The NCAA on Friday encouraged its 1,100 member colleges and universities to give athletes the day off from sports on election day, responding to grassroots movements of activism from players and coaches.

In response to nationwide protests of police brutality and racial injustice, Georgia Tech announced earlier this week it was giving nine fall sports teams a day off from athletic activities on Nov. 3 so athletes can vote in person.

UCLA followed with a similar announcement, and Wisconsin said Friday it would also skip athletic activities that day.

The NCAA did not mandate a day off for athletes on election day, but instead encouraged schools to assist students in registering to vote and give them a day off from athletics to they could vote.

• Florida has cleared the way for college athletes in the state to earn money from endorsement deals as soon as next summer. A bill that would allow college athletes in Florida to be paid for the use of their name, images and likenesses was signed into law by Gov.

• . Florida is the third state, joining California and Colorado, to pass an NIL law targeting current NCAA rules that restrict college athlete compensation.

Former player Gerald Wilkins facing charges

Sounds like Gerald Wilkins is in a dangerous place right now.

The former NBA player recently was arrested twice for assault in Georgia and another time was sent to the hospital for a mental health evaluation, according to police records obtained by the New York Daily News.

The most alarming alleged incident occurred June 6 when Wilkins, 56 and the brother of NBA legend Dominique Wilkins, reportedly barricaded himself inside his girlfriend’s bedroom for 2 1/2 hours, disabled the fire alarm and began pouring “accelerants and other liquids through the cracks of the door repeatedly (rubbing alcohol, bleach, soap, Epson salt, water and urine).”

Then on Tuesday, Wilkins was arrested for allegedly threatening a man with a 12-inch screwdriver. The alleged victim told police Wilkins had walked into his shop “and started yelling and acting aggressive for no reason.” Wilkins allegedly hit another man in the store with an object. He was charged with simple battery, aggravated assault and theft.

On May 31, Wilkins was arrested for simple assault after he allegedly forced his way into a woman’s home and pushed herr. The woman claimed Wilkins was upset that she wouldn’t let him use her phone.

Wilkins, who went to N.C. State, played 13 seasons in the NBA, averaging 13.0 points. His son, Damien, played in the NBA until 2018.

Brown pleads no contest to charges

Former NFL wide receiver Antonio Brown will serve two years of probation, attend a 13-week anger management program and undergo a psychological exam as part of a plea deal relating to a January incident at Brown’s Hollywood home involving a moving company truck driver.

On Friday, Brown changed his plea to no contest on charges of burglary with battery, burglary of an unoccupied conveyance and criminal mischief, which means he will accept the sentence but did not admit guilt.

On Jan. 21, the driver of a moving truck arrived at Brown’s Hollywood home to deliver his household goods from California.

Soon after, the driver called police to report a vandalism, saying Brown threw a rock at his truck. The driver told police that Brown paid the $4,000 he owed for moving, but refused to pay $860 for the damage and his time. The driver also told police that Brown grabbed him and pulled him during the struggle.

League to observe Juneteenth as holiday

The NFL plans to recognize Juneteenth as a league holiday.

Juneteenth is considered the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States. It was originally celebrated on June 19, the day that Union soldiers in 1865 told enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas, that the Civil War had ended and they were free.

Liberty player to transfer, cites ‘racial insensitivities’

Asia Todd, a sophomore women’s basketball player at Liberty University, says she is transferring because of “racial insensitivities shown within the leadership and culture” of the school.

Last season, Todd averaged 8.6 points, playing more than 23 minutes a game.

Earlier this week, Liberty president Jerry Falwell Jr. apologized for a tweet in late May deemed inappropriate by nearly three dozen black alumni who rebuked him publicly.

In the tweet, Falwell said he was “adamantly opposed” to a mask mandate from Gov. Ralph Northam to help stop the spread of the coronavirus “until I decided to design my own.” With it, he posted a picture of a person in blackface and another in the Ku Klux Klan costume. The photo appeared on Northam’s medical yearbook page and — when made public last year — sparked a scandal that nearly forced the Democrat from office.

• New Jersey Institute of Technology is switching conferences, joining America East and leaving the Atlantic Sun. NJIT will become America East’s 10th member and move into a league that is a more natural geographic fit, with school such as Hartford, Maine, Binghamton and Maryland-Baltimore County. The Newark-based school has been competing in NCAA’s Division I since 2006. It sponsors 16 varsity sports.
• Hall of Famer

• became the all-time leading trainer at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., saddling Drop Dead Gorgeous to a win in the first race for his 738th victory beneath the Twin Spires. Asmussen, 54, overtook Louisville native

• , who held the record since Nov. 12, 2017, when he surpassed Hall of Famer

• , who was the historic track’s leading trainer for over 31 years. Asmussen quickly added to his total, winning the second race with Hulen.