Why the JuJu Watkins injury is a huge loss for college basketball
Yahoo Sports' Caroline Fenton, Jason Fitz and basketball analyst Isis 'Ice' Young react to the devastating ACL to the USC star and what it means for the sport as a whole. Hear the full conversation on the 'College Basketball Power Hour' podcast - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
U.S. Open preview - Golf's toughest test awaits at Oakmont
Yahoo Sports senior writer Jay Busbee previews this week's major outside Pittsburgh - which will host the event for a tenth time on a track known as one of America's most difficult golf courses. View more Video Transcript Hide your scorecards, my friends, because the US Open is back and the toughest tournament in golf this year is being played at one of the toughest courses in the country. Advertisement That would be Oakmont, the old classic. It's been around since 1904. It's hosted now 10 US Opens, more than any other course in the United States, and it's going to be an incredible challenge for today's golfers for a number of reasons, starting with the rough, as much as 5 inches deep in some places, the famous. Church Pew and piano keys, bunkers, cinematic and also devastating to your score if you happen to end up in them. And then the greens, which are so slick, that Sam Snead once said he put a dime down to mark his ball and it slid off the edge of the green. Now who can handle this kind of course? Advertisement Well, Scotty Scheffer, of course, he's already got 3 majors. He might well win 2 more before the year is out. He's not quite at Scotty versus the field level, but he's very, very close, right behind. Hi. You've got Rory McIlroy, understandably a bit out of form since his emotional win at Augusta back in April. He missed the cut last week at the RBC Canadian. That's a bit of a concern for him and for anybody else who's looking to watch him win his second major. A little further down, you've got John Rohm playing very well on Liv. That's kind of damning with faint praise because while he's been able to hold leads, he hasn't been able to keep leads over the course of the last Few months, most notably last last month at Quail Hollow in the PGA Championship when he let it get away from him late. Advertisement Then of course there's Bryson DeShambo, Rohm's mate over at Liv Golf, playing very well in most phases of the game, always in competition in majors lately, but his iron play is a bit suspect, and you're going to need to be accurate off the tee if you're going to win at Oakmont. He should be in the mix, but will he be holding up the trophy at the end of it? To be determined. Now, in terms of a sleeper, a guy you might want to look at is someone who's had some strong iron play, that would be Terrell Hatton. He's never won a major, but he has made the cut in 13 of the last 14 majors that he's played, and he's extremely accurate with his irons. Advertisement Plus, the side benefit of that is that he would be the first golfer whose celebration speech at the end would be an FCC violation. We will be live all week from Oakmont. Join us at Yahoo Sports. I am Jay Busby. We will see you from the US Open.
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
Knicks players reportedly grew tired of Tom Thibodeau's stubbornness before firing
More details continue to emerge about the fallout from Tom Thibodeau's tenure as head coach of the New York Knicks. The longtime head coach was let go earlier this week after coaching the Knicks for five seasons, which to many came as a shock, given that they were coming off their most successful season of the 21st century. Knicks players grew unhappy with Tom Thibodeau As many wonder why the franchise fired the guy who started their turnaround in the first place, it appears that not everyone was on board with him. According to Yahoo Sports' Vince Goodwill, there was a major disconnect between the coach and some of the players. Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images 'A couple of players felt like Thibodeau played the starters too many minutes and felt he had an inability to adjust, sources said, and another player said he didn't feel like he could play for Thibodeau if the coach returned next season,' Goodwill wrote. Advertisement Frustration was certainly boiling as the season drew closer to an end. Players were seen not communicating on defense, and the offense was very stagnant at times. Comments made by Miles McBride after they were eliminated only added fuel to the fire. Thibodeau's inability to adjust quickly cost the Knicks a chance at a title Thibodeau was known to have a very rigid strategy when it came to managing his rotation. He usually played his starters heavy minutes even during the regular season, and was not the one to experiment with different lineups throughout a long season. That strategy eventually would come back to bite them. He finally made the change of starting Mitchell Robinson over Josh Hart in the Eastern Conference Finals, but only when they were already down 0-2. It was then that he also expanded the rotation and gave guys like Delon Wright and Landry Shamet some burn, and they would end up making a big impact. Credit: Sam Sharpe-Imagn Images Had he made those adjustments sooner, perhaps the Knicks would have made their first NBA Finals in 26 years. Instead, New York will be spending the summer wondering what went wrong and how they can get back here next season, which will be with a different head coach. Advertisement Thibodeau's coaching style has its pros and cons, but ultimately, his stubbornness when it came to his game plan is what cost him his job. Related Headlines
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
6 biggest takeaways from Day 1 of Patriots' mandatory minicamp practice
The New England Patriots kick-started mandatory minicamp on Monday after spending the previous three weeks prepping during voluntary organized team activities (OTAs). As Patriots coach Mike Vrabel noted during his media scrum, the practice setup was similar to the structure used in OTAs. The team went through a period of drills and competitive 11-on-11 work. There were no holdouts on the roster, even though a couple of players were absent due to personal reasons, per Vrabel. Advertisement Minicamp is the final opportunity for the players to practice together before taking off for another break and returning in late July for training camp. So this is an important practice period considering it's the final time the coaches will have all of the players in the building before things pick up in the summer. Here are the six biggest takeaways from Day 1 of mandatory minicamp for the Patriots: Another strong showing from Drake Maye and Patriots' offense Patriots quarterback Drake Maye picked up where he left off in the final open OTAs practice last week. He looked sharp on the field on Monday, completing 15-of-19 passes against the defense. It's clear to see that the second-year quarterback is getting more comfortable with Josh McDaniels' offense after every practice. The hope is that he has full command of the offense by the start of the season. It's asking a lot of a 22-year-old quarterback who doesn't have a lot of football experience under his belt. Advertisement But then again, Maye is a rare talent with a great understanding of the game to pair with his incredible athletic abilities. When speaking with the media after practice, he noted how well McDaniels' offensive philosophy can take advantage of mismatches. That's a great early sign for the quarterback and offensive coordinator combination. Checking in on Stefon Diggs Stefon Diggs was limited in his participation on Monday, but he was on the field for practice. You wouldn't be able to tell he was a 31-year-old player coming off an ACL injury from watching him run routes on the field. Diggs' recovery has been so remarkable that it should be studied. It's a testament to his incredible work ethic and how seriously he takes his craft. It's becoming harder to envision a scenario where Diggs isn't on the field for Week 1 of the regular season. He is clearly ahead of schedule and trending in the right direction. Rookie OT Will Campbell continues to hold his own The biggest need for the Patriots entering the offseason was a franchise left tackle to pair with their young quarterback. That led to them using the No. 4 overall pick of the 2025 NFL draft on LSU standout offensive tackle Will Campbell. Advertisement How has that looked so far? It's hard to tell considering the team isn't practicing in pads, and the guys up front are limited in what they can do in such a setting. With that said, Campbell has held his own as Drake Maye's blindside protector in early practices. As Evan Lazar noted, there has been a steady improvement for the young offensive lineman, and that's the most you could hope for at this point. Patriots' investment in defensive front paying off As mentioned in the Will Campbell section, it's hard to truly gauge where the offensive line and defensive line are in the offseason work. The amount of contact is limited without pads, and players aren't in a position to compete at 100 percent. Advertisement With that said, the defensive front has been generating pressure during competitive periods. It should come as no surprise considering the large amount of money the Patriots invested at linebacker and defensive tackle. Milton Williams and Christian Barmore are two of the highest-paid players in franchise history. The team also added Robert Spillane, Jack Gibbens and Harold Landry III in free agency, along with drafting rookies Joshua Farmer and Bradyn Swinson. It's an exceptionally well-constructed unit on paper that could do a lot of damage to opposing offenses in 2025. Cole Strange takes back over at left guard The left guard position has been a revolving door over the last few weeks at OTAs. Multiple players have gotten opportunities at the spot that typically belongs to veteran Cole Strange. Advertisement The fourth-year offensive lineman is in the final year of his rookie contract, and some have wondered if the team could be looking at another left guard option. However, it was back to normal on Monday with Strange once again taking the top left guard reps for the Patriots. Strange should still be considered the favorite to win the starting job at left guard, but it's also clear that the Patriots are leaving no stone unturned in regards to their options. Wes Schweitzer, Tyrese Robinson, Sidy Sow and Layden Robinson should all be in the mix. Top receivers of the practice period The top receivers in Monday's practice period for the Patriots were Kayshon Boutte, Demario Douglas and Kendrick Bourne. Advertisement Drake Maye hit Boutte on a pass with All-Pro cornerback Christian Gonzalez in coverage, and he also connected with Douglas against Carlton Davis III. It was a solid practice for the Patriots' offense against a much-improved defensive unit. Boutte and Bourne were the Patriots' top wide receivers last season, and Bourne has the most experience in a Josh McDaniels-coached offense. It really shouldn't come as a surprise that all three are off to such a strong start at minicamp. Follow Patriots Wire on Twitter and Facebook. This article originally appeared on Patriots Wire: 6 biggest takeaways from Day 1 of Patriots' minicamp practice
