The Georgia Bulldogs have landed five-star defensive back Kelee Ringo, the No. 11 overall prospect in the ESPN 300.

Ringo is the second-highest ranked cornerback to commit to the Bulldogs in the ESPN 300 era, according to ESPN Stats & Information, trailing Tyson Campbell, who was ranked No. 9 overall in 2018.

Entering Saturday, Georgia had ESPN's third-ranked recruiting class, right behind Clemson and Alabama.

Ringo announced his commitment at the Army All-American Bowl on Saturday, but wasn't the only player to do so:

• Wide receiver Xzavier Henderson, (No. 74) committed to Florida

• Wide receiver Gary Bryant (No. 98) committed to USC

• Athlete Jalen Berger (No. 158) committed to Wisconsin

• Defensive back Darion Green-Warren (No. 212) committed to Michigan

• Linebacker Edgerrin Cooper (No. 291) committed to Texas A&M

NEW YORK -- Washington Wizards guard Isaiah Thomas was fined $25,000 by the NBA on Saturday for making inappropriate contact with a game official.

Thomas received a technical foul and was ejected early in the Wizards' 122-103 home loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night.

Thomas was tied up along the sideline by Portland's Carmelo Anthony. As Thomas broke away from Anthony, he made contact with referee Marat Kogut, who stumbled into the crowd.

"He made physical contact with the referee,'' crew chief Mark Ayotte said in a pool report after Friday's game. "It was definitely just a push during the dead ball contact with the referee.''

Wizards coach Scott Brooks thought the contact was accidental.

"I mean, I had a different view of it, obviously," Brooks said Friday. "They were in a scrum and they were fighting for the ball, a jump ball. I had a view that it looked like he lost his balance, but [Kogut] had a better view and then they looked at it. They looked at it, so you would hope they made the right call.''

According to Elias Sports Bureau research, the most recent player to be ejected within the first two minutes of an NBA game was Utah's Greg Ostertag on Dec. 8, 2002, against the Lakers in Los Angeles.

Thomas received a two-game suspension after walking into the stands to confront two fans following a timeout in Philadelphia on Dec. 21.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Look through the Indianapolis 500 entry lists of the 1950s and ’60s and you’ll find driver after driver who has been all but forgotten.

Even though they didn’t rise to the height of accomplishment achieved by their more esteemed contemporaries, they too were winners who chased their racing dreams with a fierce focus, determination and passion.

Clifton Reign Griffith was one of these.

Born in Nineveh, Ind., on Feb. 6, 1916, Griffith spent his formative years in and around Indianapolis. Like many young central Indiana boys, he was inevitably drawn to Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

At age 10, he bicycled to the speedway with some of his adventurous buddies. They climbed the trees surrounding the track so they could watch the cars roar past.

Griffith’s hero was 1925 500 winner Pete DePaolo. He not only got to watch DePaolo run, but a compassionate guard sneaked him into Gasoline Alley to meet his hero.

That set the course of his life. He’d become a race car driver.

Toward that goal, Griffith built a sprint car in his shop class at Arsenal Tech High School and attempted to campaign it in the summer of 1934.

His first outing didn’t go well. He spun twice on consecutive laps. Stunned by the embarrassing beginning of what he envisioned to be a heroic racing career, he turned his car over to Les Mundy. Mundy raced it successfully until Griffith sold it to famed sprint car owner Dizz Wilson.

It was three years before Griffith got back into racing. His friend, George Metzler, offered him a ride in his sprint car at the Salem (Ind.) Fairgrounds. It was a turn-around performance. He won his heat and ran third in the feature.

Griffith became a force on the tough Midwest bullrings before and after World War II. Driving Hector Honore’s famed Hal sprinter, the “Black Deuce,” Griffith won 27 features in 1946 and claimed that year’s Midwest Dirt Track Racing Ass’n championship. He repeated as champion in 1947.

Griffith began to make forays into AAA races and, as he extended those activities and had some success, he got a shot at Indianapolis in 1950. Although he only qualified the ancient Sarafoff Special as the first alternate, Griffith was ecstatic. He was on his way.

In 1951, his childhood dreams became reality when he made the exclusive 33-car field. For the 1952 500 he was back with Tom Sarafoff. This time, however, in a better car — Walt Faulkner’s 1950 record-breaker. He qualified in the third row and was running third when the engine faltered near the halfway point of the race.

That impressive showing landed him a top-line ride for 1953 in Ed Walsh’s Harry Stephens-prepared Bardahl Special. The combination proved fast.

During practice, Griffith cut a lap quicker than Bill Vukovich’s pole-winning run. Then suddenly, for a reason he never understood, the car got away from him as he powered off Indy’s notorious turn one.

It pounded the wall twice and erupted into a fireball. Griffith received third-degree burns over 40 percent of his body. The crash knocked out half of his teeth and broke his shoulder, right hand and back. He spent six months in Methodist Hospital and lost 90 pounds.

At one point he said, “I prayed to die.” Most believed he would.

He survived and raced again, but he wasn’t the same. He’d lost something. At least the top car owners believed he had. Stuck in equipment that didn’t match his talent, it was 1956 before Griffith made Indy again.

He qualified the Jim Robbins dirt car in the last row and raced it to a 10th-place finish. It was the last year an upright car qualified for the 500.

Though he tried through 1964, Griffith made only one more Indianapolis 500. In 1961, he started on the last row and headed to the front before a burned piston put him out of the race.

Griffith didn’t achieve all he wanted in racing. He didn’t win the 500, but during an era when just making the race was a career accomplishment, he was one of the rare few who did.

Until his death on Jan. 23, 1996, Griffith insisted racing had given him more than it had taken.

WARRNAMBOOL, Australia – NASCAR Cup Series star and dirt open-wheel standout Kyle Larson will join Carson Macedo as part of a two-car super team for Dyson Motorsport in the upcoming Grand Annual Sprint Car Classic at Australia’s Premier Speedway.

The entry forms have both been lodged, with car owner Sean Dyson putting all of the logistical pieces of the puzzle together for an all-out assault on the 2020 version of the Australian sprint car crown jewel.

Both Macedo and Larson will have identically-prepared KPC Chassis, with KRE Race Engines supplying the horsepower for the two California natives.

Macedo has already shown impressive car speed at Valvoline Raceway during Ultimate Sydney Speedweek, with one win during that timeframe, and has also been a dominant force in midget action for Dyson over the same period.

So far during his Australian tour, Macedo has three midget victories in Dyson’s equipment.

The Dyson team will enjoy the backing of Complete Parts and Equipment Solutions, Empire Machinery and Heritage Farming at the Grand Annual Sprint Car Classic.

Larson will need no introduction to Macedo from a teammate standpoint, as the young Californian spent last year’s World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series season at the wheel of the Kyle Larson Racing No. 2, finishing sixth in points and taking Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year honors in the process.

Macedo, who won his Classic preliminary night in 2019 before an 11th-place finish in the Sunday finale, enjoyed a strong season with the Outlaws, taking four wins and 16 top fives.

Larson himself contested a select number of Outlaw events, recording wins at Fairbury (Ill.) American Legion Speedway and Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway as a part of his limited slate. He also won with the All-Star Circuit of Champions at Attica (Ohio) Raceway Park.

Since the completion of the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season, which saw Larson finish sixth in points, Larson has been plying his craft largely in midget competition.

Prior to Christmas, Larson dominated the Gateway Dirt Nationals in St. Louis, Mo., before travelling to New Zealand to compete in the United Truck Parts Int’l Midget Series.

Larson will return to the United States prior to the Classic for the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals before making his first trip to Australia since 2015-16.

His only previous Classic appearance was as a virtual unknown back in 2012, when he drove for Victorian owner/driver Brett Milburn.

Macedo has been a regular at the Classic, with 2020 set to be his fifth straight appearance at Premier Speedway for the biggest sprint car weekend of the Australian season.

Since debuting at the Classic for Victorian car owner Dave Challons in 2016, which resulted in an eighth-place run in his B-main, Macedo has made the last three Classic features, placing 13th in 2017, second in 2018 and 11th in 2019 for Sean and Felicity Dyson.

Dyson himself is no stranger to the Classic, with another Californian in Tim Kaeding taking the No. N99 to victory lane at Premier Speedway in 2014, while Paul McMahan also wheeled Dyson’s race car prior to Macedo filling the role.

The Southwest Conveyancing Grand Annual Sprint Car Classic takes place Jan. 24-26 at Premier Speedway in Warrnambool, Australia. Robbie Farr is the defending event winner.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Throughout IMSA’s upcoming season, NBC Sports will broadcast and stream more than 400 hours of coverage in the United States from the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, IMSA Prototype Challenge, Porsche GT3 Cup USA by Yokohama and Lamborghini Super Trofeo.

The coverage is highlighted by 59 hours of the WeatherTech Championship on the NBC network, NBCSN and CNBC which features nine hours of coverage on the NBC network beginning on Saturday, Jan. 25, at 1:30 p.m. ET with the first hour of the 58th Rolex 24 At Daytona, followed by a two-hour live telecast of the race finish on Sunday, Jan. 26 at 12 p.m. ET also on the network of NBC.

A total of 435 hours of digital and linear coverage will be available with 326 coming on NBC Sports platforms.

This season marks the debut of TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold which will be the exclusive streaming home to all IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge and IMSA Prototype Challenge races. The platform also will offer full live streaming of all IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship races. There will be 113.5 hours of coverage from these championships on the service during 2020.

NBCSN coverage of single-make and challenge series begins on Monday, Jan. 14 at 4:30 p.m. with the broadcast of the first IMSA Prototype Challenge race which will be run on Jan. 4 at Daytona Int’l Speedway. In all NBCSN will broadcast 39 hours from the 29 races from these four series during the course of the year.

There will be 75.5 hours of WeatherTech Championship and 39 hours of single-make and challenge series available on the NBC Sports App to authenticated subscribers.

IMSA.tv, and the IMSA app, will stream 109 hours of exclusive content during the season. This coverage is highlighted by 72 hours of in-car cameras during WeatherTech Championship and Pilot Challenge races. All WeatherTech Championship qualifying sessions are included for additional 11 hours as are all Porsche GT3 Cup USA by Yokohama and Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America races for a total of 26 hours of coverage (16 GT3 and 10 Lamborghini). All of these events will be streamed live.

LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles Dodgers’ owner Bobby Patton has been bitten by the off-road racing bug.

In 2017 he raced the Baja 1,000 for the first time, piloting a vintage Land Cruiser to a class victory during the 50th anniversary of the event.  In 2019 he finished every mile of every SCORE Int’l desert race as driver of record in his No. 240 Jimco-built Fastball Racing Spec Trophy Truck to earn the Rod Hall SCORE Milestone Award, a distinction bestowed upon only 46 other SCORE series racers competing in 18 different classes.

Covering 2,025 miles in a season is impressive and has helped prepare Patton for his biggest challenge yet: the Dakar Rally.

“Dakar is definitely a bucket list event,” Patton confessed recently.

Of course, 2,025 miles doesn’t get you to the finish line of the world’s most grueling rally raid event, which starts on January 4th in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The route of the first edition of the Dakar in Saudi Arabia will cover a total of 4,460 miles, including 3,100 miles of specials.  For those unfamiliar with the rally raid format, the event consists of timed special stages and unscored liaisons between the specials over the course of two weeks.  Unlike Baja racing, there is no prerunning, GPS is forbidden, and the same driver and navigator have to complete the entire event.

Patton will have veteran off-road racer Robbie Pierce by his side.  As owner of Jimco Racing, Pierce has played a key role in getting Patton to the finish line in Baja and is intent on doing the same at the Dakar Rally.  Not only a successful businessman, Pierce has his own racing pedigree, piloting everything from short course trucks to his current Jimco Trophy Truck.  Pierce was named SCORE International’s 2010 Person of the Year and finished in the top-10 overall at the 2019 Baja 1000.

“I couldn’t be more excited to race amongst the giants at Dakar,” Pierce revealed.  “And there is no one I would rather be here with than Bobby.  Whether it is business or racing, he simply never gives up.”

The two will be piloting a Toyota Hilux prepared and supported by the Overdrive team of Belgium.  This makes Patton and Pierce teammates with heavyweights like Nasser Al-Attiyah and Bernhard Ten Brinke, which will certainly help with the steep learning curve of Dakar.  The 4×4 Hilux features the same Lexus 5.0L V8 engine that propelled Al-Attiyah to victory last year.  It is backed by a Sadev six speed sequential gearbox to transfer power to the BFGoodrich tires even more efficiently.  Overdrive Director Jean-Marc Fortin has decades of experience in all facets of rally raid, giving the American competitors every advantage at their inaugural Dakar Rally.

The playing field will be somewhat levelled for Patton and Pierce this year, since this is the first running of the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia.

The Dakar Rally was first run from Paris to the Senegal capital of Dakar in 1978, the vision of rally founder Thierry Sabine.  In 2008 the event was cancelled due to security concerns, and the next year it moved to South America.  This year the Dakar Rally moves to Saudi Arabia, where shorter liaisons and more off piste navigation (no roads) are certain to challenge the field of cars, trucks, bikes, quads, and UTVs.

“While this is my first year competing in Dakar, no one has ran the event in Saudi Arabia before,” Patton noted.  “This year is going to be a fact-finding mission for all the competitors, not just Robbie and I.”

OSTRAVA, Czech Republic -- Ivan Morozov scored his second goal in overtime and Russia topped Sweden 5-4 to reach the final of the world junior hockey championship on Saturday.

Morozov collected the puck at his blue line and skated up the ice to wrist the winner past goaltender Hugo Alnefelt with 1:36 remaining in overtime.

Russia, seeking its first title since 2011, will face defending champion Finland or Canada in Sunday's final.

Sweden will play in the bronze medal game.

Yegor Sokolov also scored two goals for Russia and Alexander Khovanov added one. Russia outshot Sweden 44-25.

Rasmus Sandin scored two goals and added two assists for Sweden; Samuel Fagemo and Nils Lundkvist added one goal apiece.

It was an up-and-down game at Ostravar Arena in the eastern city of Ostrava.

Russia answered Sandin's first goal, which was scored just 16 seconds into the game, with three goals still in the opening period, including Morozov's tying goal on a power play.

Sweden rallied and Lundkvist put the Swedes ahead 4-3 in the third before Sokolov tied the game again with 11:25 left in the final period to force overtime.

Los Angeles defenseman Alec Martinez will return from wrist surgery Saturday night when the Kings host the Nashville Predators, coach Todd McLellan announced.

Doctors in November repaired Martinez's radial artery and two superficial radial nerves. He was hurt in the third period of the Kings' 4-3 overtime loss to San Jose on Nov. 25, when he made a headfirst dive to bat away a loose puck and was cut just above the glove by the skate of San Jose's Melker Karlsson.

"First of all, we're real happy that things went well for Alec," coach Todd McLellan said at the time. "Now he's got some time to heal, and when he's ready to play again we'll welcome him back because he's an important part of our team."

Martinez took part in morning skate Saturday, and will be on Los Angeles' second pairing vs. the Predators, alongside Kale Clague. Martinez has five assists and a minus-1 rating in 24 games this season.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.

Bayern Munich have signed a precontract agreement with Schalke goalkeeper Alexander Nubel, who will move to the Bundesliga champions on a free transfer on July 1.

Nubel, 23, had been linked with a number of top clubs, including Manchester United and Barcelona, after Schalke failed to tie him to a deal beyond the summer.

But Bayern Munich have won the race for the former Paderborn goalkeeper, who will now become the No. 2 to Germany captain Manuel Neuer, one of the defining shot stoppers of the last decade.

Neuer is contracted to the German champions until 2021, but Bayern hope he will sign a deal until 2023 in the near future.

ℹ️ Der #FCBayern verpflichtet Alexander Nübel zur Saison 2020/21.

— FC Bayern München (@FCBayern) January 4, 2020

Even before the announcement of Nubel's free transfer, however, his impending arrival caused issues at the Allianz Arena, according to German outlet Sport Bild.

They reported that Bayern's sporting director, Hasan Salihamidzic, asked Neuer to step aside for Nubel for a set number of games to give the new arrival game time.

But the 33-year-old reportedly rejected the request, leaving some uncertainty over his long-term future at Bayern.

Schalke announced Nubel would no longer captain the side following his decision to leave with Omar Mascarell taking the armband.

"We have mutually agreed that Alex will step down from his role as captain," Schalke coach David Wagner said.

"We looked at all the pros and cons and decided that it's better for the team if he gives up the armband. This way we avoid constant unrest."

In mid-December, Nubel was handed a four-match ban for a brutal kung-fu kick against Frankfurt's Mijat Gacinovic. The ban and the keeper's impending exit from Schalke could see him demoted to the bench for the rest of the season with the Royal Blues.

Manchester City defeated Port Vale 4-1 to advance to the fourth round of the FA Cup at the Etihad on Saturday.

Oleksandr Zinchenko scored his first goal in nearly a year to put City up early -- the left-back's shot from outside of the box taking a deflection off a sliding defender before beating Scott Brown in the Port Vale goal in the 20th minute.

The visitors got back on level terms a quarter-hour later through the outspoken Tom Pope, who beat Taylor Harwood-Bellis to a David Amoo cross from the right and headed home from the middle of the area.

Pope made headlines for his criticism of City and England centre-back John Stones over the summer, when he tweeted that he'd "score 40 a season" if he played against the former Everton man every week.

City survived a VAR review to restore their lead three minutes from the break with a sweeping move that ended with a Sergio Aguero tap-in from a tight angle at the far post after Phil Foden ran in behind the defence down the right.

Aguero did not celebrate in anticipation of a booth review of Foden's positioning on the play, but the goal stood and City went into half-time back in control of the match.

Harwood-Bellis scored his first senior goal for City in the 58th minute following another VAR review. The centre-back's heel was found to be inches onside before redirecting a weak Stones shot near the goal line.

Foden added a fourth in the 76th minute when he coolly converted at the near post from an Angelino cross after a wonderful cross-field pass found the left-back behind the defence on the left.

Vale manager John Askey was upbeat after the match, telling reporters that his team was "fantastic" in the loss.

"I was worried before the games that teams have come here and got annihilated," he said. "When our goal went in you started to dream a little bit."