College Basketball

We're less than two months away from the start of college basketball season, which means that it's time to begin the second annual Sweet 16 . For those who missed it last year, The Sweet 16 is my list of Baltimore's top college basketball players . The selections have been made based on prior college success and projections for this coming season. I consulted college coaches, sports information directors, writers and others in compiling this list. The order in which these stories appear online doesn't necessarily constitute a ranking.

Like most of her college basketball peers, Maryland's Alyssa Thomas will be monitoring the U.S. Olympic women's team during the London Games, imagining what it might be like to represent her country on such a grand scale. Thomas' credentials at this stage of her career certainly have validated the junior forward's Olympic aspirations. As the first sophomore in school history to be named first-team All-American, Thomas won Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year, ACC tournament Most Valuable Player and pushed the Terrapins to within one victory of the Final Four.

Et cetera Navy's women's lax recruiting class includes Gallagher, Pastrana Navy announced its women's lacrosse class of 2016, which includes three players who earned US Lacrosse first-team All-America honors in 2012 — midfielder Miranda Beal , defender Lizzy Rullan and attacker Kelsey O'Brien — as well as attacker Katie Gallagher (C. Milton Wright), attacker Cara Pastrana (Annapolis Area Christian School), goalie Cassidy Chaney , misfielder Molly McNamara , attacker Codi Mullen , defender Lizzy Rullan , attacker Kelsey O'Brien and midfielder Molly Doyle . College football: Stevenson sophomores Donnell Brown (Poly)

Chris Sanderson , who played goaltender for the former Baltimore Bayhawks of Major League Lacrosse, died Thursday morning after a 3 1/2-year battle with brain cancer, the Philadelphia Wings of the National Lacrosse League announced. He was 38. Sanderson, a Virginia alumnus who also played for the NLL's Baltimore Thunder and New Jersey Storm, was diagnosed with the grade IV malignant tumor glioblastoma multiforme in December 2008. The Orangeville, Ontario, native was a Wings assistant from 2005 to 2011 and was selected as the All-World goalie at the 1998 world championships in Baltimore.

Best move, absolutely Teddy Greenstein Chicago Tribune The four-team seeded playoff is absolutely the way to go. I only wish that instead of running through 2025, the deal would last until 3025. Why? Because the first time we get a paper-thin margin between the No. 4 and No. 5 teams, tons of fans will howl for an expansion to an 8-team playoff. That would be a terrible move — too many games for the unpaid players and a step toward watering down the regular season, like college basketball.

Et cetera D.C. United to play Juventus on July 28 D.C. United and Juventus, Italian soccer's most storied club, have finalized plans to play a friendly July 28 at RFK Stadium. A formal announcement is expected this week. The Turin-based team clinched its 28th Serie A title two weeks ago and recorded the first undefeated season (23-0-15) in the country's top division since 1992. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tickets, priced from $35 to $65 before service charges, will go on sale Monday.

Et cetera Copeland is Penn's second sole football captain since 1977 Defensive lineman Brandon Copeland (Gilman) was selected as Pennsylvania's second sole captain since 1977. Copeland, who is from Sykesville and is the grandson of former Colts defensive end Roy Hilton , will enter his senior season as a two-time All-Ivy League first-team selection. Men's college basketball: Maryland's recruiting class officially added a fourth member Thursday when Charles Mitchell signed his letter of intent.

Women's college lacrosse No. 19 Towson outlasts host Old Dominion, 9-7 Andi Raymond scored four goals to lead No. 19 Towson past host Old Dominion, 9-7, in women's lacrosse Sunday. The Tigers (9-3, 3-0 Colonial Athletic Association) won their third straight game by outscoring the Monarchs 5-3 in the second half. Old Dominion (4-9, 1-2) tied the game at 6 with 17:25 remaining when Emily Austerberry scored her third goal of the game, but Towson took the final lead with a goal from Taylor Moore with 8:20 left.

Navy basketball coach Ed DeChellis is not a man adept at hiding how he feels. When I visited a Navy practice in February, he called his players together into a loose huddle a few minutes before the official start of practice. Navy students being Navy students, many of them had been there for a half hour. A few of them had trotted out to the humble practice court 50 minutes early. DeChellis had to ask one of his staff members to chase away a few teenage kids who'd been playing pickup.

The biggest overachiever in Maryland basketball history -- maybe in the modern college game -- is trying to beat the odds again. At age 33, a decade after leading the Terps to the NCAA men's championship, three years removed from his last NBA game and now rehabilitating an injured left knee, Juan Dixon is plotting his comeback. "Don't count me out," Dixon said Thursday in his first extensive interview since being banned in February 2010 from playing in Europe after failing a drug test the previous season.