Former WNBA MVP and eight-time All-Star Nneka Ogwumike signed with the Seattle Storm on Monday, the second big splash in free agency for the franchise.

Ogwumike, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 draft, was the 2016 league MVP and spent the first 12 seasons of her WNBA career playing for the Sparks. She announced last month she would not be returning to the Sparks and ended up signing with one of their Western Conference rivals.

“Every part of me is grateful and ready for this opportunity to continue to be great and sustain legacy,” Ogwumike said.

Seattle is coming off its worst season by winning percentage since its expansion season of 2000 as the franchise tried to move ahead following the retirement of Sue Bird and the loss of Breanna Stewart in free agency. That left Jewell Loyd as the only star on a roster that was otherwise filled mostly with role players and youth.

Loyd now has two stars as her running mates with the addition of Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins-Smith, who signed last week.

Ogwumike, 33, averaged 19.1 points and 8.8 rebounds last season.

She helped the Sparks make the playoffs in her first nine seasons, including a championship in 2016.

Labor official: Dartmouth players are employees

A National Labor Relations Board regional official ruled that Dartmouth basketball players are employees of the school, clearing the way for an election that would create the first-ever labor union for NCAA athletes.

All 15 members of the Dartmouth men’s basketball team signed a petition in September asking to join Local 560 of the Service Employees International Union, which already represents some other employees at the Ivy League school in Hanover, New Hampshire.

Unionizing would allow the players to negotiate not only over salary but working conditions, including practice hours and travel.

“Because Dartmouth has the right to control the work performed by the Dartmouth men’s basketball team, and the players perform that work in exchange for compensation, I find that the petitioned-for basketball players are employees within the meaning of the (National Labor Relations) Act,” NLRB Regional Director Laura Sacks wrote.

The NCAA and universities across the country have been steadfast in insisting their athletes are students, not employees. College sports leaders have even lobbied Congress for a federal law that would codify that classification as the NCAA faces a federal lawsuit in Pennsylvania on the subject.

• Tylor Perry scored eight of his 26 points in overtime and Kansas State beat visiting No. 4 Kansas 75-70 on Monday night.

Cam Carter added 19 points and 11 rebounds for Kansas State (15-8, 5-5 Big 12).

Hunter Dickinson had 21 points and 12 rebounds to pace Kansas (18-5, 6-4).

• Reigning national champion Connecticut, Purdue and North Carolina remained atop The Associated Press Top 25 men’s college basketball poll for the third consecutive week.

The Huskies earned 45 of 61 first-place votes to remain at No. 1 for the fourth straight week, while the Boilermakers topped the ballots of 16 other voters.

The top of the poll remained set after a big week that included four top-10 matchups over the weekend, with Purdue winning at Wisconsin and UNC beating rival Duke. The week also included Kansas beating Houston, which vaulted the Jayhawks to No. 4 and dropped the Cougars one spot to No. 5.

Tennessee fell one spot to No. 6 after losing at home to now-No. 15 South Carolina but following with a win at Kentucky.

For South Carolina, it marked the program’s first appearance in the poll since February 2017.

Marquette, Arizona, Duke and Illinois rounded out the top 10.

Alabama had the week’s biggest jump, rising eight spots to No. 16 after rising to the top of the Southeastern Conference standings at 8-1.

• Caitlin Clark and Iowa climbed back to No. 2 in The Associated Press Top 25 women’s poll as the star guard moved within striking distance of the NCAA career scoring record.

The No. 2 spot hasn’t been kind to teams the past month. UCLA, Iowa and Kansas State all took turns in the second position since Jan. 8 and none of the schools could hold that ranking for more than a week at a time.

Meanwhile, South Carolina (21-0) has maintained a strong grip atop the poll, once again the unanimous No. 1 team from a 35-member national media panel.

The Gamecocks host Missouri and No. 11 UConn this week. but will play those games without star center Kamilla Cardoso, who left for a week to play with the Brazilian national team at an Olympic qualifying tournament.

Clark is only 66 points away from becoming the all-time leading scorer in NCAA women’s basketball history. She will lead the Hawkeyes against Penn State and Nebraska this week with Kelsey Plum’s record in view.

No. 3 North Carolina State, Colorado and Ohio State followed Iowa. Stanford fell two spots to sixth after losing to USC. Texas vaulted up five places to seventh after beating Baylor and then-No. 2 Kansas State last week. The Wildcats fell to eighth after also losing to Oklahoma. UCLA was ninth and USC climbed five spots to 10th.

Royals, shortstop Witt Jr. agree on 11-year contract

The Kansas City Royals and star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. agreed to an 11-year contract worth about $291 million guaranteed.

The deal includes three years of team options that could drive the value to about $377 million and keep Witt in Kansas City through the 2037 season. Witt’s guaranteed salary would make it the 16th largest deal in MLB history and the second-biggest pre-arbitration extension behind the 14-year, $340 million contract the Padres gave to Fernando Tatis Jr. last April.

The 23-year-old Witt became the first Royals player to enter the 30-30 club last year, when he hit 30 homers and stole 49 bases.

His breakthrough season came after he hit 20 homers and stole 30 bases as a rookie.

Steve Belichick will be the DC at Washington

Steve Belichick has agreed to be the defensive coordinator for new coach Jedd Fisch at Washington.

The son of NFL coaching great Bill Belichick will take a role in college for the first time following 12 seasons working on the staff of the New England Patriots with his dad. Steve Belichick, 36, was the defensive play caller for the Patriots for the past five seasons. He was also a secondary/safeties and outside linebackers coach with the Patriots during his tenure.

Steve Belichick and his brother Brian had both been offered spots to stay on the coaching staff in New England with new coach Jerod Mayo if their father didn’t land another head coaching position. Brian Belichick had coached safeties with the Patriots since 2020.

Instead, Steve Belichick will reunite with Fisch, who served as the quarterbacks coach with New England during the 2020 season.

Fisch left New England to become the head coach at Arizona. He left the Wildcats to take the head job at Washington last month following Kalen DeBoer’s move to Alabama. Fisch’s staff at Washington also includes offensive coordinator Brennan Carroll, the son of former Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll.