Latest news with #PantherCreek
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Top Texas 2026 high school football standout chooses Oregon
Frisco (Texas) Panther Creek incoming senior athlete Jalen Lott eschewed family ties when it came to making his commitment announcement Tuesday. Lott also made a unique presentation to the school he plans to attend, which will be Oregon. The four-star Class of '26 recruit made the announcement at a ceremony at the school Tuesday afternoon that was broadcast on the Dave Campbell's Texas Football website. At his announcement, Lott had four caps on the table which represented his list of finalists - Oregon, along with USC, Texas and LSU - set against a backdrop of Panther Creek logos. Advertisement But right before making the announcement, instead of doing what has become routine by picking the hat of the committed school, workers took away the backdrop to reveal a large sealed card. Lott then opened up the card, which folded out to show him wearing an Oregon uniform. MORE:Oregon Ducks recruiting class rises to No. 1 nationally in key stat In an interview with Dave Campbell's Texas Football right after the announcement, Lott remarked the relationships with the Oregon coaches - especially head coach Dan Lanning - made Lott sway his favor toward the Ducks. 'Definitely my relationship with Coach Lanning and all of the other coaches; they've been recruiting me for a long time since I really was a freshman,' Lott said. 'So being able to build that relationship with them was the biggest thing for me, just kind of gravitating towards them. … They recruited me for a long time, so being able to go up there multiple times (for visits) every year and obviously getting out there for a game is like a big thing for me.' Advertisement Lott, considered the No. 5 athlete in the country by 247Sports, added he likes what he can bring to the Ducks' high-powered offense. 'Definitely just the way they get their athletes the ball in their hands and stuff like that; just letting them move out of open space and not really doing too much with it,' he said. In addition, Lott disclosed that along with football, he plans to run track at Oregon. He was the USA Track and Field National Junior Olympics champion in the long jump. 'Obviously, they also have a great track program that I'm really interested in, so I plan on doing both when I get there.' Advertisement Lott, who goes 6-foot and weighs 170 pounds, caught 85 passes last year for 1,111 yards and scored 16 TDs for a Panther Creek squad which finished 10-2. He also rushed for four TDs and passed for another. Recently, Lott and his Panther Creek teammates claimed the Texas state Division II 7-on-7 title, and are now determined to do the same in 11-man this fall. '(We have to just) stay together and be able to step up, now knowing that there's a target on our backs now, so being able to kind of push through that and show everybody what we can do,' said Lott, who was named the event's MVP after scoring the game-winning TD in overtime against Kilgore in the title game. Lott also went against the grain in his announcement when it came to his family. Both of his parents were athletes at Texas and one of his sisters runs track at USC, with his other sister playing basketball at UNLV. Advertisement MORE HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS NEWS Top Texas '26 tight end prospect decides to stay close to home, commits to TCU Texas Tech football lands commitment from East Texas 4-star 2026 cornerback Standout tailback from East Texas decides to stay in-state after making college commitment ESPN's "SportsCenter" program to be on location at Texas high school football scrimmage Who made the covers of popular Texas football preseason magazine? Texas UIL football championship games to be broadcast for free via a new broadcast agreement
Yahoo
27-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Cole Hammer: 'Right thing' to turn self in for advice-giving, resulting in pair of DQ's at KFT event
Cole Hammer had never been disqualified from a tournament in his life. Until Friday, that is, when the 25-year-old Korn Ferry Tour pro called what ended up being a rules violation on himself during this week's Memorial Health Championship in Springfield, Illinois. Hammer's admission to rules officials eventually resulted in the disqualification of both Hammer and Hammer's playing competitor, Nelson Ledesma, after it was determined that Hammer had violated Rule 10.2a, which prohibits players from giving or asking for advice from anyone other than their caddie. Advertisement The incident occurred during Thursday's first round on the par-3 17th hole at Panther Creek Country Club. Hammer had just hit 4-iron onto the green on the 232-yard hole and was watching his ball still in motion when he started walking toward his bag. That's when, according to Hammer, he crossed paths with Ledesma's caddie, Nico Torres, who then flashed four fingers, a universal signal for, '4-iron?' 'Out of instinct, I flashed '4' as well,' Hammer told via phone on Friday afternoon. 'It was a heat-of-the-moment thing, and I didn't think a whole lot about it until after the round.' That evening, Hammer reached out to a few peers for their opinion. Most felt like he was in the clear. After all, the rule against giving advice is often broken in professional golf, and usually without punishment. When caddies for Brooks Koepka and Gary Woodland were scrutinized by those who felt they violated the rule during the 2023 Masters – rules officials determined they did not – Golf Channel analyst Paul McGinley called advice-giving 'not a serious breach among players,' adding, 'This is common practice on Tour. Whether you like it or not, it's common practice. It happens in every professional tournament around the world. It's not obvious always, so blatant.' One well-known PGA Tour veteran even texted Hammer on Thursday night, saying, basically, This happens every single day on Tour. Advertisement But even then, Hammer was unsure that he could simply brush it off. 'I feel like I know the rules really well, and I've always tried to uphold them to the best of my ability,' Hammer said. 'It just didn't sit right with me last night, and when I woke up this morning, I felt compelled to go talk to the rules official and tell him what had happened.' Hammer sought out KFT rules official Claudio Rivas, who told Hammer he would get back with him after gathering more facts and meeting with chief referee Jordan Harris and a USGA representative to determine the proper course of action. Hammer shared with Rivas that he also didn't know if Torres had even seen his hand signal. Hammer added that he didn't alert Ledesma or Torres at the time because he didn't want to cause unnecessary worry if there ended up being no infraction. 'I didn't think that they would be disqualified,' Hammer said. 'I just thought since I was the one who gave the sign that I would be disqualified. And I thought that was worst-case scenario.' Advertisement Rule 10.2a fully states: During a round, you must not: 1. Give advice to anyone in the competition who is playing on the course; 2. Ask anyone for advice, other than your caddie; 3. Touch another player's equipment to learn information that would be advice if given by or asked of the other player. The penalty is usually the general penalty of two strokes, but because Hammer and Ledesma had already signed their scorecards – Hammer for a 2-under 69, Ledesma for 73 – they were subject to disqualification under Rule 3.3. It took several hours for a final decision to be made, with the disqualification not coming until Hammer and Ledesma were six holes into their second rounds. Hammer had made a bogey to drop to 1 under while Ledesma was still 2 over for the tournament; the cut line is currently projected at 4 under. The Korn Ferry Tour confirmed the reason for disqualification but did not provide further details. Advertisement Ledesma's response to which was then translated to English: 'The decision made is the correct one, according to the rules. I can't do much with it except accept it.' Ledesma, who speaks little English, added that Torres was 'shocked by the situation,' but accepted the mistake. 'I feel a lot better now that I at least got it off my chest because it was weighing me down,' Hammer said. 'It's just unfortunate that it's a caused a little storm around the tournament.' As for Hammer, he entered the week No. 73 in points. His T-23 last week in Wichita, Kansas, snapped a string of six straight missed cuts. Ledesma, 34, is No. 102 in points. 'This is something that's so abnormal to experience in a tournament, so I'm almost just going to have to cast it away like nothing happened,' Hammer said. 'It's a learning experience, and I think I'm in a better head space having called it on myself. … I'm by no means depressed about the outcome or nervous about the next stretch. If anything, I can play with a clean slate and a clear conscious and hopefully continue the play that I had in Wichita. 'There are plenty of events left, and I felt like doing the right thing and protecting the game would be better for me in the long run.'
Yahoo
20-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Michigan football loses 4-star CB target to rival school for 2026 recruiting class
Michigan football is set to hold its final official visit weekend of the late spring, early summer, and the Wolverines are hoping that it pays dividends. With three weekends preceding, the maize and blue knocked it out of the park with some prospects, but with others, perhaps they fell a little short. The Wolverines currently have one cornerback committed to the 2026 class in Jacksonville (Fla.) Mandarin four-star Brody Jennings, but there are a handful of other corners that the maize and blue have ben in strong contention for. Michigan is hosting Carrollton (Ga.) four-star corner Dorian Barney this weekend, and appears to be in the lead for Frisco (Tx.) Panther Creek four-star Donovan Webb. But perhaps atop the wish list was Towson (Md.) Loyola Blakefield four-star Khary Adams. Advertisement Ranked the No. 36 player in the country according to 247Sports, Adams had long appeared to be strongly considering Michigan football, Penn State, and Oregon. But ultimately, Notre Dame ended up winning out, as Adams pledged to the Irish on Friday. With Adams off the board, the Wolverines will likely work extra hard to keep Jennings in the fold -- which will be a challenge given that he's being highly pursued by the Florida schools and others within the SEC-ACC footprint. Webb could be the second addition, and he's starting to trend towards the Wolverines since his visit. Here are Michigan's current commitments in the 2026 class: Advertisement Newbury Park (Calif.) four-star QB Brady Smigiel (No. 83 overall, 7th QB, 12th in California) Billings (Mt.) West four-star TE Matt Ludwig (No. 160 overall, 9th TE, 1st in Montana ) Chicago (Ill.) Simeon four-star EDGE McHale Blade (No. 169 overall, 21st EDGE, 5th in Illinois) Jacksonville (Fla.) Mandarin four-star CB Brody Jennings (No. 277 overall, 24th CB, 43rd in Florida) Cartersville (Ga.) Cass four-star IOL Bear McWhorter (No. 399 overall, 33rd IOL, 48th in Georgia) Liberty Hill (Tx.) four-star DL Alister Vallejo (No. 411 overall, 44th DL, 55th in Texas) Denver (Colo.) Mullen three-star TE Mason Bonner (No. 600 via On3; 30th TE, 5th in Colorado) Dallas (Tx.) Parish Episcopal three-star WR Jaylen Pile (No. 714 overall, 103rd WR, 113th in Texas) Washington (D.C.) St. John's three-star EDGE Tariq Boney (No. 796 overall, 74th EDGE, 4th in D.C.) Hinsdale (Ill.) Central K Micah Drescher (No. 4 K, Chris Sailer Kicking) Phoenix (Ariz.) Sandra Day O'Connor five-star LS Colton Dermer (No. 6 LS) This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Michigan football target, 4-star CB, commits elsewhere for 2026
USA Today
20-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Michigan football loses 4-star CB target to rival school for 2026 recruiting class
Michigan football is set to hold its final official visit weekend of the late spring, early summer, and the Wolverines are hoping that it pays dividends. With three weekends preceding, the maize and blue knocked it out of the park with some prospects, but with others, perhaps they fell a little short. The Wolverines currently have one cornerback committed to the 2026 class in Jacksonville (Fla.) Mandarin four-star Brody Jennings, but there are a handful of other corners that the maize and blue have ben in strong contention for. Michigan is hosting Carrollton (Ga.) four-star corner Dorian Barney this weekend, and appears to be in the lead for Frisco (Tx.) Panther Creek four-star Donovan Webb. But perhaps atop the wish list was Towson (Md.) Loyola Blakefield four-star Khary Adams. Ranked the No. 36 player in the country according to 247Sports, Adams had long appeared to be strongly considering Michigan football, Penn State, and Oregon. But ultimately, Notre Dame ended up winning out, as Adams pledged to the Irish on Friday. With Adams off the board, the Wolverines will likely work extra hard to keep Jennings in the fold -- which will be a challenge given that he's being highly pursued by the Florida schools and others within the SEC-ACC footprint. Webb could be the second addition, and he's starting to trend towards the Wolverines since his visit. Here are Michigan's current commitments in the 2026 class:
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Carbon County power plant gets approval to burn tires
NESQUEHONING, CARBON COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — A community is concerned about its air quality after a local power plant was approved to start burning tires. Panther Creek Electric Generating Facility in Nesquehoning was approved on May 1 to burn tires along with waste coal to create power for its facility. Everything the plant produces goes to crypto mining for Bitcoin. PHOTOS: Honesdale roads flooded after storms The president of Save Carbon County believes that will put cancer-causing chemicals into the air. Save Carbon County also says the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) does not require monitoring for chemicals. 'If they continue and if they continue at the same rate of regulation, our cancer rated are going to go up, our water pollution is going to go up, and our quality of life is going to go down,' Save Carbon County President Linda Christman stated. The DEP says the plant is complying with all existing regulations already in place. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to
