COLLEGES

In a letter to NCAA membership Friday, the organization’s president, Charlie Baker, said a preliminary approval hearing for a landmark $2.78 billion antitrust settlement “did not go as we hoped” and that the association and major college conferences are trying to address the judge’s concerns about parts of the proposed deal.

The settlement agreement college sports leaders believe is vital to transform the enterprise, get out from under the constant threat of litigation and avoid a potentially crippling financial outcome at trial ran into a stumbling block Thursday night.

U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken not only declined to grant preliminary approval, but sent the two sides “back to the drawing board” and asked them to report back in three weeks with answers to her questions.

GYMNASTICS

MAN CHARGED: Chad Richards, 23, was charged with first-degree intentional homicide in the fatal shooting of a national gymnastics champion in his apartment near the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater campus.

Kara Welsh, 21, suffered multiple gunshot wounds following an altercation Aug. 30, according to a criminal complaint. She was found in a pool of blood after Richards called 911. He told investigators that the two were arguing when he said Welsh grabbed his gun from a nightstand. Richards said he wrestled the gun away and shot Welsh because he “feared for his life,” the complaint continued.

GOLF

WORLD TOUR: Matt Wallace of England shot an 8-under 62 and was without a bogey after 36 holes in taking a four-stroke lead at the European Masters in Crans-Montana, Switzerland.

The 91st-ranked Wallace, who won the last of his four European tour titles six years ago, made five birdies in six holes — including back-to-back chip-ins at Nos. 4 and 5 — to close his front nine, and then three straight from No. 14.

BASKETBALL

NBA: Free-agent center Tristan Thompson agreed to a one-year contract to continue his second stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Thompson, 33, returned to the Cavs last season after playing for Boston, Sacramento, Indiana, Chicago and the Los Angeles Lakers since 2020. Thompson played in 49 games last season, averaging 3.3 points and 3.6 rebounds.

SOCCER

MATCH-FIXING INVESTIGATED: Police in Germany are investigating potential match-fixing in lower-league games after a newspaper reported that the scores of allegedly fixed games may have been sold online for betting purposes.

The Hamburger Morgenpost newspaper reported that message logs detailed the apparent sale on the “dark web” of information up to 17 games ranging from the third division to regionalized fifth-tier competitions.

OLYMPICS

HONOR PLANNED: The city of Paris wants to honor the late Ugandan Olympic runner Rebecca Cheptegei by naming a sports venue after her.

Cheptegei died Thursday at a Kenyan hospital where she was being treated after 80% of her body was burned in an attack by her partner. She was 33.

CYCLING

SPANISH VUELTA: Primoz Roglic took a big step toward winning the race for the fourth time after claiming the lead from Ben O’Connor with two stages left.

Roglic entered Stage 19 five seconds behind O’Connor, but O’Connor couldn’t keep up as Roglic powered uphill to the finish atop the category-one Alto de Moncalvillo in northern Spain.

AUTO RACING

FORMULA 1: British teenager Oliver Bearman is returning ahead of schedule after the Haas team said he will replace the suspended Kevin Magnussen for next week’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Bearman signed in July to race for Haas in 2025 but he’ll make an early appearance with his new team in Baku next week because Magnussen is serving a one-race suspension for accumulating too many penalty points.

— News service report