D2 EZ M2 THE WASHINGTON POST.TUESDAY, MAY 24 , 2022
COLLEGES
Wahab rejoins Hoyas
after year with Terps
Qudus Wahab decided to
return to Georgetown via the
transfer portal, the school
announced Monday, an
unexpected move for a player
who left the program a year ago.
Wahab transferred out of
Georgetown before last season
and played a single campaign
with Maryland before entering
the portal for the second time in
two seasons.
“It’s good to come home to a
fanbase and a system that I am
familiar and comfortable with,”
Wahab said in a statement.
“I am excited to play with and
work with my new Hoya team. I
think coming back to the Hilltop
will prepare me even more for my
ultimate goal of playing in the
NBA.”
Wahab started 31 games with
the Terrapins in the 2021-22
season and averaged 7.7 points
and 5.6 rebounds. The 6-foot-11
center’s points, rebounds and
minutes, however, were all down
from his sophomore year at
Georgetown, when he was the
team’s leading rebounder and
second-leading scorer. Wahab
was named to the all-Big East
tournament first team after
averaging 14.3 points and 8.3
rebounds as the Hoyas won the
conference tournament in 2021.
His departure after the 2020-21
season was unexpected, as Coach
Patrick Ewing had said he could
develop into one of the best
centers in program history.
“I’m happy to see Qudus
Wahab back on the Hilltop,”
Ewing said in a statement. “I’m
looking forward to him helping
us get to where we want to be as a
team and for our staff to help in
his development and his growth.”
The Hoyas finished 6-25 last
season, went winless in the Big
East and set a program record
with 21 straight losses.
— Kareem Copeland
Former Penn State women’s
basketball coach Coquese
Washington will succeed Hall of
Famer C. Vivian Stringer as
coach at Rutgers, the school
announced.
Washington, who spent the
past two seasons as an assistant
at Notre Dame, agreed to a six-
year contract, the school said. It
guarantees total compensation of
$4.6 million with additional
performance incentives.
Stringer retired late last month
at age 74, capping a career in
which she won more than 1,000
games in 50 seasons — the last 25
at Rutgers — and went to the
Final Four four times with three
different schools....
Alabama s igned former St.
Bonaventure g uard Dominick
Welch , who a veraged 12.3 points
and 6.0 rebounds last season....
Ohio State announced the
firing of baseball coach Greg
Beals after 12 seasons.
HOCKEY
Denmark beat Canada for the
first time in a 3-2 upset a t the
world championships in Helsinki,
while the United States slumped
in a loss to the Czech Republic.
Sebastian Dahm ’s 29 saves
helped Denmark h old on to stun
Canada and move into contention
for a place in the quarterfinals.
Canada can no longer qualify
as the top-seeded team in
Group A and will need to beat
France on Tuesday to be sure of
reaching the last eight.
Denmark plays Slovakia
needing to avoid a loss in
regulation.
The United States must wait to
qualify for the quarterfinals after
a bruising 1-0 loss to the Czechs in
Tampere, Finland, in both teams’
second-to-last game of group
play.
SOCCER
L iverpool and Aston Villa
started building for next season
by announcing the signings of
highly rated youngsters.
Fabio Carvalho , a 19-year-old
Portuguese forward who j ust
helped Fulham gain promotion to
the Premier League, will join
Liverpool on July 1.
Boubacar Kamara , a 22-year-
old defensive midfielder, will join
Villa on a free transfer when his
contract with Marseille expires at
the end of this month.
MISC.
USA Swimming has set the
dates for the 2024 Olympic trials,
which will be held at Lucas Oil
Stadium in Indianapolis.
The c ompetition to determine
the team for the Paris Games will
run from J une 1 5 to 23....
The International Luge
Federation said it plans on
bringing races back to North
America for the first time in
nearly three years, with stops
planned for Park City, Utah, and
Whistler, B.C., d uring the 2022-23
season.
Whistler will have racing from
Dec. 8 to 10 and Park City from
Dec. 15 to 17.
— From news services
and staff reports
DIGEST
TELEVISION AND RADIO
MLB
6:30 p.m. Chicago Cubs at Cincinnati » MLB Network
7 p.m. Los Angeles Dodgers at Washington » MASN2, WJFK (106.7 FM)
7 p.m. Baltimore at New York Yankees » MASN, WIYY (97.9 FM)
9:30 p.m. Milwaukee at San Diego » TBS
WNBA
7 p.m. Atlanta at Washington » NBC Sports Washington
NBA PLAYOFFS
9 p.m. Western Conference finals, Game 4: Golden State at Dallas » TNT
STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS
7 p.m. Eastern Conference semifinal, Game 4: Carolina at New York Rangers
» ESPN
9:30 p.m. Western Conference semifinal, Game 4: Calgary at Edmonton » ESPN
SOCCER
6:15 p.m. Copa Libertadores, Group C: Estudiantes at Vélez Sársfield » beIN Sports
8:30 p.m. Copa Libertadores, Group H: Sporting Cristal at Flamengo » beIN Sports
TENNIS
5 a.m. French Open, first round » Tennis Channel
HOCKEY
5:20 a.m. IIHF World Championship, Group A: Germany vs. Switzerland »
NHL Network
9:20 a.m. IIHF World Championship, Group B: United States vs. Norway »
NHL Network
1:20 p.m. IIHF World Championship, Group A: Canada vs. France » NHL Network
COLLEGE BASEBALL
10:30 a.m. SEC tournament, first round: Alabama vs. Georgia » SEC Network
11 a.m. ACC tournament, Pool B: Pittsburgh vs. Georgia Tech » MASN2
2 p.m. SEC tournament, first round: South Carolina vs. Florida » SEC Network
3 p.m. ACC tournament, Pool C: North Carolina State vs. Wake Forest » MASN2
5:30 p.m. SEC tournament, first round: Mississippi vs. Vanderbilt » SEC Network
9 p.m. SEC tournament, first round: Kentucky vs. Auburn » SEC Network
WOMEN’S COLLEGE GOLF
Noon NCAA team match play, quarterfinals » Golf Channel
5 p.m. NCAA team match play, semifinals » Golf Channel
what Hoop For All did as an or-
ganization, spreading awareness
of medical issues that especially
hit the Black community,” Beal
said in a phone interview this
month. “I liked that they were
young, they didn’t necessarily
have a big following, and when I
saw the courts for the first time —
it was exactly what the communi-
ty needed. You’ve got nice tennis
courts over there, a nice middle
school, a playground, a pool. The
only thing that was missing were
nice basketball courts.”
On June 18, Beal will attend the
ribbon-cutting ceremony of the
newly redone courts, a project a
year in the making carried out by
Hoop For All with funding from
Beal and matching support from
the National Basketball Players
Association Foundation.
The event comes smack in the
middle of a watershed summer for
the Wizards’ star guard. Beal said
he is still leaning toward signing a
multiyear deal with Washington
worth roughly $250 million in
July, and in the meantime he’s
focused on rehab after having his
cast removed in late April follow-
ing season-ending wrist surgery
in February.
“Surgery was good; recovery
went well. Had no issues,” Beal
said.
It will be a while before Beal
gets back on the court. In his first
month out of the cast, his rehab
focused on regaining range of mo-
tion in his left wrist and miming
his shooting form before pro-
gressing to strength work. He has
been watching the NBA playoffs.
He has been preparing for the
arrival of his third child in the
WIZARDS FROM D1
coming months. And he has been
staying in touch with T ommy
Sheppard, the Wizards’ president
and general manager, as Shep-
pard prepares for June’s NBA
draft.
But mostly Beal has had a lot of
downtime to ponder life off the
court — including his charitable
endeavors and his legacy in D.C.
The timing of the court refurbish-
ment felt perfect.
“This injury also gave me a
mental break, a time to evaluate
life, and I haven’t changed my
mind-set,” Beal said. “I enjoy be-
ing in D.C.; I enjoy being on this
team.”
The June ribbon cutting will
feature a basketball clinic as well
as blood pressure checks, heart
rate checks and other basic
screenings that are often the first
steps in identifying major health
issues. Hoop For All founders Ayo
Amoo and KB Thomas, Howard
University graduates, have been
hosting the health-care and
sports crossover events for nearly
a decade.
“Because we were using our
sporting events to target illnesses
like cancer, diabetes, heart dis-
ease, mental health, HIV/AIDS —
those are the five major areas that
we focus on — we noticed that
people just needed to be educat-
ed,” Amoo said. “They were lack-
ing a lot of common resources
that could improve their overall
health profile.”
Thomas said they wanted to
partner with Beal because of his
high-profile status in the city and
history of charity work. The guard
won the NBA Cares Community
Assist Award in 2019.
It was important for Hoop For
All to have a local figure helping
spearhead the project.
“I grew up a hooper. I played at
Banneker when I was at Howard,”
Thomas said. “When you go to the
basketball court, you meet new
people every time. We want that
same feeling at this event, every-
body coming together. It’s an op-
portunity to fall in love with bas-
ketball again, to fall in love with
your community again and feel
like your community is taken care
of. It’s very easy to feel forgotten.
The number one thing we want to
show is that somebody still cares
about the people in the inner city
of D.C.”
Said Beal: “I think that’s what
the community needs, to be able
to see many organizations come
together for something like this. I
love the fact that we’re making it
happen.”
Beal rehabs his wrist and local courts
JONATHAN NEWTON/THE WASHINGTON POST
B radley Beal, seen in February
after undergoing surgery to
repair his left wrist, had his
cast removed in late April.
Connelly agreed to the deal
Monday, according to a person
familiar with the move, who
spoke to the Associated Press on
the condition of anonymity be-
cause it had not been announced.
With the Nuggets, Connelly
steadily built a perennial playoff
contender through draft picks
that included two-time NBA MVP
Nikola Jokic and point guard Ja-
mal Murray.
Connelly’s decision to switch
teams inside the Western Confer-
ence’s Northwest Division was
first reported by the Athletic and
ESPN.
The deal is reportedly for five
years and worth more than
$40 million. It also includes own-
ership equity.
In Minnesota, Connelly will
oversee a team led by Karl-Antho-
ny Towns and Anthony Edwards.
The Timberwolves are coming off
a 46-win season and their first
playoff appearance since 2018.
They took the second-seeded
Memphis Grizzlies to six games
before being eliminated.
Minnesota shook up its front
office right before training camp
began last fall, firing Gersson Ro-
sas in response to mounting ten-
sion around him in the building.
Sachin Gupta was promoted to be
president of basketball opera-
tions in Rosas’s place, with the
caveat that the position would be
evaluated again this summer.
Gupta was well-regarded with-
in the organization for his hum-
ble, steady leadership, notably by
Coach Chris Finch.
And the Celtics stymied the
Heat without defensive player of
the year Marcus Smart, who sat
out with a sprained right ankle he
suffered in the second half of
Game 3. The Heat was without
Tyler Herro, who suffered a groin
injury late in Game 3.
Butler was in the starting line-
up after missing the second half of
Game 3 with swelling in his right
knee. Lowry (strained left ham-
string), Strus (strained ham-
string) and Tucker (left knee irri-
tation) all tested their injuries
pregame before being cleared to
go.
Boston’s Williams returned af-
ter missing a game with soreness
in his surgically repaired left
knee.
Even with their banged-up ros-
ter, the Celtics enjoyed their fast-
est start of the series. Starting in
place of Smart, White scored the
game’s first seven points as Bos-
ton took an 8-0 lead that quickly
grew to 18-1.
The Heat didn’t get its first
points until Adebayo’s free throw
at the 7:56 mark. Miami made its
first field goal at 3:22, a three-
pointer by Oladipo, and finished
the quarter 3 for 20.
The Celtics took a 29-11 lead
into the second quarter and led
57-33 at the half.
Connelly bolts for Minnesota
Tim Connelly is leaving his job
as the Denver Nuggets’ president
of basketball operations for a sim-
ilar role with the Minnesota Tim-
berwolves.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
J ayson Tatum scored 31 points
and the Boston Celtics took their
turn pounding the visiting Miami
Heat early, jumping out to a 26-4
lead and cruising to a 102-82 vic-
tory that evened the Eastern Con-
ference finals at two games
apiece.
Miami missed 15 of its first 16
shots in the second straight game
that was all but over after 12
minutes. The Heat led 39-18 after
the first quarter of Game 3 of this
bizarre series in which no game
has been close down the stretch.
Game 5 is Wednesday in Mi-
ami.
Payton Pritchard had 14 points
for the Celtics. Derrick White add-
ed 13 points, eight rebounds and
six assists, and Robert Williams
finished with 12 points and nine
rebounds.
The Celtics led by 27 points in
the second quarter and stretched
their advantage to 32 in the third.
Each game in this series has fea-
tured a lead of at least 20 points.
Victor Oladipo led the Heat
with 23 points. Miami’s starting
five of all-star Jimmy Butler (six
points), Kyle Lowry (three
points), P.J. Tucker (no points),
Max Strus (no points) and Bam
Adebayo (nine points) were a
combined 7 of 36 shooting. They
all sat out the fourth quarter.
NBA ROUNDUP
Boston squares series with a blowout
CELTICS 102,
HEAT 82
With Poole averaging 23.4 points
after the all-star break and taking
on an expanded role during
Curry’s injury absence, Golden
State was in a bit of a tricky spot
when the playoffs opened.
On one hand, the Warriors
didn’t want to mess up Poole’s
positive momentum. On the
other, they knew they needed
Curry to ramp up physically and
perform to his peak capabilities if
they were going to compete for a
title. To resolve the matter, Curry
came off the bench for the first
four games against Denver,
gradually increasing his playing
time before he returned to the
starting lineup.
That unselfishness set an
example for Poole, who excelled
against the Nuggets before
moving back to the second unit
against the Grizzlies. Incidentally,
it was Poole, not Curry, who put
away the Mavericks for good with
a pretty three-pointer in the final
minute of Game 3.
“If Steph Curry can come off
the bench, anyone can come off
the bench,” Warriors Coach Steve
Kerr said.
In the coming weeks, Curry’s
longevity and unselfishness will
probably be rewarded with a
chance to make some serious
history. If the Warriors knock off
the Mavericks, he’s in line to be
the inaugural winner of the
Magic Johnson Western
Conference finals MVP award.
From there, a fourth ring would
draw him level with James and
give him a title before, during and
after Durant’s Warriors tenure.
Should everything break right,
Curry could be the Finals MVP
for the first time — the last gap on
his Hall of Fame résumé — and
spark a new round of talking-
head debates about whether he’s
ready to unseat Johnson as the
greatest point guard of all time.
While Curry’s act never gets
old, he knows he’s getting older.
The past two seasons gave him a
taste of his basketball mortality
and an extended look at what life
will be like when his calendar no
longer revolves around June.
Clearly, he wasn’t ready for all
that just yet.
“It’s just trying to take
advantage of the opportunity,
knowing they are not going to
come [forever],” Curry said. “You
shouldn’t take it for granted.
There’s a limit to how this goes.”
loyalty and self-assuredness are
equally important to his legacy.
James, Durant, Paul, Harden,
Irving, Westbrook and Leonard
have changed teams multiple
times. Curry has never seriously
hinted at wanting out of Golden
State in 12 years — not even
during the ugly lottery seasons of
2019-20 and 2020-21.
Though other superstars have
split from their running mates in
search of a larger market or a
bigger role, Curry has
consistently morphed his game to
empower those around him,
rather than feeling threatened or
adopting a territorial response.
His three-year partnership with
Durant is the most obvious
example of his willingness to
share touches and the limelight,
but Curry has also been
instrumental in coaxing the best
out of Andrew Wiggins and
Jordan Poole this season.
Wiggins has left his
disappointing Minnesota
Timberwolves stint in the past,
transforming into a pleasant
surprise with the Warriors and a
two-way force in these playoffs. In
Game 3, Wiggins scored 27
points, handled the lead
defensive responsibilities on
Doncic and took advantage of
Dallas’s undersized front line by
grabbing six offensive rebounds.
Since Wiggins arrived in 2020
with a reputation for
inconsistency, Curry has made a
point to shower the forward with
positive reinforcement and
celebrate his successes, such as
his first all-star selection in
February and his sensational
Game 3 poster dunk on Doncic.
“When the trade happened, it
was the idea of what he could do
to impact games for us,” Curry
said. “Defensively, his
athleticism. He was a 20-point
scorer so he knew how to put the
ball in the basket, but he would
be asked to do it a different way
and balance with the rest of the
guys. We’ve been preaching that
since he joined the team well over
two years ago. It’s amazing to see
it happen under the bright lights.
He’s stepping up, and that’s only
because of his approach, his
attitude and him just being a
gamer.”
Curry went even further to
accommodate Poole, a 22-year-
old scoring guard who has
enjoyed a breakout campaign.
Mavericks Coach Jason Kidd said
after his first encounter with
Curry in the Western Conference
finals. “He never stops moving.”
During a 109-100 Game 3
victory over the Mavericks on
Sunday, Curry launched a three-
pointer and turned his back while
the ball was still arcing toward
the hoop, his silent sign that he
already knew it was going in.
Later, he isolated against Luka
Doncic and tiptoed past Dallas’s
23-year-old headliner with a
series of crossover moves to set
up a pretty finger roll. Curry’s
Warriors have manhandled
Doncic’s Mavericks to take a 3-0
series lead, and they will have a
chance to complete the sweep in
Tuesday’s Game 4.
Even at 34, Curry still produces
highlights that are both jaw-
dropping and commonplace.
Late in a Game 2 win, he
mouthed the words, “Night,
night,” while hitting a dagger
three, then tilted his head onto
his hands as if they were a pillow.
This was at least the third time
that he had gone to that
particular motion in these
playoffs, after previously putting
to bed the Denver Nuggets and
Memphis Grizzlies.
The consistency and focus
from Curry have been staggering.
Consider that his 2022 playoff
averages (27.1 points, 5.1
rebounds, 5.9 assists) are
virtually identical to his 2015
playoff numbers (28.3 points,
5.0 rebounds and 6.4 assists).
Back then, he was a 27-year-old
gunning for his first ring. Now,
he’s seeking his fourth title but
still won’t allow himself to skip
steps or take off possessions on
defense.
“I’m not going to fast-forward,”
Curry said after finishing with 31
points, five rebounds and 11
assists in Game 3. “We’re playing
great basketball right now. We
can play better, but we’re finding
ways to win games. That’s how
you piece this thing together.
There’s no expectation other than
the challenge ahead of us. The
challenge now is to close out a
series against a really good team
and get back to an opportunity to
win the Finals.”
History will remember Curry
for changing the sport with his
unmatched shooting ability, but
ON THE NBA FROM D1
ON THE NBA
Curry leads Warriors to verge of Finals
SCOTT STRAZZANTE/SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Stephen Curry has the Warriors one win away from their sixth trip to the NBA Finals in eight seasons.