Rivals Five-Star: Interview with four-star OL Carter Scruggs
LIVE FROM RIVALS FIVE-STAR MEDIA DAY: All the news, notes and interviews
RIVALS FIVE-STAR EVENT: Roster | Ten prospects to watch closely | Ten matchups we can't wait to see | ACC programs in the spotlight | Big Ten programs in the spotlight | SEC programs in the spotlight | Key QB storylines | Key RB storylines | Key WR storylines | Key TE storylines | Key OL storylines | Key DL storylines | Key LB storylines | Key DB storylines | Rivals Five-Star heading back to Indy
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
6 minutes ago
- Yahoo
5-star USC recruit, son of 3-time NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas sidelined for 6-8 months
Freshman shooting guard Alijah Arenas' first college basketball season was cut short before it even began. A fiery car crash in April, though resulting in no major injuries for Arenas, hospitalized him for a week and delayed his ability to practice until this month. Then, USC announced Wednesday Arenas would miss six to eight months of the 2025 season after suffering a knee injury requiring surgery. It's an undoubtedly tough blow for Arenas, who graduated a year early from Chatsworth High School to play basketball for the Trojans. 'Alijah is a tremendous worker, teammate, competitor, and person,' USC men's basketball head coach Eric Musselman posted Tuesday evening. 'He is understandably disappointed that he will not be able to take the court to start the season, but his health is our No. 1 priority. We have no doubt that he will come back even stronger. We look forward to supporting him during this process.' Arenas was the No. 10 overall prospect in the class of 2025 and best at his position, per 247Sports. The shooting guard was the highest-ranked commitment to USC since Isaiah Collier in 2023. "I've been good," Arenas said in his media availability last month. "I've been really getting back into it, especially where I was to where I am now. I feel like I've gotten a lot better. And then especially seeing my teammates, it's really motivated me a lot to push forward and to keep up with the team. Getting out of the hospital, that was my main focus. I already thought about the team." Basketball is in his blood: his father Gilbert Arenas spent 11 years in the league, primarily with the Washington Wizards. The guard made three career NBA All-Star appearances and was voted the league's most improved player after the 2002-2003 season. Following the 2011 NBA Lockout, he was the first athlete waived under the amnesty clause. 📲 Follow The Sporting News on WhatsApp
Yahoo
6 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Clemson returns most experienced team in football in search of 3rd national title in 10 years
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The Clemson Tigers have all of the pieces in place to win another national championship. Now it's just a matter of executing. The Tigers return the most experienced team in college football, and will be heavy favorites to win their ninth Atlantic Coast Conference championship in the past 11 years. They return eight starters on both sides of the ball with a combined 309 starts. ESPN's Bill Connelly has Clemson's return production rate at 80%, the highest in Division I football. That includes a Heisman Trophy hopeful at quarterback in Cade Klubnik, who is 19-9 as Clemson's starter and is coming off a season in which he threw for 3,639 yards and 36 touchdowns with only six interceptions. The Tigers are particularly stacked at wide receiver with any of six players capable of starting for most teams around the country. Combine that with a certain future College Football Hall of Fame head coach in Dabo Swinney and you have a recipe for success. But Swinney said that while having so much returning experience is 'awesome,' it comes with a cautionary tale. 'Experience, as they say, doesn't come at a discount,' said Swinney, who led Clemson to national titles in 2016 and 2018. What the 55-year-old head coach means is there are no shortcuts to success — and nothing is guaranteed. 'The guys have put the work in," Swinney said. 'We've been around a lot of good teams, and this team has the ingredients to be a really good team, but we've got to go do the work. We can't talk about it or predict our way into it." The Tigers will be tested right off the bat, opening the season at home against Southeastern Conference power LSU. A year ago, Clemson lost to Georgia 34-3 in Week 1, leading some to question whether the Tigers would embark on a fast, downward spiral. Instead, the Tigers bounced back with six straight wins and went on to beat SMU 34-31 in the ACC championship game at Charlotte's Bank of America Stadium, earning a berth in the 12-team College Football Playoff. 'We've got a bunch of great young men,' Swinney said. 'Our quarterback, especially, that's had to manage success well, and he's had to manage some failure well, too. He's grown into a great leader of our team.' Clemson's experience speaks to its retention rate. In an age where players are transferring from school to school on an almost daily basis, Clemson has been able to keep the vast majority of its players in Death Valley. Swinney attributes much of that to a program at the school called the P.A.W. Journey, where players are taught everything from how to tie a tie and write a resume, to financial literacy and the means of secure internships across the world. 'These guys can leave any time they want,' Swinney said. 'They have to choose, first of all, to come, and then they have to stay. I just think that says a lot about kind of how we put it together on the front end in recruiting guys that really align with our purpose, guys that really value education and want structure and family and accountability.' Klubnik is a perfect example. He could have left Clemson at any point during his 3 1/2-year career when times got tough, but chose to stay and was rewarded last year with being named MVP of last year's ACC championship game. The Tigers lost 38-24 to Texas in the first round of the playoffs, but Swinney said his players have used that as motivation. 'Certainly last year and getting a chance to maybe get a little glimpse at the top of the mountain, that's certainly given them a little fuel as they've gotten back to work since January,' Swinney said. No one wants it more than Klubnik. He feels the Tigers have the talent and experience to win it all. 'We've been a young team, I feel like, every year I've been here,' Klubnik said. 'We're a veteran team and very experienced, got a lot of guys that have played a lot of ball. That's really exciting, but we've got to go do it. We've got to go do it and take advantage of every opportunity we get.' It appeared not long ago that Clemson's success might taper off after the NCAA relaxed rules about players transferring from school to school. But the Tigers, despite not being big players in the transfer portal, have remained consistent. This past season they joined Alabama, Florida State and Oklahoma as the only teams in college football history to win at least nine games in 14 straight seasons. It's a streak Swinney hopes to maintain. 'That's really for us what it's always been about, just being incredibly consistent. We're not perfect, but we're incredibly consistent. That's because we're purpose driven and we're relationship driven. I think our program reflects that purpose in everything, in every aspect.' ___ AP college football: and
USA Today
8 minutes ago
- USA Today
Could Caitlin Clark miss the rest of 2025 due to injury? Here's the latest.
Indiana Fever superstar guard Caitlin Clark might not return to the basketball court any time soon, even if her most recent injury prognosis isn't bad. The Fever put out a statement on Thursday updating her status after she sustained a new groin injury last week, one that specifically didn't put a timetable on her return to action this season. "Following a July 15 injury to her right groin, Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark underwent further medical evaluations earlier this week. The team can confirm that no additional injuries or damage were discovered through the evaluations," the statement read. "Clark will continue working with the Fever medical team on her recovery and rehabilitation, with the priority on her long-term health and well-being. There is no timetable available for Clark's return, and no additional details will be provided at this time. Any further updates will be shared as they become available." On one hand, it's very good that Clark's latest evaluations didn't reveal any significant damage. On the other hand, this is the third time Clark has missed multiple games because of an injury this season. She will be absent for her third game in a row on Thursday when the Fever take on the Las Vegas Aces, a stretch already compounded by her missing last weekend's WNBA All-Star festivities. Not to be too doom-and-gloom as we don't know for sure, but it's entirely plausible that Clark won't play again in the regular season, even if this recent injury wasn't severe. With the focus being on her long-term health and well-being, the franchise may feel it wise to risk any further injuries that could linger into the future. While it's also very plausible she may play again soon, the team not putting a timeframe on her return feels foreboding, at least in terms of 2025's prospects. If the Fever made the playoffs, perhaps that's a reasonable timeline for her return? The ambiguity points to many different outcomes, but none necessarily immediate. Fever fans shouldn't take Thursday's update as a worst-case scenario, but they also shouldn't take it lightly. If the franchise really is focused on Clark's long-term health over short-term gains, the odds of her playing again this season might just depend on how her recovery goes and what the risks for further injuries are. Obviously, Clark not returning to the court would be catastrophic for the Fever's WNBA title chances, but it might be what's best for her and her long-term career with the franchise. With Indiana not quite at the level of elite teams like the New York Liberty, the Minnesota Lynx and the Phoenix Mercury, you really could see a world where Indiana makes the difficult decision to eventually shut her down for the season out of precaution. We'll see what happens as the season rolls on, but Thursday's update certainly puts an uncomfortable pall over the team concerning whether or not Clark will take the court again this season. It's absolutely possible Clark returns, but it doesn't sound like a guarantee like it did with her past injuries this season.
