Another defensive end recruit is offered by Notre Dame.
Earlier this week, Notre Dame made an offer to strong-side defensive end recruit Nigel Smith. Now, the Irish have decided it’s time to continue shoring up that position for the future. Mike Elston had a conversation with Kennedy McDowell of Memorial in Frisco, Texas, and it led to an offer. From the sound of this tweet, it appears McDowell is serious about both the athletic and academic side of his collegiate career:
— Kennedy ”Mayhem” McDowell (@MayhemMcDowell) May 13, 2021
Only seven programs have made offers to McDowell, so it’s obviously early in the recruiting process for him. At this point, the other schools competing for his services are Vanderbilt, Arizona State, Kansas, FIU, Colorado and SMU.
In addition to playing football, McDowell recently was a state qualifier in the 110-meter hurdles. It’s safe to say that whoever lands him is going to be getting quite an athlete. Opposing offenses are going to have to keep a close eye on him because this is a kid meant to compete at the next level and make big plays to boot.
The complex is expected to house 26 championships in the next dozen years, including two PGA Championships.
FRISCO, Texas — Golf architect Beau Welling certainly has an impressive resume — creating Bluejack National outside Houston and guiding a massive rehaul at Quinta do Lago North Course in Portugal are among a growing list of notable works — but when he was one of five to be considered for the two courses at the PGA of America’s new Frisco headquarters, the Brown University product was ready and willing to check any ego at the clubhouse.
“This is a huge, huge deal,” Welling said Tuesday at a groundbreaking ceremony for the Omni PGA Frisco Resort. “When they called me — and they originally set up it like they were going to hire one architect to do everything — and they called me after and said, ‘hey, we really want to get you involved, but we don’t think we can let you do the whole thing. Would you be willing to do a part of it?’
“I was like, man, I’ll design the parking lot.”
And while the parking lot will likely be magnificent, the PGA of America instead tasked Welling with one of the two championship courses on the property north of Dallas — Gil Hanse designed the other — on a complex that’s expected to house 26 championships in the next dozen years, including two PGA Championships.
Like many others who spoke Tuesday, including Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Welling insisted the Frisco project is a gamechanger.
“I just wanted to be a part of it. I could see it so clearly that the vision of this was going to be even bigger than the visionaries could see,” Welling said, “because you bring the championships here, you bring the PGA brand here, you bring Omni here to be able to have hospitality and take care of all these people, it’s going to be a big deal, period. But what’s going to happen is (the PGA of America’s) members are going to come from all over the country and they’re going to learn something here and they’re going to take it back to their clubs and their courses. And then they’re going to bring their members, their students, and so the halo effect …
“I think it’s going to be massive.”
Construction continues on the new PGA of America headquarters in Frisco, Texas.
The courses — Welling’s West and Hanse’s East — are just part of the fun planned for this northern DFW suburb. The Omni project, which includes 501 guest rooms and seven four-bedroom golf villas, is also one component. The hotel will feature a dozen restaurants/food shops, three pools — including an adults-only rooftop infinity pool — 127,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting and event space, and a destination spa.
A 10-hole short course called The Swing and a 75,000 square foot putting course called the Dance Floor will also add to the flavor of the property.
“Does it get any cooler than that? The Dance Floor, the Swing, the East and West Course,” said Jim Richerson, the PGA of America president. “This is not only going to be a resort project, it’s going to be a project that’s going to make memories and create moments for families and generations to come. Not only to get into the game, but to spend time as families.”
Richerson was one of a group that stood at a location not far from Tuesday’s groundbreaking site a half-dozen years ago, when the PGA of America was looking at alternatives to build from its current home in West Palm Beach, Florida.
https://www.instagram.com/p/COd2EyDhFHO/
“Our mission is to not only elevate the status of PGA professionals but to grow the game. We had an opportunity to look around the country for a new headquarters and it started with a new building,” he said. “It started being about where can we relocate for the next 100 years for our new home. It turned into an unbelievable partnership.
“We’re so excited as an association to be here. We’re so excited to have this be our new headquarters. And we’re so excited to be part of what will be the new and modern home of American golf.”
Abbott touted the state’s economy, which he said improved in its world standing through the pandemic. The groundbreaking kicked off an aggressive timeline that is expected to have the Omni open in 2023. If all goes as planned, the two golf courses will be open to the public in summer of 2022,
“The PGA is learning what the Omni has long known and what Frisco loudly preaches — Texas truly is the best state in America for doing business and it just gets better day by day,” the governor said.
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But Welling was the one who beamed the brightest. As he walked through the luncheon, discussing the project with local and national media members, he rarely lost a wide smile, even when discussing the challenges the project presented.
“I’m sure it’s going to have effects throughout the country for the game of golf,” Welling said. “I could see all that from the very beginning and so that’s why I said I’d design the parking lot. I just wanted to be involved. I’m so thankful and extraordinarily honored to be involved.”
Darrell Crall, 53, helped to orchestrate the group’s move from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, to Frisco, Texas, a transition expected to be completed in the summer of 2021.
But Crall was arrested on Nov. 24, according to a report in the Denton (Texas) Record-Chronicle. and accused of assault family violence impeding breath or circulation, a third-degree felony alleging someone purposely prevented someone from breathing or prevented their blood circulation.
Crall posted a $15,000 bond the day after the incident.
On Tuesday, a PGA of America official sent Golfweek a notice that PGA of America and Crall have “mutually agreed to conclude his employment effective immediately.”
The note said that updates on operations and staffing will be coming in the near future and added that Crall’s departure will not impact the $520 million development that will include two championship courses, a 10-hole short course, a clubhouse, office space; and a 500-room Omni resort with an attached 127,000 square-foot conference center.
Crall had made his employers aware of the incident and a spokesperson said earlier this month that he “had been placed on administrative leave while the judicial process runs its course.”
Soon after, it was revealed in the affidavit that Frisco police were called to an apartment in the Dallas suburb on Nov. 24 after his girlfriend called 911. She later alleged that Crall threw her down and choked her, according to the affidavit.
Crall had been a key cog in the PGA of America’s Golf 2.0 program and was later promoted to COO in 2012. He had previously worked as the executive director of the Northern Texas PGA Section.
It is early in the 2022 recruiting cycle, but Texas is already pushing hard for Evan Stewart, a five-star wide receiver out of Frisco.
It is early in the 2022 recruiting cycle, but Texas is already pushing hard for one of the top in-state players. Evan Stewart is a five-star wide receiver out of Frisco, Texas, and is the No. 6 player in the state.
Across the country, he ranks fifth among wide receivers. Recently, Stewart caught up with 247Sports to talk about his recruitment and relationship with the Longhorns.
“I have a good relationship with Coach Jay [Valai] and Coach [Tom] Herman,” Stewart said. “I’ve been talking to them almost daily. We just have normal conversations like we would have with friends or family and they just ask how I’m doing and ask about my pops.”
Stewart should be a priority for Herman and Valai, as the Longhorns need an elite blue-chip wide receiver to pair with the quarterback of the future. Texas has not had a five-star wide receiver play for them since Mike Davis.
With visits on hold due to COVID-19, Stewart is hoping to get back to Austin. The Frisco Liberty product has been to Austin but for a track visit, not football.
“Definitely want to go to everywhere that’s close to here,” he said. “I haven’t been on a real visit besides Baylor and Texas for track. I liked the atmosphere and I like the city.They’re just Texas, it has a ring to it.”
Stewart had a successful junior season, coming up just shy of 1,000 yards. He finished with 757 receiving yards and seven touchdowns, playing against 6A competition, the best in the state of Texas.
With the Longhorns also going after five-star Caleb Burton, 2022 could finally be a major wide receiver recruiting class for the Longhorns. If those two end up with Texas, they will be paired with Sam Ehlinger’s successor, whoever it may be.
The Spartans have made the top-8 for the recruitment of Texas cornerback Chase Lowery.
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In the world of Michigan State athletics recruiting, it has been the basketball team that has garnered much of the (well-deserved) attention this week after top high school basketball recruit Emoni Bates committed to the Spartans, but that’s not to say that Mel Tucker and his football staff aren’t still hard at work. MSU’s 2021 football recruiting class took another important step forward today with the announcement from 3-star cornerback Chase Lowery’s top-8, a list that included Michigan State.
Here is the full list of teams that made the top-8:
Lowery currently attends Frisco High School in Texas where he is the No. 112 ranked player in that loaded state. 247Sports has him listed as the No. 54 ranked cornerback in the 2021 recruiting class.
A woman claims she was ‘ambushed’ while cleaning Elliott’s swimming pool in March and is seeking between $200,000 and $1 million in damages.
Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott has been sued by a woman hired to clean the Pro Bowler’s swimming pool. The woman says she was “ambushed” by Elliott’s three dogs in March, and underwent surgery as a result.
“The woman claims the Rottweiler bit her arm and dragged her,” as reported Friday by TMZ Sports, “before the two bulldogs began attacking her legs. The woman says the dogs bit her multiple times… and after she was able to free herself from the animals, she went straight to the emergency room ‘in immense pain.'”
In addition to requiring surgery to repair bite damage to her forearm, the woman claims to suffer from constant “mental and physical pain” stemming from the attack.
She is suing Elliott for an amount between $200,000 and $1 million.
As per TMZ, the Frisco Police Department stated through a spokesperson that animal services personnel did, in fact, respond to an incident at the star running back’s home on the date in question, but no criminal charges were filed at the time.
Frank Salzano, Elliott’s attorney, reportedly told TMZ that Elliott did nothing wrong. According to the attorney, “Ezekiel was in no way negligent in connection with the alleged incident and intends to vigorously defend the lawsuit.”
The March attack was apparently not the first run-in Elliott’s pool cleaners have had with his dogs. The woman in the lawsuit claims that another employee of the pool cleaning company was bitten by one of the dogs back in December.
The incident may sound familiar to Cowboys fans. Quarterback Dak Prescott reached an agreement with the city of Frisco to relocate a pet pit bull in March of last year after it escaped his home and bit a woman, causing her to lose a portion of a finger.
Elliott’s love for his dogs is well-known; he maintains an Instagram page for Ace, Deuce, and Jack Jack. Ace, the Rottweiler, is featured on a tattoo on the running back’s arm. And just this week, Elliott’s dogs made a cameo appearance in a Twitch video the Cowboys star did with Scooter Magruder.
Mikey Garcia finally got a win at welterweight, but questions still abound as to whether he stands a chance against the elite fighters…
Four-weight division titleholder Mikey Garcia may have raised as many questions as answers about his ability to face the top contenders of the welterweight class.
Saturday night at Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, Garcia overcame a slow start against Jesse Vargas, before dropping him in the fifth round en route to a 12-round unanimous decision.
The judges’ scorecards read 114-113, 116-111, and 116-111.
This was Garcia’s first outing in the ring since his lopsided points loss last spring to Errol Spence Jr., a native of Dallas who happened to be sitting ringside.
Early on Vargas, the bigger man, outworked Garcia, a natural lightweight, scoring with the jab and straight rights to the body. Vargas also connected on a few hard left hooks that kept Garcia on his toes. Case in point, in Round 4, Vargas managed to briefly stagger Garcia with a hook that landed right on the temple.
“Well, I did have to make adjustments,” Garcia admitted afterward. “I had to get adjusted to (Vargas’) height, his reach, natural size, but as the fight went on I felt like I was hurting him and closing the distance.”
Indeed, the momentum began to shift midway through Round 5, when Garcia started to successfully time Vargas with a series of hare straight rights, one of which caused Vargas to have a bad case of jake leg and retreat to a corner. Garcia followed up with a booming one-two combination right down the middle of the guard that flattened Vargas for the lone knockdown of the fight.
But Vargas, as is his wont, was able to hang on. Moreover, he had a few positive moments that may have won him some of the late rounds.
“He’s a big man. Jesse’s a big man,” Garcia said, “but my talent was able to overcome that.
“I felt that my speed and my power was all perfect and I was able to put it into effect against the bigger guy.”
Still, some of the tops fighters of the welterweight division – Vargas is a fringe contender, at best – may be a bridge too far for Garcia. Looking ahead, Garcia reiterated his desire to face titleholder Manny Pacquiao in the summer. He also floated the idea of facing Spence again.
“I think I have great options,” Garcia said. “I’m ready to get back in the ring with the best. I would love to get a match with Manny Pacquiao or a rematch with Errol Spence. I want to continue campaigning at 147.”
This was Garcia’s fight fight with promoter Eddie Hearn on the DAZN streaming platform. Hearn has said that Saudi Arabia remains deeply interested in staging a potential Pacquiao-Garcia bout.
Julio Cesar Martinez beat Jay Harris in a much more closely contested fight than was reflected in the judges scorecards Saturday night…
Julio Cesar Martinez didn’t get the stoppage that most expected him to get for his first defense of his flyweight title, but he put up a dominating performance anyway.
In a fervent 12-rounder, Martinez out-slugged untested Jay Harris, dropping him once en route to a unanimous decision win Saturday night at Ford Center at The Star in Frisco Texas on the Mikey Garcia-Jesse Vargas card.
The judges scored it 118-109, 116-111 and 115-112, all for the 25-year-old Martinez, who had previously never gone the distance in a 12-round bout.
“Thank God, it was a very tough battle,” said Martinez, who earned his flyweight trinket by defeating Cristofer Rosales in a vacant title shot in December. “I’ll defend this title many times. There is no fear right here.”
An entertaining offensive fighter who throws punches with abandon, Martinez (16-1, 12 KOs) started off fast and appeared to be on track for an early stoppage. But Harris (17-1, 9 KOs), from Swansea, Wales, was far more game than expected. While his head snapped back repeatedly from Martinez’s hard-winging shots early on, Harris was able to put up a decent fight in the second half of the bout. He worked diligently behind a jab and consistently answered Martinez’s flurries with his own combinations. Harris also repeatedly dug himself out of holes. In Round 7, Harris looked as though he was going to get stopped, but he fought back to arguably win the round.
Martinez’s commitment to the body paid off thirty seconds into Round 10, when he landed a hard left and right to the flanks that forced Harris to take a knee. Nevertheless, Harris was able to beat the count.
Asked if Harris surprised him at all, Martinez said, “Harris is a very strong fighter. I know that’s why he was undefeated.”
A possible matchup could be a unification against Japan’s Kosei Tanaka.
Joseph Parker returned from an extended layoff to defeat Shawndell Winters with a fifth-round knockout in Frisco, Texas.
Joseph Parker is done itching his spider bite. He’s now itching for a big fight.
The Auckland, New Zealand native returned from an eight-month layoff to knock off Shawndell Winters inside five rounds at Ford Center at The Star in Frisco Texas on the undercard of Mikey Garcia-Jesse Vargas.
Late in Round 5, Parker staggered Winters badly with a right hand and followed up with a right-left hook-right combination that decked Winters to the canvas for the second and final time in the fight. Referee Rosario Solis waved off the fight at the 2:40 mark.
Parker (27-2, 21 KOs) was originally scheduled to face British contender Dereck Chisora last October but a freak spider bite led to that fight’s cancellation
“A win’s a win,” Parker said afterward. “You gotta take the win and I’ll leave it up to (promoter) Eddie (Hearn) and the team to lock up another fight soon.”
Parker scored the first knockdown of Winters (13-3, 12 KOs) late in Round 3, Winters would survive and go on to have himself a decent Round 4, in which he landed a left hook that opened up a cut over Parker’s right eye. The Illinois native also caught Parker clean with a slew of uppercuts and hooks on the inside.
But Parker would have the final say, responding emphatically in Round 5.
“I have to work on being a bit more patient and making my punches more meaningful,” Parker said.
The Kiwi heavyweight noted he is still interested in facing Chisora, who is scheduled to go up against Oleksandr Usyk later this summer, or having a rematch with Dillian Whyte.
“I want to keep busy and hopefully get two more fights this year and finish off with a bang later this year,” he said.
Mikey Garcia will likely be more competitive against Jessie Vargas Saturday than he was in his last fight, a shutout loss to Errol Spence.
MIKEY GARCIA VS. JESSIE VARGAS
Date: Saturday, Feb. 29 Location: Ford Center at The Star, Frisco, Texas Division: Welterweight TV: DAZN Also fighting: Kal Yafai vs. Roman Gonzalez, junior bantamweights (for Yafai’s title); Julio Cesar Martinez vs. Jay Harris, flyweights (for Martinez’s title); Joseph Parker vs. Shawndell Winters, heavyweights; Israil Madrimov vs. Charlie Navarro, junior middleweights. Background: The decision of Garcia (39-1, 30 KOs) to challenge for Errol Spence Jr.’s 147-pound title last March was bold. It also turned out to be damaging, as he lost a sobering shutout decision. Gone was his perfect record. Gone was the tremendous momentum he had built. And long gone was any aura of invincibility he might’ve had. At the same time, one setback – even one as thorough as that one – doesn’t necessarily mean a fighter should be written off. Let’s not forget that Garcia is a four-division titleholder who had been largely untouchable between 126 and 140 pounds, which was the reason he had climbed onto most pound-for-pound lists. Moving up to 147 to face a fighter of Spence’s caliber was simply an overreach. Vargas (29-2-2, 11 KOs) presents a more reasonable gauge as to whether Garcia can be effective against elite opposition as a welterweight and an opportunity to begin rebuilding whatever he lost against Spence. Vargas hasn’t had an important victory since he stopped Sadam Ali to win his title in March 2016 but he has draws with Adrien Broner and Thomas Dulorme more recently. He’s a solid, experienced fighter who won’t go down easily. The fight: Garcia, whose technique is as tight as almost anyone’s, is a better boxer than Vargas. The brother of trainer Robert Garcia has demonstrated his ability over and over again against capable opposition. The problem against Spence was the Texan’s formidable combination of size, strength and unusual ability. Vargas can’t match Spence in any of those categories but he is naturally bigger than Garcia and skillful, which could pose challenges for the pound-for-pounder. Vargas probably will try to use his advantages by attacking Garcia from the outset so Garcia can’t get into a rhythm and win rounds. It won’t work. Garcia is strong enough to cope with any size-strength advantage Vargas might have, which will allow him to outbox and possibly hurt Vargas in the later rounds. Both fighters have had long layoffs. Garcia has been out of the ring for almost a year, Vargas for 10 months. So neither has an edge there. One question about Vargas: Will he be comfortable at 147 pounds? In his last fight, a knokckout of Humberto Soto, he fought at 150½ pounds as part of a plan to transition to 154 pounds. Thus, he’ll be coming down to 147. In the end, however, size and strength won’t matter as much as skill. And that’s Garcia’s wheelhouse. Prediction: Garcia UD
