Sports briefly: Chizik returns as UNC assistant

North Carolina is hoping former Auburn coach Gene Chizik can turn around its struggling defense.

The Tar Heels hired Chizik as defensive coordinator after allowing the most points and yards in their history last year.

Chizik accepted an offer about two weeks ago, though the school didn't officially announce the hiring until Monday once it was finalized. Team spokesman Kevin Best said the three-year deal will pay a base salary of $250,000 plus undisclosed outside compensation.

"I'm thrilled to join Coach [Larry] Fedora's staff and I appreciate the trust he and athletic director Bubba Cunningham have in me," Chizik said in a statement.

Chizik coached Auburn to the 2010 national championship with Heisman Trophy- winning quarterback Cam Newton and was also coach at Iowa State. Before that, Chizik was the Tigers defensive coordinator from 2002 to '04 and co-defensive coordinator at Texas during the Longhorns' 2005 national-title run.

UNC allowed 39 points and 497.8 yards per game while setting program records for most points allowed (507) and most yards allowed (6,472). That included program records of 70 points and 789 yards in a September loss at East Carolina.

Chizik was to receive a $7.5 million buyout — paid in monthly installments — after he was fired in November 2012 from Auburn following an 0-8 record in Southeastern Conference play. He has worked as a college football analyst for ESPN and Sirius/XM radio since leaving the Tigers.

Allenby said he doesn't remember everything that happened after dinner at a wine bar on Friday night after missing the cut in the Sony Open.

He said he has no recollection of what happened until he was shoved out of a car then kicked and prodded by homeless people.

Charade Keane, who lives in Ala Moana park, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser she couldn't avoid seeing Allenby sitting on a planter with a bloodied face early Saturday. Allenby was talking to two homeless men she knows.

"They started arguing when I got there, and I realized this wasn't well," she said. "I needed to get him out of here."

As she and Allenby walked away, he said all his belongings were gone, she said.

"He did most of the talking," she said. "I didn't have much to say. I'm homeless."

Honolulu police were investigating the case as a second-degree robbery.

Soccer: Major League Soccer's Toronto team said it has a deal to Italian midfielder Sebastian Giovinco from Juventus in July. The team said Monday that the 27-year-old will join Toronto as a designated player on July 1 after his current contract expires. Giovinco, who is 5-foot-5, has 20 goals and 23 assists in 130 appearances with Juventus, which has won the last two Serie A titles. He will join a team that added American midfielder Michael Bradley last year and U.S. forward Jozy Altidore last week. … Captain Asamoah Gyan was left out of Ghana's team for its opening game at the African Cup of Nations after being diagnosed with malaria.

Baseball: In a boost for baseball's bid for inclusion in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Japan will co-host a new international baseball tournament this year. The launch of the World Baseball Softball Confederation's Premier 12 tournament was announced in Tokyo by the leaders of the WBSC and Nippon Professional Baseball.