MINNEAPOLIS -- Minnesota has hired Ed Conroy as an assistant mens basketball coach.The hire of the former head coach at Tulane and The Citadel was announced Thursday by Gophers coach Richard Pitino.Conroy was fired by Tulane in March after posting a 92-103 record over six years there. That included a 20-15 mark in 2012-13, the first 20-win season by the Green Wave in 13 years.Prior to that, Conroy went 49-76 over four seasons at his alma mater The Citadel. The native of Davenport, Iowa, was the Southern Conference coach of the year for 2008-09.Conroy has 25 seasons of coaching experience, also serving as an assistant at North Carolina State, VMI, Furman, Tulsa, Tennessee and Coastal Carolina. Conroy is a cousin of the late best-selling author Pat Conroy. Cheap Jerseys . Zvonareva, who won the tournament in 2009 and 10, couldnt handle her opponents big groundstrokes in only her third event back after 17 months out with a shoulder injury. Zvonareva made her comeback in January in Shenzhen and played in the Australian Open but lost her first matches at both tournaments. Cheap Jerseys From China . The Cleveland Indians, Tampa Bay Rays, and Texas Rangers all won on Sunday meaning the Rangers will host the Rays in a play-in game on Monday. https://www.wholesalejerseysaaa.com/ . Blackwood, 28, has played the last three seasons in the San Diego Padres system, including the past two summers with Class AA San Antonio of the Texas League. Wholesale Jerseys 2021 . - Derek Wolfe says hes finally healthy after suffering a seizure in November that doctors now believe was related to the spinal cord injury he suffered in the preseason. Wholesale NFL Jerseys . -- Devin Hester is done returning kicks in Chicago. DAVIE, Fla. -- Being an aggressive cornerback, Xavien Howard interrupted an inquisitors question Tuesday, and it went incomplete.The subject was Howards most eye-catching attribute, and the Miami Dolphins rookie eagerly jumped in midway through the query.Ball skill, Howard answered. Ive been a playmaker. They got me here for a reason. Ive just got to do what I did in college, and do more. Yes sir. Takeaways. Yes sir.Now that hes back at practice, the Dolphins second-round draft pick is showing some swagger. Howard missed the first three weeks of camp recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery, which may have spoiled his chances of starting at cornerback in the season opener.He was activated last week from the physically unable to perform list, practiced for the third day in a row Tuesday, and could provide a significant upgrade in a shaky secondary.It feels good to be back out there competing again with my guys, Howard said.The former Baylor star required right knee surgery after hurting his knee on the final day of minicamp in June. That temporarily took him out of the competition for the job opposite veteran newcomer Byron Maxwell.Howard said his goal remains to win a starting job this year, and hes not fretting about the practice time missed.I wouldnt call it a setback, he said. Id just say its a learning process that I went through, and Im just learning from it -- a lot of mental reps, just seeing what the older guys were doing and learning from them.Before the injury, Howard received favorable reviews in offseason drills. New coach Adam Gase especially liked the knack Howard showed for deflections and interceptions..ddddddddddddHe gets his hands on a lot of balls, Gase said. When he does get both hands up to make a play on the ball, he usually catches it.Howard made nine interceptions in his final two years at Baylor, and now the Dolphins are eager to see him in an NFL game. Hell sit out Thursday against Atlanta, but expects to play in next weeks preseason finale, and has no doubt hell play in the season opener Sept. 11 at Seattle.In Howards absence, converted receiver Tony Lippett has been working with the first team at cornerback. Expected to join the mix eventually is veteran newcomer Chris Culliver, who has yet to practice while he recovers from a serious knee injury last Thanksgiving.This week the Dolphins have slowly been working Howard into one-on-one and team drills.I wouldnt say hes far behind mentally, Gase said. Hes dialed in to what were doing. Hes playing one-on-one coverage a lot of the time. Thats his strength. Were going to try to lean on his strength of matching him up with somebody and letting him go.That sounds good to Howard. He wore an NFL uniform for the first time Friday, watching from the sideline when the Dolphins played at Dallas.I just couldnt explain the feeling, he said. It was my first NFL game and I was excited, cheering guys on.Soon he expects to have teammates cheering for him.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP-NFL---Follow Steven Wine on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Steve-Wine. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/steven-wine ' ' '