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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Wake Forest showed signs of improvement across its athletic department this past year. Athletic director Ron Wellman says it just didnt show up in the won-lost records of its highest-profile sports.In an interview with The Associated Press, Wellman called 2015-16 a year of progress and improvement ... in the vast majority of our sports.Wake Forest finished at No. 68 in the final standings for the Directors Cup, awarded annually to the top overall athletic department. The Demon Deacons were just 13th in the Atlantic Coast Conference.They insist they made strides in both football and mens basketball, even if their records didnt reflect it. The football team went 3-9 for a second straight year under coach Dave Clawson while Danny Mannings basketball team couldnt sustain the momentum of a promising start and finished under .500 for the fifth time in six years and for the second time in two years under him.Those teams subpar records threatened to overshadow the rest of the schools largely successful programs. The baseball team made the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2007. The womens basketball team reached the WNIT. Both golf programs and the mens soccer team also made it to postseason play.And the school continued to plow through its ambitious list of facility upgrades.Overall were moving in the right direction, and weve got the right coaches to move in the right direction, Wellman said. They are the reasons were moving in the right direction. That, combined with the facility improvements ... puts us in a really good position for the future.The construction of a sustainable football program has been an exercise in patience for Clawson, who fielded arguably the youngest team in Division I last season with 27 players on the final depth chart in either their first or second year. Still, the Demon Deacons were largely more competitive, with four losses coming by eight or fewer points.When you think about (the youth) and being as improved as we were last year, theres reason to be enthused about the future, Wellman said.The basketball team was in the NCAA Tournament conversation after beating Indiana, UCLA and finally LSU on Dec. 29. But they only won twice after that, and ended up with the programs first 20-loss season since 2011.That was certainly a growing experience and a learning experience for our players, Wellman said, and I think they learned from that, and we will see a different outcome this year.The school continued its building boom, finishing its $21 million, 80,000-square-foot indoor practice facility as the first phase of a $58 million sports performance center and opening a $4.5 million headquarters for the golf teams.A project to renovate its baseball stadium and build additional training facilities there is underway, and Wellman says theyre planning a new practice gym for the basketball programs and a renovation of the tennis complex because Wake Forest is hosting the mens and womens NCAA championships in that sport in 2018.Kids are making their (recruiting) decisions earlier, and theyre basing their decisions much more on facilities than maybe what happened 10-15 years ago, Wellman said. 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Hill had nine catches for 52 yards and the tying touchdown, ran right around the Broncos Von Miller for another score and even returned a free kick for an early TD that helped Kansas City to a crucial overtime victory.It was hardly a surprise Wednesday when the NFL announced that Hill, a controversial fifth-round pick in Aprils draft, was chosen the AFC offensive player of the week.Tribute to the kid, Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. Im probably more proud of him for what hes doing off the field than on the field, but its well deserved. The award is well deserved.You see, all of Hills success -- and by extension, the Chiefs success -- has generated conflicting feelings among fans in Kansas City familiar with the diminutive speedsters backstory.Some are ready to forgive. Very few seem to have forgotten.Hill was an emerging star at Oklahoma State when he was arrested for domestic violence two years ago. He wound up pleading guilty to abusing and strangling his pregnant girlfriend, and Cowboys coach Mike Gundy kicked him out of the program -- a decision by turns easy and hard to make.Easy because of the egregious nature of the crime, hard because of Hills vast talent.Tyreek put himself in a bad situation, Gundy said, but during his time here at Oklahoma State, he was never an issue. That was the only incident that he ever had, so thats why I felt really bad for him. But hes certainly a big-time player and could have made a huge difference on that team.Instead, he was forced to rehabilitate his image -- and himself -- at West Alabama, where he juggled school and football with counseling sessions and other court-mandated service work.In one season at the out-of-the-way Division II school in Livingston, 60 miles from Tuscaloosa but a million miles from playing for the Crimson Tide, Hill hardly put up the kind of numbers that portend NFL greatness. He ran for a modest 237 yards and a touchdown, caught 27 ppasses for 444 yards and three scores, and returned two punts and two kickoffs for touchdowns.ddddddddddddBut the Chiefs knew his world-class speed -- he won two medals running sprints at the world junior championships -- could be a difference maker. So in an age of heightened sensitivity in the NFL when it comes to domestic violence, they spent a draft pick on him when most teams were unwilling. Then they faced the backlash of a fan base that still recalls the Jovan Belcher murder-suicide of a few years ago.Chiefs general manager John Dorsey said front-office executives spent time with coaches at Oklahoma State and West Alabama, Hills family members and friends, and even the Oklahoma prosecutor who handled his case. They came away convinced that he was on the right path.He came in here with the incident, obviously, and hes handled himself in a good way, Reid said. There havent been any issues, which has been positive, and hes had some things hes had to do for the incident and he doesnt miss anything. He does everything hes supposed to do.Hill said that includes classes and therapy sessions, where he can get things off his chest, but he declined to discuss specifics. He also said he is supporting the victim and his child.I make sure I do those things in order to be a better person, Hill said before Wednesdays practice. Im real dedicated. Im going to stick to it so I can be a better man, a better citizen for the community and a better father for my son.Indeed, Hill has done nothing ofKNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee turned up its defensive intensity to produce a surprisingly lopsided victory over Georgia Tech.Shembari Phillips and Grant Williams each scored 14 points as Tennessee cruised to an 81-58 triumph over the Yellow Jackets, who hadnt trailed an opponent by more than eight points all season before Saturday.Overall, thats something we can continue to build on, Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said of his teams defensive effort. Thats got to really be the staple of who we are.Tennessee (3-3) was returning from a nine-day layoff after going 1-2 in the Maui Invitational last week, but it was Georgia Tech that looked like it hadnt played in over a week. Tennessee stayed in control virtually the entire way and led by as many as 28 points.Georgia Tech (4-3) played without usual starting guard Justin Moore, who stayed in Atlanta because of a stomach virus. Josh Heath, who made 15 starts in 2015-16, started in Moores place and scored just two points while shooting 0 for 7.Our mentality has been attack, attack, attack, Georgia Tech coach Josh Pastner said. We played `un-attack today. We played real passive. I was disappointed in our energy level. That falls on my shoulders. Hopefully I can analyze and examine some things and decide what we can do to get better.Tennessee was playing its third straight game without Jordan Bone, who has a stress fracture in his left foot. Bone had been Tennessees starting point guard before his injury. The Vols also played a third straight game without forward Admiral Schofield due to a violation of team rules.The Vols overcame the absence of those two guys by getting big contributions from just about everyone who did play.Williams 14 points represented a career high for the freshman forward. Phillips, a natural shooting guard playing point guard for now, had five rebounds and a career-high seven assists with only one turnover.I feel like I can play off the ball and I can play on the ball, Phillips said. Whatever the team needs at the time... if somebody steps up and (Barnes) feels like theyre doing a better job than me, Ill move back to the wing. But personally I do enjoy playing the point. Im going to continue to get better at it every day.John Fulkerson scored 12 points and Robert Hubbs III added 10 points for Tennessee.Quinton Stephens scored 15, Christian Matthews had 14 and Josh Okogie added 11 for Georgia Tech. Ben Lammers had 10 points and 14 rebounds.THE TAKEAWAYGeorgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets offense didnt look quite the same without Moore, who averages a team-high 4.8 assists per game. Georgia Tech shot a season-low 32.7 percent from the floor and committed a season-high 19 turnovers.I thought their athleticism bothered us in some areas, Pastner said. We would get to the paint, but we would just throw up a `hope shot. Hopes a bad strategy.Tennessee: The Vols didnt look intimidated at all against a Georgia Tech team that entered the day with nine blocks per game to lead all Division I teams. Tennessee shot 52.8 percent from the floor and had only two of its shots blocked.OVERDUE OFFENSETennessee forward Lew Evans, a Utah State graduate transfer, had seven points, six rebounds and three assists Saturday after failing to score in his first five games with his new team. Evans had averaged 8.4 points per game at Utah State last season.KEY STATGeorgia Tech shot 46.2 percent (6 of 13) from 3-point range but just 28.6 percent (12 of 42) from inside the arc. The Yellow Jackets missed 16 of their first 17 two-point attempts.NEXT UPGeorgia Tech: At VCU on Wednesday.Tennessee: Hosts Presbyterian on Tuesday.---More AP College Basketball: http://collegebasketball.ap.org Pirates Jerseys China . -- When the Florida Panthers fell behind by two goals in the first period to the top team in the NHL, it appeared they were on their way to yet another loss. Custom Pittsburgh Pirates Jerseys . -- For the first time in two months, an opponent was standing up to Alabama. https://www.cheappiratesjerseys.us/ . 8 Kansas to a 64-63 win over Texas Tech on Tuesday night. The freshman from Vaughan, Ont. Wholesale Pirates Jerseys . 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No. 25 USF signed him to a five-year, heavily back-loaded $9.8 million contract that also will enable the 56-year-old to collect much of the more than $10 million the Longhorns owe him over the next two seasons.It really wasnt a hard decision on coming here, Strong said during a news conference held in the midst of what essentially was a pep rally for cheering students and fans assembled to welcome the fourth coach in school history to campus.We all have a vision of where wed like to take ourselves, the coach added. We all have a vision of where wed like to take this program.Strong inherits a team that went 10-2 this season under Willie Taggart, who left last week to become the new coach at Oregon. The Bulls will seek a school-record 11th victory in the Birmingham Bowl, where theyll face South Carolina.Coach Taggart built an unbelievable program, a program that has a solid foundation. Now its up to me to build on this foundation, continue to keep the program in the spotlight, Strong said. Theres no reason why we cant compete for championships year in and year out.Texas went 16-21 under Strongs watch. He takes over a program at USF that was launched from scratch in the mid-1990s and rose as high as No. 2 in the nation in 2007 before declining steadily over the next five seasons.Though Im disappointed in the record, Im very grateful for the opporrtunity I had at the University of Texas.dddddddddddd. We built a program and put a foundation in place that will allow them to have great success in the future, similar to what coach Taggart has done here, Strong said.It was a great experience for me; it was a great experience for my family. It was a great experience for our staff, and its one I will never regret, the coach added. But those days have passed, and its time to [move] on.Taggart won two games in 2012, his first season in Tampa, and appeared to be on the verge of losing his job at the American Athletic Conference school when a 1-3 start dropped his overall record to 7-21 last year. The Bulls have gone 17-4 since, with their only losses this season coming against Florida State and AAC champion Temple.Strong talked to Taggart about the prospect of taking an assistants job at Oregon, as well as the position the ex-Bulls coach left behind.I told him I want to be the head coach at South Florida, said Strong, who won two Big East championships at Louisville while going 37-15 over four seasons with the Cardinals.Strong, a one-time Florida assistant who helped Urban Meyer win a pair of national championships with the Gators, said he will recruit players who will graduate as well as compete for championships.He demands the best on the field, in the classroom and in the community. ... He coaches players and develops people, university president Judy Genshaft said.We are all eager in anticipation of what USF football will become, athletic director Mark Harlan added, and we believe this future is in excellent hands. ' ' 'f the field to make the Chiefs regret the decision.Hes done plenty on it to make it look like a wise move.Obviously hes a big part of what were doing, Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith said. Hes had more on his plate but hes handled it really well.Game notes WR Jeremy Maclin (groin) and LB Dee Ford (hamstring) returned to practice Wednesday, though Reid wasnt sure whether they will play Sunday in Atlanta. ... DE Jaye Howard (hip) and DT Dontari Poe (back spasms) remained out of practice.---Online:AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '