Atlantic Senior Ryan Hawkins signed a National Letter of Intent Wednesday to continue his basketball career at Wayne State University.   The Wildcats are an NCAA Division II program playing in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.  Hawkins signed on Wednesday at the Atlantic high school surrounded by the Atlantic coaching staff and his Mother Rhonda.

Pictured: Ryan Hawkins, Rhonda Hawkins, Head Coach Alan Jenkins, Activities Director Matt Alexander

Ryan said he felt that Wayne State was a great fit for him because the coaching staff really wanted him to get to know the players and made him feel welcome.

Hawkins said he first knew he would have the possibility of playing at the collegiate level when he was a Sophomore and the team really worked hard to come together and motivated him to work toward that goal.

He said he worked hard to improve and felt he had a great summer in AAU competition.  He stated that he looked at a few other schools in the area but felt Wayne State was where he belonged and likes the fact that he won’t be too far from home.

Atlantic Head Coach Alan Jenkins said it is a great honor for a player to achieve a scholarship to play basketball at the next level.

Jenkins gave all the credit to Hawkins saying that he didn’t get attention from colleges by luck or accident but by hard work.  He also touched on Hawkins’ leadership in the program.

Coach Jenkins also talked about what he tries to do as a coach to blend improving the team along with helping a player individually to help them get to the next level.

Hawkins will now focus on his Senior season with the Trojan squad and is looking forward to seeing what they can achieve.

Four-star prep forward Tyler Cook is among the players who signed with Iowa and coach Fran McCaffery on Wednesday. Cook joins Iowa high school stars Ryan Kriener and Cordell Pemsl in the Hawkeyes latest class. Cook, who is 6-foot-8, is considered among the nation’s top power forwards. Kriener is a 6-foot-9 forward out of Spirit Lake, Iowa.

Pemsl, from Dubuque Wahlert, is also a forward who should help Iowa compensate for losing the likes of Jarrod Uthoff and Adam Woodbury in the post following this season. The Hawkeyes open play Friday by hosting Gardner-Webb.

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Two of the nation’s top junior college stars highlight the recruiting class signed by Iowa State coach Steve Prohm on Wednesday. Prohm signed four players; including junior college standouts Emmanuel Malou and Donovan Jackson.

Malou, a 6-foot-9 forward from Yuba College in California, was the nation’s second-best junior college player by recruiting service 247sports.com He averaged nearly 15 points and 8.5 rebounds last season and turned down Arizona and Kansas to play for Prohm. Jackson, a point guard from Iowa Western, shot 40 percent on 3s last season. Prohm also signed preps Jakolby Long and Solomon Young.

The Cyclones will likely need all four to contribute next season since they lose Georges Niang, Jameel McKay and possibly Monte Morris. No. 7 Iowa State faces Colorado Friday.

(At the US Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids)

Class 3-A Quarterfinals

(3-0) West Liberty 25-25-25 vs. Forest City 23-18-20

(3-1) Nevada 22-25-25-25 vs. Columbus Catholic 25-22-20-16

(3-1) Mount Vernon 24-25-25-25, Center Point-Urbana 26-22-23-22

(3-1) Kuemper Catholic 25-23-25-25, Sgt. Bluff-Luton 15-25-15-23

Class 2-A Quarterfinals

(3-0) Western Christian 25-25-25, Council Bluffs/St. Albert 10-20-15

(3-1) Sumner-Fredericksburg 25-25-25-25, Unity Christian 19-27-18-21

(3-1) West Branch 23-25-25-25, Wapsie Valley 25-23-20-19

(3-0) Dike-New Hartford 25-25-25,  Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont 21-20-16

Class 1-A Quarterfinals

(3-0) Sidney 25-25-25, Springville 22-22-17

(3-1) Tripoli 23-25-25-25, Grand View Christian 25-16-17-18

(3-2) Central Lyon 25-22-25-22-15, Le Mars Gehlen Catholic 13-25-22-25-12

(3-1) Janesville 25-26-25-25, Holy Trinity Catholic 15-28-21-15

(At the US Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids)
Class 4A

(3-0) Harlan 25-25-25 , Pella 16-21-22
(3-0) West Delaware 25-26-25, Western Dubuque 21-24-19
(3-2) Lewis Central 13-25-25-18-15, Marion 25-22-20-25-10
(3-1) Bishop Heelan 18-25-25-25 Waverly-Shell Rock 25-20-21-8

Class 5A

(3-1) Dubuque Hempstead 22-27-25-25, Dowling Catholic 25-25-21-13
(3-0) Bettendorf 25-25-25, Iowa City West 18-22-15
(3-2) Ankeny Centennial 27-22-25-19-15, Johnston 25-25-22-25-12
(3-1) Cedar Falls 25-25-16-25. Cedar Rapids Kennedy 22-20-25-20

Semi-finals will be held Thursday, Nov. 12th

Class 5-A

10-a.m: Court 1 – Dubuque Hempstead vs. Ankeny Centennial

10-a.m.: Court 2 – Bettendorf vs. Cedar Falls

Class 4-A

Noon: Court 1 – West Delaware vs. Lewis Central

Noon: Court 2 – Harlan vs. Bishop Heelan

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

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ST. LOUIS (AP) – Cardinals right-hander Lance Lynn has had Tommy John surgery and will be sidelined all of next season. St. Louis said the 28-year-old Lynn had the surprise surgery Tuesday. The operation repaired a torn ulnar collateral ligament while having the ulnar nerve transposed and bone chips removed. The 28-year-old Lynn missed a couple of starts in June with a forearm strain.

Lynn’s health was not mentioned by the Cardinals at their season-ending news conference. Lynn was 12-11 with a 3.03 ERA last season. He was an All-Star in 2012 and has three straight seasons of 30 or more starts. He’s among 16 pitchers to work 175 or more innings each of the last four years. The loss of Lynn is the latest blow to the NL Central champion Cardinals pitching depth.

Talented youngster Carlos Martinez was shut down at the end of the season with a shoulder strain. John Lackey is a free agent and Adam Wainwright made only a handful of relief appearances at the end of the regular season and in the division series in his comeback from an Achilles injury. Top pitching prospect Alex Reyes was suspended Monday 50 games for testing positive for a drug of abuse.

Notre Dame has moved into the top four in the second College Football Playoff selection committee rankings of the season. Clemson remained No. 1 on Tuesday night, with Alabama moving up two spots to No. 2, Ohio State staying at No. 3 and the Fighting Irish up a spot to No. 4. Notre Dame and Alabama each has one loss.

Unbeaten Iowa was promoted four spots to No. 5, and Baylor is the highest-ranked Big 12 team at No. 6. LSU, No. 2 last week, dropped to No. 9 after losing at Alabama.

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

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NEW YORK (AP) — St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Alex Reyes has been suspended for 50 games under baseball’s minor league drug program following a second positive test for a drug of abuse. Reyes had been with the Surprise Saguaros of the Arizona Fall League and will miss the rest of the AFL season, the commissioner’s office said Monday.

A 21-year-old right-hander, Reyes was 5-7 with a 2.49 ERA in 22 starts at rookie, Class A and Double-A this year. He struck out 151 in 101 1-3 innings. There have been 95 suspensions this year under the minor league program, including 37 for drugs of abuse.