SAN ANTONIO (AP) — A decade ago, Bruce Pearl of Auburn and Kelvin Sampson of Houston were looking to resurrect their careers after being handed show-cause penalties by the NCAA for recruiting violations. This week, they’re coaching at the Final Four. Their return is a sign of the success they’ve enjoyed since their comebacks but also the shifting priorities that have overtaken college sports. These days, when coaches go job hunting, they need the school to not only be able to pay them, but the players they hope to land for their rosters.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — JuJu Watkins, the sensational sophomore who led Southern California to its best season in nearly 40 years, is The Associated Press women’s college basketball Player of the Year. Watkins, whose Trojans won the Big Ten regular-season title for their first conference crown in 31 years, received 29 votes and Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo got the other two. Watkins is the first USC player to win the award and just the fourth to do it as a sophomore, joining Oklahoma’s Courtney Paris and UConn stars Maya Moore and Breanna Stewart.
DALLAS (AP) — Conference commissioners who manage the College Football Playoff had more discussions Thursday about potential changes to how the 12-team field will be set next season. The CFP Management committee didn't take any vote on the issue. The committee meets again in three weeks. Among the changes being considered is straight seeding based on the final rankings of the CFP selection committee. Under the 12-team playoff format that began last season, the four highest-ranked conference champions were guaranteed the top four seeds that come with first-round byes. That meant the seeding wouldn't always be the same as those final rankings. That happened, and was probably the most controversial and confusing aspect of the expanded playoff.
UNDATED (AP) — For about a week, Ross Hodge simultaneously was the head men's basketball coach at two Division I schools. Hodge was hired at West Virginia on March 26 while still coaching North Texas in the National Invitation Tournament. He stayed on to guide the Mean Green through the semifinals, where they lost on Tuesday night. He was introduced as the Mountaineers' head coach on Thursday. West Virginia athletic director Wren Baker was the athletic director at North Texas when Hodge was an assistant coach under Grant McCasland, who's now at Texas Tech. Hodge says taking over at West Virginia is an opportunity that he doesn't take lightly.
DORAL, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump arrived at his Doral resort Thursday for a LIV Golf event, shortly after reiterating to reporters aboard Air Force One that he wants to see the two men’s professional tours united. The president has spoken out on the subject before, and Trump has been involved in some of the talks that may eventually unify the PGA Tour and Saudi-funded LIV. Those talks have gone on for at least a year and how — or if — a deal can be struck is unclear. Trump told reporters that “having them merge would be a great thing.”
NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Judge became the third-fastest New York Yankees player to reach 500 extra-base hits with a three-run homer in the first inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks, trailing only Joe DiMaggio and Lou Gehrig. Judge lined a 1-1 fastball from Merrill Kelly to the opposite field and into the Yankees bullpen for a 3-0 lead. The two-time AL MVP has five homers and 15 RBIs in six games this season. Judge has 320 homers, 175 doubles and five triples in 999 games. DiMaggio reached 500 extra-base hits in 853 games and Gehrig in 869.
KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa. (AP) — Torpedo bats drew attention over the weekend when the New York Yankees hit a team-record nine homers in one game. Using a strikingly different model in which wood is moved lower down the barrel after the label and shapes the end a little like a bowling pin, the bat has become baseball's latest fad. All-Star and even amateur hardball players all want to take their swings with the bat. 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 Victus Sports. The company is the official bat of MLB and has seen sales and interest spike in the bat.
DALLAS (AP) — The New England Patriots have agreed to trade quarterback Joe Milton III to the Dallas Cowboys. Milton confirmed the trade via a social media post. ESPN, which first reported the deal, said that the Cowboys will receive Milton, along with a seventh-round pick in exchange for a fifth-round pick. The acquisition of the 25-year-old Milton, who the Patriots drafted in the sixth round in 2024, gives the Cowboys a young backup behind starting quarterback Dak Prescott after Cooper Rush signed with Baltimore in free agency. Rush started eight games for the Cowboys last season while Prescott was injured.
THURSDAY SCORES
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE
Final N.Y. Yankees 9 Arizona 7
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Boston 8 Baltimore 4
Final Houston 5 Minnesota 2
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Philadelphia 3 Colorado 1
Final Milwaukee 1 Cincinnati 0
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Final Milwaukee 126 Philadelphia 113
Final Orlando 109 Washington 97
Final Portland 112 Toronto 103
Final Minnesota 105 Brooklyn 90
Final Memphis 110 Miami 108
Final Golden State 123 L.A. Lakers 116
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Final Ottawa 2 Tampa Bay 1
Final Montreal 4 Boston 1
Final Colorado 7 Columbus 3
Final Dallas 5 Nashville 1
Final OT St. Louis 5 Pittsburgh 4
Final Los Angeles 4 Utah 2
Final Calgary 4 Anaheim 1
Final Winnipeg 4 Vegas 0