San Antonio's Victor Wembanyama is officially headed back to All-Star weekend.
Wembanyama was picked for his second consecutive Rising Stars event, which is Feb. 14 in San Francisco on the first night of the three-night All-Star lineup.
The Rising Stars is a one-night tournament, featuring four rosters of seven players each. Teams will play semifinal games where the first to 40 points wins; those semifinal winners will then play in a championship game, with the winning team being the first one to 25 points.
Wembanyama is one of 11 second-year players picked for the games. He is also expected to be a serious candidate to be picked as a reserve for the Feb. 16 All-Star Game tournament; the list of those 14 players will be released on Thursday. The 10 players designated as starters were announced last week, even though more players will actually be starters in the All-Star Game tournament.
Other notable players on the rosters include Charlotte's Brandon Miller, Memphis' Zach Edey, Atlanta's Zaccharie Risacher -- the No. 1 pick in the draft -- and two-time dunk champion Mac McClung of the Osceola Magic in the G League.
* The NBA is using the two-night draft format again this year, announcing that the 2025 event will take place on June 25-26. It's the second consecutive year of the two-night process. Both nights will be at the Barclays Center, home of the Brooklyn Nets.
Baseball
The Chicago Cubs acquired right-hander Ryan Pressly and cash from the Houston Astros for minor league pitcher Juan Bello. Pressly likely slides into the closer's role with Chicago. He had a 3.49 ERA in 59 appearances last year.
Bello, 20, went 4-5 with a 3.21 ERA in 22 starts for Class A Myrtle Beach last year.
* MLB The Show 25 announced that rising stars Paul Skenes, Gunnar Henderson and Elly De La Cruz will be the cover athletes on its upcoming video game.
It's the first time MLB The Show has featured three athletes on the same cover. The game is scheduled to hit the market on March 18.
NFL
Baltimore's Lamar Jackson, Buffalo's Josh Allen and Washington's Jayden Daniels won't be participating in the Pro Bowl Games this week. The NFL announced final rosters that didn't include any of those quarterbacks. New England rookie Drake Maye is replacing Jackson on the AFC roster, Pittsburgh's Russell Wilson is filling in for Allen and Tampa Bay's Baker Mayfield was selected to fill Daniels' spot.
Buffalo running back James Cook will replace Baltimore's Derrick Henry, while Buffalo center Connor McGovern replaces Kansas City's Creed Humphrey.
Soccer
The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup will kick off in March, and the Charleston Battery are set to enter the 110th edition of the knockout tournament in the third round on April 15-16.
A total of 64 professional clubs from the top three divisions will compete in the Open Cup, including 24 from the USL Championship, 16 from Major League Soccer (MLS), 14 from USL League One and 10 from MLS NEXT Pro.
The Battery are designated to host their third-round match. Winners advance to the round of 32 and will be met with teams from MLS.
Women's college basketball
South Carolina forward Joyce Edwards picked up SEC co-Freshman of the Week honors, her third SEC honor of the season. The Camden native averaged 16 points per game on 54.2 percent shooting in wins over then-No. 5 LSU and then-No. 18 Tennessee.
College football
Raheim "Rocket" Sanders and Kyle Kennard were named to the 2024 Division I Academic All-America first team as selected by the College Sports Communicators (CSC). They are the first USC football players to earn first-team Academic All-America honors since Joe Reaves in 1991.