The Queen’s horse Reach For The Moon makes a hurdling debut at Sedgefield this afternoon on Sky Sports Racing
2.10 Sedgefield – Royal runner makes jumps debut
Reach For The Moon has turned his hand to jumping for The Queen in the Betting.Bet New Betting Sites Maiden Hurdle (2.10).
The five-year-old showed a fair bit of promise in his early years winning the Solario Stakes and finishing second in the Group 2 Champagne Stakes at Doncaster. He has since disappointed and now makes an attempt over hurdles for Jamie Snowden.
Not Now Tayto comes into this in solid form after placing in his two point-to-point efforts. He is dropping back in trip significantly and will need to be in his best form in this more competitive race.
Another switching to jumping is Schmilsson, he finished second last time out and didn’t disgrace himself. He will need to thrive in this slight step up in but he is partnered with Fergus Gregory again and trainer Olly Murphy is in good form.
2.40 Sedgefield – Galice Macalo bids for double
Galice Macalo looks to back up his win at Leicester last time out in the Linda Jones Memorial Handicap Chase (2.40).
Jane Williams’ eight-year-old won by the wide margin of fourteen lengths and was eased up towards the finish. However, this time she takes on open company, but she can continue her good form.
Course and distance winner You Say Nothing will be looking to go one better for Christian Williams and Jack Tudor. He finished second to an improving horse and will come along here.
Duo D’Enfer has been running very consistently since his yard swap to Micky Hammond. His optimum trip seems yet to be discovered as he drops back here but will need to keep on better in the closing stages in this contest.
3.40 Sedgefield – Bebside Banter seeks two on the bounce
Bebside Banter won last time out here and looks to secure the double in the Paxtons No1 Caseih Dealer In UK&Ireland Handicap Chase (3.40).
Paired with Danny McMenamin again, Bebside Banter won handsomely last time out and was always just doing enough. He could still be ahead of the handicapper.
Cudgel has been running rather consistently in recent runs, but he takes a step up in trip here – he kept on well but just bumped into two better horses.
Andrew Crook’s Dakota Moirette looks to continue his improvement from last time out. He struggled in his runs before this but there was a marked progression at Catterick finishing second. To be in with a chance here he needs to keep developing.
Edmonton was looking to tie the 1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins for the longest NHL win streak.
Instead, with the game tied 1-1 after two periods, Stephenson took a pass from Jonathan Marchessault and ripped a shot from the center of the left circle to beat Edmonton goalie Stuart Skinner blocker side to put the Golden Knights in front by a goal less than two minutes into the third period.
From there, Hill was spectacular in keeping the Oilers at bay while keeping the crowd energized until the final horn.
“I liked a lot of the parts of our game,” Edmonton captain Connor McDavid, who scored in the loss, said. “I thought it was a similar type game that we’ve played throughout the streak. We just didn’t find a way to get a win. Their goalie played well, and made some big saves.”
Hill, who came in leading the NHL in goals-against average (1.94) and save percentage (.936), made the save of the night when he stymied Leon Draisaitl on a backdoor one-timer late in the third period.
Nic Roy and William Karlsson also scored for the Golden Knights.
“Unfortunately, we came up a little bit short,” Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said. “I think a big turning point in the game was the late goal [Vegas] scored in the first period. And then for us, it was just missed opportunities. I think the chances were there.”
Skinner made 23 saves in the loss, and Draisaitl and Vincent Desharnais picked up assists along the way.
“We couldn’t bear down on our chances, I felt,” Edmonton defenseman Mattias Ekholm said. “I felt we created a lot in the second [period], probably deserved a goal or two. In those tight games, those little details, those timely goals matter in a big way.”
The Oilers, who opened the season 3-9-1 before firing coach Jay Woodcroft on Nov. 12, were just 13-15-1 before their win streak started. Edmonton hadn’t lost a game since Dec. 19 and has improved its record to 29-16-1.
The Oilers have an NHL-best 26-7-0 record since Kris Knoblauch’s first game as bench boss on Nov. 13.
“There were some breakdowns, it wasn’t a perfect game,” Knoblauch said. “But overall, I thought the effort was good, and we just couldn’t capitalize on our chances.”
Edmonton wasn’t deterred by committing the first penalty game. After Desharnais’ poke check forced a turnover to spring a 2-on-0 rush, McDavid took a pass from Draisaitl and beat Hill to give the Oilers a 1-0 lead with a short-handed goal.
It was McDavid’s 10th goal and 27th point during the Oilers’ 17-game run.
“We have to move on,” McDavid said. “We have to play some good hockey coming down the stretch here.”
Vegas tied the game when Roy gathered a rebound from the crease, worked the puck to his backhand and snapped it past Skinner for his 10th goal of the season.
“It felt like a playoff game tonight,” Hill said. “It was loud, fans were into it, so, it was a good atmosphere.”
Karlsson’s empty-net goal with 34 seconds left iced the game for Vegas.
“It was a tight game, it could have gone either way,” Ekholm said. “I thought we played pretty good, [but] there’s another level to our game.”
COSTA MESA, Calif. — Los Angeles Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz doubled down on coach Jim Harbaugh’s “multiple championships” declaration, promising to deliver owner Dean Spanos at least two more rings, in Tuesday’s introductory news conference.
“We’re going to build a consistent winner here,” Hortiz said. “We’re going to bring you a trophy. Dean, we are going to get it done. I got four boys, I got two rings. We’re getting the other two at least and we’re going to keep trying to build.”
Hortiz, 48, was with the Ravens for the past 26 years, serving as director of player personnel since 2019 and helping general manager Eric DeCosta and coach John Harbaugh, Jim’s brother. Hortiz won two Super Bowls in Baltimore, including one over Jim Harbaugh when he coached the San Francisco 49ers in 2013.
The Chargers offered Hortiz the job a day after the Ravens’ loss to the Kansas Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game. Hortiz described the Chargers as a “dream job,” pointing to quarterback Justin Herbert, Harbaugh and Spanos.
“In personnel, if you ask any scout, ‘What are the three things you want?’ You want great ownership, check. You want a great head coach, check. And you want a great quarterback, check,” Hortiz said. “Any scout that walks into a GM role, if you say I got those three things, you got a chance, you got a chance to be really good. So, we got a chance here to be really good.”
Hortiz spoke confidently about his hopes for turning this Chargers team, which finished 5-12 this season, into a contender. He dismissed the idea of a rebuild and emphasized toughness throughout when speaking about the players he hopes to add.
“We want people to walk into SoFi [Stadium], teams to walk in and know what they’re in for,” he said. “That’s what teams knew when they were playing Baltimore, and that’s what we’re going to try to create here.”
Perhaps the most obvious hurdle standing in the way of the Chargers becoming contenders next season is the team’s salary cap. The Chargers are projected to be $54.2 million over the cap, according to the Roster Management System, meaning they may have to depart from some of their best players. Outside linebackers Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack and wide receivers Mike Williams and Keenan Allen have cap hits upward of $30 million next season.
“In personnel, if you ask any scout, ‘What are the three things you want? You want great ownership, check. You want a great head coach, check. And you want a great quarterback, check … So, we got a chance here to be really good.”
Chargers GM Joe Hortiz
Hortiz has experience managing tense contract decisions, most recently in Baltimore. The Ravens went through a public struggle with quarterback Lamar Jackson — who requested a trade — before signing a record deal. Hortiz called navigating the salary cap “not a fun part” of the business but said he will have discussions in earnest about the Chargers’ roster in the coming weeks when they finalize the coaching staff.
“You don’t want to hold on to players, ever,” Hortiz said, “as a personnel guy, that is on a decline or have passed the point of decline.”
A focus of Hortiz and Harbaugh seems to be the Chargers’ rushing game. The Chargers had one of the worst rushing offenses in the NFL, finishing 25th in rushing yards per game (96.6), 27th in yards per rush (3.8) and 30th in rushes of 10 plus yards (33). In San Francisco, Harbaugh’s rushing offense ranked in the top five in his final three seasons after finishing eighth in his first year. The Chargers haven’t ranked in the top 10 in rushing yards per game since 2007.
“You build a great run game and a great offensive line, you protect your quarterback,” Hortiz said when asked about building around Herbert. “I’ve seen it done year in and year out where I came from. You help him by supporting him with players that help the entire offense.”
Team president John Spanos said that during their search for a coach and GM, finding two people who fit was crucial, noting that they didn’t want an “arranged marriage.”
Hortiz and Harbaugh appear to be the opposite of a forced marriage. They have known each other since Hortiz’s first year with the Ravens in 1998 when Harbaugh was the Ravens’ starting quarterback and Hortiz was a lower-level staffer of Ravens’ personnel department.
That year, Harbaugh invited Hortiz to a game of racquetball with Eric Zeier, another Ravens quarterback. It was Hortiz’s introduction to Harbaugh’s competitiveness.
“I swear to you, I’m so blessed to be here today because I got out of that room,” Hortiz said with a smile. “I was getting thrown around. I’m getting ready to hit a ball off the wall; Jim comes in and just chucks me into the middle of the court, so I realized I was there to just give them a break. … I saw his fiery nature then, his competitiveness. His desire to win.”
Gabby Douglas, the 2012 Olympic all-around gymnastics champion, will return to competition for the first time in nearly eight years at the Winter Cup in Louisville, Kentucky, on Feb. 24.
The 28-year-old Douglas, who made the announcement on NBC News NOW on Tuesday, was a teenager when she competed in London and became the first Black woman to win the Olympic title. She hasn’t competed since helping the U.S. win team gold at the 2016 Olympics.
The three-time Olympic gold medalist went on an extended sabbatical after the Rio de Janeiro Games but returned to training in 2022 and announced last summer she would try to make the 2024 Olympic team.
“I never announced a retirement,” Douglas told NBC. “I didn’t want to end this sport like I did in 2016. I wanted to take a step back and work on myself and my mental state.”
Douglas joins a crowded and decorated field hoping to make the five-woman Olympic squad, including Olympic champions Simone Biles (2016) and Sunisa Lee (2020). Biles returned to competition last summer after a two-year break and won her record sixth world all-around title last fall.
Douglas said she is “definitely” aiming for Paris but added she is taking things one day at a time.
The Winter Cup is the first significant U.S. meet of the year, with the Games looming in late July. Douglas has shared part of her journey on her social media channels, including an extended glimpse of her work on the uneven bars, historically her strongest event.
“I honestly love going to the gym and getting my skills back,” Douglas said. “It is very exciting.”
BOSTON — A ruling that gives the Dartmouth basketball team the right to unionize has far-reaching implications for all of college sports — from the quaint, academically oriented Ivy League to the big-money factories like Michigan and Alabama.
But it’s not time to cut down the nets just yet.
Although Monday’s ruling by a National Labor Relations Board official put the players on the path toward a union, they have a long way to go — years, maybe — before they would be able to sit down with the school and negotiate a collective bargaining agreement.
Dartmouth has said it will appeal the regional official’s decision to the full NRLB; another loss for the school there could send the case into the federal courts, where an outcome is unlikely before most of the current players have picked up their diplomas and moved on to jobs that are unlikely to include professional athlete.
Only then would the two sides sit down and decide what the players are worth.
And others will be watching.
“We are excited to see how this decision will impact college sports nationwide,” Dartmouth players Cade Haskins and Romeo Myrthil said in a statement on Monday after NLRB Regional Director Laura Sacks agreed that they are employees of the school. “We believe that other athletes will recognize the opportunities this ruling presents and will be inspired to follow suit.”
Here is a look at what happened — and what’s next — in the fight for college athlete rights:
HOW DID WE GET HERE?
The NCAA has long maintained that college players are “student-athletes” — a term designed to perpetrate the pretense that education comes first. But in Power 5 leagues like the Big Ten and Southeastern Conference, is a billion-dollar business that looks more like the NFL than the glee club or other extracurricular activities on campus.
The amateur model is under attack on several fronts, including a 2021 Supreme Court ruling that opened the door for athletes to be paid; in response, the NCAA loosened rules to allow players to profit from their celebrity. The NCAA is also facing at least six antitrust lawsuits, including one brought last week by attorneys general from Tennessee and Virginia that challenges how recruits can be compensated for their name, image and likeness.
In a different NLRB proceeding, football and basketball players at Southern California say they are employees of the school, the Pac-12 Conference in which they play and the NCAA. That hearing resumes later this month.
At Dartmouth and its Ivy League brethren, though, the “student-athlete” paradigm might actually be accurate.
Dartmouth doesn’t give out athletic scholarships, the program loses money — the school claims, though the players dispute that — and athletes are expected to prioritize their academic responsibilities before sports. The school says playing on the basketball team is not a job; it’s like participating in the orchestra or Model United Nations.
But the players argued that the school exerts enough control over them to make them employees, and Sacks agreed.
“Because Dartmouth has the right to control the work performed by the Dartmouth men’s basketball team, and the players perform that work in exchange for compensation, I find that the petitioned-for basketball players are employees,” she wrote.
WHAT’S NEXT?
First, the men’s basketball team will vote on whether to form a union. The outcome of the election does not seem to be in doubt, considering that all 15 members of the team signed the petition last fall asking to join Local 560 of the Service Employees International Union, which already represents some other employees at the school.
But even if the union drive passes, there are other hurdles.
Assuming Dartmouth doesn’t drop its appeal and recognize the union, the matter goes to the full NLRB. In a previous case involving the Northwestern football team, the board overturned the initial ruling ( on a technicality that doesn’t apply here ). That appeal took about 15 months, though the Dartmouth players hope for a quicker ruling because it’s a presidential election year with the possibility that the makeup of the board will flip Republican in January.
Even if the full board affirms Sacks’ decision, the school could turn to the federal courts — a process that could delay the resolution for several years. If the players ultimately win — or if Dartmouth drops its opposition — only then would they be able to negotiate on a collective bargaining agreement.
And all that does is give them the chance to argue they are worth more to the school than free gear and lunch money.
WHAT DO THEY WANT?
The Dartmouth players want to be paid $20 an hour, like the cafeteria workers on campus, with the school paying their health care premiums.
But should they win, the implications are likely to spread throughout college sports.
Other teams on the Hanover, New Hampshire, campus could chose to unionize. And rather than cede to Dartmouth the recruiting edge of a salary and benefits, the rest of the Ivy League could be prompted to accept unions as well. (The other option would be to boot Dartmouth from the Ivy League — which seems an unlikely, and temporary, reprieve.)
And if Dartmouth basketball players are ultimately deemed employees, that makes it much more difficult for schools with big-time sports — where they have even more control over their athletes, and the money at stake is into the billions — to prop up the “student-athlete” model. Those future NFL and NBA stars could make millions more if the NCAA business model ultimately goes away.
While the NLRB’s jurisdiction only extends to private institutions, like the Ivies and some Power 5 athletic programs like Northwestern, Southern California and Notre Dame, it’s likely that pay-for-play at some schools would create a recruiting imbalance and force the public schools to come along, causing the collapse of the NCAA’s amateurism model.
IS THERE ANY WAY OUT?
The NCAA has asked Congress for legislation that will prop up the amateur model and exempt it from antitrust rules that prevent most businesses from working together to cap spending on workers. Dartmouth could also drop its objection and, through the collective bargaining process, determine the free market value of an Ivy League basketball player.
Or, Dartmouth could stop treating the players like employees and downgrade the teams to club status, like the glee club and the other self-funded student organizations that look more like hobbies than jobs.
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Jimmy Golen covers sports and the law for The Associated Press.
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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball
Mike Reiss is an NFL reporter at ESPN and covers the New England Patriots. Reiss has covered the Patriots since 1997 and joined ESPN in 2009. In 2019, he was named Massachusetts Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. You can follow Reiss on Twitter at @MikeReiss.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Longtime NFL offensive assistant Ben McAdoo is being hired by the New England Patriots to work under a revamped staff led by first-year head coach Jerod Mayo and first-year offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, a source confirms.
McAdoo, 46, has a connection with Van Pelt from their time together on the Green Bay Packers‘ staff in the 2012 and 2013 seasons. McAdoo was the quarterbacks coach at the time, working with Aaron Rodgers, while Van Pelt was the team’s running backs coach.
McAdoo’s background in offense, coupled with his experience as a head coach for the New York Giants (2017-18) — albeit a shorter-than-expected stint that led to his firing 12 games into his second season — are viewed as potential assets to Mayo and Van Pelt, according to sources familiar with the team’s decision-making.
His work with quarterbacks could be notable in New England, which owns the No. 3 pick in the NFL draft and could be used on a signal-caller.
Some of McAdoo’s most successful work with quarterbacks came when he was Giants offensive coordinator under head coach Tom Coughlin in 2014, and he was credited with helping quarterback Eli Manning turn things around. Manning had thrown an NFL-high 27 interceptions the prior season, but under McAdoo, Manning threw 30 touchdowns and 14 interceptions in 2014 and then 35 touchdowns and 14 interceptions in 2015. McAdoo had benched Manning in 2017, a decision that contributed to the Giants’ decision to move on from him as head coach despite having qualified for the playoffs in his first season in charge.
Former Celtic striker Chris Sutton says there has been a clear momentum shift since Philippe Clement has arrived at Rangers and admits his old club must respond to it.
Our betting experts Erin Dolan, Eric Moody, Liz Loza, Daniel Dopp, Tyler Fulghum, Seth Walder, Kevin Pulsifer and Aaron Schatz explain the QB props they like most, and Mackenzie Kraemer provides his top QB prop betting nuggets.
Odds by ESPN BET
What are you expecting from Patrick Mahomes, and is there a prop you like?
Schatz: I can talk you into the Mahomes interception prop either way. During the regular season, Mahomes had 14 interceptions in 16 games (he sat out the season finale). That’s almost one per game, making over 0.5 interceptions a good bet. San Francisco’s defense had a league-leading 22 interceptions in the regular season, making that an even better bet. However, Mahomes hasn’t thrown a pick in the playoffs. According to FTN Data, Mahomes hasn’t even had an interception-worthy throw in three postseason games, so you can go either way depending on what you believe. If you believe in the larger sample size, go with Mahomes over 0.5 interceptions. If you believe in Mahomes’ playoff magic, go with Mahomes under 0.5 interceptions.
Dolan: Mahomes OVER 4.5 rushing attempts. Mahomes is a guy that will take matters into his own hands, as seen so far this postseason. He ran the ball six times in each of the past two games against the Ravens and Bills, averaging 4.7 carries. I’d play his rushing attempts rather than rushing yards prop at 26.5 given that the 49ers have been successful at stopping the run this season. Mahomes’ skill players have not looked the way they have in seasons past, and I expect this offense to lean on the run game. Mahomes will have to use his legs.
Moody: Mahomes OVER 36.5 pass attempts. Mahomes and coach Andy Reid have relied heavily on the passing game this season, and I expect that trend to continue against the 49ers. Mahomes has surpassed this line in 12 of 19 games this season. This also includes postseason games against the Miami Dolphins and Baltimore Ravens. This line has been exceeded by Mahomes in two of the three Super Bowls he has played in. In this year’s postseason, he has a passer rating of 100.7 with 718 yards and four touchdowns, so there’s no reason to shy away from the passing game now.
Loza: Mahomes UNDER 25.5 pass completions. Mahomes averaged 23.5 completions over the regular season, and he’s been under this number in two of his three postseason performances. While the 49ers have been more vulnerable via the pass than on the ground, San Francisco’s run defense has been leaky over the postseason, allowing over 130 rushing yards in back-to-back playoff efforts. I expect the Chiefs to take advantage of this recent development. Even if Mahomes airs it out, hitting the over on 36.5 pass attempts (as Moody notes above), he’s still unlikely to record 26 or more completions, as he’s managed a 69% completion percentage during the playoffs (and the 49ers have allowed a completion percentage of 66% over the regular season while also holding both Jordan Love and Jared Goff under the above line).
Walder: Mahomes OVER 26.5 rushing yards (-110). I’m thinking along the same lines as Erin here, but I’m opting for the yardage because Mahomes is so efficient as a scrambler that he could go over this line in just a couple of carries. I want to stress: I have no model — this is a pure gut-feel recommendation — but Mahomes ranked 17th in QBR on plays when he actually passes the ball. One reason why the Chiefs are where they are is on other plays — sacks and scrambles — Mahomes ranks second. With a championship on the line, I would think he recognizes how valuable his legs can be in this game and makes the most of it.
Fulghum: I believe in Mahomes’ playoff magic that Schatz mentioned above, so I’ll go with Mahomes UNDER 0.5 INT (-115). Mahomes has thrown just 7 interceptions in his playoff career in 626 attempts (1.1%). He hasn’t thrown an INT in the playoffs since the Chiefs lost to the Bengals in the 2021 AFC Championship Game. I trust Mahomes to take care of the football in this matchup.
What are you expecting from Brock Purdy, and is there a prop you like?
Schatz: I’m going to go a different direction with a rushing prop instead of a passing prop for Purdy. He had double-digit rushing yards only four times in 16 regular-season games (he sat out the season finale), but his ability to escape the pocket is a big part of what makes him better than the 49ers quarterbacks who came before him, and he’s rushed for double-digit yardage in both playoff games. Meanwhile, the Chiefs defense has allowed over 50 yards to opposing quarterbacks in back-to-back games and gave up 20.1 rushing yards per game to quarterbacks during the regular season. The Chiefs ranked sixth in pressure rate from Week 10 through the playoffs. More pressure means more leaving the pocket, so I like Purdy over 12.5 rushing yards.
Moody: Purdy UNDER 21.5 passing completions. During Super Bowl LI against the New England Patriots when Kyle Shanahan was the coach of the Atlanta Falcons, and in Super Bowl LIV against the Chiefs when he was with San Francisco, Shanahan’s playcalling was criticized because he abandoned the running game in both. I don’t believe history will repeat itself. Christian McCaffrey will be heavily relied upon against the Chiefs to better position Purdy for success. Purdy has gone under 21.5 completions in eight of his last 10 games. The Chiefs defense could also be a problem for him.
Dopp: Purdy OVER 0.5 interceptions. While Purdy has been an amazing story, leading the 49ers to a Super Bowl in his second season, he’s had some throwing inconsistencies the last couple of weeks that make me feel a little more confident in this INT prop. First, there’s the eye test. He’s looked off at times against both the Packers and Lions in the playoffs. In those two games, he had 17 off-target passes, the most over a two-game stretch this year (10 vs. Packers, 7 vs. Lions). The Lions took advantage of that. They picked off one pass and should’ve had a second from Kindle Vildor… but please don’t remind me. Purdy hasn’t been 100% locked in from an accuracy or decision-making standpoint. He has left some plays on the field, and I think we see it again against the Chiefs.
Walder: Purdy UNDER 0.5 interceptions (-120). Dopp and I are at odds (pun intended!) here. I show an ever-so-slight amount of value on the under at this price, making the fair price -125. I’m probably holding out for a slightly better price given how close I am to the market. But the fact is the 49ers are favored — even if narrowly — and that helps the under. Quarterbacks that are ahead on the scoreboard are less likely to throw picks.
Fulghum: Purdy UNDER 1.5 pass TD (+100). The Kansas City Chiefs have played 20 games this year and only four quarterbacks have thrown two or more in a single game against them. Care to guess? You never would have gotten this right, but those four QBs are: Zach Wilson, Kirk Cousins, Russell Wilson and Love. Most of the touchdown equity in this offense resides at running back with McCaffrey.
Pulsifer: Purdy UNDER 31.5 pass attempts (-115). If I can find a prop that works regardless of game script, I’m all-in. The Chiefs have been easier to run against this season, and both teams like to play a style of ball control offense that limits opponent plays. I expect the game to start slowly, and while I don’t expect Purdy to struggle mightily, I do think Shanahan will look to call a balanced game. In 18 games this season, Purdy only hit the over on this line 3 times (and one was only 32 attempts). When they win, they’re uber-efficient. But even in the four 49ers losses, Purdy only hit 27, 30, 31 and 32 attempts (an average of 30).
Top QB prop betting nuggets
1. Mahomes has gone under his passing yards prop in 13 of 19 games this season.
2. Mahomes has gone under 1.5 passing touchdowns in six of his last eight starts, all at plus money. The 49ers have held 12 of 19 opposing quarterbacks under 1.5 passing touchdowns.
3. Purdy has gone under his passing yards prop in each of his last five games. He had gone over the number in nine of his first 13 starts.
4. Purdy’s rushing prop is 12.5 after never being higher than 8.5 all season. He rushed for 14 yards against the Packers (over 6.5) and 48 yards against the Lions (over 7.5).
5. Out of 19 starting quarterbacks to have posted passing yards props against the Chiefs, only four went over the number.
Adam Gorney checks in with Death Valley Insider recruiting analyst Kenny Van Doren to discuss LSU’s recruiting class ahead of the Late Signing Period, including whether the Tigers can land athlete Terry Bussey.
Adam Friedman joined Rivals.com as the East Coast Recruiting Analyst in 2012 and covers D1 CFB recruits from SC to Maine & out to PA & WV. Media requests- RivalsFriedman@gmail.com
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Ohm Youngmisuk has covered the Giants, Jets and the NFL since 2006. Prior to that, he covered the Nets, Knicks and the NBA for nearly a decade. He joined ESPNNewYork.com after working at the New York Daily News for almost 12 years and is a graduate of Michigan State University.
Russell Westbrook felt a mix of emotions when he got the call from his agent last February.
Jeff Schwartz relayed the news that can completely turn a player’s life upside down: a midseason trade. But in Westbrook’s case, the news that the Los Angeles Lakers were trading the 2016-17 MVP to the Utah Jazz in a three-team deal came as a welcome reset.
“I was so ready to play [for a new team] based on the situation I was in and how it ended,” Westbrook told ESPN about that deal on Feb. 9, 2023, the third time he had been traded in his 15-year career.
Westbrook took his share of criticism for things not working out with the Lakers alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis. He was ready for a fresh start and said he was initially prepared to report to Utah. But Schwartz and the Jazz began working on a buyout over the remaining $47 million on Westbrook’s final year of his deal.
“A lot of different emotions. But happy for sure. There just was so much going on at that time,” Westbrook said.
At first, Westbrook enjoyed rare time at home with his kids, dropping them off at school. But as the buyout and search for a new team dragged on, a restless Westbrook flew to Las Vegas. He worked out with his trainer three times a day during a four-day minicamp.
“Just to clear my mind,” Westbrook said. “It was more like a mental release. … Getting ready because my road can be different here, anywhere.”
After agreeing to the buyout with the Jazz, Westbrook found a new team without having to move, signing with the LA Clippers on Feb. 22.
“I felt like the joy [was] back [of] having fun playing again,” Westbrook said of joining the Clippers.
The majority of players traded by the midseason deadline, which is Thursday at 3 p.m. ET, aren’t as fortunate as Westbrook when deals happen. Even if they are the center of trade rumors for weeks, there’s often no time to digest the sudden shift.
Players typically have a day or two to report to their new team, pass a physical and try to figure out how to move their families, pets, cars, sneakers, or — for those traded to the Toronto Raptors — acquire a work visa.
Many end up spending the remainder of the season living in a hotel, turning their luxury rooms into storage units. And then there’s the basketball side of learning a new playbook and new teammates.
“People think that we [have control],” Westbrook said of players dictating where they are going to, “but we definitely don’t.”
Bruce Brown was working out in a Sacramento hotel at noon on Jan. 17 when he was informed he had been traded from the Indiana Pacers to the Raptors.
Eight hours later, he was on a plane flying back to Indiana, where he packed as much as he could, including his passport, for Canada. Unfortunately, he didn’t have room for some of his favorite items: his cowboy hats.
Brown thought he might have found a new home when he signed a two-year, $45 million deal with the Pacers last June after winning the NBA title with the Denver Nuggets. But here he was, on the move again just six months later to join his fifth team in as many seasons.
“You got to get up and go,” Brown told ESPN. “Since I’m going to Toronto … I had to get a Canadian work visa. The Raptors were great. As soon as I got in, they already had everything set up for me.”
Brown stuffed three pairs of shoes, the Birkenstocks he wears daily and as much warm clothing as he could into two suitcases. Two weeks later, a friend brought three of the more than 20 cowboy hats Brown owns to Toronto.
For RJ Barrett, one of Brown’s new teammates, Toronto is home. Barrett, who was born and raised in the area, packed two bags after being traded by the New York Knicks to the Raptors on Dec. 30.
“It was just a confusing day — emotionally, obviously,” Barrett told ESPN. “I was happy coming here, but then definitely felt a little weird being traded from a place that I had been for 4½ years. So it was mixed emotions.”
Barrett grabbed another suitcase when he returned to New York for a Raptors game against the Knicks on Jan. 20. And because Toronto is less than an eight-hour drive from New York, Barrett’s family drove his car and his four French bulldogs to him.
“Being comfortable with the places you’re at helps a lot,” Barrett said. “It eliminates a lot of things that you think or don’t think about.”
Brown found another way to make Toronto feel more personal. The guard acquired his favorite No. 11 from Jontay Porter, one of the team’s two-way players, for $10,000 — a small price to pay as that number was retired for Isiah Thomas when he was with the Detroit Pistons and was worn by Kyrie Irving when Brown was with the Brooklyn Nets.
“That number means a lot to me,” Brown said. “So whenever I get a chance to wear it, I’ll do what I got to do to get it.”
Brown knows it’s possible he could be switching jerseys again before Thursday’s deadline, even though he said Raptors president Masai Ujiri has told him he wants him to remain a Raptor.
“Obviously, if [the Raptors] get a crazy deal for me,” Brown said, “then I’m sure the way they’re [rebuilding], he’ll probably take it.
“I’ve been on four teams in three years. The people that you see and talk to every day, it sucks [leaving]. [But the Pacers] were nothing but great to me. They gave me a big opportunity to change my life. I’m very grateful. So I’m not mad at them.”
After his trade from the Jazz to the Minnesota Timberwolves as part of the Westbrook deal last February, point guard Mike Conley showed his children on a map where he would be playing basketball and that “Daddy’s going to go out of town again but this time for a while on a different team.”
“It’s a real shock to the system,” Conley told ESPN. “We’re all routine-based as humans, and you just get used to being in the same places and seeing your kids after school, picking them up, and then out of nowhere somebody calls you [to say] ‘Hey, you are going 2,000 miles over here.’”
The veteran guard moved into the Four Seasons in Minneapolis for the remainder of the 2022-23 season. He crammed six bags and as many boxes as he could into the hotel room.
“You had to really kind of get skinny to get through the door,” Conley said. “There was no place to put food. It was just crazy. …
“It’s like you’re playing [home] games, [but] you’re still on the road.”
Josh Hart was informed on the floor during team warmups 20 minutes before a game on Feb. 8, 2023, that the Portland Trail Blazers were trading him to the Knicks, the second straight season in which he was dealt near the deadline. But this was the first time with a wife carrying twins.
“Last year was a little bit more difficult,” Hart told ESPN. “Just because my wife was 20-something weeks pregnant with twins. So trying to figure out where we’re staying, trying to figure out what OB-GYN she’s going to. I got dogs, how to get my dogs there. So it’s just a bunch of stuff.”
Fortunately for Hart, his wife, Shannon, delivered two healthy babies, Hendrix and Haze, last May. On Aug. 17, Hart signed a four-year, $81 million extension — meaning he can’t be traded within six months of the new deal’s date.
“Almost every year my name’s been in the trade talks,” said Hart, who has been traded four times, including on draft night in 2017. “This is the first trade deadline I’m just kind of vibing, relaxing.”
Norman Powell thought he’d be doing the same in February 2022. After signing a five-year, $90 million deal with the Trail Blazers in the previous offseason, Powell figured it was safe to buy a house in Portland.
Three weeks in his new home and the day after his furniture was delivered, Powell was sent to the Clippers — the second straight year he’d been traded at midseason.
During the 2020-21 season, Powell was with the Raptors when they relocated to Tampa due to COVID-19 restrictions. Renting a home from Major League Baseball player Josh Donaldson, Powell was initially assured by his agent he wouldn’t be traded — only to end up in Portland.
“It’s just surrealism,” Powell told ESPN. “You don’t think it’s real, and then it’s a mix of emotions of the unknown. What’s next? You’re kind of scared.
“You start thinking what it’s going to be like at the other team. Why? Is there something that you could have done differently?”
When he arrived in Los Angeles after the second trade, he was set up in an executive suite at a Ritz-Carlton, where he lived out of six suitcases. He had his shoes laid out in front of the couch, the hotel closet overflowing with clothes.
“If you do dry cleaning and things like that, it’s so expensive,” Powell said. “So I was doing that for a whole two months, going to the laundromat, washing your clothes, eating out a lot, trying to find a meal service so you’re not eating room service or fast food.”
Unfortunately for Powell, his experience living at the Ritz proved costlier after an incident with the hotel valet.
“They crashed my Porsche Taycan,” Powell said. “So going through all that, it was like a little whirlwind of events. It’s crazy.”
Sometimes news of being traded isn’t enough for a player to stop playing a video game. Devonte’ Graham was playing “Call of Duty” when he was moved before last year’s Feb. 9 deadline. With an hour to go before the deadline, Graham’s agent told him he didn’t think there would be any trades involving the point guard.
But with 15 minutes left, the New Orleans Pelicans sent him to the San Antonio Spurs. Graham wasn’t fazed. In fact, he kept playing the video game until his girlfriend asked if he needed to get ready to join his new team.
“Once I realized it was 2:45 [p.m.] and got a call saying, you got to be on a flight at 6 and meet us in Detroit,” Graham said. “And you’re coming into a whole different team, new coaches, you got to relearn everybody again and come into a new system. It could be overwhelming.”
P.J. Tucker woke up to a flurry of text messages from friends around 3 a.m. on Oct. 31, 2023, saying he was traded from the Philadelphia 76ers to the Clippers.
Since then, he has fallen out of the rotation and has played in just 12 games. He’s been a mentor to the younger players but wants to play — telling ESPN that he is “actively trying to get traded.”
If Tucker does move on, the Clippers’ equipment crew will have to assist the NBA’s sneaker king in transporting more than 250 pairs to yet another location.
“P.J.’s kind of like an anomaly,” Max Reza, the Clippers’ executive director of team operations, told ESPN. “When we traded for Bones [Hyland] last year, he had 10 pairs [shipped from Denver]. I would say on average you’re transporting about 20.”
Reza’s counterparts in Philadelphia packed Tucker’s game shoes into a dozen of the largest boxes they could find. When they arrived two days after the trade, Reza and his staff “were dizzy” packing each pair into individual shoeboxes and organizing them in their equipment room.
They labeled and arranged the shoes by models — including Kobes, KDs, LeBrons, Kyries and G.T. among other lines — on four bays of industrial shelving.
“It’s like we opened up a Foot Locker from scratch,” said Reza, who has been with the Clippers for 13 years. “It was the craziest amount of shoes that I’ve ever inherited.
“It’s been fun seeing all the PEs [player exclusives], all the one-of-ones he has, all the special editions that only a handful of people in the world have.”
Those shoes don’t even include the enormous inventory of sneakers Tucker wears walking into the arena on game day, a treasure trove split between homes in Houston and Philadelphia. For those, Tucker FaceTimes with his assistant — who will be at one of his houses — to see which sneakers are next to ship or bring to Los Angeles.
Tucker recently had “a bunch of my old Kobes that I wanted, that I kind of forgot were there” sent from Houston.
He added it was “impossible” to bring all of his shoes, but he managed to pack an additional 100 pairs with him onto the private jet to L.A. from Philadelphia after the trade.
Wherever his shoes may end up should he be dealt again, Tucker said he never gets used to being traded.
“You change your life at a drop of a dime,” Tucker said. “Where you live, especially when it’s cross country, ain’t nothing like it. If you’ve never experienced it or went through it, you’d never understand it. Your kids are changing schools.
“Your whole entire life changes. In 24 hours, you are playing for another team in another city. Getting all your stuff, uprooting your entire life.”
With additional reporting from ESPN writers Andrew Lopez and Tim MacMahon.
BARCELONA, Spain — After being escorted in handcuffs into the Barcelona courtroom, Dani Alves sat in silence and listened to a stream of witnesses give testimony during the second day of his sexual assault trial on Tuesday.
Alves is accused of sexually assaulting a woman in the bathroom of an upscale Barcelona nightclub early in the morning of Dec. 31, 2022.
He has denied any wrongdoing.
State prosecutors are seeking a nine-year prison sentence for Alves if convicted while the lawyers representing his accuser want 12 years.
His accuser testified on Monday, the start of the three-day trial, behind closed doors on order of the court. State prosecutors asked for the court to take extra measures to protect her identity after a video circulated on social media last month that allegedly identified the woman.
In testimony previously given to state prosecutors last year, the woman said she met Alves in a VIP area of the Sutton nightclub after midnight where she had gone with a friend and a cousin. She said she accompanied Alves into a private bathroom where he allegedly slapped her, used insulting language and raped her.
Alves has said the encounter was consented by her.
The woman’s friend and cousin testified on Monday that when they saw her after she exited the bathroom she was distraught and told them Alves “hurt her badly” by forcing her to have intercourse without her consent.
On Tuesday, police officers who attended to the alleged victim testified she was greatly shaken and told them she had been sexually assaulted by Alves. The officers said she had to overcome her fears that “nobody would believe her” before she formally denounced Alves.
One officer said the woman told him “I don’t want money, I want justice.”
The nightclub manager, who activated a sexual assault protocol by counseling the woman and calling police, said she told him she entered the bathroom with Alves “voluntarily but later she wanted to leave and he would not let her.”
Alves’ friend, who was also an employee of the Mexican soccer club Pumas where Alves was playing, also testified. The friend, who accompanied Alves that night, said Alves drank wine and whiskey before going to the nightclub. According to his friend, Alves and the alleged victim danced together and showed “chemistry” before going into the bathroom. He said he hadn’t noticed anything wrong with the woman afterward.
Alves’ wife, Joana Sanz, told the court that Alves was “smelling of alcohol” when he arrived to their home outside Barcelona early in the morning. Sanz, Alves’ wife since 2017, said that she has not legally requested a divorce, after having said that she wanted one after the scandal broke.
Alves will have his turn to speak to the three-judge panel on Wednesday.
The 40-year-old Alves has been in pre-trial jail since being detained on Jan. 20, 2023. His requests for bail were denied because the court considered him a flight risk, despite his offer to hand over his passport and wear a tracking device. Brazil does not extradite its own citizens when they are sentenced in other countries.
Alves modified his defense several times during the investigative phase while in custody.
At first, he denied having ever seen the woman when he went dancing on the night in question. Upon his arrest, he then denied any sexual contact with her, only to later admit to a sexual encounter that he said was consented to by the woman. He said he had been trying to save his marriage by not admitting to the sexual encounter initially.
Alves has been ordered to set aside 150,000 euros ($162,000) to pay his alleged victim if he is found guilty and ordered to pay damages.
This is the first high-profile sex crime trial since Spain overhauled its legislation in 2022 to make consent, or the lack thereof, central to defining a sex crime in response to an upswell of protests after a gang-rape case during the San Fermin bull-running festival in Pamplona in 2016. The legislation popularly known as the “only yes means yes” law defines consent as an explicit expression of a person’s will, making it clear that silence or passivity do not equal consent.
Under the law, the crime of sexual assault takes in a wide array of crimes from online abuse and groping to rape, each with different punishments. Rape can carry a maximum sentence of 15 years.
On arriving at the courtroom under police escort, Alves shrugged his shoulders when asked by reporters if he thought he would be found innocent.
Alves won major titles with elite clubs including Barcelona, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain. He also helped Brazil win two Copa Americas and an Olympic gold medal at age 38. He played at his third World Cup, the only major title he’s not won, in 2022.
Alves’ contract with Pumas was terminated immediately after his arrest.
Olly Murphy feels Go Dante is capable of reaching his anticipated heights ahead of the Betfair Hurdle at Newbury on Saturday.
A wide-margin winner of his bumper and on his hurdling debut, the eight-year-old struggled to back up his early promise subsequently.
Sixth in the Greatwood on his seasonal return, he won a competitive handicap back at Cheltenham beating Doddiethegreat, who he is likely to meet again, and Murphy is happy with what he is seeing at home.
With Sean Bowen cleared for a return to action, he will take the ride.
“He’s got a good each-way chance. He galloped very well this morning. Sean’s going to give him a pop in the morning,” said Murphy.
“He looks like he’s going there on an upward curve and hopefully he’s got a few pounds to play with, but he will need them in a race like the Betfair Hurdle.
“His form from Cheltenham has worked out well, the horse of Paul Nicholls’ (Panjari) won well at the weekend, so I’m looking forward to running him and having a good go at a real good pot.
“He’s eight now, he’s strengthened up but most importantly I’ve had a really clear run with him this year. In the past, it’s been a bit stop-start with him for one reason or another, but he’s been an easy horse to train this season and long may that last. Hopefully, he won’t be running off a mark of 129 come the end of the season.
“Sean’s going to Newbury on Saturday and he will ride him.”
Image: Tellherthename has leading claims for trainer Ben Pauling
Ben Pauling’s novice Tellherthename is another with leading claims but Pauling stressed he would not be keen on running him if plenty of rain falls.
“We’ll keep an eye on the ground as we wouldn’t want to bottom him out too close to Cheltenham, but he is a very unexposed horse that we think a huge amount of and he’s in the form I could only wish to have him in, so I’m looking forward to seeing how he gets on,” said Pauling.
“I put him in at Exeter (on Sunday), just in case the ground was better there. I can’t see him running there rather than Newbury, but it was just worth covering my tracks really.”
Watch all the action from Newbury live on Sky Sports Racing.
We’ve almost made it to the end of the line. One final game in this NFL season, one final opportunity for Man and Machine to square off in the player prop battle for supremacy.
It has been a grueling match for months. The ruthless, cold and never-ending efficiency of the Machine. The indomitable and inevitable human spirit of Man.
Both could probably use a break … but not before one last battle between the lines of Super Bowl LVIII! Machine won the coin toss (tails never fails), so tee the rock and kick us off!
Mike: It’s been fun, my friend. Wait, can I call you a friend now? I may be a machine, but machines can have feelings. Those feelings were on display last weekend when my Nick Bosa over 0.5 assist prop recommendation hit … and then was overturned when the tackle was changed to a solo. You hate to see it, but at least Bosa over 2.5 total tackles hit. And that’s notable because I’m going right back to the well with Bosa over 2.5 total tackles (-170)! The vig is uninspiring, but after hitting the over last week, Bosa has hit the three mark in 13 of 18 full games, including 12 of his past 14. He’s averaging 3.2 total tackles per game on the season and his playing time is up during the playoffs (from 81% to 95%), which only adds tackle opportunities. Bosa shouldn’t struggle to hit the over … and don’t be afraid to go back to the well and also bet the over 0.5 assists.
Tyler: Yes, Machine, you can call me friend. If anything this year, I think Man and Machine learned not to work against each other, but against the sportsbooks on behalf of our friends and family trying to make a buck. My first Super Bowl prop in regard to that pursuit will be Patrick Mahomes OVER 1.5 pass TD (-132). Not only do I like the Chiefs plus the points in this game, I think they can win it outright. However, they’ll need to score more than the 17 points that took down the AFC title game. Mahomes can and will accomplish that. Andy Reid has an extra week to prepare. Travis Kelce is playing his best ball of the season. I trust Mahomes to lead his team to 20+ points. He’s thrown for 2+ TDs in 12 of 17 career playoff starts, including two of three Super Bowls. The 49ers’ defense has not looked at all imposing against Jordan Love or Jared Goff and now they face the ultimate Final Boss test. OK, friendly Machine, let’s hear that final prop play of the year.
Mike: OK, you covered the Chiefs’ passing game, so I’ll take a look at the K.C. run game with my second play. I’m rolling with Isiah Pacheco under 16.5 rush attempts (-105). Pacheco has accrued 17-plus carries in only six of his 17 games. He averaged 14.6 carries per game during the regular season, though he’s posted totals of 24, 15 and 24 during three playoff games. The two 24 games came in comfortable wins over the Dolphins and Ravens (they ran zero offensive snaps while trailing in those two games) and the 15 in a close win over the Bills (they trailed on 79% of snaps in that game). Game script splits are notable here as the Super Bowl is likely to be a competitive game. In fact, the 49ers have led on 55% of their snaps this season, which trails only the Ravens for highest. Speaking of the Niners, their defense has faced only 16.5 RB carries per game this season. That includes a league-low 15.6 per game during the regular season. No RB has reached 19 carries against them in a game and only two reached 17 (Aaron Jones has 18 in the divisional round and Jerome Ford had 17 in Week 16). That’s a wrap for me this season. Bring us home, Man!
Tyler: All right, Machine, I started with Mahomes and I’ll end it with the other QB: Brock Purdy UNDER 1.5 pass TD (+105). Steve Spagnuolo’s defense is garnering a lot of attention, for good reason. The Chiefs have been stifling opposing passing games all season. I know Purdy has performed well and has a bevy of playmakers around him who can turn any short pass into an explosive play, but I trust this Chiefs’ defense in this spot. Kansas City has played 20 football games and only four opposing QBs have reached 2+ passing TDs in a single game: Zach Wilson, Russell Wilson, Kirk Cousins and Jordan Love. Not only is it a difficult matchup, but I’m not sure the 49ers’ best gameplan is to attack the Chiefs through the air. Kyle Shanahan would be wise to develop a game plan that features a lot Christian McCaffrey and even Deebo Samuel in the run game.
Good luck for the Big Game, everyone. We hope we’ve helped you in our yearlong battle against each other where it turns out Man and Machine can coexist after all. We’ll see you again in September.
With Wednesday’s signing day basically a wrap for the 2024 class, Rivals national recruiting director Adam Gorney turns his attention to the recruitment of the top 2025 QBs in the Rivals250, as eight of the top-10 pro-style quarterbacks in the 2025 class are already committed but many are still hearing from other schools.
This could end up being the most interesting recruitment of the 2025 class. The five-star quarterback made an early commitment to USC and he’s still locked in with playing for coach Lincoln Riley.
But Georgia coach Kirby Smart has made it a top priority to flip the Carrollton, Ga., standout to the Bulldogs. Lewis has taken multiple visits to Athens, including this past weekend when Smart sat next to him at the basketball game.
The five-star will contend for No. 1 overall ranking in the 2025 class, and Underwood basically committed to LSU over Michigan. He had taken numerous visits to Baton Rouge, loved the offense under Jayden Daniels, has a great relationship with coach Brian Kelly, position coach Joe Sloan and others, and wanted a pass-first offense. There are no signs that Underwood is looking anywhere else.
The four-star QB from Saraland, Ala., committed to Texas in June during his second visit to Austin and well before the Longhorns made a run to the College Football Playoff. Lacey remained locked in despite former coach Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide trying to get him to flip to Alabama.
Five-star teammate Ryan Williams is going to Tuscaloosa and Alabama won’t stop, but Lacey has shown no serious signs of flipping yet.
Alabama, LSU and Tennessee were the favorites for MacIntyre and after Underwood committed to the Tigers and the coaching change in Tuscaloosa, Tennessee became the team left standing. That’s not to say the Volunteers weren’t a serious option all along, especially as MacIntyre has loved coach Josh Heupel’s offense so it would be a surprise if flip candidates emerged.
The four-star lefty committed to Notre Dame in September but then transferred back to Lucedale (Miss.) George County from Nashville (Tenn.) Lipscomb Academy. Ole Miss and Mississippi State will not stop trying to flip Knight since he’s an in-state kid and very talented, but there are some concerns about only completing 50 percent of his passes upon returning to his old high school.
There is significant news to watch around new offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien possibly leaving Columbus before he could unpack for the Boston College head coaching job but it shouldn’t impact St. Clair, who always wanted to play for the Buckeyes and will now get his opportunity.
Yes, Michigan missed on five-star Bryce Underwood but Smith is a phenomenal pickup for the Wolverines and has exceptional dual-threat capabilities that should work well in new coach Sherrone Moore’s offense.
The Fort Myers (Fla.) Bishop Verot standout threw for 2,223 yards with 29 touchdowns and four picks last season, and also ran for 715 yards and 19 touchdowns. Just another weapon for Michigan to utilize.
After struggling in the season opener against a devastating Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei defense that pressured him every play, Longstreet rebounded and had a phenomenal junior season in which he threw for 3,013 yards with 24 touchdowns and six interceptions, and also ran for 645 yards and seven scores.
His recruitment is still a little murky but he was at Texas A&M over the weekend and the reports were positive.
*****
His father played at Oregon before being a first-round pick. And now Smith is following the same path, transferring to San Diego (Calif.) Lincoln (his dad’s alma mater) as the four-star is already a Ducks commitment. It would be a shock to see him anywhere else.
Early on it looked like Notre Dame was the front-runner for Bachmeier but after the Irish took Deuce Knight, the four-star from Murrieta (Calif.) Murrieta Valley reset his recruitment and Stanford emerged as a main contender.
His brother, Tiger, plays for the Cardinal and they were a devastating duo in high school. Coach Troy Taylor wants to throw the ball and he found his future in doing just that when Bachmeier committed to Stanford on Monday.
Quarterbacks come off the board early but it wouldn’t be surprising if Hill took this a little longer because the Warner Robins (Ga.) Houston County four-star wants his second pledge to be his last.
*****
Early on, Washington was the main contender for Iamaleava mainly because he liked that staff and the Huskies were showing him the most interest. But that staff is now gone to Alabama and Iamaleava’s recruitment has taken off following a blowout junior season. The race is wide open for him at this point.
*****
The Kernersville (N.C.) East Forsyth four-star quarterback committed to North Carolina in the summer before his junior season. No signs have emerged that he’s looking at others.
Florida and South Carolina are the two front-runners for Montgomery right now but this week Georgia is supposed to lay out its plans for the four-star from Findlay, Ohio. If the Bulldogs slow play Montgomery, then the Gators and Gamecocks will battle it out. If Georgia comes in hard then it’s a legit three-team race.
*****
The four-star quarterback from Jacksonville (Fla.) Mandarin committed to Florida State on April 1 prior to his junior season. He’s been recruiting for the Seminoles and looks to be totally locked in, especially after coach Mike Norvell returned and didn’t pursue the Alabama job.
Penn State, Maryland and Virginia Tech are the three early standouts for Washington and it’s still in the opening stages since the Severn (Md.) Archbishop Spalding four-star hasn’t taken many visits or thrown for coaches. After he’s done focusing on hoops, recruiting should take first priority and while his top teams might not change, many more could come in.
*****
The four-star quarterback from Midwest City (Okla.) Carl Albert committed to Oklahoma in March before his junior season and has basically shut down his recruitment. Some photos over the weekend show Sperry and coach Brent Venables having a great time. He’s locked in.
Taylor committed to Mississippi State under the old regime when the offense was struggling but his pledge only got stronger once new coach Jeff Lebby was hired and the two had a chance to talk. The Macon (Miss.) Noxubee County four-star quarterback loves the vision of Lebby and how he could be molded in the offense so unless the Bulldogs’ offense completely tanks, Taylor should be good.
Only a couple weeks after Clemson started offering juniors, Hebert committed and didn’t seem to be interested in playing the recruiting game. The four-star quarterback from Lawrence (Mass.) Central Catholic also had Notre Dame, Penn State and a bunch of SEC programs involved but Hebert found his place at Clemson and didn’t look back.
The four-star quarterback from Laguna Beach, Calif., was all set with an early Washington commitment but when coach Kalen DeBoer left to take the Alabama job, Kollock reopened his recruitment and is starting over.
Minnesota, Cal, Oregon State and others jumped on the four-star quickly and in recent weeks Baylor, Florida State, Colorado and others have reached out.
*****
Houston and Oklahoma State were two other big offers for the four-star from Columbus, Texas, but 2.5 hours up Highway 77 from his house is Baylor and that’s where he committed in the summer.
The Bears took a three-star quarterback from California in their 2024 class but Schobel has the ability to come in early and get playing time. Because the opportunity is there, unless there is a coaching change, Schobel looks locked in. It will be interesting if Houston tries to flip him.
Hawkins had a big junior season in San Antonio and while four-star Hauss Hejny is coming in (and has a little Max Duggan in him) the four-star has the ability to come in and command early playing time. In coach Sonny Dykes’ offense, Hawkins could be a real weapon.
After he committed to TCU over Baylor, Ole Miss, Texas Tech and others, Hawkins has shown no signs of looking around.
Kritza has been a wild card through his high school career that started in Colorado and then he transferred to a school in California before moving to Miami (Fla.) Central and is now back in Boulder all before his junior season let out.
That leads one to believe that Penn State will need to work to keep the talented but nomadic four-star.
The Orange (Calif.) Lutheran four-star quarterback has not talked much about his recruitment recently since a lot of the teams that he was close with have had coaching changes. It’s still up in the air where his recruitment is headed but visitors this spring should be telling as he gets closer to a decision.
Look for Lionel Messi to play in Wednesday’s friendly in Tokyo with Inter Miami facing Japanese club Vissel Kobe.
And don’t look for another public-relations disaster as happened on Sunday when Argentina‘s World Cup-winning captain sat on the bench for the entire match against a selection of players from the Hong Kong league, angering thousands of fans who demanded refunds.
Teammate Luis Suarez — another big name on the club — also remained on the bench.
Messi, who has rarely spoken to the media in an open setting since moving in July to Inter Miami, showed up Tuesday at a news conference in a five-star Tokyo hotel. He sat alone on a stool on stage, wore a pink warm-up jacket and showed a bit of humility.
He was surely under pressure from local Japanese sponsors, including Vissel Kobe, where his former Barcelona teammate Andres Iniesta became a Japanese crowd favorite before leaving last year.
“The truth is that I feel very good compared to a few days ago,” Messi said, speaking in Spanish. “And depending on how that [training] goes. And if I’m honest, I still don’t know if I will be able to or not. But I feel much better and I really want to be able to do it.”
Messi tried to explain the situation to Hong Kong fans, saying it was impossible for him to play with a groin injury. Some suggested he could have simply trotted around for a few minutes, which might have satisfied fans in a game that is largely meaningless except for its promotional value.
“The truth is that it was bad luck that I couldn’t [play] on the day of the Hong Kong match,” Messi said, adding that the “discomfort continued and it was very difficult for me to play.”
“Unfortunately, in football, things can happen in any game, that we may have an injury,” he added. “It’s a shame because I always want to participate, I want to be there, and even more so when it comes to these games when we travel so far and people are so excited to see our matches.”
Inter Miami’s global tour has been disappointing as the club tries to build a brand using veteran players like Messi and Suarez. Through five games from El Salvador, to Dallas, Saudi Arabia and Hong Kong, Inter Miami has won only once and has been outscored 12-7.
The Asian tour wraps up on Wednesday in Tokyo’s National Stadium, the $1.4 billion venue built for the Tokyo Olympics that were held in 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mark Conrad, who teaches law, ethics and sports business at Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business, reminded fans that a ticket is for a game and does not guarantee a player’s participation.
“While it may be true that many fans purchased tickets with the hope of seeing Messi, the ticket is to watch the match, not a specific player — unless there is a condition that says otherwise,” Conrad told The Associated Press.
“While it is likely true that the pricing and the interest was in large part due to Messi’s participation, his failure to play does not generally constitute a breach of contract.”
Messi said he hoped to visit Hong Kong again — and play this time.
“I hope we can return and we can play another game and I can be present,” he said. “As I do whenever I can. But the truth is that it is a shame that I was not able to participate.”
NEW YORK — Alexis Lafreniere scored 1:53 into overtime and the New York Rangers rallied to beat the Colorado Avalanche 2-1 on Monday night.
Artemi Panarin also scored and Jonathan Quick stopped 31 shots to help the Rangers get their second straight win and their 15th comeback win this season.
Nathan MacKinnon scored for the Avalanche, who had won three straight. Alexandar Georgiev finished with 27 saves against his former team.
In the extra period, Mika Zibanejad dropped the puck to Lafreniere, who then whipped a shot past Georgiev for his 13th goal of the season and third overtime winner of his career.
“Luckily it went in, so that was good,” Lafreniere said. ”That was big win against a really good team. We wanted to play better defense, and I think we did a really good job.”
The Central Division-leading Avalanche, starting a season-high six-game trip, are 11-3-1 in their last 15 games and 5-2-1 in their last eight on the road.
MacKinnon got his team-leading 32nd goal with 1:48 left in the opening period, firing the puck past Quick to give the Avalanche a 1-0 lead.
Cale Makar and Josh Manson had assists on the play, giving Colorado a league-best 155 points from its defensemen. Makar has 305 points in 283 career games, two shy of tying Tyson Barrie as highest-scoring defenseman in franchise history.
MacKinnon has points in 14 straight games and in 33 of his last 34 games overall. The 28-year-old forward is tied with Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov with an NHL-leading 85 points.
After Georgiev frustrated the Rangers for more than 50 minutes, Panarin scored his team-leading 31st at 11:17 of the third to tie it. The Rangers outshot the Avalanche 12-6 in the third period.
“I think they had more jump as the game went on,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. ”We just didn’t do enough to secure the win.”
Both goalies were sharp throughout the tight contest.
Georgiev, who played parts of five seasons for the Rangers as Henrik Lundqvist’s backup, made a sliding pad save on Vincent Trocheck’s one-timer at 3:40 of the third and stopped a point-blank blast from Zibanejad just over eight minutes into the period. He also stopped Adam Fox with 1 second left in regulation.
“I’m trying to see the big picture and those are big points for us,” Georgiev said. ”It’s an awesome building with a great atmosphere. Some good memories here, and I’m trying to make some new ones.”
Quick denied MacKinnon midway through the third to keep it a one-goal game at the time. He also stopped Mikko Rantanen from in front with just under a minute left in regulation.
“They are a great team. A lot of the credit goes to way we played defensively,″ Quick said. ”We kept the majority of their chances to the outside.”
The 38-year-old Quick improved to 11-4-2 as Igor Shesterkin’s backup in his first season with the Rangers. The victory was the 371st of his career.
“He’s given us really quality games,” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said of Quick’s contribution. “Every day he comes to the rink, he’s ready to play. You’re appreciative of everything he does.”
The first-place Rangers were coming off 7-2 win at Ottawa on Jan. 27 before the extended break around the All-Star game.
Rangers captain Jacob Trouba served the second game of a two-game suspension assessed for elbowing Golden Knights forward Pavel Dorofeyev on Jan. 26.
Zach Parise made his Avalanche debut. The 39-year-old forward signed with Colorado on Jan. 26 after playing the previous two seasons for the Islanders.
”Conditioning-wise, I felt way better than I thought I would,” said Parise, who played on a line with Ryan Johansen and Artturi Lehkonen.
With the victory, Laviolette passed Al Arbour for seventh place all-time with his 783rd coaching win.
“It was a really exciting consistent win by our guys,” Laviolette said. “Our guys just stuck with it.”
Caroline Dubois says she did not turn down a fight with Rhiannon Dixon as she sets her sights on one of the major world championships.
Last month the IBF mandated a fight between Dubois and Dixon for their now vacant lightweight world championship, though that contest failed to come to fruition.
Dubois pointed out that she had accepted an offer to fight Dixon and so blamed her for the collapse of their mooted bout.
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Caroline Dubois on her British rival Rhiannon Dixon
“From what we’ve heard of her team is that she never wanted to fight,” Dubois insisted. “I was shocked when the offer came out and we accepted it so fast.
“I want to reiterate and let you guys know that I accepted that offer so quickly and then before you know, she’s pulling out.
“So it was never real. It was just a little ploy to distract us.”
Dixon will now face Karen Carabajal for the vacant WBO world title in April but Dubois is adamant she is taking the easier route.
“I think she saw it as more of a winnable fight,” Dubois said of Dixon.
“I still think it’s a very hard fight and I think this fight shows how good she is. I don’t know how good she is. This fight will show them and it will make me respect her more if she wins, but I don’t know.
“It’s really a 50/50 fight for her.”
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Gary Logan believes that Caroline Dubois will become a world champion in 2024 and is becoming a leading female fighter in boxing.
Dubois is highly rated with multiple sanctioning bodies. After Saturday’s win over Reyes, the 23-year-old wants to face the very the best in the division.
“135lbs I think in boxing is one of the most stacked divisions. There’s Rhiannon Dixon, Katie Taylor, Beatriz Ferreira, Karen Carabajal. There’s a few other names, Maira Moneo, they’re all tough. Really, really good and I want all of them,” Dubois told Sky Sports.
Pursuing the WBC belt, where Dubois is also the No 1 ranked contender, would put the Londoner on a path towards a potential challenge against Katie Taylor.
The Irish superstar has vacated her IBF and WBO lightweight titles, after her last two bouts were at super-lightweight, but still holds the WBC 135lb belt.
“I think there’s options, I think people don’t realise how many options I have, but I have a few options and I’ll be taking a deep look into them,” Dubois said.
With the recent contact period now in the rear-view mirror, Rivals.com takes a look at 2025 prospects from the states of Kentucky and Tennessee that added some significant offers to their resumes.
*****
The three-star cornerback has picked up a flood of offers throughout the month of January – West Virginia, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Missouri, Georgia Tech, and Mississippi State among the group. Starr took a Jr. Day visits with Mississippi State in January and will likely see his stock continue to rise throughout the spring.
*****
Utah, Florida, Virginia Tech, Michigan State, and Boston College are the latest schools to offer Mills-Knight in the month of January. The three-star has taken Jr. Day visits to Vanderbilt and Ole Miss in recent weeks. The Rebels also got Mills-Knight on campus for a game during the season and have made a strong early impression so far.
*****
Tennessee, Indiana, Miami, Ole Miss, Wake Forest, Kentucky, West Virginia have recently entered the mix for the budding three-star safety and current Vanderbilt commitment. Lawrence remains committed to the Commodores and was back in Nashville for a visit over the weekend. However, he’s also exploring other options, having taken Jr. Day trips to West Virginia and Virginia Tech in January.
*****
Mattingly is an athletic tight end that can use his size as a mismatch on the outside or on the line of scrimmage. He’s coming off a stellar junior season, hauling in 46 catches for 956 yards and 14 touchdowns during his junior season. Indiana and Georgia Tech recently extended new offers, joining other power five options in West Virginia, Vanderbilt, and Duke.
*****
Taylor is a two-way player for his team that shines at outside linebacker and running back. So far, he’s stockpiled a nice offer list from the likes of Vanderbilt and other high-profile programs from the group of five level. However, Auburn recently came in with an offer on January 30th and that could lead to more power five programs getting involved for the 6-foot-1, 190-pound talent.
*****
The 6-foot-5, 260-pound prospect has seen his recruiting process explode since January, adding power five offers from Minnesota, Notre Dame, Cincinnati, Purdue, Vanderbilt, Michigan State, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Louisville to his resume. In recent weeks, he’s taken Jr. Day visits to Vanderbilt and Michigan State. During his junior season, Campbell posted 14.5 sacks while playing in just seven-and-a-half games. He’s currently unranked, but that will soon change as he’s solidified himself as a most-wanted prospect.
LOS ANGELES — One of the biggest questions facing the Los Angeles Chargers since hiring head coach Jim Harbaugh and general manager Joe Hortiz is who will have the final say on personnel decisions.
It’s a question that any new GM and coach pairing has to answer, but it’s essential with Harbaugh, who clashed with the only other general manager he has worked with as an NFL head coach.
Harbaugh coached the San Francisco 49ers from 2011 to ’14, guiding them to three straight NFC championships in his first three seasons after they had missed the playoffs for eight seasons before he arrived. After the final game of his fourth season, the 49ers announced they had agreed to mutually part ways a year before Harbaugh’s contract expired.
In January 2015, Harbaugh told the San Jose Mercury News that he was told he wouldn’t be the coach anymore and that “you can call it ‘mutual,’ I mean, I wasn’t going to put the 49ers in the position to have a coach that they didn’t want anymore.”
Harbaugh added that he “didn’t leave the 49ers. I felt like the 49er hierarchy left me.” On Thursday, however, Harbaugh dismissed any rift in San Francisco.
“Don’t believe everything you read,” Harbaugh said. “I remember in the sixth grade, my English teacher came in and presented this concept called critical reading. I wonder how many people would really even know what the definition of that is?”
Teams often hire their general manager before their head coach, giving the general manager input on who the team hires. The Chargers hired Harbaugh first, and owner Dean Spanos said Harbaugh had some input in their GM decision but not significantly. Hortiz, who was the director of player personnel with the Baltimore Ravens, worked with Harbaugh’s brother, John, and already has a relationship with Jim.
With Hortiz sitting in the front row at Harbaugh’s introductory news conference Thursday, Harbaugh compared their working relationship to that of Batman and Robin. Harbaugh said he would be Batman during the season and Robin in the offseason.
Team president John Spanos, to whom Hortiz and Harbaugh will report, said there were discussions about who would have the final say in personnel decisions during the hiring process but declined to say who has that power, calling it “a collaborative process.”
“If you’re ever in a situation where you’re having to look up in your contract who has final say here, you’ve got much bigger problems on your hands,” John Spanos said, “and that’s not what we’re going to do.”
Both Spanoses dismissed the idea that Harbaugh’s previous rifts with management would create issues with the Chargers. Dean Spanos said they had vetted some of Harbaugh’s past employers and didn’t find any issues.
“He has the respect of those people,” John Spanos said. “I’ve never heard anything from anybody that really there was some red flag or something.”
Harbaugh had been linked to the Chargers since the team fired coach Brandon Staley in December. Harbaugh played for the Chargers as a quarterback for two seasons (1999-2000), the Chargers had the lone opening with a quarterback considered to be among the league’s best, and Harbaugh had success at the collegiate and NFL levels.
But the Spanos family had gained a reputation for not being willing to pay for coaches, which has cast doubt on whether they would offer Harbaugh a price that would lure him back to the NFL and away from other teams.
Now that the Chargers have hired Harbaugh, with Dean Spanos saying Thursday that he is committed to “providing whatever support and tools you need to be successful,” the Chargers appear to answer some of the questions about their willingness to spend.
“You guys know what we’ve done, what we spent on players, this new facility, I don’t know where that comes from, nor I don’t really pay a lot of attention to it,” Dean Spanos said. “I made what I think was the best decision for this organization and the Chargers in hiring Jim, and the money had nothing to do with it.”
Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz will have his introductory news conference Tuesday.
