ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti sent a letter to the NCAA Committee on Infractions suggesting that Michigan's football program should not face more sanctions stemming from a sign-stealing scheme, according to two people familiar with the situation.

They spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Monday because no one is authorized to comment on an ongoing NCAA investigation.

Petitti's letter was shared during last month's hearing because he was unable to attend while recovering from hip surgery, Big Ten Deputy Commissioner Diane Dietz said.

ESPN was first to report some details of Petitti's letter.

The NCAA alleged last year in a notice relating to its sign-stealing investigation that current coach Sherrone Moore violated rules as an assistant under former coach Jim Harbaugh, who served a three-game suspension in exchange for the conference dropping its own investigation into the allegations after the two ended up in court.

After winning the 2023 national championship, Harbaugh left to lead the Los Angeles Chargers.

Moore also was accused of deleting text messages with sign-stealer Connor Stalions before they were recovered and provided to the NCAA. Moore has said he has and will continue to cooperate with the NCAAs investigation.

The NCAA investigation surfaced early in the 2023 season amid allegations that Michigan used a robust in-person scouting and sign-stealing operation conducted by Stalions, a former a low-level staffer. He was suspended by the school and later resigned. Stalions, who did not participate in the NCAA investigation, recently said he knew almost every signal opponents used in seven games over two seasons.

Michigan is prepared to suspend Moore for two games during the coming season. The NCAA will decide if that self-imposed sanction is enough to address allegations that Moore failed to cooperate in an investigation.

The governing body takes three months on average for contested cases to make a final decision.

The Wolverines open the season on Aug. 30 at home against New Mexico State and at Oklahoma, where Moore was an offensive lineman, on Sept. 6.

Harbaugh was suspended by the Big Ten, three weeks after an investigation by the NCAA into the allegations began. Hours later, Michigan asked a court for an injunction and temporary restraining order and the two sides narrowly avoided a court hearing.

Harbaugh has repeatedly denied any involvement with Stalions apparent scheme.

The NCAA does not have rules against stealing signs, but does prohibit schools from sending scouts to the games of future opponents and using electronic equipment to record another teams signals.

Multiple Big Ten schools had records showing ticket purchases under Stalions name and video surveillance footage of people in those seats with cell phones pointed toward the field.

Big Ten coaches and athletic directors previously pushed Petitti to punish Harbaugh before the NCAA concluded its investigation.

When the Big Ten did suspend Harbaugh, Michigan claimed the commissioner overstepped his authority and acted outside the conferences bylaws.

Athletic director Warde Manuel released a scathing statement just before Michigan kicked off at Penn State and won 24-15 without Harbaugh on the sideline.

Not liking someone or another university or believing without any evidence that they knew or saying someone should have known without an investigation is not grounds to remove someone from their position before the NCAA process has reached a conclusion through a full NCAA investigative process, Manuel said then.

The NCAA previously put Michigan on three years of probation, fined the school and implemented recruiting limits after reaching a negotiated resolution in a recruiting case and banned Harbaugh from coaching college football for four years.

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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

DETROIT (AP) — Jorge Polanco and Cole Young hit back-to-back home runs in a four-run ninth inning and the Seattle Mariners beat the Detroit Tigers 8-4 on Sunday to complete a three-game sweep.

Julio Rodriguez, Randy Arozarena and Mitch Garver also hit solo home runs for the Mariners, who humbled the major league-leading Tigers with 12-3 and 15-7 wins in the first two games of the series.

Seattle’s 35 runs is the most they have scored in a three-game series since 2002.

The Tigers are taking a season-high four-game losing streak into the All-Star break.

After Polanco broke a 4-all tie in the ninth and Young created a two-run cushion, the Mariners scored two more runs.

Matt Brash (1-0) struck out two in the eighth to earn the win.

Tommy Kahnle (1-2) gave up three runs on two hits and a walk without getting an out in the pivotal ninth.

Detroit scored two unearned runs off Logan Gilbert in the first inning, taking advantage of Luke Raley’s throwing error, and went ahead again in the seventh on Riley Greene’s 24th homer of the season.

Seattle’s Cal Raleigh went 0 for 2 with three walks, leaving him with an AL-record 38 homers before the All-Star Game — one shy of Barry Bonds’ 2001 major league record for homers before the break. Raleigh stole a base, joining Babe Ruth (1921), Reggie Jackson (1969) and Ken Griffey Jr. (1998) as players with at least 38 homers and 10 stolen bases in their team’s first 96 games.

Key moment

Polanco was a pinch-hitter to lead off the ninth and hit a 401-foot homer to right.

Key stat

Raleigh is the first catcher to lead the majors outright in homers at the All-Star break since Hall of Famer Johnny Bench in 1972.

Up next

The Tigers have a franchise-record six All-Stars in Atlanta, including starting pitcher Tarik Skubal. Seattle is sending five All-Stars to the Midsummer Classic for the first time since 2003.

DETROIT (AP) — Aldrich Potgieter, standing on the practice green at Detroit Golf Club, said the most challenging part of his life was moving to Australia when he was 8 and returning to South Africa at age 17 because the COVID-19 pandemic limited his opportunities to compete.

Potgieter is about to face another test.

The PGA Tour’s youngest player and biggest hitter is going into the final round of the Rocket Classic with a two-shot lead, hoping to hold off a pack of players, including Collin Morikawa, for his first victory on the circuit.

“The leaderboard’s so stacked,” Potgieter said after he had five straight birdies in a 7-under 65 to surge into the lead Saturday.

The 20-year-old tour rookie started the week averaging 326.6 yards off the tee — several yards longer than Rory McIlroy — and credits his multi-sport childhood.

“I played a lot of sports, rugby, wrestling,” the 5-foot-11, 211-pound Potgieter said. “Kind of did everything as a kid. Didn’t just focus on golf, so that kind of helped me build that strong foundation.”

Max Greyserman (66), Jake Knapp (66), Mark Hubbard (67), Andrew Putnam (67) and Chris Kirk (69) were two shots back. Three more players were another stroke behind.

“As long as you’re kind of hanging around on Sunday, that’s what counts,” Greyserman said.

Collin Morikawa, the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 5 in the world, shot a 68 to start the final round four shots back. Two years ago in Detroit, he was outlasted by Rickie Fowler in a playoff. Morikawa, a two-time major champion, has not won on the tour since October 2023 at the Zozo Championship in Japan.

“Look, I know what’s at stake,” Morikawa said. “I want to find a way to get it done.”

In a nod to his native country, Potgieter’s white golf shoes have the South African flag on the outside of his heels.

He won the British Amateur at the age of 17 and became the youngest Korn Ferry Tour winner last year, paving the way for him to become the second-youngest player to earn a PGA Tour card through the minor league just after his 20th birthday. The youngest was Jason Day, who was 19 in 2007.

Potgieter was in a position to win earlier this year.

He lost a playoff at the Mexico Open in February, when Brian Campbell got a big break when his tee shot on the second extra hole went off tree and back in play. He missed the next four cuts and and seven of eight before he was tied for sixth at the Charles Schwab Challenge last month in his last PGA Tour start last month.

While the Detroit Golf Club is one of the easiest courses on the PGA Tour, it will likely be challenging for the world’s 123rd-ranked player to hold off the competition.

Potgieter’s driver certainly gives him a shot, but he also flashed some of his finesse during his birdie streak on the front nine in the third round.

He opened with a birdie on a 35-foot shot from a bunker. His approach on the par-5 seventh was buried in the rough, pin high and 78 feet to the right of the cup. He lofted the ball past the hole and it rolled back toward it, setting up an eight-foot birdie putt.

At the 372-yard, par-4 eighth hole, he waited for Kevin Roy and Michael Thorbjornsen to exit the green because he was going for it.

Potgieter pulled out his driver and sent the ball over towering trees and through the green before it finally rested in the rough 374 yards from the tee. He went on to make an 11-foot putt for his fifth straight birdie and sixth of the afternoon to help him shoot a 30 on the front nine for a two-shot lead.

He cooled off on the back nine with a birdie at No. 13 and lipping out on a 7-foot putt at the 14th, missing a chance to birdie the par 5, and closed with five pars in a row.

“That front nine really helped me to get through,” Potgieter said. “A lot of par saves on this back nine.”

DETROIT (AP) — Cade Cunningham led an unprecedented turnaround in NBA history, lifting the Detroit Pistons to relevance after the three-time championship franchise lost its luster.

Cunningham had an All-NBA caliber season, joining elite company with Oscar Robertson, James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic and LeBron James.

Detroit’s point guard and those all-time greats are the seven players in NBA history to average at least 25 points, nine assists and six rebounds in a season.

Cunningham’s breakout season helped Detroit become the league’s first team to triple its number of wins from the previous full season.

He didn’t do it alone.

Jalen Duren’s third season was his best and a trio of newly acquired veterans made an impact on and off the court for a team that had the NBA’s worst record the previous two seasons.

When the sixth-seeded and inconsistent Pistons host third-seeded New York on Sunday in Game 4, they need Cunningham to shine and his supporting cast to make shots and stops.

Cunningham is learning a lot in his NBA playoffs debut and his team is, too, in its first postseason appearance since 2019 because every possession matters and little mistakes lead to losing.

“All these things are making us a better team and I think it’s going to make us better to go win this series,” Cunningham said.

Detroit has dropped eight home playoff games in a row since 2008, pulling within one of an NBA record set by Philadelphia from 1968 to 1971.

If the Pistons lose a second straight matchup, they will tie a league mark and be on the brink of elimination going into Game 5 in New York on Tuesday night

The Knicks are expecting Detroit’s best punch.

“They’re going to come out with physicality and aggression,” Knicks guard Josh Hart told reporters Saturday.

In the only game Detroit won against New York, Cunningham was a star with 33 points on 11-of-21 shooting and 12 assists.

In Games 1 and 3, both won by the Knicks, Cunningham was not at his best and his inconsistent teammates didn’t pick up the slack.

Cunningham had 21 points, missing 13 of 21 attempts, and 12 rebounds in the opener.

In Game 3, he joined James, Westbrook and Rick Barry as the four players in NBA playoffs history to have at least 24 points, 11 assists, seven rebounds, four steals and two blocks in a game.

Cunningham, though, also missed 15 of 25 shots and had six turnovers in the potentially, pivotal game.

OG Anunoby had something to do with that.

The 6-foot-7, 232-pound Anunoby, in his eighth NBA season and first full years with the Knicks, used his strength and quickness to challenge Cunningham.

Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff is confident Cunningham will find a way to make winning plays in Game 4.

“We’ve seen Cade be able to get where he wants to get to and do what he needs to do,” Bickerstaff said said. “Give (Anunoby) respect because he’s earned it, but I still like Cade’s chances.”

To improve Detroit’s shot to even the series, Cunningham’s teammates have to take advantage of the space he creates by making open shots.

While veteran guard Tim Hardaway Jr. made a career-playoff high seven 3-pointers and matched a Pistons record, a usually dependable teammate struggled in Game 3.

Malik Beasley connected on six 3-pointers in the opener and made a franchise-record 319 3-pointers during the regular season, ranking second in the league, but was 2 of 10 beyond the arc Thursday night.

Tobias Harris scored a total of 40 points in the two games at Madison Square Garden, then was held to just five points at Little Caesars Arena.

The Knicks, meanwhile, had one of their most balanced offensive postseason performances in more than a half-century.

Karl-Anthony Towns scored 31 points, Jalen Brunson had 30 points, Anunoby scored 22 and Mikal Bridges had 20 points.

The last time New York had four players score 20-plus points in a playoff game, Hall of Famers Walt Frazier, Jerry Lucas, Dave DeBusschere and Bill Bradley pulled off the feat in 1972.

“What hurt us in this last game was more our defense than anything we did offensively,” Bickerstaff said.