Alabama’s Mark Sears and North Carolina’s RJ Davis looked into the possibility of leaving for the NBA before deciding to return for another college season.

Their decisions helped their teams earn top-10 rankings in the AP Top 25 and earned both players some preseason honors, too.

Sears was a near-unanimous selection for The Associated Press preseason All-America men’s basketball team released Monday, earning all but one vote from a 55-person national media panel. Davis was right behind him, nabbing 51 votes.

They were joined by Kansas big man Hunter Dickinson, Auburn forward Johni Broome, Arizona guard Caleb Love and Duke freshman Cooper Flagg. Love and Flagg tied for the final spot, creating a six-man team that includes only the ACC, Big 12 and SEC.

Sears was a key cog in the Crimson Tide’s first trip to the Final Four a year ago, orchestrating one of college basketball’s highest-scoring teams.

Up the road at Duke, Flagg was the only underclassman on the preseason All-America team after arriving with tons of hype. The 6-9 swingman was the No. 1-rated high school recruit out of Newport, Maine and has been projected as the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA draft.

Flagg has the skills of a guard, but can also play inside and has worked hard on his perimeter shooting, giving him the potential to be one of college basketball’s most versatile players.

NFL

Commanders’ Daniels ‘week to week’ >> Jayden Daniels’ status is up in the air for the Washington Commanders’ next game against Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears because of a rib injury.

Coach Dan Quinn said Monday the team is hopeful Daniels will be able to play on Sunday. The rookie quarterback is being listed as week to week after being injured early in the team’s 40-7 rout of Carolina.

Veteran Marcus Mariota would start if Daniels is unable to play in what is supposed to be a matchup of the top two picks in this year’s NFL draft.

Dolphins Tagovailoa could return this week >> Tua Tagovailoa does not want to be the face of traumatic brain injuries in the NFL, but he knows that’s the reality confronting him after his latest concussion.

Tagovailoa has been cleared by medical experts to play football again after he collided with Bills defensive back Damar Hamlin in Week 2 when he ran for a first down and then initiated the contact by lowering his shoulder into Hamlin instead of sliding.

He still technically needs to be cleared from the NFL’s concussion protocol before he returns, which could come after he practices on Wednesday. If everything goes well, coach Mike McDaniel said, the plan is for Tagovailoa to start Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals.

Browns’ Watson out for season >> Deshaun Watson won’t finish the season as Cleveland’s starting quarterback for the second straight year.

He’s injured again, and the Browns have new problems.

Watson ruptured his right Achilles tendon in the first half of Sunday’s loss to Cincinnati, collapsing as he began to run and leading some Browns fans to cheer while the divisive QB laid on the ground writhing in pain.

The team feared Watson’s year was over and tests done Monday confirmed the rupture.

Raiders O’Connell placed on IR >> Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Aidan O’Connell is expected to be out four to six weeks with a broken thumb.

The person also said the injury to O’Connell, expected to be placed on injured reserve, wasn’t as bad as originally feared because of the location of the break in his throwing hand.

College Football

Army’s Bryson Daily named AP player of the week >> The Associated Press national player of the week in college football for Week 8 of the season is Bryson Daily out of Army.

The Black Knights quarterback rushed for five touchdowns and threw for another in a 42-28 victory over East Carolina, making him the first Army player to account for six TDs since Elmer Oliphant in 1916. Daily’s five rushing touchdowns tied the program record for most in a game.

The 6-foot, 221-pound senior from Abernathy, Texas, finished with 171 yards rushing on 31 carries and 7-of-10 passing for 147 yards.

He holds the school record for touchdowns responsible for with 26 with five regular-season games remaining. His nation-leading 19 rushing touchdowns also are a school record.

Daily is first in the American Athletic Conference and fourth nationally with 129.9 yards rushing per game for the 23rd-ranked Knights (7-0).

Tennis

Sabalenka returns to NO. 1 Ranking >> U.S. Open champion Aryna Sabalenka is officially No. 1 in the WTA rankings again after ending Iga Swiatek’s 11-month reign.

Sabalenka led Swiatek by 41 points in the latest rankings published Monday, overturning a 69-point deficit from the week before, even though neither of the two played last week.

Instead, the Belarusian took back the No. 1 spot following “continuing year-end adjustments for falling short of certain tournament quotas,” the WTA said.

Former chairman Curry, dies at 86 >> John Curry, a former chairman of the All England Club who led the Wimbledon tennis tournament through a period of expansion in the 1990s, has died. He was 86.

The All England Club said Curry died on Saturday. No cause of death was given.