The New York Liberty have officially hired Golden State Warriors assistant Chris DeMarco as their head coach, the team announced Wednesday.

DeMarco, 40, has been with the Warriors for 14 years in a variety of positions, including player development coach and assistant, and helped them win four NBA championships.

“After a thorough search, we could not be more thrilled to welcome Chris DeMarco as our head coach,” said Liberty GM Jonathan Kolb. “Throughout the process, our goal was clear: identify a leader who could elevate our culture, implement elite-level systems, and bring a modern vision for how to guide this franchise forward on the court.”

He’s the latest WNBA hire with an NBA background, joining Alex Sarama (Portland) and Sonia Raman (Seattle), who were two of the five head coaches hired this offseason in the league.

“I’m incredibly honored to join the Liberty and proud to help carry forward the standard this franchise has set — excellence on the court and a strong connection to the community,” DeMarco said. “The chance to work with some of the greatest players in basketball, supported by an exceptional front office and ownership group, is the kind of opportunity every coach dreams of. I can’t wait to get started — building on the winning foundation and culture that make the New York Liberty so special.”

He’s the third coach that Kolb has hired in his six-year tenure with the Liberty. New York has most of its roster as free agents, but Kolb said after the season he expected the core of Breanna Stewart, Walnut Creek native Sabrina Ionescu and Jonquel Jones back.

BASEBALL

The Colorado Rockies are bringing in Josh Byrnes from the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers to become their general manager, according to multiple reports.

Byrnes will team again with Paul DePodesta, who was hired Nov. 7 as the Rockies’ president of baseball operations. The two joined forces in Cleveland in the 1990s, before DePodesta went to the Oakland Athletics and Byrnes joined the Rockies to work with then-GM Dan O’Dowd.

Free agent closer Emilio Pagán has agreed to return to the Cincinnati Reds on a $20 million, two-year contract.

Pagán would have the right to opt out of the contract after the 2026 season.

The 34-year-old right-hander became the Reds’ closer early last season and went 2-4 with a 2.88 ERA and a career-high 32 saves in 38 opportunities. He ranked second in the National League in saves and tied for fifth in the majors.

Pagán is 28-27 with a 3.66 ERA and 65 saves in nine major league seasons with Seattle, Oakland, Tampa Bay, San Diego, Minnesota and Cincinnati.

WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Londynn Jones scored 17 points and Kara Dunn added 15 for No. 16 USC in a 79-33 home win over Saint Mary’s on Tuesday night.

The Trojans (6-2) went on a 21-0 run that lasted almost the entire second quarter to go up 42-18 at halftime.

USC forced 29 turnovers for 28 points, and finished the game on a 12-2 run.

Saint Mary’s (5-4) was led by Edie Clark, with eight points and six rebounds. The Gaels shot just 27% (11 of 41) against the Trojans and have lost four consecutive games.

MOTORSPORTS

Front Row Motorsports owner Bob Jenkins testified in the federal antitrust case against NASCAR that he was “honestly very hurt” by a “take-it-or-leave-it” offer on a new charter agreement that came with a deadline of mere hours to sign the 112-page document.

Jenkins, alongside Michael Jordan’s 23XI Motorsports, is suing NASCAR over antitrust claims for the charter agreement that was presented on the eve of the 2024 playoffs and went into effect this year. He said he was out to dinner with his parents and had no cell signal when the charter offer came in.

When he finally got phone service, he had dozens of missed calls and texts about the charter agreements and reached out to several rival owners.

“There was a lot of passion, a lot of emotion, especially from Joe Gibbs, he felt like he had to sign it,” Jenkins testified. “Joe Gibbs felt like he let me down by signing. Not a single owner said, ‘I was happy to sign it.’ Not a single one.”

MEN’S SOCCER

The United States will play Belgium, Portugal and Germany among its final four friendlies ahead of the World Cup.

The 14th-ranked U.S. faces No. 8 Belgium on March 28 and meets sixth-ranked Portugal three days later, both in Atlanta, the U.S. Soccer Federation said.

Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo could play in the U.S. for the first time since Aug. 2, 2014, when he was with Real Madrid for a preseason friendly against Manchester United at Ann Arbor, Michigan.

After Pochettino’s selects his World Cup roster, the Americans play a team still to be determined on May 31 at Charlotte, North Carolina, and then face No. 9 Germany on June 6 in Chicago.