MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis freshman Derrick Rose announced he was jumping to the NBA Tuesday, the same day coach John Calipari agreed in principle to a contract extension with the school.

Rose capped his spectacular first season by leading Memphis to the national championship game, where they lost to Kansas in overtime.

The 6-foot-3 guard from Chicago averaged 20.8 points in six NCAA tournament games and will likely be taken with one of the top picks in the draft.

Terms of Calipari’s deal have not been finalized.

Rose, who helped Memphis to an NCAA Division I record 38 victories last season, said he enjoyed his year in college but is ready to make the leap to the NBA.

“My only regret is not winning a national title for the University of Memphis,” Rose said. “I am, however, very excited about the prospect of playing in the NBA and continuing to strive to be the best player and the best person I can be.”

Rose’s announcement was hardly shocking. He came to Memphis as one of the nation’s top recruits, and spent the year in college only because of the NBA rule that requires a player to be at least one year removed from high school before entering the draft.

Calipari said he always worked under the assumption that Rose would be a one-and-done player.

“Derrick is one of the great players I’ve ever coached, but of even more importance, he is one of the greatest teammates I’ve been around,” Calipari said in a statement.

Memphis is still waiting to see if junior guard Chris Douglas-Roberts, the team’s leading scorer and Conference USA Player of the Year, will enter the draft. Douglas-Roberts had indicated during the season that he would at least submit his name into the draft to test interest from teams.

Provindence hires Drake coach

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Keno Davis was hired as Providence’s head coach.

Davis, the son of former longtime Iowa coach Tom Davis, was lured from Drake two weeks after being selected as The Associated Press national coach of the year. This season, Keno Davis’ first as a head coach, he took Drake to its first NCAA tournament appearance since 1971, and led the Bulldogs to a 28-5 record and their first national ranking in 33 years.

Pargo will explore draft options

SPOKANE, Wash. — Gonzaga’s Jeremy Pargo says he’s declared himself eligible for the NBA draft but is reserving the option of returning for his senior season by not hiring an agent.

In a statement released Tuesday by Gonzaga, Pargo says going through the draft’s early entry process will be a great learning experience.

As long as he doesn’t hire an agent, the junior guard is eligible to withdraw his name from draft consideration until June 16. The draft is set for June 26 in New York City. The early entry deadline is April 27.

Pargo was the West Coast Conference player of the year and an Associated Press All-America honorable mention. He averaged 12.1 points, 6 assists and 3.7 rebounds.

Gonzaga coach Mark Few says he’s confident that Pargo “will make an educated and thoughtful decision.”

FOOTBALL

Former Duck signs with Denver

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Denver Broncos on Tuesday signed former Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Samie Parker to a one-year contract.

The Broncos also signed free agent punter Danny Baugher and waived wide receiver Derrick Hamilton and tight end Chad Upshaw.

Parker, who was an unrestricted free agent, spent his first four NFL seasons with the Chiefs, who selected him in the fourth round of the 2004 draft out of Oregon. He has career numbers of 110 catches for 1,529 yards and seven touchdowns.

Parker caught 41 passes for 561 yards in 2006 before giving way to first-round draft pick Dwayne Bowe. Parker had 24 catches for 298 yards and two TDs last year.

BASEBALL

ESPN,Reynolds reach settlement

BRISTOL, Conn. — ESPN says a settlement has been reached in the lawsuit filed by former baseball analyst Harold Reynolds over his firing.

Reynolds sued the sports network for at least $5 million in October 2006, three months after he was fired. He claimed he was wrongly fired after a female intern complained about what he called a “brief and innocuous” hug.

The Corvallis native played 12 seasons in the major leagues and worked at the network for 11 years.

Terms of the agreement have not been disclosed. An ESPN spokesman says the suit was settled last week in Hartford Superior Court.

Baseball improves hiring diversity

NEW YORK — Major League Baseball received its best grade for racial diversity in hiring, even as the percentage of black players dropped again last year.

MLB received its first A- for race from Richard Lapchick, director of the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports. Its grade was B+ in last year’s study.

Among major leaguers, though, just 8.2 percent were black players, down from 8.4 percent in 2006 and the lowest level in at least two decades.

“I’m very disappointed by that fact,” said Rachel Robinson, the widow of Jackie Robinson. “Competition from other sports is certainly a big factor, but they’re many factors. We’ve got to work on it in terms of getting younger children playing, into the game, and getting communities behind the programs, like the RBI programs and the academies.”

Lapchick released the study on Jackie Robinson Day, the 61st anniversary of when Robinson broke the major league color barrier.

The percentage of black pitchers remained at 3 percent last year.

RUNNING

Marathon highlights sponsors

BOSTON — The Boston Marathon is breaking with a 112-year tradition, putting corporate ads on the start and finish lines to help its two main sponsors extract more value from ties with the world’s oldest marathon.

Race organizers also announced that they were increasing its purse by more than 38 percent, from $575,000 to $796,000, making it the richest of the World Marathon Majors events.

The changes in sponsorship ads highlight distance running’s growing dependence on sponsors to provide lucrative prize money to attract leading athletes and raise its profile, said Guy Morse, executive director of the Boston Athletic Association, the race’s organizer.