Alex Mack reveled in the largely anonymous life of an offensive lineman.

But notoriety always seemed to find Mack, whether it was helping lead Cal to its most productive run in the modern era or during his 13 seasons in the NFL, the last coming with the 49ers.

Wednesday, Mack was selected as part of the College Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025. It was his first time on the ballot.

Former coaches Nick Saban and Urban Meyer, and former players Michael Vick and Michael Strahan also are among the 18 players and four coaches who will be inducted Dec. 9 during an awards dinner in Las Vegas. The Hall of Fame is located in Atlanta.

Mack is the 17th former Cal player and the program’s 23rd member in all to be enshrined in the Hall. The most recent addition was quarterback Steve Bartkowski in 2012.

Mack, 39, retired from the NFL in 2022 after one season with the 49ers. He went out by making the Pro Bowl for the seventh time and as the starting center on a team that reached the NFC Championship Game.

On a social media post to announce his retirement, Mack wrote, in part, that, “I think I’ll miss the O-line rooms the most. Always a special collection of men willing to put in the work together, in near anonymity, for the good of the team.”

With Mack starting 39 consecutive games at center from 2005-08, the Golden Bears won four straight bowl games and went 34-17. Every team Mack played on appeared in the AP Top 25, and the 2006 squad was co-champs in the Pac-12 and tied a school record with 10 wins.

— Laurence Miedema

NBA

Hornets trade Richards to Suns >> The Phoenix Suns acquired center Nick Richards and a second-round pick in 2025 from the Charlotte Hornets for guard Josh Okogie and three future second-round draft picks.

The 7-foot Richards averaged 7.0 points, 5.5 rebounds in five seasons with the Hornets. Okogie has averaged 6.3 points and 3.0 rebounds in seven NBA seasons.

Men’s basketball

Sallis, Wake Forest knock off Stanford >> Hunter Sallis scored 30 points and Wake Forest (13-4, 5-1 ACC) defeated Stanford 80-67 at Winston-Salem, N.C.

Oziyah Sellers scored 16 points to lead Stanford (11-6, 3-3), which got 14 points and 11 rebounds from Maxime Raynaud.

North Carolina runs away from Cal >> Ian Jackson scored 20 points and North Carolina (12-6, 5-1 ACC) defeated Cal 79-53 at Chapel Hill, N.C.

Mady Sissoko led Cal (8-9, 1-5) with 16.

MLB

A’s get two-way player from Japan >> Hoping to become a two-way player in Major League Baseball just like Shohei Ohtani, 18-year-old Shotaro Morii -- a shortstop and right-handed pitcher -- made the rare decision to bypass Japanese professional baseball entirely and agreed to a minor league contract with the Athletics that includes a signing bonus of $1,510,500.

College football

Texas QB Ewers enters NFL draft >> Texas junior quarterback Quinn Ewers declared for the NFL draft, ending a Longhorns career in which he led the program to a Big 12 championship and twice to the College Football Playoff, signaling the beginning of the Arch Manning era at Texas. Ewers passed for 9,128 yards and 68 touchdowns in his career.

NHL

Penguins waive All-Star goalie Jarry >> The Pittsburgh Penguins ran out of patience waiting for two-time All-Star goaltender Tristan Jarry to emerge from a slump, placing him on waivers ahead of a pivotal seven-game trip that could determine the course of the rest of their season. Jarry, 29, is 8-7-4 with a 3.32 goals against average.

Women’s basketball

NCAA to pay teams for playing in tournament >> Women’s basketball teams finally will be paid for playing games in the NCAA Tournament each March just like the men have for years under a plan approved at the NCAA convention. The unanimous vote by NCAA membership was met by a round of applause.