and three play-in matchups set as well.

“There’s so many possibilities and different things that can happen that just you kind of have to lock in to your team or you’ll drive yourself crazy watching other games and wishing and hoping,” Phoenix guard Devin Booker said. “So, either way, you’re going to match up with somebody and we have to be ready to do that.”

A primer for the final day:

WHAT WE KNOW

Boston is No. 1 in the East and has home-court advantage throughout the NBA playoffs. The Los Angeles Clippers are No. 4 in the West and will open the playoffs against No. 5 Dallas. And No. 9 Chicago plays host to No. 10 Atlanta in an East play-in elimination game on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Playing their final games of the season on Sunday: Brooklyn, Toronto, Charlotte, Washington, Detroit, Houston, Utah, Memphis, San Antonio and Portland.

Everything else is still up in the air.

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WEST 1 THROUGH 3

Contenders: Oklahoma City, Minnesota, Denver.

Schedule: Phoenix at Minnesota, Denver at Memphis, Dallas at Oklahoma City.

Outlook: This is the first time that three teams all have the same record (56-25) and all have a shot at the No. 1 seed in a conference going into the final day.

The only scenario where Denver gets the No. 1 seed is a win and losses by both the Timberwolves and Thunder.

Minnesota gets the No. 1 seed with a win and a loss by either the Nuggets or Thunder.

Oklahoma City gets the No. 1 seed if all three teams win, if all three teams lose or with a win and a Timberwolves loss.

Quotable: “The big exponential jumps come from small incremental steps.” — Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault, after the Thunder won Friday. OKC improved its win total by 16 last year and has done that again this season.

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EAST 2 THROUGH 4

Contenders: Milwaukee, New York, Cleveland.

Schedule: Milwaukee at Orlando, Chicago at New York, Charlotte at Cleveland.

Outlook: For the Bucks, it’s simple. Win at Orlando, and Milwaukee is the No. 2 seed. The Bucks would also finish second with a loss, as long as the Bulls and Hornets also both win.

New York can get to No. 2 with a win and a Milwaukee loss. Cleveland’s only path to No. 2 is a win and losses by Milwaukee and New York.

Quotable: “A scouting nightmare. We know we’ll be between 2 and 4. That’s a certainty. Other than that, we don’t know anything. … The good news is, no matter what, we’ll be at home for Game 1.” — Milwaukee coach Doc Rivers.

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EAST 5 THROUGH 8

Contenders: Orlando, Indiana, Philadelphia, Miami.

Schedule: Milwaukee at Orlando, Atlanta at Indiana, Brooklyn at Philadelphia, Toronto at Miami.

Outlook: Truly bonkers. All four teams have a shot at finishing fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth. Obviously, two will miss the play-in tournament entirely and go straight to the playoffs.

Orlando is playoff-bound with a win. The Magic would be No. 5 with a win and a Pacers win, or with a win and wins by both the Hawks and Nets, or if all four contending teams lose.

Indiana is also playoff-bound with a win. The Pacers get to No. 5 with a win and a Magic loss.

Philadelphia’s only path to No. 5 is to win and for Indiana to lose.

And reigning East champion Miami (which got to the NBA Finals out of the play-in last year) has one path to No. 5 — win and see the other three teams lose. The Heat could get to No. 6 with a win, a Magic loss and the 76ers and Pacers combining to go 1-1 on Sunday.

Quotable: “We control our own destiny still.” — Orlando coach Jamahl Mosley, after the Magic lost to Philadelphia on Friday night.

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WEST 6 AND 7

Contenders: New Orleans, Phoenix.

Schedule: Los Angeles Lakers at New Orleans, Phoenix at Minnesota.

Outlook: Phoenix must win and the Pelicans must lose for the Suns to get to No. 6. Anything else, Phoenix is No. 7 and play-in bound, New Orleans is No. 6 and playoff-bound.

Quotable: “Go Lakers.” — Phoenix guard Devin Booker.

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WEST 8 THROUGH 10

Contenders: Sacramento, Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State.

Schedule: Portland at Sacramento, Lakers at New Orleans, Utah at Golden State.

Outlook: If the Lakers win, they’re the No. 8 seed. The Lakers could lose and still be No. 8 if both the Kings and Warriors lose.

Golden State’s lone path to No. 8 is a win plus wins by Portland and Utah. The Warriors can get to No. 9 and host one play-in game with a win and a loss by either the Lakers or Kings.

Sacramento gets to No. 8 with a win and a Lakers loss.

Quotable: “Of course, seeds matter. But wherever you fall, you take that challenge.” — Lakers forward LeBron James.

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RACE TO THE BOTTOM

No matter what happens Sunday, Washington and Detroit will both finish with winning percentages under .200.

This is the fifth season in NBA history where two teams have been that bad, the first since New Jersey and Minnesota pulled off the ignominious feat in 2009-10. It also happened in 1998-99 (Vancouver and the Clippers), 1997-98 (Denver and Toronto) and 1996-97 (Vancouver and Boston).

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DRAFT IMPLICATIONS

Detroit, Washington and the third-worst team in the league will have the best chance of winning next month’s draft lottery at 14% apiece. If Charlotte loses in Cleveland, the Hornets are assured of having a 14% chance as well.

A loss doesn’t guarantee the No. 1 pick for the Hornets, of course — but a win raises the chances that they could emerge from the lottery outside the top three and possibly even pick as low as No. 9.

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They had a coach in John McLendon who would be enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach and contributor. They had five players who would play in the NBA, one of them a future All-Star. They won three consecutive national titles in the NAIA, the governing body for small colleges. TSU won 94 of 102 games during that stretch.

And they never spent a day in The Associated Press men’s basketball poll.

The AP poll has had a simple mandate over its 75 years of existence: Pick the best teams in the country each week. Those teams now all come from the NCAA’s Division I membership. But in the poll’s earliest days — especially before most historically Black colleges and universities were considered NCAA members — the lines were a bit more blurred. Schools like Tennessee State were considered part of the “college division,” which was different than the likes of North Carolina and Kentucky. College division teams were not part of the polling.

“We only needed the chance,” Dick Barnett, the player who became an NBA All-Star and two-time NBA champion out of Tennessee State, said when he entered the Small College Hall of Fame in 2016. “We could have competed with any NCAA team at that time.”

Tennessee State — which did make two appearances in the coaches’ poll in 1959, toward the end of its back-to-back-to-back run as NAIA champions — and other Black schools were judged differently than the basketball blue bloods. Race was a major reason.

In addition to the restrictive NCAA membership bylaws, segregation was still rampant when the first AP poll was published in 1949. Also, Jim Crow laws weren’t overturned until 1964 and most of the college teams that were considered powerhouses of that era had, at minimum, featured a predominantly white roster.

It leaves the sport with more than a few “what if?” questions. Norfolk State alum Bob Dandridge believes he has the answer: HBCU teams during that time were good enough to be ranked and would have more than just held their own against teams that were in the poll.

“We would have done well,” said Dandridge, a Basketball Hall of Fame enshrinee after a stellar NBA career. “Because if you look at the number of HBCU guys from that era that are in the NBA’s top 75 guys that ever played, those who had the chance to be drafted and ended up as Hall of Famers, you can see there was a high level of basketball ability that existed at those HBCU schools.”

Willis Reed played at Grambling, Sam Jones at North Carolina Central, Earl Monroe at Winston-Salem, and they’re just a handful of players who took the path from HBCUs to the Hall of Fame. Their NBA exploits are the stuff of legend. Their college exploits, not so much, in large part because their schools didn’t get the attention that others did.

Same goes for McLendon. He was the first college basketball coach to ever win three consecutive national championships, doing so with Tennessee State. He came up with what was known as the “Four Corners” offense and is credited with developing the fast break as well. Among his mentors during his days as a student at Kansas: Dr. James Naismith, who just happened to invent basketball.

It could be easily argued that McLendon’s teams, especially his championship teams in the late 1950s, were among the most talented in the country. Where they would be ranked, though, will never be known — since they were never ranked.

But his legacy lives on in part for something that predates the AP poll itself. In 1944, five years before the first poll, McLendon was coaching at what was then called the North Carolina College for Negroes (now North Carolina Central). They invited a team of Duke medical students, a group that at the time some considered even more talented than Duke’s varsity team, to their campus for a secret game. The Duke players piled into two borrowed cars and made the drive across Durham.

Final score: North Carolina Central 88, Duke 44. The teams played a second game that day, mixing up the rosters.

A couple decades later, Dandridge and his Norfolk State teams would play similar games against Old Dominion — and while some in the world might have not wanted those games to take place, the players always enjoyed the matchups.

“When I played, although we may not have played against each other in any organized setting, we were always looking to test our skills, the Black guys against the white guys,” Dandridge said. “I don’t think the players had any problem playing against each other. It was the racism, the segregation that was in this country at that time that kept it from happening.”

Also never ranked: the Winston-Salem teams coached by another Hall of Famer, Clarence “Big House” Gaines. He coached Monroe in college, coached Cleo Hill — one of the first five Black players to become a first-round draft pick in the NBA — and a year after Texas Western famously started five Black players on the way to beating Kentucky in the 1966 NCAA Division I championship game, Gaines’ team won the Division II national title.

“When you grow up Black in the South and you grow up in a segregated environment, you’re not surprised by anything in terms of recognition,” Clarence Gaines Jr. said.

There are two Division I conferences comprised of HBCUs — the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, which began competing in 1971 and was classified as D-I conference in 1978; and the Southwestern Athletic Conference, founded in 1920; 1977-78 was its first season a D-I basketball conference.

The majority of the most talented Black basketball players now attend predominately white institutions. Among the current MEAC and SWAC members, only one school has been ranked in the AP poll. That was Maryland Eastern Shore, which was ranked No. 20 for one week in 1974.

Basketball savants want to ensure the greatness of those HBCUs is not overlooked when debating the best teams ever.

“Obviously, the level of play in the College Division was far superior to the level of play in Division II basketball today,” Gaines Jr. wrote in a blog post in 2013. “Top teams in the College Division during the 1960’s could easily compete with University Division teams. The landscape of college sports and basketball was much different.”

Gaines Jr. went to grad school at North Carolina from 1980 to 1982. The second of those years was Michael Jordan’s freshman year at North Carolina, when the Tar Heels won the national championship. Gaines Jr. lived in Granville Towers, alongside some basketball players. They knew of his father and his 47-year career.

Not everyone did.

“There was a kid, a regular student at North Carolina who claims he knew basketball,” Gaines Jr. said. “They didn’t even know about a school an hour and a half away that had a legendary coach. And I said, ‘If you don’t know who my dad is, you don’t know basketball.’”

Andy Borregales kicked three field goals for Miami (6-2, 2-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), which got an OT win for the second consecutive week, having beaten Clemson.

Ajay Allen hurdled a Virginia defender on the way to the end zone on a third-quarter TD run for Miami, and Kam Kinchens ran back an interception for a score 7 seconds later for the Hurricanes.

Tony Muskett threw for 239 yards, Mike Hollins ran for two scores and Will Bettridge kicked four field goals for Virginia (2-6, 1-3). It was only the second time in his career — 23 games for Monmouth, five games for Virginia — where Muskett was held without a touchdown pass.

Bettridge kicked a 35-yard field goal to cap Virginia’s half of the first overtime. But Miami answered with three runs by Fletcher — 9 yards up the middle, 5 yards to the right and then the 11-yard game-winner to the right again.

It marked the sixth consecutive instance of a Miami-Virginia game being decided by eight points or fewer — so it could be argued this was to be expected, despite the Hurricanes coming into the game as 18.5-point favorites according to FanDuel Sportsbook.

Borregales’ field goals were from 47, 50 and 48 yards for Miami — the last two of those being game-tying kicks in the fourth quarter. The last Hurricanes kicker to have at least three field goals of 40 yards in the same game was his brother, Jose Borregales, in 2020.

Borregales tied the game at 23 with 1:23 left. Miami forced a punt, then didn’t take any risks — kneeling on the ball to end regulation at its own 25, mindful of the debacle that cost the Hurricanes the game against Georgia Tech on Oct. 7.

The Cavaliers outgained Miami 377-276 and didn’t commit a single penalty.

The takeaway

Virginia: It was the third time this season — all on the road — that the Cavaliers had a double-digit lead before the opponent got on the scoreboard. They’re now 0-3 in those games. Virginia led Maryland 14-0 before falling 42-14 and led Boston College 14-0 before falling 27-24.

Miami: QB Tyler Van Dyke has seven interceptions and five touchdown passes in his last three games. He had eight interceptions (with 34 TD passes) in his last 17 games entering this stretch. He was 20 of 30 for 163 yards, no TDs and two interceptions Saturday.

Poll implications

Miami was fourth among those “also receiving votes” last week, behind Florida, Liberty (moved to 8-0 with a 42-29 win over Western Kentucky on Tuesday) and Kansas State (moved to 6-2 with a 41-0 win over Houston).

Up next

Virginia: Hosts Georgia Tech on Nov. 4.

Miami: Visits N.C. State on Nov. 4.

Jordan is selling to a group led by Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall, the Hornets said. Plotkin has been a minority stakeholder in the Hornets since 2019. Schnall has been a minority owner of the Atlanta Hawks since 2015 and is in the process of selling his investment in that team.

It’s not clear how long the process of selling will take to finalize by the NBA’s Board of Governors. Jordan is expected to keep a stake in the Hornets, the team he bought in 2010 for about $275 million.

“In the same way that it’s wonderful that one of our greatest, Michael Jordan, could become the principal governor of a team, he has the absolute right to sell at the same time,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said earlier this month at the NBA Finals. “Values have gone up a lot since he bought that team, so that is his decision.”

The sale price was not immediately announced. The most recent sale of an NBA team came when Mat Ishbia bought the Phoenix Suns, a deal that when struck in December valued that franchise at $4 billion.

Other members of the new potential Hornets ownership group — pending the approval — are recording artist J. Cole, Dan Sundheim, Ian Loring, country music singer-songwriter Eric Church, and several local Charlotte investors including Amy Levine Dawson and Damian Mills.

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With a record-setting show, Ricky Barnes became the leader at the halfway point of the rain-plagued U.S. Open.

Tiger Woods, meanwhile, remained well off the leaderboard at soggy Bethpage Black.

Barnes, the 2002 U.S. Amateur champion, set the U.S. Open 36-hole scoring record by finishing two trips around the course in 8-under 132. He completed his second round Saturday morning, making three birdies in nine holes for a 65 and ending up one shot ahead of Lucas Glover (64) and two up on first-round leader Mike Weir (70).

The previous 36-hole record was 133, set by Jim Furyk and Vijay Singh at Olympia Fields in 2003 and matched Saturday by Glover, who completed his round shortly before Barnes posted his score.

“It’s pretty cool,” Barnes said. “Obviously at the beginning of the week you didn’t think that score was out there. Obviously with some tees moved up and the soft greens helped it out. And obviously with my ball-striking was the most probably impressive part of the first 36 holes.”

The cut was 144, 4 over par, with 60 players — the minimum possible — qualifying for the final two rounds.

Woods, the defending champion, was tied for 41st, 11 shots behind Barnes. The third round was to begin later Saturday afternoon, with the USGA hoping rain bands that had passed over Bethpage earlier in the day were gone, at least for a few hours.

“You never know,” Woods said. “I’ve got 36 more holes, over the next probably three days. It’s one of those things where if I keep plugging along, just like any U.S. Open, keep plugging along, make a birdie here and there and we’ll see where it ends up.”

Barnes has hit 31 of 36 greens this week; the rest of the field is only hitting the green in regulation about half the time.

“If you would have told me I would have been 8 under and only (a) one-shot lead, I would have said, ‘You’re kidding me,'” Barnes said. “But I’ll take it. It was solid play. And I’m happy with the position I’m at.”

Woods was not.

The defending champion and world’s No. 1 shot 69 on Saturday, getting to 3 over for the week and making the cut with only one stroke to spare. He missed a 10-footer for par on his closing hole, then swiped his putter in frustration before tapping in to end his four-birdie, three-bogey day.

Glover had a chance at matching the U.S. Open and all-time major championship record with a 20-foot birdie putt on his final hole Saturday morning, only to leave it short and settle for a bogey-free 64.

Glover said he was thinking about shooting 63 as he stood over the putt, then lamented that he “weenied out.”

He didn’t have much else to complain about.

“I’m very pleased,” said Glover, who didn’t even make the cut in any of his three previous U.S. Opens. “Probably as good a round of golf as I’ve played. I’m very excited.”

Three players, including David Duval, were tied for fourth at 3 under through 36 holes.

“I’m just happy I’ve given them a good show so far,” Duval said.

Azuma Yano of Japan shot 65 in his second round, joining Duval and Sweden’s Peter Hanson at 3 under. Steve Stricker made a big move as well, shooting 66 to move into a tie for 11th at 1 under.

Light rain started falling around midday Saturday, then stopped about four hours later. Much work has been done at Bethpage to get rid of the water that turned the park into a pool on Thursday, but any significant new rainfall would likely make the Black unplayable once again.

“It’s been a lot of starting and stopping this week,” Weir said. “It’s just been a test of patience and trying to be in the right state of mind each time you come out not to let things change too much. It’s difficult for everybody.”

The forecast for Saturday night and Sunday was downright miserable, and some players didn’t think there was a chance of this tournament having the traditional Father’s Day finish.

“Ain’t gonna this year,” Duval said.

Phil Mickelson took a drop on the way to making bogey at the par-5 13th for the second straight day, and wound up shooting even par 70 to go to 1 under for the tournament.

“I’m only what, six back? We’re only halfway through and we’re all going to be playing under the same conditions now,” said Mickelson, who wound up seven behind Barnes. “I like the position I’m in.”