Thursday’s news and notes

Former YSU athletes start scholarship fund

YOUNGSTOWN

Former Youngstown State quarterback Jeff Ryan and his wife, former soccer player Kate Ryan, have created the Jeff and Kate Ryan Scholarship as part of the YSU Athletics Scholarship Endowment Fund.

The scholarship will be awarded to either a football or soccer player, with the honor switching sports each year. Students must maintain a 3.0 GPA to be eligible. Jeff Ryan led YSU to its sixth national title game appearance in 1999 and to the playoffs in 2000. Kate Ryan, who went by Kate McHugh in her playing days, was a three-year letter winner and a team captain in her senior season.

George Washington wins first NIT title

NEW YORK

George Washington won its first National Invitation Tournament championship, getting 18 points from Kevin Larsen and pulling away in the second half to beat Valparaiso 76-60 on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.

Patricio Garino had 14 points, Joe McDonald added 13 and the fourth-seeded Colonials (28-10) set a school record for wins in a season with a dominant performance over the final 20 minutes. They won their fourth straight game against a higher-seeded team and sent three senior starters out with a tournament trophy, softening the sting of being rebuffed by the NCAA selection committee.

Tyler Cavanaugh, selected the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, scored 12 points.

Steelers sign SFlbDE Ricardo Mathews

PITTSBURGH

Defensive end Ricardo Mathews has agreed to a one-year deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers that will give the team needed depth next season.

Financial terms were not disclosed Thursday.

The 28-year-old Mathews had one sack and 14 tackles in 16 games with San Diego in 2015. He has four sacks in 80 career games with Indianapolis and San Diego.

The Steelers needed help along the line after nose tackle Steve McLendon signed with the New York Jets and Cam Thomas was not re-signed.

Kaepernick gets contract guaranteed

SANTA CLARA, CALIF.

After months of trade talk and speculation, Colin Kaepernick is still on San Francisco’s roster and due a hefty payday.

Not many figured on this outcome in recent months. The 49ers could have released him or traded him.

Instead, the quarterback’s $11.9 million 2016 contract became guaranteed at 1 p.m. local time Thursday when San Francisco kept him on the roster.

While potential new teams for Kaepernick might ask him to restructure his current deal, Kaepernick wouldn’t have to accept anything less than the $11.9 million. Denver had been considered a serious suitor for a trade given the retirement of Peyton Manning and backup Brock Osweiler’s departure to Houston in free agency, but nothing got done.

Women’s US soccer team sues over wages

Five players from the World Cup-winning U.S. national team have accused the U.S. Soccer Federation of wage discrimination in an action filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Alex Morgan, Carli Lloyd, Megan Rapinoe, Becky Sauerbrunn and Hope Solo maintain in the EEOC filing they were payed nearly four times less than their male counterparts on the U.S. men’s national team. The filing was announced in a press release on Thursday.

The union representing the players is currently involved in a legal dispute with U.S. Soccer over the validity of their collective bargaining agreement. The federation filed a lawsuit this year seeking to clarify that its contract with the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team Players Association runs through the Rio Olympics until Dec. 31. The union maintains the memorandum of understanding agreed to in March 2013 can be terminated at any time.

Staff/wire report