Vikings center Ryan Kelly is hanging up the cleats for good.

After battling through multiple concussions last season, Kelly, 32, has officially announced his retirement from the NFL. This was the expected outcome given how many concussions he had suffered in his career.

“What an incredible ride it was,” Kelly wrote in a post on social media. “I was blessed to be around some of the greatest people this sport has to offer. I always wanted to leave each place better than how I found it and with that I can hang my hat. Forever grateful for my family and brothers!”

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The Gophers men’s basketball program went into the season with six seniors but will honor only four during Saturday night’s final regular-season game against Northwestern at Williams Arena.

Season-ending injuries to point guard Chansey Willis and center Robert Vaihola should lead to eligibility next year, meaning four active seniors will have their swan song at The Barn: starters Cade Tyson and Langston Reynolds, and backups Maximus Gizzi and RJ Spencer.

Reynolds stepped into a bigger role without Willis, while Tyson led the team in scoring all season. Given the rash of injuries, they both played nearly every minute to close the season.

“It’s kind of created a unique legacy for these guys,” head coach Niko Medved said Friday. “We really talked about coming into here and setting a culture we want Gopher basketball to look like. Could we get more people excited about the program? Through all this, they have been able to do it.”

Reynolds, a Northern Colorado transfer, called it a “dream” senior season, including a point guard role he hadn’t played since high school at Colorado Prep in Denver.

“Talking on that role was big for me, just showing how versatile I can be, which kind of surprised myself, honestly,” he said.

The Gophers (14-16, 7-12 Big Ten) will be seeded between Nos. 11 and 13 in the Big Ten tournament in Chicago next week. They will have a first-round bye, while Northwestern (13-17, 5-14) will be looking for a win Saturday to help them avoid a first-round game in the conference tourney on Tuesday.

Fighting through it

The Gophers’ rotation is down to six players but a few of them are playing hurt, including post player Grayson Grove, who is dealing with a nagging shoulder injury. Other teammates are literally limping along.

“It’s hard,” Medved said. “Unless you are in it ever day. I know it’s been documented, and you say it, but I still don’t think people realize what we’ve asked of this crew. … A lot of people have nicks and bruises and all that. I think the unique thing here is we can’t really sub and we got to keep them going. They are really showing a ton of heart.”

The amount of current players playing hurt has cast doubt on whether the Gophers would accept a spot in the National Invitational Tournament (NIT), if that postseason opportunity comes up after the conference tourney.

‘Shoe-ins’

Once the season ends, the Gophers plan to apply for medical redshirts on behalf of Willis and Vaihola. If granted, they would receive an added year of eligibility for 2026-27.

“They are shoe-ins to do that,” Medved said. “Based on my experience, those are pretty clear and cut. I feel like those guys would get an extra year.”

Turner out

Back-up center Nehemiah Turner is no longer with the Gophers program, Medved said Friday.

“For him and for us, it was just best that he focuses on what is next,” Medved said.

Turner, a sophomore transfer from Central Arkansas, appeared in only seven games for the U. His last game was against Campbell on Dec. 21.

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By HILLEL ITALIE, AP National Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — The executive director of the National Symphony Orchestra, a mainstay at the Kennedy Center, is leaving to head the Los Angeles-based Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. It’s the latest departure from the Kennedy Center since President Donald Trump began asserting control over the storied performing arts venue in Washington.

The Wallis announced Friday that Jean Davidson had been appointed executive director and CEO. Before joining the Kennedy Center in 2023, Davidson had served for eight years as executive director and CEO of the Los Angeles Master Chorale at The Music Center.

“The arts are where a community sees itself, and where it imagines what’s possible next,” Davidson said in a statement. “I’m honored to join the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Arts at this pivotal moment.”

Kennedy Center President Richard Grenell said in a statement to The Associated Press that she was among those who deserved “enormous credit” for their efforts.

“I have enjoyed working with Jean to cultivate new donors and patrons while cleaning up the financial mess at the (center),” he said.

In a statement to The Associated Press, Davidson said: “It has been a great honor to serve the NSO and to work alongside Gianandrea Noseda, Steven Reineke, the extraordinary musicians, and the dedicated staff and board. I’m deeply proud of everything we’ve accomplished together.”

Davidson told the Los Angeles Times that she had found it “more and more difficult” to remain at the Kennedy Center, “given the external forces that are at work that are just so far beyond my control.”

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After mostly ignoring the center during his first term, Trump has made it a focal point in his war against so-called “woke” culture.” He ousted the Kennedy Center’s previous leadership and replaced it with a hand-picked board of trustees who voted to rename the facility the Trump Kennedy Center, a change scholars and lawmakers say must be initiated by Congress.

Renée Fleming, Philip Glass and Bela Fleck are among numerous artists who have called off performances, and the Washington National Opera ended its decades-long residency. Last month, Trump said he would move to close the center this summer for construction he expects to last two years.

At the Wallis, Davidson succeeds Robert van Leer, who recently left to join the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation as performing arts program director.

HAVANA (AP) — Cuba said a fifth person has died as a consequence of a fatal shootout last month involving a Florida-flagged speedboat that allegedly opened fire on soldiers in waters off the island nation’s north coast.

The island’s interior ministry said late Thursday in a statement that Roberto Álvarez Ávila died on March 4 as a result of his injuries. It added that the remaining injured detainees “continue to receive specialized medical care according to their health status.”

Authorities in Cuba said that on Feb. 26 Cuban soldiers confronted a speedboat carrying 10 people as the vessel approached the island and opened fire on the troops. They said the passengers were armed Cubans living in the U.S. who were trying to infiltrate the island and “unleash terrorism”. Cuba said its soldiers killed four people and wounded six others.

“The statements made by the detainees themselves, together with a series of investigative procedures, reinforce the evidence against them,” the Cuban interior ministry said in its statement, adding that “new elements are being obtained that establish the involvement of other individuals based in the U.S.”

Earlier this week, Cuba said it had filed terrorism charges against six suspects that were on the speedboat. The government unveiled items said to have been found on the boat, including a dozen high-powered weapons, more than 12,800 pieces of ammunition and 11 pistols.

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Cuban authorities have provided few details about the shooting, but said the boat was roughly 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) northeast of Cayo Falcones, off the country’s north coast. They also provided the boat’s registration number, but The Associated Press was unable to readily verify the details because boat registrations are not public in the state of Florida.

The shooting threatened to increase tensions between U.S. President Donald Trump and Cuban authorities. The island’s economy was until recently largely kept economically afloat by Venezuela’s oil, which is now in doubt after a U.S. military operation deposed then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america