unning the football and protecting the football, so we definitely have some depth to that positio | Forum

MINNEAPOLIS -- Gorgui Dieng would have been one of the most sought after big men on the open market if he had become a restricted free agent next summer. Chris Clemons Jersey .The Minnesota Timberwolves had no interest in seeing it get that far.The team announced Monday night that Dieng had signed a four-year contract extension. The deal is worth $64 million, a person with knowledge of the contract told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the team did not publicly announce the terms.Keeping Dieng was a crucial first move for the Timberwolves, who will have to spend millions in the coming two years if they want to keep their core of Andrew Wiggins, Zach LaVine and Karl-Anthony Towns -- who all are on affordable rookie contracts -- intact.Dieng isnt as well-known as Towns and Wiggins, but the versatile big man is instrumental to the teams success. He is averaging 13.0 points and 13.5 rebounds in the first two games this season, and his ability to play both power forward and center, defend multiple positions and knock down the midrange jumper make the 26-year-old a perfect fit with what the Wolves want to do.Dieng was the 21st overall draft pick in 2013 by the Utah Jazz, who traded him and Shabazz Muhammad for Trey Burke on draft night. It was a masterful decision by the late Flip Saunders, who ended up getting two rotation players for Burke, a scoring point guard who has struggled to find his fit in the NBA to this point.Dieng is much more than a rotation player, having started alongside Towns to give the Timberwolves one of the most promising young frontcourts in the league. His ability to defend the pick-and-roll coupled with flashes of range that occasionally stretches back to the 3-point line helped new coach and president Tom Thibodeau and GM Scott Layden quickly decide that they wanted to keep him around for the long haul.In a market where big men were getting enormous deals -- Oklahoma Citys Steven Adams and Utahs Rudy Gobert each signed four-year extensions worth at least $100 million on Monday -- Dieng comes at a relative bargain. As the sides negotiated Monday with a midnight Eastern deadline looming to get a deal done, Wolves owner Glen Taylor met personally with Dieng to drive home how important he was to the teams success going forward.Diengs contract also gives the Timberwolves flexibility going forward to be able to pay the premium they will need to pay for Wiggins and Towns, and perhaps LaVine as well.And $64 million is life-changing money for anyone, but especially for Dieng, who came to the United States from Senegal, won a national championship at Louisville and established himself as a starting-caliber big man in the NBA. Dieng continues to send aid and develop programs to help back home, and this contract will go a long way toward helping him continue his philanthropy.Dieng has been particularly active in donating much-needed supplies to the hospital in his hometown of Kebemer. Luis Scola Jersey . Once again, DeLaet finished tied for second at a PGA Tour stop on the weekend, this time at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. The pride of Weyburn, Sask. Dikembe Mutombo Jersey . But now that hes in the NHL, the Calgary Flames centre showed big improvement in that department by scoring the winner in the eighth round of a 5-4 shootout victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Monday. https:///...-jersey-rockets.html . The parade and rally were held to celebrate the Saskatchewan Roughriders 45-23 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Sunday in the CFLs championship game. AUBURN, Ala. -- The Auburn Tigers are running wild again, this time with a mostly dropback passer at quarterback and two tailbacks who were virtual unknowns outside the state coming into the season.The 15th-ranked Tigers, with no Cam Newton or Nick Marshall to bulldoze or dart past defenders, have resurrected their ground game and, in the process, their season with a four-game winning streak .Even without tailback Kerryon Johnson, Auburn piled up 543 rushing yards in a 56-3 win over Arkansas , a record for a Southeastern Conference game. Now, Auburn ranks third nationally in rushing offense with numbers rivaling the 2013 offense led by the mobile quarterback Marshall and Heisman Trophy finalist Tre Mason.That group made the national championship game by becoming the first SEC team to lead the nation in rushing, averaging 328.3 yards and having four players with 600-plus yards. This Auburn team is averaging 302.9 yards on the ground.Johnson is expected to return from an ankle injury Saturday night against Mississippi.Quarterback Sean White and backup John Franklin III have both made some plays on the ground but nothing like Marshall or Newton, who won the Heisman in leading the 2010 team to a national title.Whoever our quarterback is, we try to design the offense around their strengths, Malzahn said. There arent a whole lot of Nick Marshalls running around out there. He was a special player.The current ground attack has mostly been built on tailbacks Johnson and Kamryn Pettway. Pettway was moved from H-back in the spring and didnt log a carry last season or in the opener.With Johnson out with an ankle injury, the 240-pounder has run 66 times for 361 yards and five touchdowns against Mississippi State and Arkansas. Hes ranked 12th nationally and leads the SEC in rushing yards per game, gaining 697 yards in six outings.I havennt seen a running back like that since like Jerome Bettis, Auburn receiver Tony Stevens said. Rudy Tomjanovich Jersey. . Thats who he reminds of, Jerome Bettis. The way he just cuts and runs you over. So you never know what youre going to get when you go head up with him.Johnson, also a sophomore, is 42nd nationally and sixth in the SEC in rushing with 538 yards.Tailback was one of the teams biggest question marks entering the season. Last years top three rushers -- Peyton Barber (early draft entry), Jovon Robinson (dismissal) and Roc Thomas (transfer) -- were no longer on the team for various reasons.That left Johnson, often used in a Wildcat role as a freshman, and Pettway. Depth has come from players like freshman Kam Martin, a former Baylor signee, and converted wide receiver Stanton Truitt. Truitt and freshman receiver Eli Stove both ran for long touchdowns against the Razorbacks, with Stoves a 78-yarder on the opening play.One of the big questions this year coming into the season was our running back depth, Malzahn said. I think it was a really good thing moving forward that we had the guys that we had step up. They did a super job running the football and protecting the football, so we definitely have some depth to that position.Seven Auburn players have rushed for 100-plus yards, including White and Franklin. The Tigers are averaging 106.5 more rushing yards than last season even minus that teams top three runners.Now, the Tigers are at least running White enough to make defenses wary, and Franklin has been almost exclusively used as a runner.If you keep it every now and then, it really changes things, Malzahn said. Last year, we didnt do that.---AP college football web site: www.collegefootball.ap.org ' ' '