Author: Gabby Har

In a heart-wrenching turn of events, Kentucky Wildcats fans were left devastated today as star recruit Otega Oweh announced his decision to commit to a rival school, shattering the hopes of Wildcats Nation. The highly sought-after forward, who has been a key figure in the college basketball recruiting class of 2025, had been rumored to be leaning towards Kentucky for months, leaving fans on the edge of their seats.

The announcement came during a live stream that captivated college basketball fans across the nation. Oweh, known for his explosive athleticism and scoring ability, revealed that after careful consideration, he would be taking his talents to **[insert rival school]**, a decision that left many Kentucky fans in tears.

Oweh’s decision had been closely watched by the Wildcats coaching staff, who had worked tirelessly to secure his commitment. With Kentucky’s basketball program rebuilding under coach John Calipari, the loss of Oweh is seen as a major blow to their recruitment efforts. The 6’8″ forward had been projected to make an immediate impact on whichever team he chose, and many had hoped he would join the Wildcats’ roster for the upcoming season.

The emotional reaction from Kentucky fans was palpable, as social media was flooded with messages of disappointment and disbelief. Despite the setback, the Wildcats continue to have a strong recruiting class, with several other top-tier players still committed to the program.

Oweh’s decision marks a pivotal moment in the recruitment landscape, and as his journey continues at **[insert rival school]**, Wildcats fans can only wonder what could have been.)

In a move that has left the basketball world reeling, top recruit Cooper Flagg has announced his final decision, sending waves of disappointment through the Duke Blue Devils fanbase. Flagg, one of the most highly anticipated high school prospects in recent years, officially declared that he would not be committing to the prestigious Blue Devils for his college basketball career.

Instead, the 6’8″ forward has chosen to play for the University of Kentucky, a decision that has taken fans by surprise and sparked widespread emotion across social media.

Flagg, who is considered by many to be the number one recruit for the class of 2025, had been a focal point of attention for multiple powerhouse programs, including Duke, Kentucky, and Kansas. Known for his exceptional two-way ability—scoring, rebounding, and his elite shot-blocking—Flagg has drawn comparisons to the likes of current NBA stars due to his versatile skill set. Over the past year, his recruitment was the subject of intense speculation, with many predicting that Duke, under the leadership of coach Jon Scheyer, was the likely destination. The Blue Devils, known for their storied basketball program and recent recruiting successes, were seen as the front-runner.

But in a surprise announcement this morning, Flagg confirmed his commitment to Kentucky, a program led by coach John Calipari, who is renowned for developing top-tier talent. The decision sent shockwaves through the basketball community, especially in Durham, where Duke fans had been holding out hope that Flagg would be the centerpiece of the team’s future.

Social media platforms, particularly Twitter and Instagram, were flooded with reactions from distraught Blue Devils supporters. Fans expressed their disbelief, some sharing their personal sadness in the wake of the news, while others vented frustration over what they perceived as a missed opportunity for Duke to secure a future superstar.

For Duke, the loss of Flagg is a significant blow to their recruiting efforts, as he had been a cornerstone of the program’s strategy to build a championship-contending team in the coming years. However, Coach Scheyer and the Duke staff are expected to pivot quickly, shifting their focus to other potential recruits in an effort to maintain their elite status.

As Cooper Flagg prepares to join the Kentucky Wildcats, the college basketball world eagerly anticipates his impact at the next level.

His decision marks a defining moment in his career, but for now, it’s Duke fans who are left with the painful reality of what might have been.

Kentucky basketball fans will have to act fast if they want to cash in on Mark Pope’s offer to pay gas money for fans who travel for the team’s opening-round NCAA Tournament game.

Paul Miller Ford, a UK Athletics partner, is giving away $100 gas cards to the first 100 fans who show up to the car dealership with a game ticket. The dealership, on East New Circle Road, began handing out gift cards 10 a.m. Wednesday.

 

Johni Broome has a lot riding on March Madness.

The Auburn Tigers earned the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament after a dominant 28-win campaign in the historically treacherous SEC. Their guiding light all season was Johni Broome, the fifth-year senior with an impressively dynamic skill set in the frontcourt.

Broome has been on the shortlist of best college basketball players all season. He finished the campaign with the second-highest Box Plus-Minus (13.8), which trails only Duke sensation Cooper Flagg (15.0). Not so shockingly, Broome and Flagg are widely considered the only candidates for the Wooden Award, with Broome’s odds (+175) well behind Flagg’s (-220) at this point.

The Duke freshman deserves all the praise. He’s the consensus No. 1 pick in the upcoming NBA Draft and he has been the storyline in college basketball this season. It’s hard enough to arrive in Durham at 17 years old and produce, much less outpace the competition en route to a historic debut campaign.

That said, Broome’s dominance has gotten lost in the sauce a bit. He has been as good, if not better than Flagg for Auburn this season. It’s slightly less impressive as a 23-year-old, sure, but for the purposes of college hoops awards (and the transcription of history), Broome deserves his flowers.

If there’s one way to cement your reputation and perhaps earn a few extra props, it is dominating deep into March Madness. Broome will look to add to his legacy in the NCAA Tournament. More than college accolades, however, Broome’s future is on the line this month.

Broome currently projects as the 28th pick to the Boston Celtics in FanSided’s updated mock draft. I am personally quite high on Broome’s NBA future. He’s the No. 17 prospect on our latest big board. The draft community has different opinions, though. The majority of mock drafts and prospect rankings peg Broome as a second-round pick. He’s 31st at Bleacher Report. He’s 41st at ESPN. And so on.

There has long been skepticism around Broome’s NBA projection. He’s a dominant force at the college level, there’s no denying it, but not every college star translates to the NBA. It’s a different game in the pros, and smaller bigs who thrive in the post tend to divide scouts.

Folks will continue to doubt Broome’s ability to defend at the NBA level, despite leading the SEC in blocks (2.3) and dominating on the glass (10.6 rebounds per game, also an SEC high). He’s mobile enough, but Broome is best described as an average athlete by NBA standards. Opposing offenses will target him in space and test his mettle on the perimeter. More physical bigs will post him up and test his strength.

These are challenges Broome should be able to handle, but there’s only so much time left for him to convince NBA scouts. For all his regular-season success between Morehead State and Auburn, Broome’s CV still lacks a deep run in March. Auburn is well-positioned for a dominant NCAA Tournament run, but we said the same thing last season … and they lost to Yale in the first round. Broome scored 24 points on 10 field goal attempts in that game, forcing 11 free throws while posting 13 rebounds, four assists, and two blocks. None of that gets remembered, though. Only the final score.

We saw something similar with Zach Edey last season. He’d been dominating the regular season for a while, but scouts remained skeptical, in part due to Purdue’s tendency to flame out in March. Well, the Boilermakers made it all the way to the national championship game, with Edey putting together one of the most dominant postseason displays in recent memory. He ended up as the No. 9 overall pick.

This is a stronger draft class, and Edey was a better prospect, but Broome could look to follow a similar blueprint. If Auburn goes the distance and Broome stacks double-doubles for the next few weeks, NBA teams will have a much harder time poking holes in his resume. There are plenty of appealing traits here: Broome has feather-soft touch, a real eye for passing, and he’s locked in on defense. The southpaw can step behind the 3-point line and launch it, too. More NBA teams will see logic and come around on Broome if he showcases his impressive repertoire on the March Madness stage.

If he one-ups Cooper Flagg and earns bragging rights among the college basketball elite, that’s just the cherry on top.

NORMAN  — Oklahoma Softball was honored with two Southeastern Conference (SEC) weekly awards March 18 as freshman infielder Gabbie Garcia was named SEC Co-Player of the Week and right-handed pitcher Sam Landry was tabbed SEC Co-Pitcher of the Week as announced by the conference.

Garcia has earned SEC weekly honors in consecutive weeks after taking home SEC Freshman of the Week recognition March 11. Landry has now earned two SEC Pitcher of the Week awards this season, first doing so after throwing a perfect game at Baylor in February.

All told the Sooners have taken home six SEC weekly awards this season, with sophomore Ella Parker nabbing the first two SEC Player of the Week awards issued in 2025.

Garcia hit .538 last week, homering three times while driving in eight runs and scoring another six. The Chandler, Ariz., slugged 1.308 and reached base at a .625 clip across OU’s 4-0 week that included a sweep at No. 15/12 Arkansas.

For the season Garcia is hitting .379 with 23 runs, four doubles, nine home runs, 22 RBIs, nine walks and an .848 slugging percentage. She is currently riding a team-best 12-game hitting streak during which she also hit a home run in five straight games. Her streak of one homer in five consecutive games marked the first time an OU freshman completed that feat since Jocelyn Alo did so in 2018.

Landry appeared in all four of OU’s wins last week, going 2-0 with two saves, 15 strikeouts and a 0.47 earned run average. The righty spun a complete game shutout in OU’s series-opening 7-0 win at No. 15/12 Arkansas. She followed that up with saves in game two and three, bringing her to a 7-0 record and three saves for the season.

The Mont Belvieu, Texas, native ranks second in NCAA Division I in wins among active pitchers with 70, second only to teammate Isabella Smith (77 wins).

OU hosts East Texas A&M tomorrow night at 6:30 p.m. The game will be streamed on SEC Network+ and a radio broadcast will be available on the Franchise 2 (1560 AM and 103.3FM).  Live stats will be available via Statbroadcast.com.

The Duke Blue Devils captured the ACC title over the weekend, despite their best player and projected No. 1 overall pick in the NBA draft, Cooper Flagg, being sidelined with an ankle sprain he suffered against Georgia Tech in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament.

With the Blue Devils set to play in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday, the growing question and concern is whether Flagg will play. Duke head coach Jon Scheyer has indicated that he will likely be ready to go on Friday.

With a bright future ahead and being the consensus first overall pick in the eyes of just about everyone, some believe he shouldn’t play, especially in the first round. However, legendary Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski sent a clear message about Flagg as the team prepares to face the winner of Mount St. Mary’s and American, who will meet in Wednesday’s First Four matchup in Dayton.

Cooper Flagg has arguably been the best player in all of college basketball this season. While Duke’s national title hopes could potentially hinge on his health, the team has proven they can manage without him, as evidenced by their victories over North Carolina and Louisville—both of whom made the NCAA Tournament.

Flagg leads the Duke roster in points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, and minutes played. Entering the tournament, he is averaging 18.9 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.3 blocks, while shooting 48.8% from the field, 36.8% from the three-point line, and 83.0% from the free-throw line.

After missing the finale of the ACC Tournament due to an ankle injury, Cooper Flagg will be back on the court for the Duke Blue Devils as they begin their March Madness journey.

Flagg, an 18-year-old freshman, has taken the NCAA by storm in his first season in the college game and has led Duke to a 28-3 regular season record. He won the ACC Player of the Year award and has quickly established himself as one of the undisputed stars of college sport. As such, he’s been able to cash in from the lucrative NIL agreements now available to athletes.

The NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) deals allow players to cash in on their enormous fame by signing sponsorship deals with major brands. On3 reports that Flagg is currently the highest-valued basketball player in the NCAA with an NIL valuation of $4.8 million, behind only Texas quarterback Arch Manning ($6.5m) among all student athletes.

Flagg is the No. 1 projected pick for the 2025 NBA Draft and the frontrunner for the Wooden Award, given to the outstanding men’s and women’s college basketball players in the US. Here’s how his NIL compares to the other top earners in March Madness…

The size of Flagg’s NIL deal may actually convince him to hold off on declaring for the NBA for another year. In the past, prospects would look to make the step up as soon as possible to escape the strictly-amateur rules of the NCAA.

However with a substantial payday coming his way already, the 18-year-old could decide to delay the move. Bleacher Report projects Flagg, should he declare for the draft, to be selected with the No. 1 pick by the Washington Wizards. Should he leave the college game after one year with Duke it may go done as one of the great ‘one-and-done’ seasons of the NCAA, particularly if he can lead the team to something special in March Madness this month.

Auburn’s 1-1 run in the SEC Tournament, which followed a 0-2 finish to the regular season with the IBOB finale being particularly heartbreaking. AU’s run to the SEC regular season crown was awe-inspiring, but their Quad 1 wins aren’t being respected before the Big Dance.

USA Today’s Blake Toppmeyer shared a worrying comparison for Bruce Pearl’s team: Dan Lanning’s 2024 Oregon football program.

“The NCAA men’s tournament selection committee must have taken inspiration from the folks at the College Football Playoff when drawing up Auburn’s region in March Madness,” Toppmeyer wrote.

“The committee awarded Bruce Pearl’s Tigers the No. 1 overall seed but stuck them in a South Region loaded with trip wires.

“Auburn’s seeding reward would be playing the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight in Atlanta, 110 miles from campus, if it advances that far. That’s the only upside to this region, though.

“Auburn’s treacherous path to the Final Four reminds me of Oregon football’s draw as the No. 1 seed in the CFP bracket. The Ducks’ prize for an undefeated regular season became a prison of the committee’s making: a quarterfinal matchup with Ohio State, the nation’s most-talented team. The Buckeyes built the best résumé among at-large qualifiers, but the committee overlooked that during seeding. Oregon narrowly beat Ohio State during the regular season but got smashed in the playoff rematch.”

In a groundbreaking move, Otega Oweh, one of college football’s rising stars, has agreed to a record-setting contract extension with the Kentucky Wildcats. The new deal, worth $140 million, makes Oweh not only one of the highest-paid players in college football but also solidifies his place as a cornerstone for the Wildcats’ future success.

The announcement, made earlier this week, was met with widespread excitement among fans and analysts alike. Oweh, a dominant force on the defensive line, had previously been instrumental in Kentucky’s impressive run in recent seasons. His combination of size, speed, and versatility has made him a key player for the Wildcats, drawing comparisons to some of the best defensive prospects in recent memory.

“This is a dream come true for me,” Oweh said in a statement following the signing. “I’m excited to continue my journey with the Wildcats, and I can’t wait to help lead this team to even greater heights. Kentucky has been a second home to me, and I’m ready to give everything I have for the fans and my teammates.”

The $140 million deal eclipses previous college contract records and is expected to reshape how future athletes negotiate their commitments in the NCAA. With the new agreement, Oweh will not only have financial security but also the opportunity to build a legacy at Kentucky, with hopes of leading them to an NCAA championship.

Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops expressed his enthusiasm for the deal, praising Oweh’s leadership both on and off the field. “Otega is the kind of player we want at Kentucky – dedicated, hardworking, and committed to excellence. This contract extension speaks volumes about his importance to our program,” Stoops said.

Oweh’s new contract sets a precedent that could change the landscape of college athletics, paving the way for future players to secure similar high-value deals.

Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson has reportedly turned down a lucrative contract extension worth $88.5 million, a deal that would have made him one of the highest-paid receivers in the NFL. The 24-year-old superstar, who is widely regarded as one of the best wide receivers in the league, made the decision after careful consideration, according to multiple sources close to the player.

Jefferson, who has quickly emerged as a dominant force in the NFL since being drafted by the Vikings in 2020, has set multiple records, including the most receiving yards in a single season for a Vikings player. He has proven to be an integral part of the team’s offense, securing a spot as one of the league’s top talents.

Despite the enticing nature of the offer, which would have been one of the richest in NFL history for a wide receiver, Jefferson is reportedly seeking a deal that more closely aligns with his market value and long-term goals. His decision to decline the contract extension has sparked conversation across the league, with many speculating that he may be aiming for a larger deal or pursuing other opportunities that offer greater financial compensation or more championship aspirations.

The Minnesota Vikings are now faced with the challenge of negotiating a new deal with Jefferson, who is in the final year of his rookie contract. The Vikings are reportedly committed to keeping Jefferson in Minnesota for the long term and are likely to revisit contract discussions in the near future. It is expected that his agent will continue to push for a contract that reflects his rising stature and importance to the team.

As of now, Jefferson’s focus remains on his performance during the upcoming season. Fans and analysts alike will be watching closely to see how the situation develops, as the wide receiver’s future with the team could have a significant impact on the Vikings’ prospects in the coming years.

While Jefferson’s decision to turn down the $88.5 million extension is a bold move, it underscores his belief in his worth and his determination to secure a deal that accurately reflects his value as one of the NFL’s elite players.