SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Houston’s suffocating defense wiped away a 14-point deficit over the final eight minutes and erased Cooper Flagg and Duke’s title hopes Saturday in a 70-67 stunner over the Blue Devils at the Final Four. Duke made a grand total of one field goal over the last 10:30 of this game. The second-to-last attempt was a step-back jumper in the lane by Flagg that J’Wan Roberts disrupted. The last was a desperation heave by Tyrese Proctor that caught nothing at the buzzer. The Cougars, who have never won a title, not even in the days of Phi Slama Jama, will play Florida on Monday night for the championship.

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Walter Clayton Jr. scored 34 points and Florida beat Southeastern Conference rival Auburn 79-73 in the Final Four on Saturday night, sending the Gators to the national championship game for the first time since their titles in 2006 and 2007. The All-America guard for the Gators (35-4) had a driving layup with 2:24 left, on the possession right after Australian big man Alex Condon drew a charge against Johni Broome The Gators will have the chance Monday night to win the SEC’s first title since Kentucky in 2012, the only one since they won in back-to-back seasons. Florida takes an 11-game winning streak into the title championship game against Houston. Auburn (32-6) was the top overall seed.

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Duke's push for its sixth national championship ended abruptly and in unlikely fashion with the Blue Devils squandering a double-digit second-half lead. The Blue Devils led by 14 with about 8 1/2 minutes left before seeing Houston push back and score the game's last nine points to win 70-67 in Saturday night's national semifinals. Duke led by six with 1:14 to go before Houston's winning push as the Blue Devils missed shots, couldn't get stops and came up empty when the Cougars pushed ahead.

SUZUKA, Japan (AP) — Max Verstappen of Red Bull has won the Japanese Grand Prix, his first victory of the season and just the third in 17 races. It was his 64th career GP win. It was also the Dutchman’s fourth straight victory on the Suzuka circuit in central Japan and breaks the momentum of the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, who won the season’s first two races in Australia and China. The four-time defending Formula 1 champion, Verstappen started from pole position after setting a course-record time in qualifying, which he called “insane.” Norris placed second and Piastri was third. The track was dry despite rain earlier in the day.

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Two All-Americans, one chance to give their their team a chance to win a national championship. Florida’s NCAA Tournament continues thanks to more magic from guard Walter Clayton Jr. in the Gators' 79-73 win Saturday night at the Final four. For Auburn and forward Johni Broome, their season ended in tears and frustration wrapped up in missed shots, missed dunks and a sleeve covering a sore right elbow

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Dawn Staley and South Carolina are one win away from joining an elite group of programs in women’s basketball history with a third national championship in four seasons. Only two other schools have accomplished that feat, UConn and Tennessee. The Huskies, led by coach Geno Auriemma, stand in the way with the teams set to play Sunday for the NCAA title. It’s been nine years since Auriemma’s team won a championship, which capped off a run of four consecutive titles from 2013-16. That win was the most recent of the record 11 national titles that Auriemma has won in his four decades at the school.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Shohei Ohtani threw a 26-pitch bullpen session before the Los Angeles Dodgers’ game against the Philadelphia Phillies, another step toward his mound return. Recovering from right elbow surgery on Sept. 19, 2023, the two-way star threw his second bullpen session since resuming his pitching ramp up. He paused after his mound session on Feb. 25 to prepare for opening day as a hitter, then threw a bullpen on March 29. He incorporated splitters on Saturday. When Ohtani is ready for game pitching, the Dodgers plan to use a six-man rotation.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Wayne Gretzky made his first in-person appearance during Alex Ovechkin’s pursuit of the NHL career goals record in time to watch him tie it with No. 894. But Gretzky has been advising and helping Ovechkin from afar for much longer. Gretzky provided help when Ovechkin stalled out short of 800 goals, and he tried to keep him loose with the record approaching. Now, the “Great One” will follow the chase to New York on Sunday as Ovechkin takes his first opportunity at getting No. 895 and the record all to himself.

Two English clubs stand in the way of a stellar Champions League semifinal between Real Madrid with Kylian Mbappé and his long-time previous team Paris Saint-Germain. Mbappé and Madrid are at Arsenal on Tuesday for their quarterfinal first leg. The return is April 16. PSG is fresh from a French league title with an unbeaten record and hosts Aston Villa on Wednesday. All are in the same half of the Champions League knockout bracket draw. In the bottom half, Bayern Munich hosts Inter Milan on Tuesday and Barcelona is favored Wednesday at home to Borussia Dortmund.

DARLINGTON, S.C. (AP) — Denny Hamlin is coming off a victory and heading to one of his most successful tracks in Darlington Raceway. That does not mean he's coming in overconfident. Hamlin said he's continually self-scouting, no matter how successful he's been because he wants to ensure he's doing all he can to make the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing team perform at its best. Count on the 44-year-old Hamlin to bring that renewed confidence to Darlington, where he leads all current drivers with four victories.

St. Louis	at	Boston	1:35 p.m.	(Postponed)

Final	Sporting Kansas City	2	St Louis City	0	

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/2/1739459822020.jpeg" alt=" " />
 <figcaption> </figcaption>
 </figure>SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Houston’s suffocating defense wiped away a 14-point deficit over the final eight minutes and erased Cooper Flagg and Duke’s title hopes Saturday in a 70-67 stunner over the Blue Devils at the Final Four. Duke made a grand total of one field goal over the last 10:30 of this game. The second-to-last attempt was a step-back jumper in the lane by Flagg that J’Wan Roberts disrupted. The last was a desperation heave by Tyrese Proctor that caught nothing at the buzzer. The Cougars, who have never won a title, not even in the days of Phi Slama Jama, will play Florida on Monday night for the championship.SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Walter Clayton Jr. scored 34 points and Florida beat Southeastern Conference rival Auburn 79-73 in the Final Four on Saturday night, sending the Gators to the national championship game for the first time since their titles in 2006 and 2007. The All-America guard for the Gators (35-4) had a driving layup with 2:24 left, on the possession right after Australian big man Alex Condon drew a charge against Johni Broome The Gators will have the chance Monday night to win the SEC’s first title since Kentucky in 2012, the only one since they won in back-to-back seasons. Florida takes an 11-game winning streak into the title championship game against Houston. Auburn (32-6) was the top overall seed.SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Duke's push for its sixth national championship ended abruptly and in unlikely fashion with the Blue Devils squandering a double-digit second-half lead. The Blue Devils led by 14 with about 8 1/2 minutes left before seeing Houston push back and score the game's last nine points to win 70-67 in Saturday night's national semifinals. Duke led by six with 1:14 to go before Houston's winning push as the Blue Devils missed shots, couldn't get stops and came up empty when the Cougars pushed ahead.SUZUKA, Japan (AP) — Max Verstappen of Red Bull has won the Japanese Grand Prix, his first victory of the season and just the third in 17 races. It was his 64th career GP win. It was also the Dutchman’s fourth straight victory on the Suzuka circuit in central Japan and breaks the momentum of the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, who won the season’s first two races in Australia and China. The four-time defending Formula 1 champion, Verstappen started from pole position after setting a course-record time in qualifying, which he called “insane.” Norris placed second and Piastri was third. The track was dry despite rain earlier in the day.SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Two All-Americans, one chance to give their their team a chance to win a national championship. Florida’s NCAA Tournament continues thanks to more magic from guard Walter Clayton Jr. in the Gators' 79-73 win Saturday night at the Final four. For Auburn and forward Johni Broome, their season ended in tears and frustration wrapped up in missed shots, missed dunks and a sleeve covering a sore right elbowTAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Dawn Staley and South Carolina are one win away from joining an elite group of programs in women’s basketball history with a third national championship in four seasons. Only two other schools have accomplished that feat, UConn and Tennessee. The Huskies, led by coach Geno Auriemma, stand in the way with the teams set to play Sunday for the NCAA title. It’s been nine years since Auriemma’s team won a championship, which capped off a run of four consecutive titles from 2013-16. That win was the most recent of the record 11 national titles that Auriemma has won in his four decades at the school.PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Shohei Ohtani threw a 26-pitch bullpen session before the Los Angeles Dodgers’ game against the Philadelphia Phillies, another step toward his mound return. Recovering from right elbow surgery on Sept. 19, 2023, the two-way star threw his second bullpen session since resuming his pitching ramp up. He paused after his mound session on Feb. 25 to prepare for opening day as a hitter, then threw a bullpen on March 29. He incorporated splitters on Saturday. When Ohtani is ready for game pitching, the Dodgers plan to use a six-man rotation.WASHINGTON (AP) — Wayne Gretzky made his first in-person appearance during Alex Ovechkin’s pursuit of the NHL career goals record in time to watch him tie it with No. 894. But Gretzky has been advising and helping Ovechkin from afar for much longer. Gretzky provided help when Ovechkin stalled out short of 800 goals, and he tried to keep him loose with the record approaching. Now, the “Great One” will follow the chase to New York on Sunday as Ovechkin takes his first opportunity at getting No. 895 and the record all to himself.Two English clubs stand in the way of a stellar Champions League semifinal between Real Madrid with Kylian Mbappé and his long-time previous team Paris Saint-Germain. Mbappé and Madrid are at Arsenal on Tuesday for their quarterfinal first leg. The return is April 16. PSG is fresh from a French league title with an unbeaten record and hosts Aston Villa on Wednesday. All are in the same half of the Champions League knockout bracket draw. In the bottom half, Bayern Munich hosts Inter Milan on Tuesday and Barcelona is favored Wednesday at home to Borussia Dortmund.DARLINGTON, S.C. (AP) — Denny Hamlin is coming off a victory and heading to one of his most successful tracks in Darlington Raceway. That does not mean he's coming in overconfident. Hamlin said he's continually self-scouting, no matter how successful he's been because he wants to ensure he's doing all he can to make the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing team perform at its best. Count on the 44-year-old Hamlin to bring that renewed confidence to Darlington, where he leads all current drivers with four victories.SATURDAY SCORESMAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALLINTERLEAGUESt. Louis	at	Boston	1:35 p.m.	(Postponed)Final	N.Y. Yankees	10	Pittsburgh	4	Final	N.Y. Mets	3	Toronto	2	Final	Athletics	7	Colorado	4	Final	San Francisco	4	Seattle	1	AMERICAN LEAGUEFinal	Detroit	7	Chicago White Sox	2	Final	Minnesota	6	Houston	1	Final	Baltimore	8	Kansas City	1	Final	Texas	6	Tampa Bay	4	Final	L.A. Angels	10	Cleveland	4	NATIONAL LEAGUEFinal	Chicago Cubs	7	San Diego	1	Final	Washington	4	Arizona	3	Final	L.A. Dodgers	3	Philadelphia	1	Final	Miami	4	Atlanta	0	Final	Cincinnati	11	Milwaukee	7	NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATIONFinal	New York	121	Atlanta	105	Final	Minnesota	114	Philadelphia	109	Final	Memphis	109	Detroit	103	Final OT	Milwaukee	121	Miami	115	Final	L.A. Clippers	135	Dallas	104	NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUEFinal	New Jersey	4	N-Y Rangers	0	Final	Ottawa	3	Florida	0	Final	Pittsburgh	5	Dallas	3	Final	Vancouver	6	Anaheim	2	Final	Los Angeles	3	Edmonton	0	Final	Boston	5	Carolina	1	Final	Toronto	5	Columbus	0	Final	St. Louis	5	Colorado	4	Final	Utah	4	Winnipeg	1	Final	Montreal	3	Philadelphia	2	Final SO	Buffalo	3	Tampa Bay	2	Final	Seattle	5	San Jose	1	Final OT	Vegas	3	Calgary	2	TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALLFinal	(2)Houston	70	(1)Duke	67	Final	(3)Florida	79	(4)Auburn	73	MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCERFinal	Charlotte FC	2	Nashville	1	Final	Real Salt Lake	2	LA Galaxy	0	Final tie	FC Dallas	1	Atlanta	1	Final	Cincinnati	1	New England	0	Final	Columbus	2	CF Montréal	1	Final	New York	2	Chicago	1	Final tie	Orlando City	0	Philadelphia	0	Final tie	Portland	0	Austin FC	0	Final	Houston	1	Los Angeles FC	0	Final	Sporting Kansas City	2	St Louis City	0	Final	Vancouver	2	Colorado	0	Final	San Diego FC	3	Seattle	0

Sunday Sports Headlines and Scores presented by Barton Community College

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Jackson Holliday highlighted Baltimore's four-run sixth inning with a two-run single, Tomoyuki Sugano was solid through five-plus innings and the Orioles defeated the Kansas City Royals 8-1 on Saturday to snap a three-game skid.

Heston Kjerstad and Ramón Urías also had RBI singles in Baltimore's big inning. Gary Sánchez hit a two-run single in the second and Tyler O'Neill had a two-run triple in the seventh for the Orioles, whose five through nine batters went 8 for 19 with all eight RBIs.

Leadoff man Gunnar Henderson was 0 for 5 with four strikeouts, dropping to 1 for 9 since returning from a a right intercostal strain.

Sugano (1-1) got the first eight Royals hitters out and allowed one run and five hits in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out four, walked one and hit one batter.

Royals starter Michael Wacha (0-2) tossed 5 2/3 innings and gave up four runs and six hits with five strikeouts and one walk.

Bobby Witt Jr. hit his first homer of the season for Kansas City, a 399-foot shot to left field in the sixth.

After giving up back-to-back singles to start the fifth and pitching with a 2-0 lead, Sugano kept the Royals off the board, stranding the runners at first and second. The Orioles then responded with their four-run sixth.

Baltimore had 12 hits after entering the game tied for first in the American League in that category.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Jackson Holliday highlighted Baltimore's four-run sixth inning with a two-run single, Tomoyuki Sugano was solid through five-plus innings and the Orioles defeated the Kansas City Royals 8-1 on Saturday to snap a three-game skid.Heston Kjerstad and Ramón Urías also had RBI singles in Baltimore's big inning. Gary Sánchez hit a two-run single in the second and Tyler O'Neill had a two-run triple in the seventh for the Orioles, whose five through nine batters went 8 for 19 with all eight RBIs.Leadoff man Gunnar Henderson was 0 for 5 with four strikeouts, dropping to 1 for 9 since returning from a a right intercostal strain.Sugano (1-1) got the first eight Royals hitters out and allowed one run and five hits in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out four, walked one and hit one batter.Royals starter Michael Wacha (0-2) tossed 5 2/3 innings and gave up four runs and six hits with five strikeouts and one walk.Bobby Witt Jr. hit his first homer of the season for Kansas City, a 399-foot shot to left field in the sixth.<h2>Key moment</h2>After giving up back-to-back singles to start the fifth and pitching with a 2-0 lead, Sugano kept the Royals off the board, stranding the runners at first and second. The Orioles then responded with their four-run sixth.<h2>Key stats</h2>Baltimore had 12 hits after entering the game tied for first in the American League in that category.<h2>Up next</h2>

Orioles snap a 3-game skid with an 8-1 victory over Royals

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd didn’t even need much help from superstar Paige Bueckers to propel UConn into the national title game, leading the Huskies to a remarkably easy 85-51 victory over UCLA in the Final Four of the women’s NCAA Tournament. Strong finished with 22 points and Fudd scored all of her 19 points in the first half for the second-seeded Huskies, who are one win away from their 12th national championship and first since the team won four straight from 2013-16 led by former great Breanna Stewart. UConn will face defending champion South Carolina on Sunday for the title.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd didn’t even need much help from superstar Paige Bueckers to propel UConn into the national title game, leading the Huskies to a remarkably easy 85-51 victory over UCLA in the Final Four of the women’s NCAA Tournament. Strong finished with 22 points and Fudd scored all of her 19 points in the first half for the second-seeded Huskies, who are one win away from their 12th national championship and first since the team won four straight from 2013-16 led by former great Breanna Stewart. UConn will face defending champion South Carolina on Sunday for the title.

South Carolina and UConn advance to Women's title game

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Maikel Garcia and Vinnie Pasquantino each had three RBIs to help the Kansas City Royals beat the Baltimore Orioles 8-2 on a rainy Friday night.

The Royals broke it open in eighth inning, sending nine batters to the plate and scoring five times.

Garcia ripped a double down the left-field line to score Mark Canha and give Kansas City a 4-2 lead. Kyle Isbel followed with a bunt to first baseman Ryan Mountcastle, who underhanded it to the plate, but Garcia beat the throw to make it 5-2.

Pasquantino gave the Royals a six-run lead on a bloop single that cleared the bases.

Kansas City starter Seth Lugo (1-0) went six innings, allowing two runs (one earned).

Dean Kremer (1-1) went 4 1/3 innings in the start for Baltimore, allowing eight hits and three runs (two earned).

Baltimore ended its string of five straight series-opening wins dating to last September.

Star shortstop Gunnar Henderson, who started the season on the injured list, made his 2025 debut for Baltimore and went 1 for 4.

Kansas City opened the scoring in the first when Salvador Perez sent a high fly ball to left with two outs that Heston Kjerstad misplayed, allowing Bobby Witt Jr. to score.

The Royals took advantage of an error and a wild pitch in the fourth to take a 3-2 lead. Garcia singled up the middle to score Perez and Cavan Biggio.

The Royals have scored 18 of their 31 runs this season in the seventh inning or later.

The Orioles have not recorded a save through the first eight games of a season for the first time since 2003.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Maikel Garcia and Vinnie Pasquantino each had three RBIs to help the Kansas City Royals beat the Baltimore Orioles 8-2 on a rainy Friday night.The Royals broke it open in eighth inning, sending nine batters to the plate and scoring five times.Garcia ripped a double down the left-field line to score Mark Canha and give Kansas City a 4-2 lead. Kyle Isbel followed with a bunt to first baseman Ryan Mountcastle, who underhanded it to the plate, but Garcia beat the throw to make it 5-2.Pasquantino gave the Royals a six-run lead on a bloop single that cleared the bases.Kansas City starter Seth Lugo (1-0) went six innings, allowing two runs (one earned).Dean Kremer (1-1) went 4 1/3 innings in the start for Baltimore, allowing eight hits and three runs (two earned).Baltimore ended its string of five straight series-opening wins dating to last September.Star shortstop Gunnar Henderson, who started the season on the injured list, made his 2025 debut for Baltimore and went 1 for 4.Kansas City opened the scoring in the first when Salvador Perez sent a high fly ball to left with two outs that Heston Kjerstad misplayed, allowing Bobby Witt Jr. to score.<h2>Key moment</h2>The Royals took advantage of an error and a wild pitch in the fourth to take a 3-2 lead. Garcia singled up the middle to score Perez and Cavan Biggio.<h2>Key stats</h2>The Royals have scored 18 of their 31 runs this season in the seventh inning or later.The Orioles have not recorded a save through the first eight games of a season for the first time since 2003.<h2>Up next</h2>

Royals beat Orioles 8-2 behind 3 RBIs apiece from Garcia and Pasquantino

Softball - Game 1 - Great Bend 16, Pratt 11 

Great Bend Sports on B104 3 The Point sponsored by USD #428, Keller Real Estate &amp; Insurance Agency, Equity Bank, The 10th Street Eyecare Center, People's Bank and Trust, Comfort Pro, Delgado's Mexican Restaurant, Great Bend Rec, Edward Jones, Damm Pipe Testing, University of Kansas Health System, The Fieldhouse, Scott's Welding Service, American Plains COOP, Farmer's Bank &amp; Trust, Innovative Livestock Services, Marmie Auto Group, Mpire Realty, Advanced Therapy &amp; Sports Medicine, GB Tarp Company, Freedom Claims Management, Coldwell Banker - Megan Wells, Advanced Truck &amp; Diesel, Nextech, Stone Sand Company/Stone Waste Management, Rosenberg Family Denistry, Sutherlands, Great Bend Redi Mix, Kern Floor Service, Magna Dry Cleaning Services, Shelter Insurance - Chris Ramsey, and Mitchell K Haney and Associates.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1673886602159.png" alt=" " />
 <figcaption> </figcaption>
 </figure>Softball - Game 1 - Great Bend 16, Pratt 11 Game 2 - &nbsp;Great Bend 7, Pratt 5<div><iframe width="100%" height="265" src="https://clyp.it/k5hwe3oq/widget" frameborder="0"></iframe></div>Great Bend Sports on B104 3 The Point sponsored by USD #428, Keller Real Estate &amp; Insurance Agency, Equity Bank, The 10th Street Eyecare Center, People's Bank and Trust, Comfort Pro, Delgado's Mexican Restaurant, Great Bend Rec, Edward Jones, Damm Pipe Testing, University of Kansas Health System, The Fieldhouse, Scott's Welding Service, American Plains COOP, Farmer's Bank &amp; Trust, Innovative Livestock Services, Marmie Auto Group, Mpire Realty, Advanced Therapy &amp; Sports Medicine, GB Tarp Company, Freedom Claims Management, Coldwell Banker - Megan Wells, Advanced Truck &amp; Diesel, Nextech, Stone Sand Company/Stone Waste Management, Rosenberg Family Denistry, Sutherlands, Great Bend Redi Mix, Kern Floor Service, Magna Dry Cleaning Services, Shelter Insurance - Chris Ramsey, and Mitchell K Haney and Associates.

Softball Wrap: Game 1 - Great Bend 16, Pratt 11 / Game 2 - Great Bend 7, Pratt 5

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Cooper Flagg and his Duke teammates were days away from clinching a spot in the Final Four, and the Blue Devils' freshman star was planning ahead.

It wasn't about anything on the court, though. It was to be ready the next time teammates Khaman Maluach and Patrick Ngongba broke out water guns at the cold tubs.

“I'm definitely ordering one as well,” Flagg said with a grin, a nod to the fact that he's still “just being a kid.”

Maybe so, but the the 18-year-old's game has been far more advanced than his age from the opening tip of his college debut. Scoring. Rebounding. Setting up teammates as a playmaker, then aiding them as a defender. He did it all amid high expectations as the potential No. 1 overall NBA draft prospect, the driving force with a relentless competitive edge and mature focus for a team now two wins from a national championship.

It is why Flagg was named The Associated Press men's college basketball national player of the year on Friday, becoming only the fourth freshman to win the award in its 64-year history.

The 6-foot-9, 205-pound forward from Newport, Maine, won a two-man race with Auburn star Johni Broome. Both players were unanimous first-team AP All-Americans with teams at the Final Four, and they were the only two to receive player-of-the-year votes, Flagging 41 of the 61.

Flagg joins Duke's Zion Williamson (2019), Kentucky's Anthony Davis (2012) and Texas star Kevin Durant (2007) as freshman winners. Each went either No. 1 or No. 2 overall in the NBA draft a few months later. Flagg is the eighth Duke player to win the award, most of any program.

“He plays so hard, he's competitive, a great teammate," Duke coach Jon Scheyer said after the Blue Devils' home finale, “and obviously his ability is special.”

Flagg was just 17 when he arrived at Duke after reclassifying to graduate early from high school. Yet he has exceeded all hype as the nation's top-ranked recruit, with Flagg leading Duke in scoring (18.9 points per game), rebounding (7.5), assists (4.2) and steals (1.4) while ranking second in blocks (1.3) entering Saturday's national semifinal against Houston.

“I hold myself to a high standard, high expectations,” Flagg told the AP. “Just because I know how much work I’ve put in and how many hours I’ve spent grinding and putting that work in. ... It’s those expectations of just trusting what you do and just doing it to the highest level.”

He scored an Atlantic Coast Conference&nbsp;freshman-record 42 points against Notre Dame. There was his&nbsp;highlight-reel transition dunk&nbsp;against Pittsburgh. The big game&nbsp;to help the Blue Devils beat Broome's Tigers, along with going for 30 points&nbsp;in an NCAA Sweet 16 win against Arizona&nbsp;that Scheyer called “one of the best tournament performances I've ever coached or been a part of.”

Cohesive play is the hallmark of this Blue Devils team, the only one ranked in KenPom's top five for both adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency.

It has offered ways for Flagg to improve in his first and possibly lone college season as he learned “the level of the details” required to thrive. It was ensuring he got in for pre-practice recovery sessions. Or listening when graduate transfer Mason Gillis and junior Tyrese Proctor pushed the importance of sleep, prompting Flagg to nix a high-school habit of late-night phone scrolling.

"As far as outside expectations, I couldn’t really care less,” Flagg said. “For me, it’s more about following the expectations of my teammates, my coaches, my family. Everybody’s human so I’m going to make mistakes. I’m not going to be at my best all the time.

"But that’s what having great teammates and great coaches does for you. They just always have my back and are always there for me.”

His mother, Kelly, almost envies how her son handles that.

“I think he sees it but he really doesn't let it bother him,” she told the AP. "And I wish I was more like that. He's so comfortable with who he is, and he's always been that way. That's why he doesn't get rattled easily, because he believes in himself and it doesn't really matter to him what other people think.

"That's a special ability to be able to drown out the noise when the noise can be overwhelming at times for somebody like him. I'm really proud of him for being able to do that.”

She and husband Ralph have kept a close eye on how he's been doing after moving to North Carolina for this year while Ace, Cooper's twin brother, completes his final season of high school basketball in Greensboro, an hour away. Flagg said it helped to have family close, including when he visited for a few days around Christmas and got multiple days in the gym with his father and brothers.

“When you are able to step back and just take a break, it can be really good to just get your mind clear and kind of refocus,” he said.

It showed up on the court, notably as he elevated his scoring (20.1 points, up from 16.9), assists (4.5, up from 3.7), shooting percentage (51%, up from 43.8%) and 3-point percentage (.434, up from 27.1) after Jan. 1.

Indeed, Flagg seems wired for big moments when the stakes rise, something his mother has seen going back to his childhood. There was his hatred of losing from early on, such as demanding to keep playing after losing in a driveway game of H-O-R-S-E with Kelly — who played in college at Maine — or a board game like Trouble.

He always wanted to be first to do anything even when it seemed a bit much, such as the family working with eldest brother Hunter to ride a bike without training wheels — only to have the then-3 Cooper announce “I can do it, Momma” and back it up.

When it came to basketball, he tested his parents' nerves by constantly dribbling on the hardwood floors at home. But success came quickly, too, with whispers soon spreading around Maine&nbsp;about the prodigy playing up several grade levels.

“When he was younger, if somebody stole the ball from him or he turned it over or got fouled or did something (wrong), we would say it was a 50/50 shot whether he was going to pick up a crazy foul or he was going to do something spectacular,” Kelly said. “And as he's gotten older, it was more the chances of something really good was about to happen."

Flagg noted multiple times how much he has enjoyed Duke. He has talked about making connections and fitting in with other students he called “elite in their own respects."

That's offered a respite from the spotlight, even as he's featured in ads and commercials as a leading-man star for college basketball with players permitted to profit from their athletic fame. He is now used to requests for autographs and selfies, shrugging that “there could be worse problems to have.”

Flagg has avoided saying he is making the expected jump to the NBA after the season. For now, there are more pressing things to deal with, from the Final Four to ordering that water gun.

“I have to,” Flagg insisted. “What am I going to do? I'm going to be unarmed?”

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Cooper Flagg and his Duke teammates were days away from clinching a spot in the Final Four, and the Blue Devils' freshman star was planning ahead.It wasn't about anything on the court, though. It was to be ready the next time teammates Khaman Maluach and Patrick Ngongba broke out water guns at the cold tubs.“I'm definitely ordering one as well,” Flagg said with a grin, a nod to the fact that he's still “just being a kid.”Maybe so, but the the 18-year-old's game has been far more advanced than his age from the opening tip of his college debut. Scoring. Rebounding. Setting up teammates as a playmaker, then aiding them as a defender. He did it all amid high expectations as the potential No. 1 overall NBA draft prospect, the driving force with a relentless competitive edge and mature focus for a team now two wins from a national championship.It is why Flagg was named The Associated Press men's college basketball national player of the year on Friday, becoming only the fourth freshman to win the award in its 64-year history.The 6-foot-9, 205-pound forward from Newport, Maine, won a two-man race with Auburn star Johni Broome. Both players were unanimous first-team AP All-Americans with teams at the Final Four, and they were the only two to receive player-of-the-year votes, Flagging 41 of the 61.Flagg joins Duke's Zion Williamson (2019), Kentucky's Anthony Davis (2012) and Texas star Kevin Durant (2007) as freshman winners. Each went either No. 1 or No. 2 overall in the NBA draft a few months later. Flagg is the eighth Duke player to win the award, most of any program.“He plays so hard, he's competitive, a great teammate," Duke coach Jon Scheyer said after the Blue Devils' home finale, “and obviously his ability is special.”<h2>‘High standard, high expectations’</h2>Flagg was just 17 when he arrived at Duke after reclassifying to graduate early from high school. Yet he has exceeded all hype as the nation's top-ranked recruit, with Flagg leading Duke in scoring (18.9 points per game), rebounding (7.5), assists (4.2) and steals (1.4) while ranking second in blocks (1.3) entering Saturday's national semifinal against Houston.“I hold myself to a high standard, high expectations,” Flagg told the AP. “Just because I know how much work I’ve put in and how many hours I’ve spent grinding and putting that work in. ... It’s those expectations of just trusting what you do and just doing it to the highest level.”And he repeatedly did that.He scored an Atlantic Coast Conference&nbsp;freshman-record 42 points against Notre Dame. There was his&nbsp;highlight-reel transition dunk&nbsp;against Pittsburgh. The big game&nbsp;to help the Blue Devils beat Broome's Tigers, along with going for 30 points&nbsp;in an NCAA Sweet 16 win against Arizona&nbsp;that Scheyer called “one of the best tournament performances I've ever coached or been a part of.”Cohesive play is the hallmark of this Blue Devils team, the only one ranked in KenPom's top five for both adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency.It has offered ways for Flagg to improve in his first and possibly lone college season as he learned “the level of the details” required to thrive. It was ensuring he got in for pre-practice recovery sessions. Or listening when graduate transfer Mason Gillis and junior Tyrese Proctor pushed the importance of sleep, prompting Flagg to nix a high-school habit of late-night phone scrolling."As far as outside expectations, I couldn’t really care less,” Flagg said. “For me, it’s more about following the expectations of my teammates, my coaches, my family. Everybody’s human so I’m going to make mistakes. I’m not going to be at my best all the time."But that’s what having great teammates and great coaches does for you. They just always have my back and are always there for me.”<h2>Support within reach</h2>His mother, Kelly, almost envies how her son handles that.“I think he sees it but he really doesn't let it bother him,” she told the AP. "And I wish I was more like that. He's so comfortable with who he is, and he's always been that way. That's why he doesn't get rattled easily, because he believes in himself and it doesn't really matter to him what other people think."That's a special ability to be able to drown out the noise when the noise can be overwhelming at times for somebody like him. I'm really proud of him for being able to do that.”She and husband Ralph have kept a close eye on how he's been doing after moving to North Carolina for this year while Ace, Cooper's twin brother, completes his final season of high school basketball in Greensboro, an hour away. Flagg said it helped to have family close, including when he visited for a few days around Christmas and got multiple days in the gym with his father and brothers.“When you are able to step back and just take a break, it can be really good to just get your mind clear and kind of refocus,” he said.It showed up on the court, notably as he elevated his scoring (20.1 points, up from 16.9), assists (4.5, up from 3.7), shooting percentage (51%, up from 43.8%) and 3-point percentage (.434, up from 27.1) after Jan. 1.Indeed, Flagg seems wired for big moments when the stakes rise, something his mother has seen going back to his childhood. There was his hatred of losing from early on, such as demanding to keep playing after losing in a driveway game of H-O-R-S-E with Kelly — who played in college at Maine — or a board game like Trouble.He always wanted to be first to do anything even when it seemed a bit much, such as the family working with eldest brother Hunter to ride a bike without training wheels — only to have the then-3 Cooper announce “I can do it, Momma” and back it up.When it came to basketball, he tested his parents' nerves by constantly dribbling on the hardwood floors at home. But success came quickly, too, with whispers soon spreading around Maine&nbsp;about the prodigy playing up several grade levels.“When he was younger, if somebody stole the ball from him or he turned it over or got fouled or did something (wrong), we would say it was a 50/50 shot whether he was going to pick up a crazy foul or he was going to do something spectacular,” Kelly said. “And as he's gotten older, it was more the chances of something really good was about to happen."<h2>Savoring this moment</h2>Flagg noted multiple times how much he has enjoyed Duke. He has talked about making connections and fitting in with other students he called “elite in their own respects."That's offered a respite from the spotlight, even as he's featured in ads and commercials as a leading-man star for college basketball with players permitted to profit from their athletic fame. He is now used to requests for autographs and selfies, shrugging that “there could be worse problems to have.”Flagg has avoided saying he is making the expected jump to the NBA after the season. For now, there are more pressing things to deal with, from the Final Four to ordering that water gun.“I have to,” Flagg insisted. “What am I going to do? I'm going to be unarmed?”

Duke freshman star Cooper Flagg named the AP men's college basketball player of the year

By TODD MOORE Barton Sports Info

A pair of first place relay finishes highlighted a small contingent of members from the Barton track and field program competing Thursday in the John Jacobs Invitational hosted by the University of Oklahoma in Norman.

Both of the Cougars' 4x100m relay teams met nationally qualifying times in bettering the field, on the men's side the tandem of Brandon Pemberton, Trevon Hamer, Joshua Mascall, and Wanyae Belle clocked a winning 40.25 time to finish nearly a second faster than the University of Kansas with the women's baton passers of Keliza Smith, Kayda Austin, Kennidra Spigner, and Takeila Williams following the men's race with a 46.41 to edge out Region 6 member Coffeyville by a half second.

In addition to the relays, Barton competed in just seven other events highlighted by freshman Zadie Mackey's personal best discus throw of 45.29m (148-07) in placing 10th overall. Ivanilda Semedo, who along with Mackey are already nationally qualified in the event, placed 6th with a mark of 50.06m (164-02.75).

Other women's results were: Kamya Gould placing 10th in the 100m (12.69), Alissandra Jackson placing 27th in the 800m (2:30.61), and Kymia Bridgett's 8th placing in the long jump (5.48m, 17-11.75).

On the men's side, Jaden Webb finished 31st in the 400m (56.41) with national qualifier Jaylon Calder placing 3rd in the 19-man discus field (48.38m, 158-08.75).

Barton's next competition comes Friday, April 11, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, participating in the two-day Crimson Tide Invitational.

Discus Throw: 6th Ivanilda Semedo (ANQ 50.06m, 164-02.75), 10th Zadie Mackey (PB ANQ 45.29m, 148-07)

Long Jump: 8th Kymia Bridgett (5.48m, 17-11.75)

4x100m Relay: 1st 46.41 *NQ (Keliza Smith, Kayda Austin, Kennidra Spigner, Takeila Williams)

Discus Throw: 3rd Jaylon Calder (ANQ 48.38m, 158-08.75)

4x100m Relay: 1st 40.25 *NQ (Brandon Pemberton, Trevon Hamer, Joshua Mascall, Wanyae Belle)

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/4/1743792746989.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>By TODD MOORE Barton Sports InfoA pair of first place relay finishes highlighted a small contingent of members from the Barton track and field program competing Thursday in the John Jacobs Invitational hosted by the University of Oklahoma in Norman.Both of the Cougars' 4x100m relay teams met nationally qualifying times in bettering the field, on the men's side the tandem of Brandon Pemberton, Trevon Hamer, Joshua Mascall, and Wanyae Belle clocked a winning 40.25 time to finish nearly a second faster than the University of Kansas with the women's baton passers of Keliza Smith, Kayda Austin, Kennidra Spigner, and Takeila Williams following the men's race with a 46.41 to edge out Region 6 member Coffeyville by a half second.In addition to the relays, Barton competed in just seven other events highlighted by freshman Zadie Mackey's personal best discus throw of 45.29m (148-07) in placing 10th overall. Ivanilda Semedo, who along with Mackey are already nationally qualified in the event, placed 6th with a mark of 50.06m (164-02.75).Other women's results were: Kamya Gould placing 10th in the 100m (12.69), Alissandra Jackson placing 27th in the 800m (2:30.61), and Kymia Bridgett's 8th placing in the long jump (5.48m, 17-11.75).On the men's side, Jaden Webb finished 31st in the 400m (56.41) with national qualifier Jaylon Calder placing 3rd in the 19-man discus field (48.38m, 158-08.75).Barton's next competition comes Friday, April 11, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, participating in the two-day Crimson Tide Invitational.Barton Women's Results100m: 10th Kamya Gould (12.69)800m: 27th Alissandra Jackson (2:30.61)Discus Throw: 6th Ivanilda Semedo (ANQ 50.06m, 164-02.75), 10th Zadie Mackey (PB ANQ 45.29m, 148-07)Long Jump: 8th Kymia Bridgett (5.48m, 17-11.75)4x100m Relay: 1st 46.41 *NQ (Keliza Smith, Kayda Austin, Kennidra Spigner, Takeila Williams)Barton Men's Results400m: 31st Jaden Webb (56.41)Discus Throw: 3rd Jaylon Calder (ANQ 48.38m, 158-08.75)4x100m Relay: 1st 40.25 *NQ (Brandon Pemberton, Trevon Hamer, Joshua Mascall, Wanyae Belle)

Relays highlight Cougar performances at Jacobs Invitational

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Due to potential inclement weather, Kansas football's Fan Appreciation Day on Saturday, April 5 will be moved inside to the Kansas Football Indoor Practice Facility.

With the practice moving indoors, fans will have the opportunity to see the Jayhawks in action for the final 30 minutes of practice, beginning at approximately 11:30 a.m. Fans should enter through the Beatty Family Pavilion lobby of the Kansas Football Indoor Practice Facility and will be able to view practice from a standing area on the south side of the field.

The first 750 fans will receive the 2025 spring football poster. Following practice, Kansas football players and coaches will sign autographs for approximately 45 minutes. Due to spacing and time constraints inflatables, tailgating games, and food trucks will no longer be a part of the event.

Fans should enter the parking lots at the corner of 11th and Missouri Street and should exercise caution upon entering due to ongoing construction to David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. Parking will be open in the lots surrounding the stadium.

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Due to potential inclement weather, Kansas football's Fan Appreciation Day on Saturday, April 5 will be moved inside to the Kansas Football Indoor Practice Facility.With the practice moving indoors, fans will have the opportunity to see the Jayhawks in action for the final 30 minutes of practice, beginning at approximately 11:30 a.m. Fans should enter through the Beatty Family Pavilion lobby of the Kansas Football Indoor Practice Facility and will be able to view practice from a standing area on the south side of the field.The first 750 fans will receive the 2025 spring football poster. Following practice, Kansas football players and coaches will sign autographs for approximately 45 minutes. Due to spacing and time constraints inflatables, tailgating games, and food trucks will no longer be a part of the event.Fans should enter the parking lots at the corner of 11th and Missouri Street and should exercise caution upon entering due to ongoing construction to David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. Parking will be open in the lots surrounding the stadium.

KU adjusts Fan Appreciation Day due to weather

MANHATTAN, Kan. — Kansas State standouts Serena Sundell and Ayoka Lee were named WBCA All-America honorable mention selections Thursday by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association.

It marks the fourth career honor for Lee and the first for Sundell.

Sundell, an All-Big 12 first-team pick and AP honorable mention All-American, led the nation in total assists (262) and assists per game (7.28), while also averaging 14.1 points and 4.4 rebounds. She became the first player in Big 12 history with four seasons of at least 350 points and 150 assists, and the first Wildcat to surpass 1,700 points and 800 assists in a career.

Lee, a second-team All-Big 12 selection, led K-State with 15.4 points and 6.5 rebounds per game while shooting a career-best 63.1% from the field. She ends her career as the program’s all-time leader in points (2,533), rebounds (1,262), blocks (356) and double-doubles (65).

MANHATTAN, Kan. — Kansas State standouts Serena Sundell and Ayoka Lee were named WBCA All-America honorable mention selections Thursday by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association.It marks the fourth career honor for Lee and the first for Sundell.Sundell, an All-Big 12 first-team pick and AP honorable mention All-American, led the nation in total assists (262) and assists per game (7.28), while also averaging 14.1 points and 4.4 rebounds. She became the first player in Big 12 history with four seasons of at least 350 points and 150 assists, and the first Wildcat to surpass 1,700 points and 800 assists in a career.Lee, a second-team All-Big 12 selection, led K-State with 15.4 points and 6.5 rebounds per game while shooting a career-best 63.1% from the field. She ends her career as the program’s all-time leader in points (2,533), rebounds (1,262), blocks (356) and double-doubles (65).

K-State's Sundell and Lee named WBCA All-Americans

- Fort Hays State Tiger Freshman and former Hoisington Cardinal standout Tony Moore talks about the impact he has been able to make on the Tiger baseball team in his first season.

- Sunflower Sports Solutions Conor Nicholl returns to his Friday slot to talk about his early impressions from the High School baseball and softball seasons.

- The Great Bend Lady Panther softball team plays a double header at Pratt Friday. We'll talk to Mike Hesher who will have the call on B-104.3 the Point.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/9/1693997740304.jpeg" alt="Friday show lineup with host Steve Webster" />
 <figcaption>Friday show lineup with host Steve Webster</figcaption>
 </figure><div><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/c5CeynvdDyU?si=Kp_NZ5NeHPqJBxOZ" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>- Fort Hays State Tiger Freshman and former Hoisington Cardinal standout Tony Moore talks about the impact he has been able to make on the Tiger baseball team in his first season.- Sunflower Sports Solutions Conor Nicholl returns to his Friday slot to talk about his early impressions from the High School baseball and softball seasons.- The Great Bend Lady Panther softball team plays a double header at Pratt Friday. We'll talk to Mike Hesher who will have the call on B-104.3 the Point.- Friday Sports Headlines- Sounds of the past 24-hours

Friday on Sports Day (Watch)

Bruce Pearl has turned Auburn into a basketball school and may have his best team yet. Rick Pitino has done what he does best at St. John's, ushering in a quick turnaround.

Their successes this season led to the first tie in the 58-year history of The Associated Press men's college basketball coach of the year award.

Pearl and Pitino each received 20 votes in balloting released Friday from the national media panel that picks the AP Top 25 during the season. Louisville's Pat Kelsey received eight votes and Duke's Jon Scheyer got five. Dennis Gates (Missouri) and Tom Izzo (Michigan State) each received three and Drake's Ben McCollum and UC San Diego's Eric Olen each got one vote.

Pitino is the first St. John's coach to be named AP coach of the year and the sixth in Big East Conference history. Marquette’s Shaka Smart won the award two years ago.

When Pitino was hired in 2023, the Red Storm had been mired in mediocrity. St. John's hadn't been to the NCAA Tournament since 2019 and the March Madness trips had been sporadic since the late 1990s.

Pitino led the Red Storm to 20 wins his first season and back into into national prominence this year. St. John's won the Big East regular-season title by going 18-2 and took its first Big East Conference Tournament title since 2000.

The Red Storm matched a school record with 31 wins — marks set in the 1980s under Lou Carnesecca — and had their highest ranking in the AP Top 25 in in 34 years by reaching No. 5 in the final regular-season poll. St. John's was a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and opened with a win over Omaha before losing to Arkansas in the second round.

Pitino's quick success follows a pattern he set in previous stops at Boston University, Providence, Kentucky, Louisville and Iona. He is the first coach to lead six different programs to the NCAA Tournament.

“I have been blessed for a long period of time — fifty-plus years of coaching,” Pitino said. “It’s going to stop, so why not have a blast? Why not get the most out of it? Laugh, have fun, get great experiences.”

Pearl has certainly been doing that since taking over at Auburn in 2015.

The Tigers had not been to the NCAA Tournament since 2003 and Pearl got them back into the bracket by his fourth season. Auburn took a huge leap the following year, earning the program's first trip to the Final Four in 2019.

The Tigers have been close to unstoppable this season.

Led by All-American Johni Broome, Auburn spent eight straight weeks at No. 1 this season, earned the SEC regular-season title and has won a school-record 32 games. The Tigers were the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and bulled their way through the bracket, beating Michigan State 70-64 to reach the Final Four for the second time.

Pearl joins Cliff Ellis in 1999 as the only Auburn coaches to win AP coach of the year honors. He is first SEC coach to win the award since Kentucky's John Calipari 10 years ago.

"You want to be on a great team, you’ve got to make sacrifices," Pearl said. “You’ve got to share and you’ve got to hold each other accountable. I think that’s a big part of what this locker room is all about. This is a team of faith.”

With a national coach of the year — just like St. John's.

Bruce Pearl has turned Auburn into a basketball school and may have his best team yet. Rick Pitino has done what he does best at St. John's, ushering in a quick turnaround.Their successes this season led to the first tie in the 58-year history of The Associated Press men's college basketball coach of the year award.Pearl and Pitino each received 20 votes in balloting released Friday from the national media panel that picks the AP Top 25 during the season. Louisville's Pat Kelsey received eight votes and Duke's Jon Scheyer got five. Dennis Gates (Missouri) and Tom Izzo (Michigan State) each received three and Drake's Ben McCollum and UC San Diego's Eric Olen each got one vote.Pitino is the first St. John's coach to be named AP coach of the year and the sixth in Big East Conference history. Marquette’s Shaka Smart won the award two years ago.When Pitino was hired in 2023, the Red Storm had been mired in mediocrity. St. John's hadn't been to the NCAA Tournament since 2019 and the March Madness trips had been sporadic since the late 1990s.Pitino led the Red Storm to 20 wins his first season and back into into national prominence this year. St. John's won the Big East regular-season title by going 18-2 and took its first Big East Conference Tournament title since 2000.The Red Storm matched a school record with 31 wins — marks set in the 1980s under Lou Carnesecca — and had their highest ranking in the AP Top 25 in in 34 years by reaching No. 5 in the final regular-season poll. St. John's was a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and opened with a win over Omaha before losing to Arkansas in the second round.Pitino's quick success follows a pattern he set in previous stops at Boston University, Providence, Kentucky, Louisville and Iona. He is the first coach to lead six different programs to the NCAA Tournament.“I have been blessed for a long period of time — fifty-plus years of coaching,” Pitino said. “It’s going to stop, so why not have a blast? Why not get the most out of it? Laugh, have fun, get great experiences.”Pearl has certainly been doing that since taking over at Auburn in 2015.The Tigers had not been to the NCAA Tournament since 2003 and Pearl got them back into the bracket by his fourth season. Auburn took a huge leap the following year, earning the program's first trip to the Final Four in 2019.The Tigers have been close to unstoppable this season.Led by All-American Johni Broome, Auburn spent eight straight weeks at No. 1 this season, earned the SEC regular-season title and has won a school-record 32 games. The Tigers were the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and bulled their way through the bracket, beating Michigan State 70-64 to reach the Final Four for the second time.Pearl joins Cliff Ellis in 1999 as the only Auburn coaches to win AP coach of the year honors. He is first SEC coach to win the award since Kentucky's John Calipari 10 years ago."You want to be on a great team, you’ve got to make sacrifices," Pearl said. “You’ve got to share and you’ve got to hold each other accountable. I think that’s a big part of what this locker room is all about. This is a team of faith.”With a national coach of the year — just like St. John's.

Auburn's Pearl and St. John's' Pitino share AP coach of the year honors, 1st tie in history of award

WINGATE, N.C. - The Fort Hays State baseball team moved into the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Division II Poll for the first time this season on Wednesday (April 2), with the Tigers sitting in 22nd this week.

The Tigers were receiving votes in the poll last week. Fort Hays State picked up 87 points in the balloting process, seven points behind 20th-ranked East Stroudsburg.

The MIAA has one other team in the poll and one team that is receiving votes, with Central Missouri ranked No. 2 in the country and Central Oklahoma receiving votes.

The Tigers will take a break from conference play on Sunday (April 6) when FHSU hosts Colorado-Colorado Springs in a doubleheader starting at noon.

2025 NCBWA National Poll - Week Eight (4/2/25)

Rank - School (1st Place) - Record - Pts. - Prev.

2 - Central Missouri (4) - 22-7 - 475 - 2

22 - Fort Hays State - 21-8 - 87 - RV

24 - Northwest Nazarene - 23-10 - 62 - 23

Dropped Out: Seton Hill (12th); Harding (15th); Bentley (24th); West Texas A&amp;M (25th)

Receiving Votes: Saginaw Valley State (18-6) 31 points; Seton Hill (20-5) 27 points; St. Edward's (26-11) 26 points; Central Oklahoma (24-8) 13 points; North Georgia (24-9) 12 points; Southern New Hampshire (26-7) 5 points; West Texas A&amp;M (24-10) 3 points; Spring Hill (24-9) 3 points; Cal State Monterey Bay (19-10) 2 points; Harding (25-8) 1 point

WINGATE, N.C. - The Fort Hays State baseball team moved into the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Division II Poll for the first time this season on Wednesday (April 2), with the Tigers sitting in 22nd this week.The Tigers were receiving votes in the poll last week. Fort Hays State picked up 87 points in the balloting process, seven points behind 20th-ranked East Stroudsburg.The MIAA has one other team in the poll and one team that is receiving votes, with Central Missouri ranked No. 2 in the country and Central Oklahoma receiving votes.The Tigers will take a break from conference play on Sunday (April 6) when FHSU hosts Colorado-Colorado Springs in a doubleheader starting at noon.2025 NCBWA National Poll - Week Eight (4/2/25)Rank - School (1st Place) - Record - Pts. - Prev.1 - Tampa (13) - 25-6 - 489 - 12 - Central Missouri (4) - 22-7 - 475 - 23 - Angelo State (3) - 26-6 - 457 - 74 - Westmont - 25-8 - 413 - 45 - UT Tyler - 28-9 - 388 - 36 - Florida Southern - 24-7 - 378 - 137 - Carson-Newman - 26-8 - 367 - 168 - Minnesota State - 21-2 - 366 - 109 - Davenport - 22-6 - 344 - 1410 - West Chester - 22-5 - 308 - 1911 - North Greenville - 29-8 - 301 - 2012 - Delta State - 25-8 - 281 - 813 - Point Loma - 22-10 - 254 - 1114 - Millersville - 21-4 - 222 - 1715 - Grand Valley State - 20-8 - 218 - 516 - Lenoir-Rhyne - 26-6 - 208 - 917 - Thomas Jefferson - 18-8 - 184 - 1818 - Colorado Mesa - 22-8 - 151 - 2219 - Young Harris - 24-9 - 130 - RV20 - East Stroudsburg - 20-3 - 94 - RV21 - Rollins - 21-9 - 92 - 2122 - Fort Hays State - 21-8 - 87 - RV23 - Catawba - 23-9 - 65 - 624 - Northwest Nazarene - 23-10 - 62 - 2325 - Goldey-Beacom - 22-6 - 39 - NRDropped Out: Seton Hill (12th); Harding (15th); Bentley (24th); West Texas A&amp;M (25th)Receiving Votes: Saginaw Valley State (18-6) 31 points; Seton Hill (20-5) 27 points; St. Edward's (26-11) 26 points; Central Oklahoma (24-8) 13 points; North Georgia (24-9) 12 points; Southern New Hampshire (26-7) 5 points; West Texas A&amp;M (24-10) 3 points; Spring Hill (24-9) 3 points; Cal State Monterey Bay (19-10) 2 points; Harding (25-8) 1 point

Tiger Baseball Ranked 22nd in NCBWA Poll

KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa. (AP) — A 70-year-old man who plays in an area senior hardball league popped into Victus Sports this week because he needed bats for the new season. Plus he just had to take some cuts with baseball's latest fad and see for himself if there really was some wizardry in the wallop off a torpedo bat.

Ed Costantini, of Newtown Square, picked up the custom-designed VOLPE11-TPD Pro Reserve Maple, and took his hacks just like MLB stars and Victus customers Anthony Volpe or Bryson Stott would inside the company's batting cage and tracked the ball’s path on the virtual Citizens Bank Park on the computer screens.

Most big leaguers use that often indistinguishable “feel” as a qualifier as to how they select a bat.

Costantini had a similar process and thought the hype surrounding the torpedo since it exploded into the baseball consciousness over the weekend was a “hoax.” But after dozens of swings in the cage, where he said the balance was better, the ball sounded more crisp off the bat, the left-handed hitter ordered on the spot four custom-crafted torpedo bats at $150 a pop.

“The litmus test that I used was, I could see where the marks of the ball were,” Costantini said. “The swings were hitting the thickness of the torpedo as opposed to the end of the bat.”

More than just All-Stars want a crack at the torpedo — a striking design in which wood is moved lower down the barrel after the label and shapes the end a little like a bowling pin — and Costantini’s purchase highlighted the surge of interest in baseball’s shiny new toy outside the majors.

Think of home runs in baseball, and the fan’s mind races to the mammoth distances a ball can fly when slugged right on the nose, or a history-making chase that captivates a nation.

Of lesser interest, the ol’ reliable wood bat itself.

That was, of course, until Paul Goldschmidt and Cody Bellinger hit back-to-back homers for the New York Yankees last Saturday to open a nine-homer barrage. Victus Sports, known as much for their vibrant bats painted as pencils or the Phillie Phanatic dressed as a King’s Guard, had three employees at the game and they started a text thread where they hinted to those back home that, perhaps more than home runs were taking off.

Yankees crowed about the torpedo-shape concept that had baseball buzzing -- and pitchers grumbling. The scuttlebutt and headlines stoked their super curious peers, most with an eye out for any legal, offensive edge, into asking Victus and other bat manufacturers about the possibility of taking a swing with the most famous style of bat since Roy Hobbs grabbed a “Wonderboy.”

Torpedo bats are driving an unprecedented surge in lumber curiosity

Victus spent most of the last 14 years trying to help shape the future of baseball. The company’s founders just never imagined that shape would resemble a bowling pin.

“It was the most talked about thing about bats that we ever experienced,” Victus co-founder Jared Smith said.

Victus isn't the only company producing the bulgy bats, but they were among the first to list them for sale online after the Yankees' made them the talk of the sports world. The torpedo bat took the league by storm in only 24 hours, and days later, the calls and orders, and test drives -- from big leaguers to rec leaguers -- are humming inside the company’s base, in a northwest suburb of Philadelphia.

“The amount of steam that it’s caught, this quickly, that’s certainly surprising,” Smith said. “If the Yankees hitting nine home runs in a game doesn’t happen, this doesn’t happen.”

Victus was stamped this season as the official bat of Major League Baseball and business was already good: Phillies slugger Bryce Harper is among the stars who stick their bats on highlight reels.

But that torpedo-looking hunk of lumber? It generated about as much interest last season in baseball as a .200 hitter. Victus made its first torpedoes around 2024 spring training when the Yankees reached out about crafting samples for their players. Victus, as dialed-in as anyone in the bat game, only made about a dozen last season, and about a dozen more birch or maple bats this spring.

This week alone, try hundreds of torpedoes.

“Every two minutes, another one comes out of the machine,” Smith said.

Who knew there would be a baseball bat craze?

On a good day, Victus makes 600-700 bats, but the influx of pro orders -- the company estimates at least half of every starting lineup uses Victus or Marucci bats -- has sent production into overdrive. The creation of a typical bat is usually a two-day process, but one can be turned around without a finish in about 20 minutes. Victus crafted rush-order bats Monday morning for a few interested Phillies and dashed to Citizens Bank Park for delivery moments before first pitch. All-Star third baseman Alec Bohm singled with one.

Stott tested bats at the&nbsp;<a href="https://maruccisports.com/?srsltid=AfmBOoqLQJVrgXONTjjq_myukxW8bFNJUlAQbeGigyS2kn8TQ115ED3G">Marucci</a>&nbsp;hit lab down in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, churning through styles until the company found the right fit.

“They connect all these wires to you, and you swing 1,000 bats,” Stott said. “And they kind of tell you where you’re hitting the ball mostly.”

Here’s the surprising part of the torpedo bat: For all its early hype, the bat is no rookie in the game.

The lethal lumber has been used by some sluggers in baseball for at least a year or two only, well, no one really noticed. Giancarlo Stanton and Francisco Lindor used torpedoes last season. Other players experimented with it and no one — not the bulk of other players or journalists or fans — ever really picked up on the newfangled advance in hitting innovation.

Smith said only “a few baseball junkies” inquired about the bats.

“I think it’s just one of those things that until you’re looking for it, you might not see it,” Smith said. “Now when you look at pictures, you’re like, oh yeah, it’s a torpedo.”

Aaron Leanhardt, a former Yankees front-office staffer who now works for the Miami Marlins, was credited as the one who developed the torpedo barrel to bring more mass to a bat’s sweet spot.

A member of Victus’ parent company, Marucci Sports, worked with Leanhardt in a Louisiana branch of their hit lab last year to get the bat off the ground and into the hands of big leaguers.

“I think getting past the shape being different was the hardest barrier,” Smith said. “Then the team goes out and hits those home runs like they did and everyone is willing to try it.”

Before last weekend, Victus had no plans to mass produce the bat, making it only available to professionals.

Now, Smith said, “I think it’s our job to kind of educate the public in what’s out there.”

The odd shape off the bat — like making a sausage, the meat is simply pushed down the casing — has little to no effect at Victus on the dynamics of making a baseball bat. The cost is the same as a standard bat, too, with a sticker price starting at around $200. Only the slogan is punched up: Get your hands on the most-talked about bat in the game.

The bat kings deliver their biggest hit yet

Victus was created by Smith and Ryan Engroff in a Blackwood, New Jersey, garage in 2012 and exploded in popularity over the last decade thanks in the large part to its bat art. Bruce Tatum, an in-house artist known as “The Bat King,” calls his memorable designs such as the No. 2 pencil and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/victussports/p/DHtQAYqx9aD/?hl=en">crayon bats</a>&nbsp;notably used in the Little League Classic “swingable art.” The Victus walls look straight out of an art gallery, only instead of classic paintings, rows and rows of colorful bats emblazoned with everything from Harper’s face to Gritty’s eyes are on display.

“Normally people are here to talk about the Bat King,” Smith said, laughing.

He was busy, sketching ideas for next year’s bats for the baseball All-Star game in Philadelphia.

“Bruce’s cheesesteak bat, I’m just telling you, is going to be the talk of the town,” Smith said. “I guarantee it.”

Victus has over 300 employees and 60 alone inside their King of Prussia headquarters. The company has outgrown its base and is busting at the seams, and when a bat suddenly goes viral, “all our seams are exposed.”

The folks at Victus — who previously have experimented with&nbsp;<a href="https://victussports.com/axe-bat/?srsltid=AfmBOopZJSDuHRtv9hM0OtHoDEInU9tt1D0e7rAOPdJ7R0YJhiOEecMY">axe handle</a>&nbsp;and puck knobs — have no fear the bat will become the baseball equal to the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/tush-push-kickoff-nfl-meetings-42c9a19837b908320d5b44e1da79a64b">NFL’s tush push</a>, a fresh wrinkle that some might try to legislate out of the game.

MLB has relatively uncomplicated bat rules, stating under 3.02: “The bat shall be a smooth, round stick not more than 2.61 inches in diameter at the thickest part and not more than 42 inches in length. The bat shall be one piece of solid wood.” It goes on to state there may be a cupped indentation up to 1 1/4 inches in depth, 2 inches wide and with at least a 1-inch diameter, and experimental models must be approved by MLB.

Year after year, Victus' bat business has picked up. Jonny Gomes used a Victus bat when he went deep in the 2013 World Series and Harper stamped the company as a major player when he played for Washington and swung a “We The People” bat and tossed it in the air to win the 2018 Home Run Derby.

“Our product kept getting better and it got to the point where he probably felt like we had the best bat, and we felt like we had the best bat,” Smith said.

There's not enough data yet to truly know how much oomph — or hits and homers — a torpedo bat may help some hitters. Cincinnati's Elly De La Cruz picked one up for the first time Monday and had a single, double and two home runs for a career-high seven RBIs.

Not all hitters are believers —- or at least feel like they need to tinker with their lumber.

Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, who hit an AL-record 62 homers in 2022 and 58 last year en route to his second AL MVP award, declined to try the new bat, asking, “Why try to change something?” Phillies All-Star shortstop Trea Turner said the hoopla was “blown out of proportion.”

“You’ve still got to hit the ball,” Turner said.

Turner, though, said he was open to trying the torpedo.

Arizona pitcher Zac Gallen grew up a Mark McGwire fan and compared the fad to the bloated barrel used by the retired St. Louis Cardinals’ slugger’s old Nerf bat.

“The concept seems so simple. For it to take this long is wild,” Gallen said.

No matter. The bat is here today and not going anywhere — except perhaps flying off the shelves.

“For bats to be the hot topic out in the zeitgeist is cool,” Smith said. “It’s kind of like our time to shine, in a way.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/4/1743777919100.jpeg" alt="&nbsp;Jared Smith speaks about torpedo baseball bats during an interview at Victus Sports in King of Prussia, Pa., Wednesday, April 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)" />
 <figcaption>&nbsp;Jared Smith speaks about torpedo baseball bats during an interview at Victus Sports in King of Prussia, Pa., Wednesday, April 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)</figcaption>
 </figure>KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa. (AP) — A 70-year-old man who plays in an area senior hardball league popped into Victus Sports this week because he needed bats for the new season. Plus he just had to take some cuts with baseball's latest fad and see for himself if there really was some wizardry in the wallop off a torpedo bat.Ed Costantini, of Newtown Square, picked up the custom-designed VOLPE11-TPD Pro Reserve Maple, and took his hacks just like MLB stars and Victus customers Anthony Volpe or Bryson Stott would inside the company's batting cage and tracked the ball’s path on the virtual Citizens Bank Park on the computer screens.Most big leaguers use that often indistinguishable “feel” as a qualifier as to how they select a bat.Costantini had a similar process and thought the hype surrounding the torpedo since it exploded into the baseball consciousness over the weekend was a “hoax.” But after dozens of swings in the cage, where he said the balance was better, the ball sounded more crisp off the bat, the left-handed hitter ordered on the spot four custom-crafted torpedo bats at $150 a pop.“The litmus test that I used was, I could see where the marks of the ball were,” Costantini said. “The swings were hitting the thickness of the torpedo as opposed to the end of the bat.”More than just All-Stars want a crack at the torpedo — a striking design in which wood is moved lower down the barrel after the label and shapes the end a little like a bowling pin — and Costantini’s purchase highlighted the surge of interest in baseball’s shiny new toy outside the majors.Think of home runs in baseball, and the fan’s mind races to the mammoth distances a ball can fly when slugged right on the nose, or a history-making chase that captivates a nation.Of lesser interest, the ol’ reliable wood bat itself.That was, of course, until Paul Goldschmidt and Cody Bellinger hit back-to-back homers for the New York Yankees last Saturday to open a nine-homer barrage. Victus Sports, known as much for their vibrant bats painted as pencils or the Phillie Phanatic dressed as a King’s Guard, had three employees at the game and they started a text thread where they hinted to those back home that, perhaps more than home runs were taking off.Business was about to boom, too.Yankees crowed about the torpedo-shape concept that had baseball buzzing -- and pitchers grumbling. The scuttlebutt and headlines stoked their super curious peers, most with an eye out for any legal, offensive edge, into asking Victus and other bat manufacturers about the possibility of taking a swing with the most famous style of bat since Roy Hobbs grabbed a “Wonderboy.”<h2>Torpedo bats are driving an unprecedented surge in lumber curiosity</h2>Victus spent most of the last 14 years trying to help shape the future of baseball. The company’s founders just never imagined that shape would resemble a bowling pin.“It was the most talked about thing about bats that we ever experienced,” Victus co-founder Jared Smith said.Victus isn't the only company producing the bulgy bats, but they were among the first to list them for sale online after the Yankees' made them the talk of the sports world. The torpedo bat took the league by storm in only 24 hours, and days later, the calls and orders, and test drives -- from big leaguers to rec leaguers -- are humming inside the company’s base, in a northwest suburb of Philadelphia.“The amount of steam that it’s caught, this quickly, that’s certainly surprising,” Smith said. “If the Yankees hitting nine home runs in a game doesn’t happen, this doesn’t happen.”Victus was stamped this season as the official bat of Major League Baseball and business was already good: Phillies slugger Bryce Harper is among the stars who stick their bats on highlight reels.But that torpedo-looking hunk of lumber? It generated about as much interest last season in baseball as a .200 hitter. Victus made its first torpedoes around 2024 spring training when the Yankees reached out about crafting samples for their players. Victus, as dialed-in as anyone in the bat game, only made about a dozen last season, and about a dozen more birch or maple bats this spring.This week alone, try hundreds of torpedoes.“Every two minutes, another one comes out of the machine,” Smith said.Who knew there would be a baseball bat craze?On a good day, Victus makes 600-700 bats, but the influx of pro orders -- the company estimates at least half of every starting lineup uses Victus or Marucci bats -- has sent production into overdrive. The creation of a typical bat is usually a two-day process, but one can be turned around without a finish in about 20 minutes. Victus crafted rush-order bats Monday morning for a few interested Phillies and dashed to Citizens Bank Park for delivery moments before first pitch. All-Star third baseman Alec Bohm singled with one.Stott tested bats at the&nbsp;<a href="https://maruccisports.com/?srsltid=AfmBOoqLQJVrgXONTjjq_myukxW8bFNJUlAQbeGigyS2kn8TQ115ED3G">Marucci</a>&nbsp;hit lab down in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, churning through styles until the company found the right fit.“They connect all these wires to you, and you swing 1,000 bats,” Stott said. “And they kind of tell you where you’re hitting the ball mostly.”<h2>Rookie of the year?</h2>Here’s the surprising part of the torpedo bat: For all its early hype, the bat is no rookie in the game.The lethal lumber has been used by some sluggers in baseball for at least a year or two only, well, no one really noticed. Giancarlo Stanton and Francisco Lindor used torpedoes last season. Other players experimented with it and no one — not the bulk of other players or journalists or fans — ever really picked up on the newfangled advance in hitting innovation.Smith said only “a few baseball junkies” inquired about the bats.“I think it’s just one of those things that until you’re looking for it, you might not see it,” Smith said. “Now when you look at pictures, you’re like, oh yeah, it’s a torpedo.”Aaron Leanhardt, a former Yankees front-office staffer who now works for the Miami Marlins, was credited as the one who developed the torpedo barrel to bring more mass to a bat’s sweet spot.A member of Victus’ parent company, Marucci Sports, worked with Leanhardt in a Louisiana branch of their hit lab last year to get the bat off the ground and into the hands of big leaguers.“I think getting past the shape being different was the hardest barrier,” Smith said. “Then the team goes out and hits those home runs like they did and everyone is willing to try it.”Before last weekend, Victus had no plans to mass produce the bat, making it only available to professionals.Now, Smith said, “I think it’s our job to kind of educate the public in what’s out there.”The odd shape off the bat — like making a sausage, the meat is simply pushed down the casing — has little to no effect at Victus on the dynamics of making a baseball bat. The cost is the same as a standard bat, too, with a sticker price starting at around $200. Only the slogan is punched up: Get your hands on the most-talked about bat in the game.<h2>The bat kings deliver their biggest hit yet</h2>Victus was created by Smith and Ryan Engroff in a Blackwood, New Jersey, garage in 2012 and exploded in popularity over the last decade thanks in the large part to its bat art. Bruce Tatum, an in-house artist known as “The Bat King,” calls his memorable designs such as the No. 2 pencil and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/victussports/p/DHtQAYqx9aD/?hl=en">crayon bats</a>&nbsp;notably used in the Little League Classic “swingable art.” The Victus walls look straight out of an art gallery, only instead of classic paintings, rows and rows of colorful bats emblazoned with everything from Harper’s face to Gritty’s eyes are on display.“Normally people are here to talk about the Bat King,” Smith said, laughing.He was busy, sketching ideas for next year’s bats for the baseball All-Star game in Philadelphia.“Bruce’s cheesesteak bat, I’m just telling you, is going to be the talk of the town,” Smith said. “I guarantee it.”Victus has over 300 employees and 60 alone inside their King of Prussia headquarters. The company has outgrown its base and is busting at the seams, and when a bat suddenly goes viral, “all our seams are exposed.”The folks at Victus — who previously have experimented with&nbsp;<a href="https://victussports.com/axe-bat/?srsltid=AfmBOopZJSDuHRtv9hM0OtHoDEInU9tt1D0e7rAOPdJ7R0YJhiOEecMY">axe handle</a>&nbsp;and puck knobs — have no fear the bat will become the baseball equal to the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/tush-push-kickoff-nfl-meetings-42c9a19837b908320d5b44e1da79a64b">NFL’s tush push</a>, a fresh wrinkle that some might try to legislate out of the game.MLB has relatively uncomplicated bat rules, stating under 3.02: “The bat shall be a smooth, round stick not more than 2.61 inches in diameter at the thickest part and not more than 42 inches in length. The bat shall be one piece of solid wood.” It goes on to state there may be a cupped indentation up to 1 1/4 inches in depth, 2 inches wide and with at least a 1-inch diameter, and experimental models must be approved by MLB.The torpedo is 100% legal.Year after year, Victus' bat business has picked up. Jonny Gomes used a Victus bat when he went deep in the 2013 World Series and Harper stamped the company as a major player when he played for Washington and swung a “We The People” bat and tossed it in the air to win the 2018 Home Run Derby.“Our product kept getting better and it got to the point where he probably felt like we had the best bat, and we felt like we had the best bat,” Smith said.<h2>Does it work?</h2>There's not enough data yet to truly know how much oomph — or hits and homers — a torpedo bat may help some hitters. Cincinnati's Elly De La Cruz picked one up for the first time Monday and had a single, double and two home runs for a career-high seven RBIs.Not all hitters are believers —- or at least feel like they need to tinker with their lumber.Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, who hit an AL-record 62 homers in 2022 and 58 last year en route to his second AL MVP award, declined to try the new bat, asking, “Why try to change something?” Phillies All-Star shortstop Trea Turner said the hoopla was “blown out of proportion.”“You’ve still got to hit the ball,” Turner said.Turner, though, said he was open to trying the torpedo.Arizona pitcher Zac Gallen grew up a Mark McGwire fan and compared the fad to the bloated barrel used by the retired St. Louis Cardinals’ slugger’s old Nerf bat.“The concept seems so simple. For it to take this long is wild,” Gallen said.No matter. The bat is here today and not going anywhere — except perhaps flying off the shelves.“For bats to be the hot topic out in the zeitgeist is cool,” Smith said. “It’s kind of like our time to shine, in a way.”

Demand for viral 'torpedo' baseball bats has sent a Pennsylvania factory into overdrive

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — A decade ago, Bruce Pearl of Auburn and Kelvin Sampson of Houston were emerging from exile — two coaches who had been handed the harshest sanction imaginable by the NCAA and were looking to resurrect their once-successful careers.

This week, they're both coaching at the Final Four, the “show-cause” penalties that once stood as a scarlet letter in college sports now barely visible in their rearview mirrors.

Their ascension from pariahs to the cusp of a championship — Auburn plays Florida in one semifinal Saturday, while Houston faces Duke in the other — look different, but no less impressive when viewed through the lens of the shifting priorities that have overtaken college sports over the last four years.

The recruiting misdeeds that nearly submarined their careers seem almost quaint now in a cash-saturated world of name, image, likeness endorsement deals for players who can move around as freely as the coaches while the coaches worry as much about what the schools can pay them as the players they recruit.

“I can make a case that it’s easier if you have the funds to compete at the NIL level,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes told The Associated Press recently. “If you don’t, it makes it really difficult. I think that’s where administrators have to realize: Are we giving coaches what they need to be at the level we want to?’”

Coaching carousel brings questions about players, too

There's nothing new about the college coaching carousel kicking into full swing this time of year. What's unusual about 2025 is the nature of some of the moves.

Five high-profile changes were made by coaches who won at least a game in March Madness. That was two more than last year, four more than in 2023 and two more than 2019, two years before NIL started.

But while virtually all those moves were seen as steps up for the coaches taking new jobs — nobody blinked when, say, Dusty May went from Florida Atlantic to Michigan or Nate Oats left Buffalo for Alabama — this year seems different.

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — A decade ago, Bruce Pearl of Auburn and Kelvin Sampson of Houston were emerging from exile — two coaches who had been handed the harshest sanction imaginable by the NCAA and were looking to resurrect their once-successful careers.This week, they're both coaching at the Final Four, the “show-cause” penalties that once stood as a scarlet letter in college sports now barely visible in their rearview mirrors.Their ascension from pariahs to the cusp of a championship — Auburn plays Florida in one semifinal Saturday, while Houston faces Duke in the other — look different, but no less impressive when viewed through the lens of the shifting priorities that have overtaken college sports over the last four years.The recruiting misdeeds that nearly submarined their careers seem almost quaint now in a cash-saturated world of name, image, likeness endorsement deals for players who can move around as freely as the coaches while the coaches worry as much about what the schools can pay them as the players they recruit.“I can make a case that it’s easier if you have the funds to compete at the NIL level,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes told The Associated Press recently. “If you don’t, it makes it really difficult. I think that’s where administrators have to realize: Are we giving coaches what they need to be at the level we want to?’”<h2>Coaching carousel brings questions about players, too</h2>There's nothing new about the college coaching carousel kicking into full swing this time of year. What's unusual about 2025 is the nature of some of the moves.Five high-profile changes were made by coaches who won at least a game in March Madness. That was two more than last year, four more than in 2023 and two more than 2019, two years before NIL started.But while virtually all those moves were seen as steps up for the coaches taking new jobs — nobody blinked when, say, Dusty May went from Florida Atlantic to Michigan or Nate Oats left Buffalo for Alabama — this year seems different.In a move dripping with recriminations, bad feelings and a departing athletic director,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/villanova-willard-ncaa-tournament-e4b1b5ff6ee58870ebfd1157148d784e">Kevin Willard left a Power Four school at Maryland</a>&nbsp;to coach a non-P4 school, albeit one with a better hoops resume, at Villanova. The next domino had&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/maryland-buzz-williams-2ce5e9df348f60c0fb21b34e907a5a6b">Buzz Williams departing the SEC and the Texas A&amp;M program</a>&nbsp;he built to fill the opening at Maryland.One of the more traditional moves involved Will Wade, also a show-cause casualty from a now seemingly bygone era, parlaying success at McNeese to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/nc-state-will-wade-f6242b82d94e5c913b022bc2bcba7098">return to the big time,</a>&nbsp;at North Carolina State of the ACC.Wade's involvement in paying for recruits cost him his job at LSU and wrapped him in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-race-fbi-probe-book-richardson-c2f7e25d0086aaa42f1185a6c3fa6a57">an FBI investigation</a>&nbsp;that sent coaches to jail and, he said, “ruined a lot of people's lives for very little reason.” That none of what he did would be considered wrong in today's world of above-the-table NIL payments to players is no excuse for him, he said.“It wasn’t right to do then and, you know, I paid for it," Wade told the AP after his hiring at NC State.<h2>Pearl, Sampson had recruiting tussles that would barely register today</h2>The stumbling blocks for both Sampson and Pearl also had to do with recruiting.Sampson made too many phone calls to a player who had already given verbal commitments to another school. Pearl invited a recruit to a barbecue at his house, then lied about it.Decades before that, Pearl was an assistant at Iowa when he&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/908019/2019/04/05/bruce-pearl-deon-thomas-and-the-apology-that-lifted-a-burden-from-both-men/">recorded a call</a>&nbsp;in which he asked a player, Deon Thomas, if an Illinois assistant had offered him a car as a recruiting enticement. Pearl didn't get in trouble for that one, though his reputation suffered and it took him nearly 15 years before he'd get another chance in the big time.All that feels antiquated these days, when headlines about Duke's Cooper Flagg making $4.8 million or BYU star recruit AJ Dybantsa making $7 million in NIL raise eyebrows not because it's against the rules, but simply because it lays out the vastly different stakes involved in college sports.<h2>A resource grab at schools that need football</h2>Pearl and Sampson are creatures of basketball at schools and conferences that need football to succeed. Neither of their athletic departments could be blamed for pushing their NIL resources heavily in the direction of the sport that produces the most revenue.Pearl remains confident that the Southeastern Conference, which placed a record 14 teams in March Madness this year, is on solid footing.“I’m sure in the SEC we’re going to be committed to being excellent in everything across the board — men, women, all sports,” Pearl said, while acknowledging the reality that the rulebook for this new era is still being written.Even with the Big 12's perennial success in basketball — the conference has had a Final Four team in seven of the past 10 seasons — Houston still has strides to make with a football program that went 4-8 last year. The question there, and many other places, is whether the Cougars have the resources to rebuild football while staying great at hoops.