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Another anti-trust lawsuit: basketball players sue NCAA, ACC and other conferences over use of their

ESPN's Mark Schlabach reports that 16 former men's college basketball players, including Kansas stars Mario Chalmers and Sherron Collins, UConn guard Ryan Boatright and Arizona guard Jason Terry, have sued the NCAA and multiple conferences for the unauthorized use of their name, image and likeness in March Madness highlights.

Consider this: According to Yahoo! Sports, the NCAA spent $68 million on legal fees in 2020 defending its amateurism rules, including $34.8 million in accrued fees related to the NCAA v. Alston case. That case, of course, went before the Supreme Court and resulted in a 9-0 defeat for the NCAA.

The NCAA spent $61.5 million in legal fees in the year that ended in August 2023, according to the organization’s most recent 990 tax filing, as it continued to defend its business model in the face of multiple antitrust lawsuits. The $61.5 million is the organization’s second-highest annual total in at least the last 12 years, and likely its second highest total ever. The NCAA reported $53 million in fiscal 2022, $52.5 million in 2021 and $67.7 million in 2020 to defend its amateurism rules. Going back a decade—before the bulk of the antitrust lawsuits took hold—it was typical for the organization to spend less than $10 million.

The NCAA just settled a $2.8 Billion settlement in hopes of settling the NCAA v House lawsuit, with other cases stacked up like airplanes at LAX.

This Supreme Court has been quite clear -- the NCAA's collegiate business model is illegal. The Court is forcing change.

Another lawsuit
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Football Recruiting (Updated) Four-star OG Peyton Joseph (5 pm) and Four-star TE Hollis Davidson has now re-committed to Auburn

Four-star offensive guard prospect Peyton Joseph and four-star TE Hollis Davidson are both expected to announce which school they will commit to on Thursday.

Joseph is choosing between FSU and Memphis, while Davidson is choosing between FSU and Florida. Joseph is planning on announcing at 5pm and Davidson hasn't made announcement, at least publicly, about what time he plans to announce.

Both Fish and I, along with the publisher of the Memphis Rivals site, have FutureCast in for Joseph to commit to FSU. Joseph has moved up the board with the commitments of guards Rowan Byrne (Clemson) and Max Buchanan (Miami). And while he might not have been a take for FSU prior to those two commitments, he is now. Memphis got involved with Joseph after offering his high school teammate Antwann Hill who is committed to the Tigers as a quarterback. Joseph spent a ton of time in Tallahassee this spring. He took in three practices in one week in April.


Davidson's recruitment has seen some interesting developments over the last couple of months. He decommitted from Auburn in early May after committing to the Tigers in February. Once he decommitted from the Tigers, he found himself the FSU campus three times, twice for unofficial visits and once for his official visit on June 21. FSU was thought to be the leader for Davidson after his official visit to Florida on June 7. However, his official visit to Auburn, which was set for the fall after his decommitment, got moved to June 14. Since then, the rumors have been that the Tigers have made up the ground they lost to FSU during that time.

Both Fish and I had FutureCast in for FSU and Davidson but we both now project Auburn to land his commitment as does Rivals National Recruiting Analyst Sam Spiegelman. Like, FSU, the Tigers already have a tight end committed to their 2025 recruiting class, so everything is equal there.

I do believe that this is a very close race between FSU and Auburn and it would not surprise at all if he chooses FSU. He really seems to enjoy his relationship with Norvell and Thomas. Secondly, you don't see a ton of decommits then a recommit to the same school. This would one futurecast I would be happy to get wrong. I think he is one of the most explosive tight end prospects in the entire 2025 class and could be a big weapon at the college level in the passing game.
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Football Recruiting Clemson's Rivals site uses Wallace to poses good questions about effect NIL may be having on recruiting

Here's the board post from the Clemson Rival's site that I think poses some good questions about how we view and evaluate recruiting:
Broadly speaking, it's easy for fan bases to carry a myopic view of recruiting because they are focused on their team's wins and losses.
In light of Clemson's recent returns -- in which national champ Michigan also lost a lineman to Wisconsin, and Miami squandered another local wideout -- Tuesday's big news jumped out.
Jesup (Ga.) Wayne County four-star linebacker Tavion Wallace committed to Arkansas in what arguably qualifies as the stunner of the summer so far.

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Football Recruiting (Updated) Four-star LB Tavion Wallace commits to Arkansas

Four-star LB Tavion Wallace is set to announce which school he will commit to on Tuesday. The Wayne County (Ga.) prospect will decide between Florida State, Georgia, Florida and Arkansas and plans to make his pledge public at 6:30 PM. The Osceola's Pat Burnham and Charles Fishbein have FutureCast in for Wallace to commit to the Seminoles. FSU was the last of the four schools to receive an official visit from Wallace. He said after his trip to Tallahassee that the Seminoles getting his last visit was intentional.

Here is some of what Wallace had to say after his official visit just a week and a half ago.

"It went amazing. Florida State, it's always held a special place in my heart," said Wallace on June 23 after his visit. "This visit, it went amazing."

"I would say the people, I've been come coming here for over a year now and they've been consistent, and the love has been the same and it's been real, that consistency," said Wallace about what stands out about FSU. "That's big in my recruitment, that's one thing I'm looking for when I chose a school."

Wallace was also asked if there was a reason he saved his official visit until the last weekend of June.

"For sure it was, when I told Coach (Mike) Norvell I've got to have this one last to end it off with a blast because my commitment date July 2nd, I want to end it up off the right way."

Softball Current, former Seminoles in summer leagues

Via FSU sports information:

Caylan Arnold - Florida Vibe
Caylan Arnold is enjoying another good season in the circle with the Florida Vibe. Arnold has pitched in 11.2 innings and has posted a 3.00 ERA with 15 strikeouts compared to just five walks. Opponents are hitting just .217 against her. The Vibe are currently 6-3 this season.

Angelee Bueno - Sarasota Circus
After one season with the Seminoles, Angelee Bueno is currently competing for the Sarasota Circus in the Florida Gulf Coast League for softball. In 14 games this season, Bueno is hitting .276 in 29 at-bats for the Circus. Bueno has hit three home runs and driven in six home runs while scoring five runs. Bueno holds a .621 slugging percentage and a .382 on-base percentage.

Devyn Flaherty - Texas Monarchs
A staple in the Florida State softball program for the past five years, Devyn Flaherty has moved on to her professional career and signed with the Texas Monarchs as part of the Women's Professional Fastpitch League. The GM for the Monarchs is FSU softball alum Alex Powers. Flaherty has started every single game for the Monarchs and holds a perfect fielding percentage while recording three hits. The Monarchs are in their inaugural season and currently hold a 5-3 record.

Mimi Gooden - Manatee Squeeze
Mimi Gooden is also in the Florida Gulf Coast League and is on the Manatee Squeeze squad. Gooden has pitched 21.1 innings for the Squeeze while recording 10 strikeouts and has helped the Squeeze to six wins so far this summer.

Kalei Harding - Athletes Unlimited
One of the top hitters in FSU Softball took on Athletes Unlimited in June as part of the AUX Pro Softball League in Wichita, Kansas. Kalei Harding had a great start to her professional career and came up in many big moments and continued to have great success at the plate. Harding hit .315 in 12 games and drove in 17 runs including a record-breaking performance of nine RBI in her final game of the AUX season where she hit a grand slam and a three-run home run in a 3-for-5 showing. Harding finished 18th overall on the AUX leaderboard and ranked sixth among rookies with 950 points. Harding will play in the Athletes Unlimited Championship Series in Rosemont, Illinois, from July 26-August 25.

Elizabeth Mason - Texas Smoke
Mason is in her second season with the Texas Smoke which is a member of the Women's Professional Fastpitch league. The Smoke are 7-1 so far this season and Mason has continued to be consistent at the plate. Mason was 2-for-6 on opening weekend against the Texas Monarchs and also picked up an RBI-single in the Smoke's sweep against the Coastal Bend Tidal Wave.

Kathryn Sandercock - SGH Galaxy (Japan) - Athletes Unlimited
Kathryn Sandercock just wrapped up her second season in Japan as a member of the SGH Galaxy Stars as a part of Japan Diamond Softball League. The SGH Galaxy Stars are based in Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan. Sandercock was one of the top pitchers in the entire league this past season as she posted a 1.41 ERA in 64.1 innings which ranked fifth in the entire league. Sandercock posted a 6-3 record in 13 appearances. Sandercock recorded 46 strikeouts compared to just 15 walks. The SGH Galaxy Stars finished second in the West Division with a 12-6 record. Sandercock will return to the U.S. and play in the Athletes Unlimited Championship Series in Rosemont, Illinois, from July 26-August 25.

Jessi Warren - Athletes Unlimited - US Women's National Team
Jessi Warren has continued to make waves in the professional game as she has spent her summer playing for Athletes Unlimited as well as making her debut on the United State Women's National Team. Warren continued to make jaw-dropping plays at third base during the AUX season as she was named the AUX Defensive MVP for the second consecutive season. In the batter's box, Warren continued to come through as she drove in eight runs in 12 games including a walk-off home run on June 13. Warren also made her debut appearance with the US National Team as they prepared for the WBSC World Cup Finals in Italy from July 15-21. In two games with the United States, Warren went 3-for-4 with six RBI including a triple in the fifth inning that scored the game-winning runs for the U.S. In the second game, Warren went 2-for-2 with four RBI which included a home run and a double. Warren will be back in action this week as Team USA will play No. 2 ranked Japan in a three-game series on July 4, July 6 and July 8 in the 2024 Japan All-Star Series. Following the WBSC World Cup Finals, Warrant will play in the Athletes Unlimited Championship Series in Rosemont, Illinois, from July 26-August 25.

Danielle Watson - Florida Vibe
Watson is in her second season with the Florida Vibe. The former FSU standout has not pitched yet this season.

Football Recruiting If you rank the top 25 recruiting classes based on Average Star Ranking, FSU's class is ranked No. 1.

When you look at the Rivals national ranking for 2025 you'll see the Seminoles are ranked No. 39 right now based on the total number of points for their 8 commitments as compared to other schools that have already received 20 or more commitments. Ohio State for instance is ranked No. 1 in that poll with 21 commitments. But when you break it down by average number of stars per commitment, Ohio State falls to 3 (with 4.0 stars per commitment), while the Seminoles rise to 4.13 with their eight.

I personally like the avg. stars because recruiting should be more about quality than quantity. And now with the portal, do you want to take 20 or more HS prospects with a half dozen or more 3 star prospects included? Would you trade places with Wisconsin who is ranked 9 with 16 of their 20 signees rated 3-star prospects, or how about No. 10 Rugers who has 25 of their 28 commitments rated 3 star.

As FSU receives more commitments over the 4th of July weekend, you'll see their point total rise and their No. 39 ranking with it.

Here's FSU's ranking if you look at it based on average number of stars.


Rank, School, (No. of Commits), Avg. Stars
  1. Florida State (8) 4.13
  2. LSU (12) 4.08
  3. Ohio State (21) 4.0
  4. Oregon (14) 3.93
  5. Michigan (13) 3.85
  6. USC (11) 3.82
  7. Notre Dame (21) 3.81
  8. Miami (14) 3.79
  9. Oklahoma (19) 3.79
  10. Clemson (13) 3.77
  11. Alabama (20) 3.75
  12. Texas A&M (15) 3.73
  13. Georgia (17) 3.71
  14. Auburn (14) 3.64
  15. Tennessee (16) 3.63
  16. Florida (8) 3.63
  17. Texas (12) 3.58
  18. Penn State (20) 3.55
  19. UCF (11) 3.55
  20. Kentucky (14) 3.43
  21. Missouri (12) 3.42
  22. Mississippi (10) 3.40
  23. UCLA (13) 3.31
  24. TCU (20) 3.25
  25. Nebraska (12) 3.25

Golf PGSF FedEx Cup Week 26: The Rocket Mortgage Classic

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With the FedExCup Playoffs and Presidents Cup drawing ever closer, the PGA TOUR returns this week to the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit.
Plenty of big-name stars are set to tee it up, plus some promising young players fresh out of college, still in college, or even still in high school.
And of course, who could forget the epic three-man playoff last year – which led to Rickie Fowler’s first TOUR title since 2019.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
FIELD NOTES: Rickie Fowler returns to defend his title after breaking his win drought last year. He would be the first back-to-back winner in the tournament’s short history… Cameron Young, who shot 59 at the Travelers Championship, heads back to Detroit for the first time since 2022 when he finished runner-up… Michael Thorbjornsen will make his second start as a pro after debuting at the Travelers Championship (T39). He finished atop the PGA TOUR University ranking in May (thereby earning PGA TOUR membership for the remainder of the 2024 and 2025 season) after four celebrated seasons at Stanford… Tom Kim is back in action after falling to Scottie Scheffler in a playoff at the Travelers. Kim missed the cut last year in Detroit but was T7 the year prior. He has two top 10s in his last four starts… Will Zalatoris will play in Detroit, having made the cut in his two previous starts there. Has found some consistency after back surgery last year, having made 11 of 15 cuts this season… Min Woo Lee continues his run to the Presidents Cup team. Lee has made 11 of 12 cuts this season and comes into the week off a T21 at the U.S. Open. This is his debut at Detroit Golf Club… Other notable in-season winners to tee it up this week include Jake Knapp, Nick Dunlap, Akshay Bhatia, Stephan Jaeger and Taylor Pendrith (T14-2 in his two starts at Detroit Golf Club).
HIGHEST-RANKED PLAYERS IN THE FIELD
World RankingFedExCup
16. Tom Kim15. Akshay Bhatia
23. Cameron Young22. Chris Kirk
29. Akshay Bhatia23. Stephan Jaeger
33. Chris Kirk30. Taylor Pendrith
36. Min Woo Lee34. Cameron Young
41. Stephan Jaeger37. Robert MacIntyre
42. Will Zalatoris38. Will Zalatoris
44. Robert MacIntyre39. Tom Kim
45. Nicolai Højgaard45. Jake Knapp
50. Rickie Fowler46. Alex Noren
SPONSOR EXEMPTIONS: Next-generation stars in the field include Miles Russell, 15, the youngest golfer to make a cut on the Korn Ferry Tour. He’s making his PGA TOUR debut. Russell won both the Junior PGA Championship and the Junior PLAYERS Championship last year and was the youngest player to ever be named the American Junior Golf Association’s Player of the Year. (Tiger Woods is the only other player to win the award before turning 16.) Russell made the cut at this season’s LECOM Suncoast Classic before finishing tied for 20th… Auburn star Jackson Koivun just became the first player ever to sweep college golf’s three national player of the year awards – the Haskins, the Hogan and the Nicklaus – and the Phil Mickelson Outstanding Freshman award in the same season. He finished runner-up at the NCAA Championship and made his first PGA TOUR start at the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday. He has 16 PGA TOUR University accelerated points (20 gets a PGA TOUR card) and is second in the World Amateur Golf Ranking… Neal Shipley will make his non-major PGA TOUR debut. He is just the sixth player to win low amateur at both the Masters and the U.S. Open and made his pro debut on PGA TOUR Americas last week, tying for ninth at The Beachlands Victoria Open… Luke Clanton, who narrowly lost to Shipley for low amateur at the U.S. Open, is also in the field in Detroit. Clanton is the world’s fifth-ranked amateur and authored the best season in Florida State history en route to helping the squad reach the NCAA Championship final. He won three straight tournaments, was a finalist for all the major awards and set the school’s single-season scoring record… Ben James, the fourth-ranked amateur in the world, was named NCAA Outstanding Freshman of the Year in 2023 after a five-win campaign at the University of Virginia… Willie Mack III shot rounds of 63-74 to capture the John Shippen Invitational and earn a spot in the field. This will be the second PGA TOUR event this season for Mack (U.S. Open) and his ninth PGA TOUR start. The John Shippen Invitational is a two-day, 36-hole qualifier featuring the nation’s top Black professional and amateur golfers… Jason Dufner and Jimmy Walker also received sponsor invites.
SIGNATURE EVENT STORYLINES: Last week’s Travelers Championship marked the final Signature Event on the PGA TOUR schedule… This season's Signature Event winners were Chris Kirk (The Sentry), Wyndham Clark (AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am), Hideki Matsuyama (Genesis Invitational), Rory McIlroy (Wells Fargo Championship) and, of course, Scottie Scheffler, who won the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, THE PLAYERS Championship, the RBC Heritage, the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday and the Travelers Championship.
COMCAST BUSINESS TOUR TOP 10: After his win at the Travelers – his sixth of the season – Scottie Scheffler continued his dominance in the TOUR TOP 10… The rest of the 10 remained unchanged, but Wyndham Clark and Ludvig Åberg swapped spots, as did Hideki Matsuyama and Sahith Theegala and Patrick Cantlay and Byeong Hun An… Despite withdrawing due to illness at the Travelers, An is still the only golfer all season to be inside the TOUR TOP 10 every week.
FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 FedExCup points.
COURSE: Detroit Golf Club (North Course), par 72, 7,370 yards (yardage subject to change). The Donald Ross design dates to 1906 and was updated for the TOUR’s initial arrival in 2019.
The South Course’s first hole is used as the third hole for the tournament. The club is set to undergo a renovation, starting with the North Course, after the completion of next year’s Rocket Mortgage Classic. Every aspect of the layout will be updated, including the drainage and irrigation system.
72-HOLE RECORD: 262, Tony Finau (2022)
18-HOLE RECORD: 63, Nate Lashley (2019, first round), J.T. Poston (2019, second round), Davis Thompson (2021, first round), Cameron Young (2022, second round), Tom Kim (2022, fourth round), Adam Hadwin (2023, third round), Stephan Jaeger (2023, fourth round), Andrew Landry (2023, second round).
LAST TIME: Rickie Fowler broke a four-year win drought, defeating Adam Hadwin and Collin Morikawa in a playoff. Morikawa fired a final-round 64 (and missed a 16-footer for birdie on the 72nd hole) while Hadwin backed up his tournament-scoring record 63 Saturday with a 5-under 67 to close. Fowler rifled his approach shot on No. 18 to just three feet to make a closing birdie from 12 feet and finish at 24 under. The playoff lasted just one hole with Fowler making birdie to end it.

How to follow:

Television:
  • Thursday-Friday: 3-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel).
  • Saturday-Sunday: 1-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3-6 p.m. (CBS)
For outside of the U.S., click here for GOLFTV powered by the PGA TOUR
PGA TOUR Live:
ThursdayFridaySaturdaySunday
Stream 1Main feed: 6:45 a.m.-3 p.m.Main feed: 6:45 a.m.-3 p.m.Main feed: 7 a.m.-1 p.m.Main feed: 7 a.m.-1 p.m.
Featured group: 3-6 p.m.Featured group: 3-6 p.m.Featured group: 1-6 p.m.Featured group: 1-6 p.m.
Stream 2Marquee: 7:45 a.m.-3 p.m.Marquee: 7:45 a.m.-3 p.m.Marquee: 8 a.m.-1 p.m.Marquee: 8 a.m.-1 p.m.
Featured group: 3-6 p.m.Featured group: 3-6 p.m.Featured group: 1-6 p.m.Featured group: 1-6 p.m.
Stream 3Featured groups: 7:30 a.m.-3 p.m.Featured groups: 7:30 a.m.-3 p.m.Featured groups: 7:45 a.m.-1 p.m.Featured groups: 7:45 a.m.-1 p.m.
Featured hole: 3-6 p.m.Featured hole: 3-6 p.m.Featured hole: 1-6 p.m.Featured hole: 1-6 p.m.
Spanish-language main feedFeatured holes: 6:45 a.m.-3 p.m.Featured holes: 6:45 a.m.-3 p.m.Featured holes: 7 a.m.-1 p.m.Featured holes: 7 a.m.-1 p.m.
Featured group: 3-6 p.m.Featured group: 3-6 p.m.Featured group: 1-6 p.m.Featured group: 1-6 p.m.

Congratulations again to last weeks winner @FSU & Golf



With another strong week, Mrs BFT maintains an overall season lead.

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The gamble of committing to UF. . .

I see UF landing a few highly rated recruits, and I'm not the only one who believes there is a very good chance they will be looking for a new coach by the end of the season. I can imagine these kids are thinking that they can just transfer out, or decommit if things get bad. . .but roster spots are filling up so early with other teams nowadays. I'm sure they will end up with a landing spot, but it may not end up being the dream school anymore. I wonder if this scenario is being used as a recruiting "tactic". I'm pretty sure I would advise my son or friend against a program that may continue its tailspin and coaching carousel for the foreseeable future.
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