Latest news with #LSU
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Louisiana Supreme Court: Ex-wife of former LSU coach gets $8.13M in settlement
BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — Former LSU head coach 'Ed' Orgeron's ex-wife was awarded $8.13 million of Orgeron's settlement with the university. The Louisiana Supreme Court ruled in favor of Kelly Orgeron. She sued to claim a portion of Orgeron's $16.9 million settlement after his contract with LSU was terminated without cause in 2021. She argued that the terms of the settlement were made during their marriage, making it community property. In Louisiana, community property refers to assets acquired during a marriage and is owned equally by both spouses. In the event of a divorce or the death of a spouse, the property is divided. The Court emphasized that the binding term sheet and employment agreement were in effect as of January 14, 2020, before the divorce filing. Orgeron filed a request with LSU to alter the effective date of the Binding Contract from Jan. 14, 2020, to April 23, 2020. The Court viewed this as 'an audacious, nearly fraudulent attempt to move the effective contract date away from that which had been created and existed during the community property regime.' Kelly will be given $8,134,500, or half of Orgeron's settlement. Read the full opinion below. Orgeron-LawsuitDownload Man with prior human smuggling arrest accused of impersonating ICE agent: police Karen Read gets movie deal for murder trial adaptation: Reports Senate blocks Iran war powers resolution Gavin Newsom suing Fox News for $787 million 6 Americans detained in South Korea for trying to send rice and Bibles to North Korea by sea Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Dominion Post
3 hours ago
- Sport
- Dominion Post
COLUMN: Manipulating the RPI is the next step for WVU baseball coach Steve Sabins
MORGANTOWN — My first venture into studying the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) came in 2007, after a WVU men's basketball team that had gone 22-9 through the end of the Big East tournament with wins against UConn and UCLA had been left out of the NCAA tournament. And you thought the Mountaineers were snubbed last season. Anyway, in the years that have followed, two things truly stand out about the RPI: ** There really isn't a better tool to gauge a team's strength of schedule. ** It can also be manipulated like silly putty. WVU baseball coach Steve Sabins has got to find a way to become a master manipulator. It's not exactly an easy thing to do as a college baseball coach in the part of the country where the state of West Virginia resides. Still, if the WVU program is headed where it seems to be headed — a perennial Top 25 program and super-regional contender — Sabins' ability to schedule games is going to become just as critical as any recruit he signs out of high school or the transfer portal. Because talent wins games, true, but it's that strength of schedule that determines a team's ultimate fate between always being a regional host or always heading out on the road for the NCAA tournament. First, let's get into some basic numbers. WVU's nonconference RPI strength of schedule this season was 176th in the nation. That's out of 307 Division I teams, which doesn't exactly look great on the surface. OK, but here's where a little more research comes in. LSU, which just won the national title, had a nonconference strength of schedule of 124. Texas — the No. 2 overall seed heading into the NCAA tourney — was at 152. Tennessee, the 2024 national champ, was at 179. WVU took a beating from the so-called experts of college baseball, because the theme was the Mountaineers didn't play anybody in the nonconference. You didn't hear that about LSU, though. It wasn't a story told about Texas or Tennessee. Why? Because once SEC play began, the overall strength of schedules for those schools shot up like a rocket. All three schools finished with an overall strength of schedule no higher than 22nd in the nation. WVU finished with the 78th toughest overall schedule, which included the Clemson Regional games and the super regional against LSU. 'I think that's why I have a difficult time discussing the RPI and some of those factors,' Sabins said. 'There is really only so much you can do and it's an uneven system.' Meanwhile, the Big 12 season isn't exactly a stroll in the park, but WVU and Arizona were the only Big 12 schools to finish the season ranked in the Top 25. The SEC had seven of the top 15 and 11 of the top 30, so of course SEC coaches know they have the conference season to fall back on. They essentially don't have to schedule anyone other than cupcakes in the nonconference and then hope for the best once conference play begins. No one else — not even ACC coaches — have that luxury. So, is it an 'uneven' system, as Sabins suggested? You bet your baseballs it is. This is where Sabins' ability to manipulate the system is crucial. The problem: 'It comes down to you only having four weeks of nonconference games to start the season,' Sabins said. 'It's not like it's 10 weeks. And then, oh by the way, it's still snowing in West Virginia for three of those weeks, so you have to travel south. You can't play midweek games in West Virginia then, either, so you end up asking for a four-game series.' That is the unfortunate geography mismatch that exists in college baseball, where every school north of Nashville, Tenn. is at a disadvantage in an outdoor sport that begins play on Valentine's Day. 'You don't want to fill your schedule with cupcakes,' Sabins continued. 'But the truth of it is, everybody is playing then. It's not like there are a bunch of good teams searching for games. You kind of get stuck with playing who is willing to play.' Here is where the RPI can be easily manipulated, and we offer up Hawaii's nonconference schedule as the perfect example. Hawaii played the second-toughest nonconference schedule in the country this season, so you'd believe that schedule was filled with multiple Top 25 teams and maybe even a couple of series against teams from the American League East, right? Far from it. Hawaii played just one four-game series against a Top 25-ranked team (No. 4 Oregon State), while the rest of its nonconference schedule was Marshall, Wichita State, a mid-major darling in Northeastern and then one game against USC. Now, that doesn't exactly look like a gauntlet, but you don't need a gauntlet to manipulate the RPI. It's really not so much about which schools you can get to agree to play you more than understanding which schools to avoid playing. WVU played 13 nonconference games last season against schools ranked 201st or higher in the RPI. Hawaii played none, that's the difference. So, how can Sabins approach future scheduling? He believes playing true road games is a boost to an RPI rating, which is true to a point. To that end, WVU was a stellar 24-7 in true road games this season. But, if it becomes a question of playing a four-game road series against a team ranked 214th in the RPI or playing a neutral-site game against a team in the top 75, the neutral-site game is the way to go. This is where early-season college baseball tournaments come into play. To my surprise, there are literally two dozen of them to choose from. One of them is actually played in Surprise (Ariz.), the site of the 2026 Big 12 tournament. You don't hear much about them, because they are played at the height of the college basketball seasons and only a week, or so after the Super Bowl. But each one can offer three or four solid RPI matchups against other Power Conference schools who otherwise would never even consider playing the Mountaineers. WVU traditionally hasn't played in them and hasn't done so since J.J. Wetherholt was a freshman. 'Getting in some of those tournaments is something I think we have to look at for the future,' Sabins said. It would go a long way toward eliminating the theme of WVU not playing anyone. It could also be the next evolutionary step for Sabins' coaching career, because he's already proven to be ideal otherwise. Recruiting, developing players, winning — Sabins is right there. Learning to manipulate the RPI has got to be next on his list.
USA Today
4 hours ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Naz Reid expected to sign contract extension with Timberwolves, per report
Center Naz Reid is expected to factor into the Minnesota Timberwolves' long-term plans. Reid intends to sign a new five-year deal worth $125 million and features a player option, according to ESPN's Shams Charania. The 6-foot-9 center had another strong season coming off the bench as the primary backup behind Rudy Gobert. Reid also provides some versatility on the roster with the ability to play as a power forward. Reid's new extension will closely align with Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards, who is under contract until the conclusion of the 2028-29 season. Reid averaged a career-high 14.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 2.3 assists in 80 games, with 17 starts, shooting 38.9 percent from 3-point range this past season. He has averaged 11.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.3 assists through the first six years of his career. Naz Reid's contract history Reid has been one of the best values in the NBA, finding an important role after going undrafted in 2019 following one season at LSU. He has become a fan favorite and a primary option off the bench or a spot start when matchups dictate it. Reid initially signed a two-way contract with the Timberwolves on July 5, 2019, as an undrafted free agent from LSU. His contract was converted from a two-way deal to a regular contract 13 days later. He had previously signed a contract extension in June 2023. The 25-year-old signed a three-year, $41.9 million contract in 2023, and it immediately paid dividends as he won the NBA Sixth Man of the Year award the following year. He had one year left on that previous contract worth $15 million for the 2025-26 season. The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.
New York Times
5 hours ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Naz Reid, Timberwolves agree to 5-year, $125 million contract: Sources
MINNEAPOLIS — Naz Reid is staying home. On Friday, Naz Reid and the Minnesota Timberwolves agreed to a five-year, $125 million contract, team and league sources confirmed to The Athletic's Jon Krawczynski. There is a player option on the last year of the deal. The deal ensures that the former Sixth Man of the Year will remain with the only team he has played for in his career and stay in a city that has embraced him as one of their own. Advertisement Reid averaged a career-high 14.2 points and 4.9 rebounds and shot 38 percent from 3-point range in his sixth season in Minnesota. He is the longest-tenured player on the Timberwolves roster. He was an undrafted free agent out of LSU in 2019 and has become one of the best player development stories in franchise history. Reid did not get chosen in the draft because of concerns about where he fit on the floor. Scouts saw him as too big and heavy to play power forward, but not tall enough to be effective as a center. It didn't take long for the Wolves to know they had a steal on their hands. Before Reid even got to training camp, he had a two-way contract. He spent time with the G-League team in Iowa in his first season, tearing up the competition and showing early signs of the ball-handling and shooting skills he possesses from inside and out. By his second season, Reid was playing 19 minutes per game and a firm part of the Timberwolves rotation. He reshaped his body, dropping about 30 pounds to turn himself into a lean, sleek combo forward with the handle of a guard. The Timberwolves fan base took note, seeing all the work that he put in and combining hit with a dynamic skill set to make him one of the most popular players on the team. Naz Reid towel night is the stuff of legend in Minnesota, a give-away that ended up going for over $100 on eBay. During the 2024 run to the Western Conference finals, a local tattoo parlor inked Reid's name on hundreds of Wolves fans throughout the Twin Cities. Folks in Alabama use 'Roll Tide' as a way to say hello and goodbye, to congratulate someone for getting married or graduating from college, a universal term of approval for any walk of life. In Minnesota, it's 'Naz Reid.' See a Wolves hat on a passerby at the Mall of America? Naz Reid. Driving by a local pizza place on the way home? Naz Reid. This story will be updated.
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Louisiana Supreme Court awards Ed Orgeron's ex-wife $8 million in dispute over former LSU coach's buyout
The Louisiana Supreme Court ruled Friday that former LSU coach Ed Orgeron owes his ex-wife Kelly nearly half of the buyout he received from the school. In a 5-2 ruling, the court said Kelly Orgeron should receive $8.13 million from the buyout since the two were married when Ed signed his contract extension with LSU in January 2020. Orgeron was rewarded with a new contract just after the Tigers went undefeated throughout the 2019 college football season and won the College Football Playoff. Advertisement Ed Orgeron filed for divorce six weeks after he signed the extension, though the contract was not officially approved by the school's board until divorce proceedings had begun. Orgeron received nearly $17 million from the school when he was fired. The supreme court's decision reversed a 2024 lower court ruling in favor of the coach. Three judges who ruled on the case were temporary replacements because of recusals. 'The lower courts failed to recognize that even if the employment agreement could be considered a 'new' obligation rather than a fulfillment of the requirements of the binding term sheet, because it was made effective during the existence of the community, the contract is a community asset in which both husband and wife have an interest,' Judge Jefferson Hughes wrote for the majority in the ruling. 'Property acquired during the community is presumed to be community property.' Orgeron became LSU's coach during the 2016 season after Les Miles was fired and led the Tigers to a 6-2 record after taking over. After 19 wins over the 2017 and 2018 seasons, LSU went 15-0 in 2019 with an offense led by Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson and Clyde Edwards-Helaire that scored more than 48 points per game. Burrow won the Heisman after the Tigers dismantled Georgia 37-10 in the SEC championship game. The Tigers had five first-round picks in the 2020 NFL Draft and 14 overall, but things quickly went downhill for LSU after that season. The Tigers went just 5-5 in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season and then 6-6 in 2021 as the school announced midseason that Orgeron would not return for 2022 after a 3-3 start. Since he was fired at LSU, Orgeron has not held a formal college football coaching role.
