ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) – Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli believes significant progress has been made during the first two weeks of a most unusual training camp.  Speaking after Kansas City’s walkthrough Wednesday morning, Pioli says he’s been “encouraged” by several new players and the ground that’s been covered by Todd Haley and the rest of the coaching staff after the lockout.  The defending AFC West champs wrap up their first leg of training camp with a practice under the lights Wednesday night in St. Joseph, Mo. They head home to Arrowhead Stadium for their preseason opener Friday night against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

     CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) – Former Northern Iowa point guard Kwadzo (ka-JOE) Ahelegbe (ah-HEL-eg-bah) will play in Germany next season.  The school says Ahelegbe has signed with BG G Jottingen (GO-ti-gen).  Ahelegbe led the Panthers with 14.1 points per game last year and was a first-team all-Missouri Valley Conference pick.  Ahelegbe finished his Northern Iowa career ranked ninth on the school’s career scoring list with 1,329 points.  Former Panthers John Little and Ben Jacobson also played BG
G Jottingen.

AMES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa State’s defensive line appears to be its strongest in years. its linebackers and defensive backs are skilled and experienced. The Cyclones have intriguing options at wide receiver and running back and three starters back in the trenches.  None of that will matter if they can’t find a quarterback.  How Iowa State replaces three-year starter Austen Arnaud will likely define its third season under coach Paul Rhoads. Junior Jerome Tiller, junior college transfer Steele Jantz and redshirt freshman Jared Barnett are all in contention for the job.  Iowa State finished 5-7 (3-5 Big 12) in 2010, missing out of postseason eligibility after a 14-0 home loss to Missouri in its finale.

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IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – The University of Iowa says football and men’s basketball play-by-play announcer Gary Dolphin has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. The school says Wednesday that Dolphin isn’t expected to miss any games and is optimistic for a full recovery. The 60-year-old Dolphin is entering his 15th season as the play-by-play man for the Hawkeyes. Dolphin says his doctors have told him they’ve caught his cancer in its early stages and plan to attack it with radiation. Iowa opens its season on Sept. 3 at home against Tennessee Tech.

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ST. LOUIS (AP) – Casey McGehee’s double snapped a 10th-inning tie and the Milwaukee Brewers won for the 12th time in 13 games, dealing another blow to their closest pursuers in the NL Central with a 5-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night.  The Brewers’ 3-4-5 hitters had been 0 for 12 before extra innings when Prince Fielder singled to put runners at the corners ahead of McGehee’s double off Octavio Dotel (0-1). Yuniesky Betancourt added a sacrifice fly and John Axford finished for his 30th straight save and 33rd in 35 chances overall.  David Freese had an RBI single in his first game back from a concussion sustained from a beanball last Thursday for the Cardinals, who fell four games back after the opener of a three-game series.

     ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) – Tamba Hali thanked Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt and his family, then talked about getting back to work.  Kansas City’s star linebacker spoke with reporters Tuesday for the first time since signing a five-year, $60-million contract last week. The Chiefs placed the franchise tag on Hali during the
offseason, but there was no lengthy holdout from a player coming off of a career year in which he had 14 1/2 sacks.  Hali’s deal made him the second-highest paid outside linebacker in the league behind Dallas’ DeMarcus Ware. The contract included $35 million guaranteed.

Iowa basketball coach Fran McCaffery snagged a major victory Monday when South Sioux City Nebraska star Mike Gesell verbally committed to the Hawkeyes.  Gesell, a six-foot-one point guard, had narrowed his choices to Iowa, Nebraska and Stanford.  He also had offers from Iowa State, Creighton, Northern Iowa, Drake, Utah and Harvard.  The all-stater has led his prep team to the last two Nebraska Class B state titles.  As a junior last season, Gesell averaged 25.2 points, 8.2 assists and six rebounds per game.  Most of the major recruiting services list him as a top 100 recruit.

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