Mark Emmert to lead NCAA

University of Washington President Mark A. Emmert was named the NCAA’s new chief executive on Tuesday. He succeeds Myles Brand, who died last September from pancreatic cancer.

Brand was the first ex-university president to lead college sports’ largest governing body and the first chief executive to die in office. Jim Isch has served as interim president since Sept. 22 and will continue to do so for the next several months.

Emmert will begin his duties Nov. 1. NCAA officials said he was given a five-year contract.

It was a surprise choice. The early front-runners were University of Hartford President Walter Harrison, Georgia President Michael Adams and NCAA executive Bernard Franklin.

Pollin family agrees to sell Wizards to Ted Leonsis

The family of late Washington Wizards owner Abe Pollin has agreed to the “major economic terms” of a deal to sell its stake in the NBA team to Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis.

Leonsis, a former AOL executive, and the Pollins ran into some snags in talks this year. But in a statement Tuesday, Pollin’s sons, Robert and James, said they and their mother, Irene, congratulate Leonsis on this “near-final step in a long negotiation.”

A person familiar with the negotiations confirmed to the Associated Press last month that the two sides agreed to value the franchise and the arena at slightly more than $550 million.

Accepting a backup role for the first time in his career, Atlanta Hawks guard Jamal Crawford was rewarded for his unselfishness by being named the NBA Sixth Man of the Year on Tuesday. Crawford won the award with 580 of a possible 610 points. Jason Terry of the Dallas Mavericks finished second. Crawford averaged 18 points a game in 31.1 minutes off the bench in his first season with Atlanta. He shot 44.9 percent from the field to help the Hawks win 53 games and earn the third seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

ETC.: Bayern Munich advances to final

Bayern Munich is headed to the European Champions League final for the first time in nine years. Ivica Olic scored three goals, and Bayern Munich routed host Lyon 3-0 to win the home-and-home semifinal on 4-0 aggregate.

The German power will seek its fifth European title when it plays defending champion Barcelona or Inter Milan in the final on May 22 at Madrid. Barcelona will try to overturn a 3-1 deficit when it hosts Inter on Wednesday.

The Carolina Panthers traded starting strong safety Chris Harris to the Chicago Bears, continuing their offseason roster overhaul. The Panthers got reserve linebacker Jamar Williams in the deal, while Harris returns to Chicago less than three years after he was traded to Carolina.

The Dallas Cowboys have signed tight end Scott Sicko, three days after the New Hampshire player said he was turning down the NFL to go to graduate school.Sicko signed a free agent contract, reversing course on a decision that he wouldn’t pursue NFL offers after he wasn’t taken in the draft.

His game showing weeks of rust, Roger Federer lost his opening match of the clay-court season — a 2-6, 6-1, 7-5 defeat at the Rome Masters to 40th-ranked Ernests Gulbis of Latvia.

The 16-time Grand Slam champion is confident the loss sounded an alarm with the French Open less than a month away.

“I hope I can come back from this. That’s usually what I do after a loss like this,” Federer said. The top-ranked Swiss had an easy first set before a drastic drop-off. His shots became increasingly inconsistent under a light rain as the match wore on.

Earlier, Novak Djokovic began his bid to reach a third consecutive final at the Foro Italico with a 6-1, 6-1 win over France’s Jeremy Chardy. Lleyton Hewitt pulled out a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 win over ninth-seeded Mikhail Youzhny, a step in the Australian’s comeback from hip surgery. Victor Hanescu of Romania beat another seeded player, No. 16 Juan Monaco, 7-6 (4), 6-4.

Federer committed 15 unforced errors to Gulbis’ eight in the second set. His final set was even worse — he missed one routine baseline shot after another.