OU football: Former Sooners wide receiver Mario Williams follows coach Lincoln Riley to USC

Mario Williams follows Lincoln Riley to USC

Former Oklahoma wide receiver Mario Williams announced on Saturday that he's committed to USC and former Sooners head coach Lincoln Riley in 2022.

Williams made the announcement on Twitter. After Williams entered the transfer portal, he made it known that he’d like to play with former OU quarterback Caleb Williams, who has yet to announce his decision.

Williams was one of five receivers for OU to have at least 30 receptions in 2021. His 35 catches were tied for second on the team with Michael Woods, just four receptions behind Jadon Haselwood, who transferred to Arkansas after the coaching change.

Graham resigns as head football coach at Hawaii

Todd Graham resigned as the University of Hawaii’s football coach Friday, stepping down amid controversy after completing the second year of a five-year contract.

Graham resigned a week after former players and some parents testified before a state legislative hearing, criticizing the coach’s management style and relationships with players. More than a dozen players have entered the transfer portal.

Graham gave up a $1,275,000 buyout by resigning. Assistant Jacob Yoro will serve as interim head coach while the school searches for a replacement.

“After much prayer and reflection with my family, I have come to the conclusion that I will step away as head coach of the Rainbow Warriors, with a very heavy heart,” Graham said in a statement released by the university. “I want to give my thanks and appreciation to the players, staff and coaches who persevered through all the challenges of 2020 and 2021. It wasn’t easy, but they all fought the good fight and we did things the right way.

Former Kentucky basketball coach Joe B. Hall dies

Joe B. Hall, who succeeded Adolph Rupp and guided Kentucky to a national championship in 1978, has died. He was 93.

The program announced Hall’s death in a social media post Saturday morning after the coach's family notified current Wildcats coach John Calipari. Hall and Calipari were close, and Hall was a a frequent presence at Kentucky practices and games.

Hall went 297-100 in 13 years with Kentucky. Born 20 miles north of the Lexington campus in Cynthiana, the former UK player and longtime assistant to Rupp assumed the monumental task of succeeding his boss in 1972 after Rupp was forced to retire because he turned 70.

The Wildcats were 20-8 in Hall’s first season but followed that with a 13-13 campaign, their worst record in 50 years. He eventually guided them back to national prominence and college basketball's pinnacle six years later.

Djokovic back in court to fight deportation from Australia

Novak Djokovic returned to court on Sunday in Melbourne, Australia, to fight an attempt to deport him because of what a government minister described as a perception that the top-ranked tennis player was a “talisman of a community of anti-vaccination sentiment.”

Three Federal Court judges hope to hear the entire case in a single day so that the men’s No. 1-ranked tennis player and nine-time Australian Open champion might begin on Monday his title defense at the first Grand Slam tennis tournament of the year.

Djokovic spent Saturday night in hotel immigration and his lawyers had a morning meeting with immigration officials.

Television footage showed the 34-year-old Serb wearing a face mask as he sat in a vehicle near an immigration detention hotel.

He is permitted to leave hotel detention to spend Sunday in his lawyers’ offices, under the guard of two immigration officials, while the challenge is heard via a video hearing.

Djokovic spent four nights confined to a hotel near downtown Melbourne before being released last Monday when he won a court challenge on procedural grounds against his first visa cancellation.

Immigration Minister Alex Hawke on Friday blocked the visa, which was originally revoked when he landed at a Melbourne airport on Jan. 5.

Deportation from Australia can lead to a three-year ban on returning to the country, although that may be waived, depending on the circumstances.

On Sunday, Federal Chief Justice James Allsop gave his reasons for rejecting Hawke’s argument that the case only warranted a hearing by a single judge.

Allsop cited Hawke’s own words that the issues behind his decision to cancel the visa “go to the very preservation of life and health of many members of the community.”

A verdict of three judges is far less likely to be appealed than the decision of a single judge.

Jokovic could not appeal a decision made on Sunday or Monday in time to compete in the Australian Open, Allsop said.

Wire reports

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU football: Mario Williams announces transfer to USC