Basketball

Oregon Ducks land intriguing 4-star center for 2021 — The Oregon Ducks men’s basketball program has gotten creative during the 2019 recruiting cycle. First, Dana Altman and his coaching staff landed the commitment of consensus four-star forward Francis Okoro, who promptly re-classified to the class of 2018 and is already suiting up for the Ducks. Next up, Oregon landed the commitment of junior college national player of the year favorite Chris Duarte, who is rated the No. 2 JC talent in the country by 247Sports. On Thursday, the Ducks again added a n intriguing piece of the puzzle, as consensus four-star center Isaac Johnson, the nation’s No. 66 prospect, committed to Oregon over BYU, Kansas State, Ohio State, Utah, Utah State and others: However, according to ZagsBlog’s Sean Bock, the 6-foot-10, 220-pound center, out of American Fork, Utah, plans to take a two-year LDS mission, meaning he is unlikely to join the Ducks until the class of 2021.

Football

Steelers roll Panthers 52-21 on TNF — The Pittsburgh Steelers (6-2-1) are not playing like a team missing Le’Veon Bell. Ben Roethlisberger threw for 328 yards and five touchdowns, James Conner ran for 65 yards and a score before leaving late with a possible concussion and the Steelers pounded the Carolina Panthers 52-21 on Thursday night for their fifth straight victory. Antonio Brown added eight receptions for 96 yards — including a 53-yard touchdown in the second quarter. Bell has until next Tuesday to sign a contract if he wants to play this season. His teammates have long since tired of talking about Bell’s status and at this point, the AFC North leaders appear to be doing just fine on their own. Carolina not so much. The Panthers (6-3) saw their three-game winning streak come to an abrupt halt in a city where they’ve never won. Carolina fell to 0-4 all-time in Pittsburgh and was never really in it after the Steelers scored 21 points in the game’s first 11 minutes.

— From wire reports