Tag: NCAA

Lincoln Riley, USC football try to block out distractions vs Nebraska

Lincoln Riley and USC football are facing a $50,000 fine among other sanctions. The Trojans have to push this aside and get a win versus Nebraska.

USC football is, if you are not willing to be generous, falling apart at the seams. The Trojans are at the forefront of an investigation by the NCAA. Lincoln Riley has just one more distraction to deal with as the Trojans prepare to face Nebraska this Saturday.

According to a release from the NCAA, the Trojans have violated coaching rules and will face consequences, imposed by the NCAA and the school itself.

“Eight analysts for the football program engaged in on- and off-field coaching activities during spring 2022, fall 2022 and spring 2023, resulting in the football program exceeding the permissible number of countable coaches by six for two academic years… As a result of the violations, the parties also agreed that football head coach Lincoln Riley violated head coach responsibility rules,” the release mentioned.

As a result of the violation, USC football will endure the following:

  • One year of probation.
  • A $50,000 fine.
  • A restriction for the special teams analyst from practice and film review for six consecutive days during two weeks of the 2024-25 season.
  • A restriction for the remaining analysts from practice and film review for six consecutive days during four weeks of the 2024-25 season.
  • A reduction in countable athletically related activities for the football program by 24 hours during the 2023-24 season (self-imposed by the school).

This mishap by the USC staff has been accompanied by other pieces of bad news which form a cloud of distractions entering the Nebraska game. The Trojans and fans have started seeing multiple incoming commits flip away from the school, most recently three-star cornerback Shamar Arnoux, who flipped to Auburn on Thursday morning.

Is this the beginning of a drought or is this just a speed bump for the football program? At any rate, USC and Lincoln Riley need to shove aside the noise in the system and get a win on Nebraska to calm things down.

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Olivia Miles triple-double highlights Notre Dame season-opening win

Yeah, she’s back all right.

Notre Dame’s season opener against Mercyhurst was full of storylines. [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] was in her first meaningful game since the end of the 2022-23 regular season. The Lakers were playing their first game at the NCAA Division I level.

There was no denying Miles’ proper comeback story though. She recorded the fourth triple-double of her career (20 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists) to help the Irish crush the Lakers, 105-61. Every starter scored in double figures.

Despite having only seven players healthy enough for their season opener, the Irish (1-0) never let the Lakers (0-1) in the contest. They imposed their will from the opening tip with a well-oiled offense, a stifling defense and numerous high-energy plays that the Lakers simply couldn’t keep up with.

[autotag]Liatu King[/autotag] marked her Irish debut with a double-double of 24 points and 11 rebounds. [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] just missed a double-double but had 19 points, nine boards and three steals.

[autotag]Kate Koval[/autotag] scored 18 points, grabbed seven rebounds and blocked five shots in her first collegiate game. [autotag]Cassandre Prosper[/autotag], who missed most of last season because of injury, completed her own comeback story with 17 points.

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Cooper Flagg, Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper will make college basketball fun again

There’s finally some star power back in the game.

This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here’s Mike Sykes.

Good morning, folks! Happy Friday. Welcome back to the Morning Win. Thanks so much for reading today. We appreciate you.

Folks, we might actually have a bit of fun with men’s college basketball this season for the first time in a long time. There are a couple of reasons why.

First things first — Tony Bennett and his milquetoast offense are retiring. I’m just kidding, UVA fans. Kind of. I’ll miss Tony, but Virginia basketball was basically the equivalent of Iowa football. If you know, you know.

REPLACING TONY BENNETT: Here are four coaching candidates who could replace the UVA legend on the fly.

Anyway, in all seriousness, men’s basketball is getting an infusion of star power this season that it hasn’t seen since 2018, when the madness surrounding Zion Williamson was at its peak.

We’ve got three big names: Cooper Flagg, Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper.

You already know about Flagg. He’s the dude who was taking it to actual NBA players in Team USA training camp this summer. He’ll play at Duke this season and is currently mocked in most places as the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA draft. But that’s no guarantee, as he’s got some steep competition potentially looking to take that spot, too.

You probably don’t know about Bailey and Harper. These two freshmen are playing together at Rutgers this season, and they already look incredible. We got a glimpse of them playing together in a Rutgers and St. John’s charity game on Thursday night. The two looked like they might already be the best duo in college basketball.

The combination of size, athleticism and skill they process is unreal. They combined for 45 points against St. John’s on buckets like these (albeit in a losing effort).

This sort of star power in college hoops is exciting. It’s the thing that has pushed women’s college basketball to its absolute peak. The rise of star power behind names like Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers, Juju Watkins, Aliyah Boston and more over these last few years has been a major boon for the sport.

Men’s college basketball hasn’t had that and it likely won’t in the long-term. The thing about the women’s side that makes it special is that the prospects have to stick around for, at least, three seasons before bouncing out to the pro ranks.

The men’s basketball system is the complete opposite. One-and-done players have dominated for most of the last two decades. Plus, between the NBA G-League and overseas teams, a lot of the talent has been plucked away from the NCAA.

But the G-League Ignite team is no more and name, image and likeness rights have made it more fiscally responsible to choose the NCAA over the other options out there.

Now, because of this new landscape, we’ve got some star freshman getting ready to take over the sport again. And I can’t wait to watch them over these next few months.

The Guardians are on the board

(Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

And David Fry sure does love playing the hero, doesn’t he?

He steps up to the plate. Two out, one on. The count falls to 1-2 on him in the bottom of the 10th. This is his last strike.

But if there’s one thing we know about Fry, it’s that he sure does love to be at a disadvantage. After all, he is the best in baseball when battling back from an 0-2 count.

So it should come as no surprise that he turned that 1-2 count into a walk-off two-run homer.

You could hear the crowd roar from miles away. Fry gave the Guardians life again. Falling down in the series 0-3 to the Yankees would’ve been nearly impossible to come back from. A 1-2 series whole is still tough, but you’re just one game away from tying things up.

The Guardians have hope now, thanks to Fry’s heroics. If they win this series, the city will never forget this moment.

THE RADIO CALL IS BETTER: Listen to the call on Fry’s homer here.

Are we sure the Saints aren’t cursed?

(Photo by Gus Stark/Getty Images)

And are we sure the Cowboys didn’t do it? Ever since New Orleans put that whoopin’ on Dallas they haven’t won a single game.

Thursday night’s loss was probably New Orleans’ most embarrassing one yet. Sean Payton’s Broncos put up 33 points against the Saints, who could only manage to score 10 after being the most potent offense in the league for the first two weeks of the season.

Alvin Kamara only managed 10 yards on 7 carries (much to the chagrin of my fantasy football squad). Spencer Rattler still looks like a deer in headlights out there.

We do have to shoot New Orleans a bit of bail. This team isn’t healthy right now. Derek Carr isn’t great, but he’s the team’s best quarterback option, and he had a solid season before going down.

There’s still plenty of football left to play, but at 2-5 you have to wonder what New Orleans has left to play for other than to figure out who will be around next season.

Photo Friday: Cycling is awesome

(Photo by JONATHAN NACKSTRAND / AFP)

Here’s team Switzerland competing in the Track Cycling World Championship qualifiers. This looks so awesome. Somebody get me a bike. I’d like to give it a shot.

Quick hits: Happy trails, Tony Bennett … Ranking NHL jerseys … and more

— Here’s Meg Hall on Tony Bennett’s retirement shocking the college basketball world.

— Here’s Bryan Kalbrosky with replacements for UVA’s head coach.

— Here’s Mary Clarke’s ranking of all NHL home jerseys from worst to first.

— Christian D’Andrea has the best bets for Week 7 in the NFL right here for you.

— And Prince Grimes has the best player props for the week, including a big game for Saquon Barkley against the Giants.

— Here’s Charles Curtis on the location for ESPN’s College GameDay on Saturday.

That’s a wrap, folks. Thanks so much for rocking with us today. We appreciate you. Have a great weekend. Peace.

-Sykes ✌️

Oregon’s late-game trickery against Ohio State pushed the NCAA to close the penalty loophole

Dan Lannning seemed to hint that Oregon’s late penalty during the Ohio State game was on purpose.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include new information.

It certainly seemed like the Ducks intentionally had too many men on the field late in Saturday’s win against Ohio State. And with a little smirk, Oregon football coach Dan Lanning all but confirmed what many college football fans suspected.

“We spend an inordinate amount of time on situations,” Lanning said. “There are some situations that don’t show up very often in college football, but this is one that obviously was something that we have worked on. So you can see the result.”

His works came with a smile, though he didn’t explicitly say one way or the other. But let’s back it up.

In one of the biggest college football games of the season, No. 2 Ohio State traveled to No. 3 Oregon, and it didn’t disappoint. The Ducks kicked a field goal with less than two minutes left to take a 32-31 lead, but the Buckeyes had plenty of time to score.

Late in the game with 10 seconds left, Ohio State was at third-and-25 at Oregon’s 43-yard line and eyeing field goal range. After Oregon called a timeout, it sent 12 defenders on the field. Buckeyes quarterback Will Howard thew an incomplete pass, four seconds came off the clock and the Ducks were penalized for an illegal substitution.

Whether or not Lanning and the Ducks took the penalty on purpose is the issue at hand here, because, if done on purpose, Oregon essentially traded the five-yard penalty for taking the four seconds on the clock that Howard took after the snap.

And Lanning seemed to hint that it was:

It’s honestly brilliant if, again, it was done on purpose and is reminiscent of Buddy Ryan’s “Polish Goaline” move.

Now, the NCAA is reportedly looking into this Oregon move because the Ducks ultimately benefitted from the penalty in trading yards for time off the clock.

As Yahoo Sports reported Tuesday:

Steve Shaw, the NCAA secretary rules editor, told Yahoo Sports on Tuesday that the NCAA Football Playing Rules Committee is actively “engaged” in examining the play for possible action. The Big Ten officiating crew handled the play appropriately, Shaw said, but the rules committee is discussing a way to address the play.

In the past, the rules committee has responded to such “fair play” incidents with interpretation bulletins released during a season. The bulletins are often meant to be a directive for officials in games in the future.

NBC Sports screenshot

The idea here, as Yahoo Sports noted, is that the team on the receiving end of a penalty shouldn’t benefit from said penalty, and a mid-season rules directive — like telling officials to add the lost time back to the game clock — would be designed to discourage coaches from further capitalizing on the rules. If the NCAA wants to rewrite the rulebook officially, it’ll have to wait until the off-season.

Who knows what will happen here, if anything? But if Lanning and the Ducks did this purposely, it’s hard to fault them for seeing a loophole in the rules.

And, of course, we know what happened next in the game: With six seconds left on the clock, Howard ran, scrambled and ultimately fell short of making a final game-winning play for the Buckeyes.

UPDATE: The NCAA issued a new in-season directive Wednesday for officials to eliminate potential advantages gained by using this loophole. It’s specifically for the end of halves and the end of games.

The new interpretation is:

After the Two-Minute Timeout in either half, if the defense commits a substitution foul and 12 or more players are on the field and participate in a down, officials will penalize the defense for the foul and at the option of the offended team, reset the game clock back to the time displayed at the snap. The game clock will then restart on the next snap. If the 12th defender was attempting to exit but was still on the field at the snap and had no influence on the play, then the normal substitution penalty would be enforced with no clock adjustment.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 tag=421393249]

This Division I program is reinstating its men’s golf program after more than 20 years

The band is getting back together.

With all the talk about the future of college golf and programs possibly getting cut, one is being reinstated after more than 20 years of being gone.

Eastern Washington announced its reinstating its men’s golf program for the 2025-26 season.

The Eagles made their debut in the 1960s playing in NAIA before moving to Division II in the 1980s. After a 10-year hiatus from 1982 to 1992, the men’s program returned, with the addition of the women’s team, and played through 2001-02. 

 Now, the men’s team is returning.

“As a regional comprehensive university, we felt it was important to sponsor a sport that strengthens our connection to our community and future prospective students at EWU,” said Tim Collins, the EWU Director of Athletics, in a release. “We have a great opportunity to build a roster featuring student-athletes from the Pacific Northwest and reconnect with our golf alumni as we rebuild the program alongside the women’s team which has been active for 32 years.”

Eastern Washington will compete in regional tournaments that fulfill NCAA Division I sport sponsorship requirements. 

Caleb Foster: ‘I came to Duke to win, and I’m living out my dream’

Caleb Foster, currently ranked No. 44 on ESPN’s Top 100 for the 2025 NBA Draft, made an immediate impact in his freshman season at Duke. Foster’s role as sixth man fit him perfectly, stepping in as the primary ballhandler when Tyrese Proctor was off …

Caleb Foster, currently ranked No. 44 on ESPN’s Top 100 for the 2025 NBA Draft, made an immediate impact in his freshman season at Duke. Foster’s role as sixth man fit him perfectly, stepping in as the primary ballhandler when Tyrese Proctor was off the court. He maintained a solid 2.0 assist-to-turnover ratio and shot 40.6 percent from deep. His season was cut short by an ankle fracture, but he started 15 games, helping Duke to a 13-2 record in those contests.

Despite missing the postseason, the 6-foot-5 guard’s efficiency and shooting made him a crucial part of the team.

During the 2024 ACC Tip-Off, Foster spoke with HoopsHype, reflecting on his offseason improvements, praising the incoming freshman class, and discussing season expectations and more.

NCAA terminates national letter of intent program that has existed for 60 years

On Wednesday morning, the committee approved the NLI program to become apart of the NCAA’s signing and recruiting rules immediately.

The National Collegiate Athletics Association Division I Council voted last week to officially terminate its national letter of intent program.

On Wednesday morning, the committee approved the NLI program to become apart of the NCAA’s signing and recruiting rules immediately. However, a hearing will be held on April 7, 2025 to formally approve the decision.

Beginning in 1964, the NLI program has served as the binding agreement between the top high school athletes in the nation and the “non-profit” collegiate governing body. The agreement is going to be replaced by a new financial contract which aligns with the transition that the NCAA has recently gone through regarding athletes being able to profit off their respective Name, Image and Likeness.

There is an impending revenue sharing model that will be presented following NIL becoming a normal aspect of collegiate sports. Early signing day is on Dec. 4 and National Signing Day will take place on Feb. 5.

Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes and opinions. Follow Shaun on Twitter: @Shaun_Holkko.

Tyrese Proctor: ‘I don’t think basketball is all about scoring, I’m just out there trying to make winning plays’

Tyrese Proctor, currently ranked No. 28 on ESPN’s Top 100 and No. 30 on HoopsHype’s latest Aggregate Mock Draft, has rapidly established himself as one of the best lead guards in college basketball. The Australia native is known for his playmaking, …

Tyrese Proctor, currently ranked No. 28 on ESPN’s Top 100 and No. 30 on HoopsHype’s latest Aggregate Mock Draft, has rapidly established himself as one of the best lead guards in college basketball. The Australia native is known for his playmaking, defense, and leadership on the court.

Proctor’s sophomore campaign saw him named a team captain, only the fourth sophomore to achieve this in Duke’s history. His 2.95 assist-to-turnover ratio ranked 25th nationally, showcasing his ability to control the game while minimizing mistakes. He averaged 10.5 points per game and led his team in assists, asserting his role as the lead guard for the Blue Devils, who at times ran a three-guard lineup last year.

Recently, Proctor spoke with with HoopsHype to reflect on his basketball journey, his time in Australia’s NBA Global Academy, his thoughts on the modern game, his college basketball experience and more.