Weekend Sports in Brief

Nov 30, 2015 - 8:20 AM NBA

LOS ANGELES (AP) Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers has decided to retire after this season.

The 37-year-old Bryant made the announcement in a post on The Players' Tribune. The decision was not totally unexpected, given that Bryant has said many times in recent weeks that he was considering making his 20th NBA season his last.

There's no more wondering now.

After two decades, two Olympic gold medals, five championship rings, 17 All-Star selections, an 81-point game that ranks as the second-best in NBA history and more than 32,000 points, Bryant's career is officially winding down.

''This season is all I have left to give,'' Bryant said in what he called a letter entitled ''Dear Basketball.''

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

ATLANTA (AP) - Mark Richt stepped down as Georgia's coach in what is being called a ''mutual'' decision.

Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity said in a statement he met with Richt ''to discuss the status of our football program.'' McGarity said the two ''mutually agreed that he would step down as head coach and would have the opportunity to accept other duties and responsibilities at UGA following the bowl game.''

Georgia (9-3) ended its regular season with Saturday's 13-7 win over Georgia Tech.

Richt had only a short statement in the announcement released by Georgia.

''I appreciate the opportunity of serving the University as well as considering any other options that may present themselves in the future,'' Richt said.

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - LSU athletic director Joe Alleva said Les Miles will remain the coach of the Tigers after LSU beat Texas A&M 19-7 and capped a week full of speculation and ominous reports about whether Miles would be back. The Tigers had lost three straight games coming into Saturday night.

Before Miles' postgame news conference, Alleva told reporters: ''I want to make it very clear that Les Miles is our football coach and he'll continue to be our football coach.''

The Tigers finished Miles' 11th season as coach 8-3.

Miles said Alleva and the school president told him after the game that they wanted him to stay in his job. He is 111-32 with a national championship.

It could have cost LSU about $15 million to buy Miles out of his contract, though the school could have recouped some of that had Miles moved into a another job.

Miles said he would consider changes to his staff and offense.

''It's great to be the head coach at LSU,'' Miles said.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) - Rutgers fired football coach Kyle Flood and athletic director Julie Hermann, stripping the athletic department of its most prominent employees after a season that was a failure on and off the field.

University President Robert Barchi announced that Patrick Hobbs, Dean Emeritus of the Seton Hall University School of Law, will take over for Hermann.

Barchi decided last week to make a change in leadership, he said in a statement, and told the football team of the change at about 2 p.m. Sunday.

The Scarlet Knights just finished a 4-8 season that was a mess on and off the field. Flood was suspended for three games for making inappropriate contact with a professor regarding a player's academics. Also, seven players were arrested since August, though charges were dropped against star receiver Leontee Carroo.

Flood was 27-24 in four seasons at Rutgers, including bowl appearances in his first three.

Hermann took over in 2013 after the Mike Rice scandal led to Tim Pernetti's firing.

UNDATED (AP) - Matt Campbell left Toledo to take over as coach at Iowa State, accepting a six-year contract starting at $2 million for 2016. Campbell will replace Paul Rhoads, who was fired a week ago after seven seasons.

Campbell is now the youngest coach at a Power Five school. He went 35-15 in four seasons with the Rockets, including 9-2 this season with victories over Iowa State and Arkansas.

Toledo athletic director Mike O'Brien told the AP on Saturday that the school had offered Campbell a contract that would have made him the highest-paid coach in the Mid-American Conference.

UNDATED (AP) - Virginia Tech hired Memphis' Justin Fuente as its next football coach, bringing a quick end to its search for a successor to Frank Beamer.

Beamer is retiring after 29 seasons and will now be followed by a 39-year-old coach who has spent the past four seasons at Memphis, turning a struggling program into a winner.

The Tigers, who compete in the American Athletic Conference, were 10-3 last season, including a 55-48, double-overtime victory against BYU in the Miami Beach Bowl. They are 9-3 this season, including a 63-0 victory against SMU on Saturday in Fuente's final game.

Virginia Tech said defensive coordinator Bud Foster, thought to be a candidate for the job, will remain in that position at Fuente's request. Virginia Tech will introduce Fuente at a news conference Monday.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Mike London resigned after failing to guide Virginia to a winning season in five of his six seasons as coach.

Athletic director Craig Littlepage said in a release from the school that he met with London and both agreed that a change was in the best interest of the program. The move comes less than 24 hours after Virginia (4-8, 3-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) lost 23-20 to state rival Virginia Tech, its 12th consecutive loss in the series. It left London with a 27-46 record at the school.