Florida Sentinel Bulletin

ATLANTA — Rick Pitino held court in a tunnel beneath the Georgia Dome, going on and on about the grittiest bunch of guys he’s ever coached. One of them sat in the corner of the locker room, a net around his neck, grinning away. The Louisville Cardinals vowed to finish the job for Kevin Ware.

Boy, did they ever. With their injured teammate cheering them on from the bench, Louisville capped its run through the NCAA tournament, coming back again from a 12-point deficit to beat Michigan 82-76 in the championship game Monday night.

“These are my brothers,” said Ware, still getting around on crutches after a horrific injury in the regional final. “They got the job done. I’m so proud of them, so proud of them.”

Ware is just getting started on what could be a yearlong recovery from a broken right leg, but he’s already got something no one can take away — a championship.

A former executive at Fox Sports filed a lawsuit against the network on grounds of racial discrimination.

Jerry Davis filed suit in a Los Angeles Superior Court Friday (April 5) claiming to have been overlooked for several promotions, and later fired—all for being Black. In February, Davis took a leave of absence, which the company turned into a permanent deal. Prior to getting pink-slipped, Davis filed a racial prejudice complaint against Fox Sports with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH). He worked as director of Fox Sports’ music department for over 15 years. During that time, the position as VP of music came up four times, and Davis was overlooked each time.

The 52-year-old has a degree from U.C. Berkeley, and over 23 years of experience in the music industry, but asserts to have never been promoted within Fox. He goes on to accuse the company of not letting Black employees climb too high on the corporate letter. Davis is seeking damages on several counts, including unlawful discrimination, failure to prevent unlawful discrimination, wrongful termination, and emotional distress.

In addition to Fox Sports, Davis is suing Fox Cable Network Services, Fox Sports Net, and Fox Networks Group. The payout that he is seeking will be revealed during trial.

The NFL has released the preseason schedule, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have managed a competitive schedule for themselves. Full schedule: Preseason Week 1 (August 8-11): Baltimore Ravens at Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Preseason Week 2 (Friday, August 16, 20:00 PM): Tampa Bay Buccaneers at New England Patriots. Preseason Week 3 (August 22-25): Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Miami Dolphins. Preseason Week 4 (August 29-30): Washington Redskins at Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

In the latest turn of events involving Rutgers basketball, the FBI is investigating former Rutgers assistant, Eric Murdock. An FBI agent recently spent time at Rutgers and visited with now-former athletic director, Tim Pernetti. Pernetti resigned from his post on Friday.

The investigation is in its early stages, according to the report. According to a letter, Murdock — the program’s former director of player development — sought $950,000 from the university last December to settle his claims of wrongful termination. Rutgers declined to renew Murdock’s contract last June, reportedly after a falling-out between Murdock and former head coach Mike Rice.

Murdock claimed he was fired for being a whistleblower about Rice’s physical and verbal abuse of players. The letter, dated Dec. 27, 2012, and sent from Barry Kozyra — a colleague of Murdock’s attorney, Raj Gadhok — also referenced video that, Kozyra wrote, Murdock showed the university last Nov. 26.

The video was presented after Pernetti asked for evidence that would back Murdock’s claims of abuse by Rice, myCentral-Jersey.com reported. Pernetti suspended Rice for three games and fined him $50,000 on Dec. 13, after being “made aware of some things in the last couple of weeks.”

Current women’s world No. 1 Serena Williams rallied on Sunday in Charleston, S.C., defeating Jelena Jankovic in three sets in the final of the Family Circle Cup, 3-6, 6-0, 6-2, according to the tournament’s official Twitter account.

The title is Williams’ se-cond straight at the WTA event and her third overall; she also won in 2008. The 31-year-old veteran has now won two straight singles tournaments after beating Maria Sharapova at the Sony Tennis Open in Miami last weekend.

Williams was the top seed in the draw, taking on the ninth-seeded Jankovic just a day after defeating her older sister Venus in straight sets in the tournament semifinals. The easy win marked Serena’s fifth straight against her sister. Serena leads the all-time head-to-head 14-10.

SAN FRANCISCO — Right tackle Anthony Davis signed a five-year contract extension Friday with the 49ers, further solidifying a young offensive line that made major strides last season for Super Bowl runner-up San Francisco.

The deal is worth more than $37 million, with $17 million guaranteed. The 23-year-old tackle has started 16 games in each of his first three years. He helped the 49ers win consecutive NFC West titles and reach the Super Bowl last season, a 34-31 loss to Baltimore.

Syracuse and Wichita State punched their tickets to the 2013 Final Four on Saturday. Michigan and Louisville joined them Sunday. Syracuse will play Michigan while Wichita State will take on Louisville.

Here’s a look at the 2013 Final Four (all times ET): Location: Georgia Dome, Atlanta (Host: Georgia Institute of Technology) Dates: — Saturday, April 6: Louisville vs. Wichita State, 6:09 p.m.; Syracuse vs. Michigan, about 8:49 p.m.; both games CBS — Monday, April 8: National Championship game, 9:23 p.m., CBS TV: All games on CBS.

As Louisville’s Kevin Ware recovers from a broken right leg suffered in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday, he has received tweets from celebrities and even a phone call from First Lady Michelle Obama.

A self-proclaimed “shy guy,’’ Ware told Craig Melvin on TODAY Thursday that he appreciated the support. But the details of the first lady’s call remain a little fuzzy. “I was so drugged, honestly,’’ Ware said, laughing. Ware, 20, underwent surgery to repair his right leg, which was broken in two places in the first half of a win over Duke in the Midwest Regional final. The sophomore guard was released by the hospital and returned to the Louisville campus on Tuesday. He plans on being on the bench supporting the Cardinals in their Final Four game on Saturday against Wichita State.

Doctors expect him to make a full recovery, and Ware is determined to return to the court, which could take six to eight months. “I’ll be back starting next season,’’ Ware told Melvin. “I haven’t (watched the video), don’t want to,’’ Ware said. “I’m going to stay as far from that video as possible.’’

ATLANTA — Brian Banks said signing with the Atlanta Falcons is his second-biggest accomplishment.

The biggest was Banks’ exoneration of rape charges one year ago.

Banks, 27, signed with the Falcons on Wednesday, giving him an opportunity he said he did not believe would be possible when he spent five years in prison and five years on probation following his conviction of rape and kidnapping charges a decade ago.

“I felt at the time in order for me to exit prison with a sane mind and be able to just function as a person I had to let go of certain dreams and goals I once held in life, football being one of them,” Banks said. Banks said he “couldn’t have asked for a better place to be” than with the Falcons. “I can’t believe this is happening,” he said. “It’s surreal.”