DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Drake has hired longtime Creighton assistant Darian DeVries as its basketball coach. The Bulldogs announced Thursday that DeVries will replace Niko Medved, who last week left after one season at Drake to take over at Colorado State. DeVries, a native of Aplington, Iowa, and the brother of former Detroit Lions star Jared DeVries, spent the past 17 years as an assistant with the Bluejays under coaches Dana Altman and Greg McDermott. Creighton made 12 NCAA Tournament appearances and went 460-211 with DeVries on its staff.

DeVries will be Drake’s fourth coach in the last 16 months. Ray Giacoletti left early in the 2016-17 season and was followed by interim coach Jeff Rutter and Medved. The 42-year-old DeVries played at Northern Iowa, where he scored 1,084 points. DeVries will be introduced Friday at a news conference. “The city of Des Moines is an awesome place to be and we can’t wait to show it off to future recruits,” he said in statement. “When you have a great academic institution combined with a vibrant city and people that go out of their way to help one another, it’s a recipe for sustained success.”

Drake, which has made just one NCAA Tournament appearance since 1972, went 17-17 last season under Medved. But most of the Bulldogs’ starters graduated, and a long rebuild will likely be required for them to compete with the rest of the Missouri Valley Conference. DeVries is the first major hire for athletic director Brian Hardin, who took over for Sandy Hatfield-Clubb in 2017. “Darian has had a significant role in creating a tremendous level of sustained success at Creighton over the past 20 years,” Hardin said.

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast w/Jim Field.

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Residents of Omaha and Council Bluffs who rented out all or part of their homes during last weekend’s N-C-double-A men’s basketball tournament made a nice chunk of change. Ben Breit, spokesman for Midwest Airbnb, says it was a very successful weekend for the region’s hosts.

“They welcomed about 650 guests during the NCAA tournament while earning about $50,000 combined in supplemental incomes,” Breit says. Statewide, Breit says Iowa Airbnb hosts welcomed a record 60-thousand guests in 2017, earning a combined five-point-eight million dollars. Both figures more than doubled the results from 2016.

The homesharing platform says Des Moines is Iowa’s top Airbnb city, followed by Iowa City, Decorah, Dubuque and Ames. Using the service is an excellent way to make extra money, he says, and you don’t need a ton of space. “About half are just sharing an extra room,” Breit says. “Maybe you’re an empty nester or a senior and the kids have grown up and left the home. Now that extra room is an economic opportunity. Another half are renting a full home, a proper vacation rental or just sharing your primary residence during big events.”

While the weekend was profitable for hosts, he says it was also profitable for that region of western Iowa and eastern Nebraska. “It’s just going to cause more conferences, more and more sporting events to want to go to Omaha because they know they can handle all of the demand,” Breit says. Des Moines will host the opening rounds of the N-C-double-A men’s basketball tournament again next year. Iowa’s largest city first hosted the event in 2016.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press

ALAMEDA, Calif. (AP) — Former Raiders quarterback David Humm has died at age 65. Humm was a star quarterback at Nebraska who went on to have a long career as a backup in the NFL, where he was part of two Super Bowl winning teams with the Raiders. Humm had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1988 and was confined to a wheelchair for more than 20 years.

NEW YORK (AP) — No more practice runs for Mickey Callaway. Opening day has arrived for the rookie manager of the New York Mets, and his heart probably will be pounding at a mile a minute by the time Noah Syndergaard fires his first 100 mph fastball Thursday afternoon against the St. Louis Cardinals.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Royals and White Sox are both out to prove prognosticators wrong as they meet for a three-game series beginning Thursday at Kauffman Stadium. Kansas City has some fresh faces after several core pieces hit free agency, while Chicago is trying to push ahead with a rebuilding job several years in the making.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Royals catcher Salvador Perez will miss up to six weeks after spraining the medial collateral ligament in his left knee when he missed a step while carrying a suitcase up stairs in his home. No surgery is required but Perez will begin the season on the disabled list. Drew Butera and Cam Gallagher will share catching duties in his place.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Bill Self spent the past few months getting on Malik Newman for failing to take the pressure off Devonte Graham. Now, the transfer from Mississippi State is the Batman to Graham’s Robin, giving the Jayhawks a potent one-two punch heading into their Final Four matchup against Villanova on Saturday night.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jalen Brunson of Villanova and Devonte Graham of Kansas are among five players vying for the John R. Wooden Award as college basketball’s player of the year. Brunson and Graham will square off at the Final Four when their teams meet in the national semifinals.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The question of who is the best NBA prospect differs from who is considered college basketball’s best player. Freshmen like Duke’s Marvin Bagley III and Arizona’s Deandre Ayton are considered candidates to be the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft with their size and athleticism. Villanova’s Jalen Brunson is in the Final Four and a leading candidate to be named the national college player of the year. For years, those two things seemed intertwined, but recently that has not been the case.

2018 MEN’S AP ALL-AMERICA TEAM LIST

Statistics through March 11

First Team

Jalen Brunson, Villanova, 6-3, 190, junior, Lincolnshire, Ill., 19.4 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 4.7 apg, 53.1 fg pct, 41.3 3pt fg pct (63 first-place votes, 321 points)

Deandre Ayton, Arizona, 7-1, 250, freshman, Nassau, Bahamas, 20.3 ppg, 11.5 rpg, 61.6 fg pct, 2.0 blocks (61, 317)

Trae Young, Oklahoma, 6-2, 180, freshman, Norman, Okla., 27.4 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 8.8 apg, 1.7 steals, 35.3 minutes (61, 315)

Marvin Bagley III, Duke, 6-11, 234, freshman, Phoenix, 21.1 ppg, 11.5 rpg, 60.5 fg pct, 2.0 blocks (59, 313)

Devonte’ Graham, Kansas, 6-2, 185, senior, Raleigh, N.C., 17.3 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 7.5 apg, 1.6 steals, 41.2 3pt fg pct, 83.4 ft pct, 37.6 minutes (54, 303)

Second Team

Keita Bates-Diop, Ohio State, 6-7, 235, junior, Normal, Ill., 19.4 ppg, 8.8 rpg, 1.7 blocks (10, 186)

Trevon Bluiett, Xavier, 6-6, 198, senior, Indianapolis, 19.5 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 2.5 apg, 42.3 3pt fg pct, 86.1 ft pct (5, 183)

Jock Landale, Saint Mary’s, 6-11, 255, senior, East Malvern, Australia, 21.4 ppg, 10.3 rpg, 2.1 apg, 64.0 fg pct, 1.1 blocks (3, 153)

Miles Bridges, Michigan State, 6-7, 225, sophomore, Flint, Mich., 16.9 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 2.8 apg, 88.3 ft pct (3, 145)

Jevon Carter, West Virginia, 6-2, 205, senior, Maywood, Ill., 17.0 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 6.6 apg, 86.3 ft pct, 2.9 steals (1, 109)

Third Team

Keenan Evans, Texas Tech, 6-3, 190, senior, Richardson, Texas, 17.5 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 3.2 apg, 1.2 steals (2, 102)

Carsen Edwards, Purdue, 6-1, 200, sophomore, Atascocita, Texas, 18.5 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 3.0 apg, 41.2 3pt fg pct, 1.2 steals (0, 99)

Mikal Bridges, Villanova, 6-7, 210, junior, Malvern, Pa., 18.0 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 2.1 apg, 52.1 fg pct, 43.3 3pt fg pct, 85.1 ft pct, 1.6 steals (2, 64)

Luke Maye, North Carolina, 6-8, 240, junior, Huntersville, N.C., 17.2 ppg, 10.1 rpg, 2.4 apg, 44.0 3pt fg pct, 1.0 steals, 1.1 blocks (0, 64)

Kyle Guy, Virginia, 6-2, 175, sophomore, Indianapolis, 14.1 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 39.5 3pt fg pct, 1.0 steals (0, 40)

Honorable Mention (alphabetical order)

Jaylen Adams, St. Bonaventure; Peyton Aldridge, Davidson; Grayson Allen, Duke; Mo Bamba, Texas; Trae Bell-Haynes, Vermont; Joel Berry II, North Carolina; Bogdan Bliznyuk, Eastern Washington; Desonta Bradford, ETSU; Tony Carr, Penn State; Gary Clark, Cincinnati; Xavier Cooks, Winthrop; Jermaine Crumpton, Canisius; Clayton Custer, Loyola of Chicago; Mike Daum, South Dakota State; Angel Delgado, Seton Hall; Kahlil Dukes, Niagara; Tre’Shaun Fletcher, Toledo; Marcus Foster, Creighton; Brandon Goodwin, Florida Gulf Coast; Isaac Haas, Purdue; Aaron Holiday, UCLA; Jordan Howard, Central Arkansas; Jemerrio Jones, New Mexico State; Nick King, Middle Tennessee; Kevin Knox, Kentucky; Fletcher Magee, Wofford; Caleb Martin, Nevada; Kelan Martin, Butler; Yante Maten, Georgia; Martaveous McKnight, Arkansas-Pine Bluff; Kendrick Nunn, Oakland; Shamorie Ponds, St. John’s; Jerome Robinson, Boston College; Junior Robinson, Mount St. Mary’s; Collin Sexton, Alabama; Landry Shamet, Wichita State; T.J. Shorts II, UC Davis; D’Marcus Simonds, Georgia State; Jonathan Stark, Murray State; Brandon Tabb, Bethune-Cookman; Zach Thomas, Bucknell; Seth Towns, Harvard; Allonzo Trier, Arizona; Grant Williams, Tennessee; Johnathan Williams, Gonzaga; Justin Wright-Foreman, Hofstra.

Graceland University Men’s Basketball just won their first ever national title last week and now their Head Coach Craig Doty has picked up a national honor. Doty was named on Tuesday as the NAIA National Coach of the Year. Doty’s Yellowjackets went 29-10 this season and capped of the NAIA DII Championship with a win over LSU-Alexandria 83-80 in Overtime in Kansas City. Justin Harley hit a three at the buzzer to give Graceland the win and the title.

Doty was previously the coach for Rock Valley College in Illinois. He was named the 2014 and 2016 NJCAA National Coach of the Year in championsihp season for Rock Valley.

BOYS TENNIS

Lewis Central 7 Thomas Jefferson 2

Harlan 5 Abraham Lincoln 4

The AC/GC girls and Paton-Churdan boys track teams competed at the Greene County Early Bird Track meet on Tuesday.

AC/GC finished third on the girls side. Kate Crawford won the 1500M Run. Reagan Rumelhart took the 100M Dash. Mady Smith won the 100M Hurdles. Mady McDermott won the Shot Put for the Chargers as well.

Paton-Churdan was 4th on the boys side. Connor Brus took 2nd in the 800M and P-C was 2nd in the 4x800M Relay.

2018 Greene County Early Bird

Some area teams competed at the Earlham Early Bird track meet on Tuesday night. No team scores were tallied but a number of nice performances were turned in.

Treynor got wins from Jack Tiarks in the High Jump and Jerry Jorgenson in the 800M, 1600M, and 3200M.

Underwood won three events. Thomas Conn won the 400M and the Eagles topped the Distance Medley and 4x400M Relay.

Earlham Early Bird 2018 Boys

Earlham Early Bird 2018 Girls

The Mount Ayr Girls and Griswold Boys track teams came away with titles on Tuesday at the Bedford Bulldog Relays.

In the girls events Mount Ayr took 12 event wins. Bailey Anderson won the 200M and 400M. Keirston Klommhaus won the 100M, Alyssa Johnson won the 100M Hurdles, Samantha Stewart won the 400M Hurdles, Mackenzie Shields won the High Jump, and Sara Winemiller won the Shot Put.

On the boys side of things Griswold won six events on their way to the crown. Colton Tasto won the 800M, Josh Brownlee took the 1600M, and Ayden Russell won the 3200M. Griswold also won the 4x400M, 4x800M, and Distance Medley.

Girls Team Standings

Girls Full Results: 2018 Bedford Bulldog Relays Girls

Boys Team Standings

Boys Full Results: 2018 Bedford Bulldog Relays Boys