ESPN is receiving some criticism for a decision the network made during a college basketball telecast on Monday night.

Late in the game between the Duke Blue Devils and NC State Wolfpack, an individual in the Duke student section had a medical incident that caused a stoppage in play.

violation with 3:30 left in the game, ESPN cameras began to capture Duke students trying to draw attention to something happening in the student section. Seconds later, the network’s microphones picked up someone in the building screaming, “Hey! Come here real quick! Come here! Quick, quick!” presumably trying to alert on-site medical staff about the incident.

Then, ESPN cameras focused in on what appeared to be several members of the security team hauling an unconscious individual out of the stands, onto the sidelines, and then off the court.

“It looks like the young lady has passed out here, and they are taking her away. Wow,” ESPN play-by-play announcer Dave O’Brien said.

The decision to show the full incident drew criticism from some on social media.

Kentucky travels to Knoxville to take on the Tennessee Volunteers on Tuesday night in a game with huge implications in the SEC.

The teams released their injury report for the game, and the Wildcats will be without a key player in this game as Lamont Butler will be unable to go.

The loss of Butler is a big one for the Wildcats, as he has been the best perimeter player for Kentucky this season. He is averaging 13.2 PPG, while also leading the team with 4.8 APG and 1.8 SPG, but he will miss this game due to a shoulder injury.

Kentucky got the season off to a fast start, as it won 10 of its first 11 games. However, the team has struggled as of late, going only 4-4 in its last 8 games. They have lost their last 2 games to Alabama and Vanderbilt, both by 5 total points.

While he is out this game, right now it doesn’t seem to be an injury that will keep him out for an extended period of time.

The Wildcats will tipoff Tuesday night at 7 p.m. ET, and the game will be on ESPN.

Iznenadni odlazak: Arijan Ademi napustio tim nakon što je trener…

 

Neočekivani potez: Arijan Ademi, ključni igrač u sastavu tima, odlučio je napustiti klub uslijed iznenadnih okolnosti. Odluka je izazvala veliku pažnju među navijačima i stručnjacima, jer je Ademi bio jedan od najvažnijih doprinositelja timu u posljednjem razdoblju. Međutim, razlog njegove odluke tek treba biti potpuno razjašnjen, a prva špekulacija odnosi se na promjene unutar trenerskog kadra.

 

Glavni doprinositelj tima: Arijan Ademi je već godinama bio temelj tima, kako na terenu, tako i izvan njega. Njegova svestranost, iskustvo i liderstvo bili su ključni za uspjehe kluba, a njegov odlazak ostavlja veliku prazninu. Iako još uvijek nije službeno potvrđeno, mnogi izvori sugeriraju da je došlo do nesuglasica između njega i trenera, što bi moglo biti glavni razlog Ademiove odluke da napusti tim.

 

Špekulacije o razlozima: Navodno, Ademi je već neko vrijeme bio nezadovoljan ulogom koju mu je trener dodijelio, smatrajući da nije dovoljno iskorišten u određenim utakmicama. Iako se na prvi pogled činilo da je njihov odnos bio profesionalan, izvori unutar kluba govore o napetostima koje su se stvorile unutar svlačionice. To je, kako se čini, bilo posljednje što je Arijana Ademi motiviralo da donese ovu drastičnu odluku.

 

Reakcije navijača i stručnjaka: Odlazak jednog od najboljih igrača tima svakako će utjecati na moral momčadi. Navijači su iznimno razočarani ovom odlukom, no mnogi također shvaćaju da su takvi potezi neizbježni u profesionalnom sportu, gdje su odnosi u timu često pod velikim pritiskom. Stručnjaci također nagađaju da bi ovaj potez mogao biti signal za promjene u organizaciji kluba, a mnogi smatraju da će Ademi uskoro otkriti više detalja o svom odlasku.

 

Što slijedi? Iako se trenutačno još ne zna hoće li Ademi nastaviti karijeru u drugom klubu ili se povući iz profesionalnog nogometa, njegova odluka svakako će imati dugoročne posljedice za tim. Očekuje se da će klub uskoro objaviti službeno priopćenje s više informacija o ovom neočekivanom razvoju situacije.

 

Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer and several of his assistants are back on the recruiting trail along the west coast on Monday. Stops have already been made at Mater Dei (Calif.) and Mission Viejo (Calif.) so far with several other programs expected to be visited by the Crimson Tide. A handful of new offers have been tossed out, too.

One of those? To Anaheim (Calif.) tight end Luke Sorensen, who received the good news from tight ends coach Bryan Ellis following a workout at Servite (Calif.) High School on Monday morning.

The 6-foot-4, 230-pounder, who previously was planning to visit Alabama earlier month after his trip to LSU, announced his latest offer via social media and connected with Bama247 soon after to share some thoughts with a trip to Tuscaloosa is now in the works.

The Blue Devils had to find another gear to defeat NC State in Durham

It was a strange night inside Cameron Indoor Stadium and the Duke basketball team had to overcome a lot of obstacles to win its 14th straight game on Monday night.

Nearly 48 hours removed from its grinding comeback victory over Wake Forest, the No. 2 Blue Devils looked sluggish in the opening minutes against NC State, digging themselves a 13-point hole, 35-22, late in the first half.

It didn’t take long for the leaders of the ACC to respond, finishing the half on a 11-2 run to get within four, 37-33, at halftime and carried its momentum into the second half, taking a lead in less than four minutes and winning 74-64.

Strangely enough, Cooper Flagg did not score in Duke’s first half closing spurt, but he was involved in nearly everything after halftime – scoring 23 of his 28 points.

Duke (18-2, 10-0 ACC) would never surrender its lead but not for the best efforts of former UNC guard Dontrez Styles and freshman Trey Parker, who combined for 33 points for the Wolfpack.

Styles was scorching to start, putting up 13 points in the first half before foul trouble limited his time on the floor in the second half as he only scored three points, fouling out with 4:21 remaining and NC State (9-11, 2-7 ACC) trailing by one, 63-62.

Parker was just the opposite, using small yet productive minutes in the first half to be the team’s sparkplug in the second half, scoring 10 of his 15 points after halftime.

Still, it wasn’t enough to overcome Duke’s rookie duo of Flagg and Kon Knueppel although its freshman center, Khaman Maluach, had to leave the game early after vomiting on the court as Styles fouled out.

The game clinching play came from Cooper Flagg, as expected, dumping a pass off to Patrick Ngongba II – replacing the ill Maluach – for an easy layup that put Duke ahead 70-64 with 1:26 left.

Duke will get the chance to get healthy with four days off before its first matchup of the season against North Carolina (13-8, 6-3 ACC) on Saturday evening (6:30 p.m. ET, ESPN).

It’s been said that the Ohio State Buckeyes have some of the most passionate fans in the country. Perhaps no one knows that better than head football coach Ryan Day and his family. Following Ohio State’s 13-10 loss to archrival Michigan on Nov. 30, Day and his family saw a side of Buckeye Nation they’d presumably like to forget.

Social media and message boards blew up with calls for the school to fire Day, who was 66-10 at the time in six seasons at OSU. Things got so bad, in fact, that Day had to hire 24/7 armed security at his home to keep his family safe after their address was released on social media.

Day’s wife Nina had her phone number released online and she began receiving threatening calls and text messages. She even considered moving herself and her children out of the state after her 16-year-old son R.J. received death threats on social media, according to the Columbus Dispatch.

“It was very difficult,” she said. “Very difficult. There were a lot of tears. We shielded [our kids] from a lot of it because I didn’t want to scare them. I didn’t want them to stay up at night thinking anything bad was going to happen. “…

My kids have only heard the negative things about Ryan for too long. There’s only so many times you can hear, ‘Ryan’s a loser.

Ryan can’t win big games. Ryan was born on third base.’ My kids need to hear positivity around their father, around the program. It’s only healthy. I want my kids to enjoy this moment because they deserve it.”

The death threats weren’t just exclusive to Day’s children. Nina also disclosed that some fans encouraged Day himself to follow in the footsteps of his father, who committed suicide when he was only 8 years old. While she reiterated the threats and hateful messages came from a small portion of OSU fans, and that their actions are representative of the team’s entire fan base. “It’s very disappointing to me what some people are capable of, but you look at the news and you look at our society as a whole,” Nina continued. “People are very mean. They’re very negative. They’re nasty. I’m not saying everybody is, but there’s definitely a percentage of people that are just ruthless in their hate.”

Indiana freshman Bryson Tucker has missed the last three games, in part due to injury, but coach Mike Woodson is looking to put him in position to help the Hoosiers moving forward.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana coach Mike Woodson appeared on the “Inside Indiana Basketball” radio show Monday night alongside play-by-play radio announcer Don Fischer.

They discussed what went wrong during Indiana’s recent losses to Northwestern and Maryland, Friday’s game at No. 10 Purdue and commented individually on the majority of the roster.

Fischer brought up freshman Bryson Tucker, who suffered a finger injury ahead of the Ohio State game on Jan. 17. Tucker was listed out on the Big Ten availability report and did not dress against the Buckeyes. After being listed questionable for Wednesday’s game at Northwestern, Tucker went through pregame warmups with two taped fingers and was in uniform for the game, but he did not play.

Tucker was not listed anywhere on the availability report ahead of Sunday’s game against Maryland. He warmed up and was in uniform for the game, but he did not play.

Fischer said it seems like he has hit a plateau, though he noted Tucker has dealt with an injury. Tucker was averaging 18.4 minutes per game and appeared in each of Indiana’s first 18 games of the season.

“Yeah, but I gotta – I’ve sat and talked with Bryson, and we’ll figure out some things with Bryson, because I do think he can still help us,” Woodson said. “And I gotta try to put him back in the best position possible to help us as well.”

Tucker joined the Hoosiers before the 2024-25 season as a five-star recruit ranked No. 21 in the nation, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings, out of Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington, Va.

Through 18 games, the 6-foot-7 wing is averaging 6.2 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. He’s shooting 37.9% from the field, 6.3% from 3-point range (1 for 16) and 73.3% at the free throw line.

After two straight losses to Northwestern and Maryland, Indiana fell to 14-7 overall and 5-5 in Big Ten play. The Hoosiers travel to No. 10 Purdue for an 8 p.m. ET tipoff Friday at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind.

 

While the Duke Blue Devils men’s basketball team is mostly known for their star guard in freshman Cooper Flagg, it was fellow first-year player Kon Knueppel who made the play of the game on Monday night.

Late in the second half of Duke’s ACC contest versus the NC State Wolfpack, guard Tyrese Proctor began to fall out of bounds with8 the basketball in his hands. Knueppel’s brain then proceeded to turn all the way up to 10 and, instead of waiting for a pass, he decided to grab his teammate’s leg and pull back him onto the court.

Knueppel finished Monday night’s contest with 19 points while also grabbing six rebounds and forcing three turnovers. The Blue Devils came away with a 74-64 victory—and moved to 18-2 (10-0 in the ACC) on the season.

No. 2 Duke is back at it again on Saturday, taking on their archrival North Carolina Tar Heels from Durham N.C.’s Cameron Indoor Stadium. That one will tip off at 6:30 p.m. EST and air on ESPN.

Ohio State University, which has led the nation in athletic department spending for the past six years, reported a total of $293 million in expenditures for the 2023-24 season, according to its latest NCAA financial disclosures.

That was an increase of roughly $17 million the school said it spent on athletics in 2022-23.

Ohio State University, which has led the nation in athletic department spending for the past six years, reported a total of $293 million in expenditures for the 2023-24 season, according to its latest NCAA financial disclosures.

That was an increase of roughly $17 million the school said it spent on athletics in 2022-23.

Of its FY24 total, more than $26 million was allocated to student aid—an amount that athletic director Ross Bjork cited as evidence of the university’s “unwavering commitment” to supporting its “student-athletes” during this time of rapid change in college sports. The school sponsored 36 sports, more than double the NCAA’s minimum requirements for Division I.

However, the student aid figure was overshadowed by the $28.5 million Ohio State spent on football coaching compensation, despite a significant decrease in football ticket revenue compared to the previous season. Ohio State reported $64.3 million in football ticket sales in fiscal 2022-23, and $47.9 million in fiscal 2023-24—a drop of about 25%.

The shortfall is likely tied to changes in the football schedule and opponents. In 2022, the Buckeyes hosted eight home games, including a season opener against a ranked Notre Dame team and a high-stakes home finale against Big Ten rival Michigan. By contrast, the 2023 season featured a home slate of only six home, with the Michigan contest taking place in Ann Arbor.

OSU’s revenue decline was not confined to ticket sales. Year-over-year sponsorship and licensing revenue also dropped over that span, from $42.8 million to $34.1 million, possibly for the same reason.

Many of the school’s biggest changes in spending were related to coaches, as total salaries jumped from $45.2 million in 2022-23 to $54.3 million in 2023-24, driven largely by increases in compensation to head football coach Ryan Day and his staff. Meanwhile, severance payments totaled $9.2 million last fiscal year, almost all of which related to the mid-season firing of former head men’s basketball coach Chris Holtmann.

Ohio State, winner of this year’s College Football Playoff national championship, has topped FBS athletic department spending since fiscal year 2019, when it surpassed Texas, according to Sportico’s college sports finances database . From FY19 to FY24, OSU’s spending increased by 32%. Texas, which spent $232 million in FY23, has yet to release its most recent NCAA financial report. Texas A&M recently reported spending $244 million in the fiscal year 2024.

Unless the Longhorns made an unexpected leap in spending last fiscal year, it seems that the current one will be where Ohio State—and potentially a few other programs—becomes the first school to officially cross the $300 million threshold.