LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — John Calipari says he is stepping down as Kentucky’s men’s basketball coach after 15 years. He say the “program probably needs to hear another voice” amid reports that he’s closing in on a deal with Arkansas.

Calipari posted a video on X in which he said that after talking with his wife, Ellen, he decided a change was needed.

He didn’t specifically mention the Arkansas opening. The Hall of Famer simply said, “There have been opportunities that have been presented to us, so we’re discussing them as a family.”

Calipari leaves a Wildcats program he guided to the 2012 NCAA championship among four Final Four appearances.

JUDGE SIDES WITH GRIZZLES’ MORANT

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee judge has ruled that Ja Morant acted in self-defense when a teenager accused the two-time NBA All-Star of punching him during a pickup game at the home of the Memphis Grizzlies guard’s parents in 2022.

The judge cited Tennessee law on when the issue of self-defense can be raised.

The judge wrote in a ruling issued Monday that Morant has the presumption of civil immunity.

Joshua Holloway accused Morant of assaulting him when he was 17.

Holloway now plays for Samford University.

The judge wrote in her ruling that Holloway was the only provocateur that day, with everyone else just wanting to play basketball.

WOODS SEES WIN POTENTIAL

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Tiger Woods is 48 and coping with injuries that limit his practice and how often he can play.

What he hasn’t lost is hope. Woods says he still thinks he can win the Masters and match Jack Nicklaus with a sixth green jacket.

The evidence is stacked against him, most notably that he has played only 24 holes in one tournament this year.

Woods has a chance this week to set the Masters record by making his 24th consecutive cut.

Fred Couples currently shares the record and he says Woods isn’t thinking about that.

Couples says Woods is playing to win.

GOLFERS ARE READY FOR THE MASTERS

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — In some ways, golf finds itself at a point in time not unlike pro football in the 1960s, when two rival leagues duked it out but found a path to reconciliation that produced a game far bigger than anyone could’ve envisioned.

Bryson DeChambeau, for one, is hopeful that the still-smoldering split between the PGA Tour and upstart LIV Golf could lead to a Super Bowl-like extravaganza that brings everyone together.

If nothing else, major championships such at the Masters, which begins Thursday, provide a sort of detente in this civil war of the links.

All the top players are at Augusta National.