Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams sought to quiet the controversy about how he hadn’t wanted to come to his current team prior to the 2024 draft.

Williams admitted an ESPN story about an upcoming book by Seth Wickersham on quarterbacks was true in that he did like the idea of going to the Bears initially, but this was prior to his first visit to Chicago. Then, Williams said, he wanted to be with the Bears.

“Yeah, I had a good visit at the other place — Minnesota, with (coach) Kevin O’Connell,” the former USC star said. “Good staff and all of that obviously. He just won the coach of the year award and things like that. Obviously, good staff and things like that.

“But something that keeps getting lost, something that keeps getting, I think, not being addressed the way it needs to be is the fact that I went on that visit first, came here and then after I came here, I went back home and talked to my dad.”

His comment to his father, Carl Williams, was he wanted to play for the Bears and become the quarterback who leads them out of a history of struggling quarterbacks.

“This whole storm that happened, it wasn’t something that we wanted to have happen at this point,” Williams said during a news conference Wednesday during the Bears OTAs. “We’re focused on the present, we’re focused on now, we’re focused on trying to get this ship moving in the right direction. And I think so far that’s what we’ve been doing.

“But for this to come out it’s been a distraction.”

The book, “American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback,” looks at many QBs but Williams’ part details how he and his father thought about the possibility of finding a way to circumvent the NFL draft in 2024 to avoid coming to Chicago. Williams labeled any of the early discussion as mere thoughts, not action.

“Those are thoughts that go throughout your head in those situations,” Williams said. “All of those are thoughts. And then after I came on my visit here, it was a deliberate answer and deliberate and determined answer that I had is that I wanted to come here.”

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Former Grand Canyon guard Tyon Grant-Foster is headed to Gonzaga. Grant-Foster announced his decision on Instagram.

A 6-foot-7 senior, Grant-Foster was the 2024 Western Athletic Conference player of the year after averaging 20.1 points and 6.1 rebounds in his first season with the Antelopes. He averaged 14.8 points and 5.9 rebograunds last season.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Baylor defensive lineman Alex Foster died early Wednesday after he was found with multiple gunshot wounds in a car in his Mississippi hometown, the Washington County coroner’s office confirmed. He was 18.

The shooting was part of a “surge in violent crimes” that Greenville Mayor Errick D. Simmons said in an address threaten the community. Simmons said the city issued a curfew from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. to curb the violence, which has included multiple shootings and “senseless killings.”

The Mississippi Clarion Ledger first reported Foster as being the victim of a shooting in Greenville after Baylor announced without a cause that Foster had died.

Greenville Police spokeswoman Major Misty Mew said — without disclosing the name of the victim — that officers were called to reports of a shooting in a residential/commercial area of the city shortly after midnight. Police discovered a man suffering from multiple gunshot wounds inside a car.

He was taken to a hospital and died about 30 to 40 minutes later, Mew said. No arrests have been made and police are seeking information connected with the shooting.

“We are heartbroken by the unexpected loss of Alex Foster, a beloved member of our football family,” Baylor coach Dave Aranda and athletic director Mack Rhoades said in a joint statement. “Our immediate focus is on supporting Alex’s family and his teammates through this devastating loss. Alex’s memory will forever be part of our hearts and this program.”

Foster took part in spring practices and was entering his freshman season after redshirting last year.

Listed at 6-foot-5 and 292 pounds, Foster was rated by 247Sports as being among Mississippi’s top-20 prospects and 69th defensive lineman in the nation coming out of St. Joseph High School in Madison.

Simmons said all nightclubs and late-night establishments in the city must cease operations at midnight as part of the curfew, with a special emphasis being placed on “juvenile safety and parental accountability.”

SOCCER

Columbus goalkeeper Patrick Schulte will miss the United States’ friendlies against Turkey and Switzerland ahead of the CONCACAF Gold Cup because of an oblique injury and was replaced on the roster by Chicago’s Chris Brady.

Schulte was hurt during warmups ahead of Saturday’s Major League Soccer match against Charlotte.

Brady, who has not played for the national team, joins goalkeepers Matt Turner, Zack Steffen and Matt Freese on the U.S. roster.

GOLF

Eric Lee beat Josh Duangmanee 2 up to give Oklahoma State its 12th NCAA men’s golf title and first in eight years, with the Cowboys beating Virginia 4-1 at La Costa in Carlsbad.

Lee, a sophomore who played at Cal as a freshman, took the lead with a 25-foot birdie putt on the par-4 17th, then chipped to 5 feet on the par-5 18th and finished off Duangmanee with a conceded birdie after the Virginia player missed a 15-foot birdie try.

Lee scored for the winning point a day after making a 6-foot par putt on the 19th hole to lift fourth-seeded Oklahoma State past Mississippi in the semifinals. The Cowboys beat Bedlam rival Oklahoma in the quarterfinals.

Swedish freshman Filip Fahlberg-Johnsson, Gaven Lane and Ethan Fang also won matches for Oklahoma State.

Tiger Woods needs to make room on his trophy shelf for son Charlie.

The 16-year-old finished with a three-round score of 15-under 201 at the Team TaylorMade Invitational in winning his first American Junior Golf Association event at the Streamsong Resort Black Course in Bowling Green, Fla. Woods began the day tied at 9-under 135 and finished with a final round of 6-under 66 to top a 71-player field that included four of the top-five ranked AJGA’s players.

CYCLING

Not content with being the first Mexican cyclist to lead the Giro d’Italia, Isaac Del Toro claimed a statement win on one of the race’s trickiest stages to add some precious seconds to his slender advantage.

Del Toro, 21, crossed the line at the end of the 17th stage 4 seconds ahead of Romain Bardet and overall rival Richard Carapaz.

It was Del Toro’s first stage victory in a Grand Tour and might assuage some of his disappointment from the previous day, when he lost nearly 2 minutes to Carapaz and barely managed to hold on to the leader’s pink jersey.

With the bonus seconds, Del Toro extended his lead to 41 seconds over Carapaz, the 2019 champion who leapfrogged above Simon Yates into second. Yates is 51 seconds behind Del Toro.

The 96-mile leg from San Michele All’Adige to Bormio featured three climbs, including the Mortirolo, one of the Giro’s toughest and most famous climbs.

MISCELLANY

Japan has a new sumo grand champion — or yokozuna — and the big news is he’s Japanese.

Onosato, the new grand champion, weighs 421 pounds and he is the first Japanese competitor to reach the top rank since 2017.

The sport has recently been dominated by Mongolians and prior to Onosato, six of the previous seven yokozunas have been from Mongolia.

Onosato, whose real name is Daiki Nakamura, is only 24 and was promoted to sumo’s top rank by the Japan Sumo Association. Onosato was promoted by winning last week’s Summer Grand Sumo Tournament, which came after he won another prestigious tournament in March.

Serena Williams was awarded Spain’s Princess of Asturias Prize for Sports for her stellar tennis career, organizers said.

The 43-year-old American won 73 career singles titles including 23 Grand Slams. She said in 2022 that she was stepping away from tennis to focus on her family and business interests.

The 50,000-euro ($57,000) Princess of Asturias Award is one of eight annual prizes covering different areas, including arts, literature and science among others.

The awards ceremony, presided over by Spain’s Princess Leonor, takes place each fall in the northern city of Oviedo.