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Lake Norman native shares comeback story ahead of Final Four

Lake Norman native shares comeback story ahead of Final Four

Yahoo04-04-2025

Lake Norman native shares comeback story ahead of Final Four
March Madness is wrapping up soon with the Final Four matchups Saturday night.
Walter Clayton Jr. rallies Florida into Final Four with 84-79 March Madness win over Texas Tech
While many North Carolinians may be cheering for Duke, Channel 9′s sports reporter DaShawn Brown introduces us to a Micah Handlogten, a Lake Norman native and Florida athlete.
In the video at the top of this webpage, hear about his comeback story.
VIDEO: 'A blessing': HBCU basketball teams to play in tournament at Bojangles Coliseum

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Report: BYU's Egor Demin invited to green room at NBA draft
Report: BYU's Egor Demin invited to green room at NBA draft

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timean hour ago

  • Yahoo

Report: BYU's Egor Demin invited to green room at NBA draft

Former BYU guard Egor Demin was one of 13 NBA draft hopefuls who received a green-room invite for this year's event, ESPN's Jonathan Givony reported Tuesday afternoon. Along with Demin, the other 12 invitees include Duke's Cooper Flagg, the projected top overall draft pick, as well as Rutgers' Ace Bailey, Arizona's Carter Bryant, Baylor's VJ Edgecombe, Oklahoma's Jeremiah Fears, Rutgers' Dylan Harper, Illinois' Kasparas Jakucionis, Texas' Tre Johnson, Duke's Kon Knueppel, Duke's Khaman Maluach, Georgia's Asa Newell and Maryland's Derik Queen. Another 11 green-room invites will also be extended, according to Givony, before the draft. This year's NBA draft is taking place June 25 and 26 at the Barclays Center in New York City. The first round will begin at 6 p.m. MDT on June 25 and be televised on ESPN. The green room at the NBA draft is an area in front of the podium where players, their families and agents follow the draft's proceedings. Typically, an invite to the green room is viewed as a positive sign that a prospect is likely to be taken in the first round. It's not a guarantee, though. Last year, Johnny Furphy and Kyle Filipowski were included among the first 20 invites, but they both fell to the second round. Filipowski was drafted by the Utah Jazz with the 32nd overall pick. 'The process of deciding whom to invite to the NBA draft involves communication with the presidents or general managers of teams that pick throughout the first round,' Givony wrote. 'Teams are asked to vote on the top 25 players they expect to hear their names called first. This is to ensure players aren't sitting for very long before a national television audience.' Demin, a native of Russia, played one season at BYU before declaring for the NBA draft. The 19-year-old point guard, who is viewed as a potential draft lottery pick, averaged 10.6 points, 5.5 assists and 3.9 rebounds during his lone season playing for the Cougars. He helped BYU reach the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 2011. One of his primary weaknesses heading into draft preparations was Demin's shooting — he shot 41.6% from the floor at BYU, as well as 27.3% from 3-point range. Demin showed improvement in that area at the NBA combine. The last time BYU had a player selected in the NBA draft was in 2011, when guard Jimmer Fredette was taken by Milwaukee Bucks with the 10th overall pick in the first round and shipped to the Sacramento Kings in a draft-day trade.

Socceroo silences 'keyboard warriors' with heroics
Socceroo silences 'keyboard warriors' with heroics

Yahoo

timean hour ago

  • Yahoo

Socceroo silences 'keyboard warriors' with heroics

Mitch Duke wasn't even supposed to be a part of the Socceroos' past two World Cup qualifiers. Then he sealed Australia's sixth consecutive World Cup finals appearance. Duke, who for a second consecutive window was left out of Tony Popovic's squad only to earn a late reprieve, is soaking it all in. The veteran striker came off the bench in the 1-0 win over Japan that effectively sealed automatic qualification for the 2026 tournament. Then, Popovic called on Duke to start against Saudi Arabia in Jeddah, where Australia only needed to avoid defeat by less than five goals. After conceding the opener, things looked dangerous for Australia. Then, in the 42nd minute, Duke teed up Connor Metcalfe to score the equaliser. Three minutes after halftime, the much-maligned veteran striker glanced home a header to put Australia in front with his first goal since January 2024. Mitch Duke with the goal that might qualify the #Socceroos for the #FIFAWorldCup 💚💛⁰⁰Beautiful ball in from Boyle and Duke makes no mistake! 💥⁰⁰📱💻📺: Paramount+📻: ABC Radio via the ABC Listen App #KSAvAUS — Subway Socceroos (@Socceroos) June 10, 2025 "I wasn't even supposed to be here, to be honest," Duke said. "Mat Leckie got injured, and I was a late call-up.'' He joked: "Got the voodoo doll out and maybe injured Leckie. Nah, kidding, sorry, mate. "But it feels good, and probably a good way to silence some of the keyboard warriors as well. Feels good." The veteran striker had previously been open about said keyboard warriors and critics on social media coming for him after he missed chances in Australia's Asian Cup quarter-final exit last year. He also relished Australia's turnaround in qualifying after Tony Popovic took over from Graham Arnold, who resigned after a loss and draw in his first two games. "It feels damn good," Duke said. "Not the best start (to qualifying) to be honest, and to get us here, into automatic qualification, we haven't done that for a while, just feels unbelievable. "Personal triumph feels very good, but I'm more happy just for the boys. "It's a game of big moments as well, and everyone stepped up when they needed to." Duke knows he will have to keep kicking up a gear to retain his spot ahead of next year's tournament in north America. "Mate, all I can do is take the opportunities when they're presented to me, do well at club football, and hope I just keep doing well, and that's all you can do," he said. "And to be fair, there's a lot of young players up and coming. "Mo Toure when he came on, he's an absolute beast. "So I think there's exciting prospects as well, especially with the strikers and the young ones."

NCAA implements coach's challenge in men's CBB to 'enhance the flow of the game'
NCAA implements coach's challenge in men's CBB to 'enhance the flow of the game'

USA Today

timean hour ago

  • USA Today

NCAA implements coach's challenge in men's CBB to 'enhance the flow of the game'

NCAA implements coach's challenge in men's CBB to 'enhance the flow of the game' Show Caption Hide Caption Duke, Auburn, Houston players talk NCAA age limit before Final Four Men's Final Four players weigh in on if college basketball should have an age limit If there were a defining image of the 2024-25 men's college basketball season, it wasn't a buzzer-beater, a stunning upset or even the Final Four itself, when Florida completed a frantic comeback to defeat Houston in an instant classic of an NCAA championship game. It was officials gathering around a monitor to review a call at a late stage in the game. Two months after the season ended, the powers that be in the sport are looking to remedy the issue. REQUIRED READING: The 2025 NBA draft deadline has passed. Who are the college basketball winners and losers? The NCAA's playing rules oversight panel approved several changes on June 10 that will aim to 'help enhance the flow of the game,' the organization announced Tuesday. Most notable among them is the introduction of a coach's challenge, which can be used at any point during a game to review out-of-bounds calls, basket interference and goaltending, and whether a secondary defender was in the restricted arc area underneath the basket. Teams must have a timeout in order to use a challenge. If the challenge is successful, the team will be permitted one additional video review request for the rest of the game, including overtime. If the contested call isn't overturned, a team can't bring forth a challenge for the rest of the game. The NBA has employed a similar challenge system since 2019. Referee-initiated video reviews on out-of-bounds calls in the final minutes of games were a constant source of frustration for fans in recent years, with the deliberations regularly interrupting close, exciting games and extending the game well beyond its allotted broadcast window. Even with the coach's challenge, officials can still decide to turn to instant replay for timing mistakes, scoring errors, shot-clock violations, flagrant fouls and whether a shot is a 2-pointer or a 3-pointer, among other things. They can also initiate reviews for restricted-arc plays and goaltending/basket interference in the final two minutes of a game and overtime. REQUIRED READING: ESPN signs Dick Vitale to multi-year extension, creates annual event in his honor The advent of the coach's challenge was one of several measures that was approved Tuesday. The continuous motion rule has been tweaked so that a player driving with the ball who has absorbed contact can complete their step and attempt a field goal, another step that brings the college rules closer to their NBA counterparts. Players are currently only awarded free throws if they're fouled while shooting. Under new rules, officials will also have the option to call a Flagrant 1 foul if a player has been contacted in the groin. Previously, they could only rule it a common foul or a Flagrant 2 foul, the latter of which results in an ejection. Perhaps the biggest change is one the NCAA ultimately didn't implement. In its release, the organization noted that the NCAA men's basketball committee had conversations and 'positive momentum' to move men's games from halves to quarters. While there are logistical challenges — namely, how media timeouts would be structured during a game — the committee has recommended that Division I conferences form a joint working group to offer feedback on the potential halves-to-quarters move. Halves are largely a relic of the men's college game, as women's college basketball, the NBA and international basketball all use quarters.

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