After avoiding slow-play penalty at NCAAs, Michael La Sasso looking to win individual title
After avoiding slow-play penalty at NCAAs, Michael La Sasso looking to win individual title
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Drone flyover video of Omni La Costa North Course par-3 12th hole
Omni La Costa is hosting the NCAA mens and womens golf championships for a second year in a row. The North Course features a long par-3 12th hole.
CARLSBAD, Calif. — On Monday, Michael La Sasso will play the biggest round of his life.
The junior at Ole Miss holds the 54-hole lead at the 2025 NCAA Men's Golf Championship, sitting at 11-under 205 following three rounds of stroke play at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa. He's looking to become Ole Miss' second individual NCAA champion, following in the footsteps of Braden Thornberry, who accomplished the feat in 2017.
And for La Sasso, his relationship with Thornberry has been critical to his strong play this week. The duo played golf together a couple weeks ago, and Thornberry told La Sasso the postseason was going to be the most fun he would ever have.
"I can say I'm having an absolute blast out here," La Sasso said Sunday. "I know he talks about (his win) all the time back home. So if I can add that to my belt tomorrow, I think it would be the coolest thing ever."
La Sasso has the lead heading into Monday's round, looking for the biggest win of his career. And it would come with plenty of benefits if he's able to hold on down the stretch.
He would earn an exemption into the U.S. Open at Oakmont next month. A likely exemption into the 2026 Masters. Additionally, he would all but lock up his spot on the 2025 U.S. Walker Cup team, set for this September at Cypress Point, which is about seven hours north of Omni La Costa.
As for added pressure? La Sasso says not so fast.
"I kind of take the mentality golf is golf, you know, one shot at a time," he said. "You can say this is a bigger stage, but it's no different than if you were to go play with your buddies back home on a weekend. You can put excess pressure on yourself if you want to. Me personally? Not really.
More: NCAA Men's Golf Championship live updates: Which teams are going to make first cut?
"Golf is golf at the end of the day. So just kind of, I keep doing my thing, and, you know, just allowing myself to be confident out there. I don't really think much differently about it."
La Sasso shot 2-under 70 on Sunday, but the most exciting part of the round was in the scoring tent after. His group was given warnings twice about slow play after the fourth and 13th hole checkpoints, and NCAA officials held a roughly 10-minute discussion with his group in the scoring tent to determine whether to penalize La Sasso, who received multiple bad times, and one of his playing partners, Oklahoma State's Preston Stout.
In the end, neither received penalties after a lengthy discussion along with the third member of the group, Illinois' Max Herendeen.
"I might pick it up a little bit tomorrow," La Sasso joked.
Last year, Virginia's Ben James received a one-shot penalty for slow play and finished tied for second, one shot out of a playoff with eventual winner Hiroshi Tai.
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an hour ago
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We have the Thunder and the Pacers, and we've lived in this era for a while now where it feels like super teams have sort of dominated in big markets as a result with teams in California, Boston, Miami, whatever it is over the last decade or now we have the Thunder and the Pacers. You had an interesting tweet earlier this week talking about how this is the first time since since I think 2007, where neither team in the finals played on Christmas Day. Talk to me just a little bit about how we got here with two small market teams in the NBA finals. Well, the game is so much faster now, Joe. When you talk about the pace of the league, it makes it really difficult to build with older veterans. You know, we think about the Miami Heat in 2011, you think about Kevin Durant, James Harden, and, and Kyrie Irving, these kind of super teams with older veterans. Well, the game is about 10 possessions faster, uh, more, 10 more possessions per game than we did in like the late 90s and early 2000s, and soWhat you're seeing is younger teams. This is going to be potentially the youngest NBA champion in the Oklahoma City Thunder that we've seen since 1977. And the Indiana Pacers like to play fast and up tempo led by a young star in Tyrese Halliburton. So the way that the league is trending now, the game is faster. I talked to Steve Kerr about this, who, of course, played with the Chicago Bulls with Michael Jordan and coached, uh, not just the Golden State Warriors, but alsoTeam USA and he thinks that this pace and space era with 5 shooters on the floor, uh, for each team and playing at a high pace, it lends itself to younger teams. And of course, Stephen Curry getting injured in this postseason, Damian Lillard tearing his Achilles as well as Jason Tatum. We're just seeing the game really translate much better for younger teams that can run up and down the floor, and a lot of that is building through the trading rather than adding in free agency. So teams like OKC and Indiana, small market teams are taking advantage of this pace in space era by building through the draft and building on young teams. There is no player on this Oklahoma City Thunder team that is 31 years or older, and that is just something that is such an outlier of outliers in the NBA, you know, title contention that we've seen over the last two decades. Yeah, and I'm curious if you think other teams or contenders will be built the way the Thunder and Pacers are, right? Because the way I think about it is like there's so many injuries nowadays, and I think part of it is to your point, which is the game is so much faster, there's more possessions, there's obviously a ton of games throughout the year. There's a lot of wear and tear on the bodies. An older player might be able to handle that for half the season or 3 quarters of the season, or maybe even the full season, but their down when it comes to the playoffs and younger players seem to have a better time with that. Now, we've gone through this era of super teams where people were adding superstar players in free agency and even via trade, but now to your point, we've gone to Thunder and Pacers. Is this something that you feel like the rest of the league has caught on to and they're fully bought in on? Or do you think that there's still some kind of divide within the front offices of how these teams should be built? Yeah, there's always gonna be ebbs and flows, but I think going forward, the idea of paying so much money to add to your team, whether it's, you know, the Phoenix Suns, right? They get Kevin Durant, they get Devin Booker, and then they add Bradley Beal, who has a no trade clause and over $50 million of salary going to him for the next couple of years. They didn't even make the playoffs. And one of the big reasons why is cause the way the news bargaining agreement works in today's environment is that it's not just restrictive in terms of luxury tax payments, Joe, it's restrictive in terms of team building. Like you can't add uh to your roster with all the tools if you are that deep into the tax. You, you have your future first round picks frozen, you're not able to add with uh salary exceptions like other teams are. So I thinkYou're gonna see a lot of teams go away from the Phoenix Suns model, what Matt Isa had tried to do with Kevin Durant and going more in the OKC model is building through the draft, and they have such a young infusion of talent, really good on defense. And I think you're gonna see a lot of teams try to copy this, but Sam Presty, the president of basketball operations for OKC is well ahead of the game. They have more forfirst round picks available to them going forward in the next 7 years than any other NBA team. And so even if you try to copy the Oklahoma City Thunder, they are just way, they're lapping the competition in terms of how to build with youth and draft picks, and they're doing this with a 68 win team, and they might run away with this NBA championship with the most draft, um, uh, uh, artillery in their cupboard. Yeah, I saw a, a funny joke. Presley has done such a good job. Someone was saying that if you really wanted parity, you would just make him switch teams every few years because he has really outmaneuvered everyone over the last number of years. But it brings up an interesting point, right? I'm glad you talked about the collective Barney agreement and the salary cap and some of the penalties that are imposed there, because this is something that has changed over the last number of years. And when leagues do things like this, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn' in the NBA's case, it really has created parity. It doesn't always feel like that, but we've had a new NBA champion every year over the last, I think, 7 years. So my question to you is, parity is obviously here, right? Like, I don't think there's any argument against that anymore. But do you think that this is good for the NBA? Or do you think that it was better off from a ratings and interest perspective when there were these super teams that were going to championships 23 years in a row? Yeah, I think there's a real negative externality at play here that I think will backfire, uh, potentially with this Oklahoma City Thunder team specifically because if you want to have these teams really be in front of the national audience and you come to love these players on these teams, well, the way that the collective bargaining agreement is set up is they're trying to break up super teams, but also, it doesn't matter if you're acquired via free agency. Jalen Williams, the all-star for the for the Oklahoma and Chet Holm are do extensions, Max extensions potentially in the next couple years. And for a small market team like Oklahoma City, you might see a really great uh potential dynasty be broken up unless OKC wants to pay deep into the tax. And I really think the new collective bargaining agreement really aird by not having some incentive for teams to retain or exceptions for teams to retain players that they drafted. Homegrown talent. This isof what we want to see the Golden State Warriors is a great example of homegrown Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and, and Stephen Curry built through the draft. Well, in this new CBA it's gonna be really cost prohibitive for the Oklahoma City Thunder to keep this team together. It doesn't mean they will break up Jaylen Williams and Chet Holgren and Shay Gilrius Alexander. It just means that this new collective bargaining agreement is gonna make it really difficult for teams, no matter where they, whether they build through the free agency or in trades, or whetherbuild it through the draft, it's gonna be really hard for them to retain elite talent. And so, for me, I would I would want to see, Joe, if teams draft well and develop their talent, I want to see them be able to retain those players. And unfortunately, if we do see Oklahoma City win the next couple championships and go for a three-peat, it might be that they have to break up this team in ways that the Golden State Warriors didn't, were not forced to years ago when they had their dynasty. Yeah, it's a very good point because it feels like the rule was established to stop some of those big market, you know, high spending teams from being able to go out and just buy people in free agency. And an effect of that rule, a negative effect is now that some of the smaller market teams who did it the right way through drafting and trades and things like that are going to be penalized. But I think most people would probably agree with you on that. All right, we've got to take a quick break, but we'll be back with more of my conversation with Tom right after back to Yahoo Finance Sports Report. I'm your host, Joe Pomliano. I'm here with Yahoo Sports contributing writer Tom Haberstro. I'd love to get your opinion on just where the Paul Paul George trade stands sort of in NBA history at this point, right? I think most people realize that this was a, uh, extremely lopsided trade, especially with where the Oklahoma City Thunder are now and where Paul George is too, but like where does this trade rank for you in, uh, in the NBA when it comes to the historical or historically bad trades? Yeah, it's up there. I mean, remember Kawhi Leonard wasn't gonna come to the Clippers in 2019 unless he got Paul George. And so, yes, Sam Presty had the Clippers over a barrel, knowing that in order for the Clippers to get Kawhi and Paul George in a package deal, they had to give up everything uh in the cupboard. And so Shay Gildris Alexander, 21 years old, coming over in the trade, 5 1st round picks. One of them turns into Jaylen Williams, who is an all NBA player for the Thunder this year. It is, it is up there with one of the most lopsided trades of all time. I will also point out that the Indiana Pacers benefited also by trading away Paul George. They got Damontas Sabonis and, uh, and Victor Olatipo from the Oklahoma City Thunder, um, also flipping Damonus Sabonis to get their star player Tyrese Halliburton from the Sacramento Kings. So Paul George, he's not gonna get a championship ring out of he might as well because he is in that butterfly effect, that that's 5 degrees of Kevin Bacon. He has, in effect, uh, you know, basically funneled the championship level talent on both sides of this trade. And I will point out also, Sam Presty, this dates back all the way to 2007 when he was with the Sonics. He absorbed, uh, uh, Kurt Thomas's contract in from the Phoenix Suns, and they gave him two first round picks to do that a GM had ever done it, a 30 year old GM in Sam Presty when he was with the Sonics, and that trade actually gave them Serge Ibaka, and Serge Ibaka gave them Demonus Sabonis. Demas Sabonis gave them Paul George. Paul George gave them Shay Gildrius Alexander. So 2007, a trade between the Sonics and the Phoenix Suns. Steve Kerr got on the phone with Sam Presty, and that trade, 18 years later, is now creating this NBA finals between the Thunder and the Pacers. Everyone watching will now know why I like talking to you so much, because you're like an encyclopedia. I don't think anyone else would have ever thought about that connection from the Sonics to today, but I love it. Tom, are there any other storylines that you're watching in this year's NBA finals that we should be on the lookout for? Yeah, I think really, I think the American audience really needs to understand that this Oklahoma City team is all-time great, and yes, they could lose this series upcoming, but this is the largest point differential between two finals teams, uh, since 1971. Like the, the Thunder were all time good in the regular season. They didn't have their starting center for season, Chet Honger missing half the season, Isaiah Harenstein missing half the season, and still they won 68 games. So this team is gonna be great this year and also for the next potentially decade. And so the NBA made a little bit of a mistake by not putting the Oklahoma City Thunder or the Indiana Pacers on Christmas Day this year. None of the 10 teams that were selected were Indiana, and I do think they'll make up for that next year. These two teams are going to be good for a long time. The youngest NBA finals that we have seen in decades, and I do think that you're going to see a lot more Oklahoma City Thunder going forward because they're stocked in the draft intel and also when it comes to their encore, this is gonna be a team we're going to be watching for a very long time potentially every year in the NBA finals. Yeah, and they're a fun team to watch. And even though the Pacers may not have been one of the likeliest candidates to get here, Indiana is obviously a big basketball area, so I, I think that was probably a mistake too, and my guess is, to your point, we'll see them again next year. But Tom, lastly, I want to get your thoughts on Michael Jordan joining as a special contributor for NBC's NBA broadcast next year. I love it. We need more Michael Jordan on our on our in front of the American audience, like when you're talking about people that will watch an NBA 2025, a lot of them might not tune in because of Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers, but they might tune in if they know that they can see Michael Jordan. I mean, me growing up watching the 90s Bulls and a lot of America associates the Bulls with the peak of the NBA and I think it'll be great for the uh for the NBA product, as long as he is, I think, era. I think it'll be very interesting to see if Michael Jordan will be speaking highly of today's players, LeBron James, Steph Curry, Shay Gildris Alexander, or whether he will try to boost up the 90s bowls and his era. But that's, you know, what we'll all be tuning in to see is what kind of commentator he will be bringing, but at the very least, I think more eyeballs on an amazing NBA product will be a good thing for the NBA. If Michael Jordan starts creating some of these players harshly, it's going to be must-see TV. So, uh, I think NBC is quietly hoping that that's what he does. But Tom, thank you so much for joining the show got it, clock is winding down here, but we have just enough time for some final buzz. So let's talk about Shakari Richardson's next athletic venture. Last week, Alos, the all-female track competition founded by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, announced that it will be adding a new team-based league in 2026. The announcement also said that Olympic gold medalists and Team USA superstar Shakari Richardson will be joining the AFLs League along with fellow USA teammates Gabby Thomas and Tara Davis Woodhull. And in addition to participating in the new Alos League, Richardson, Thomas and Davis be adviser owners and receive an ownership stake in the league's business. Now, Alexis Ohanian first launched Athos as a standalone women's track event in 2024. Athos had its first competition at Icon Stadium in New York City with six sprint races, as well as a $60,000 prize and a Tiffany crown for the first place winners. However, unlike traditional track events, Athos features a DJ playing walkout songs for competitors and music in between races to up the entertainment value. Last year's inaugural race also included the concert from Megan the Stallion to cap off the said that the first event generated around 3 million viewers, and the organization hold its second stand-alone race in October back at Icon Stadium. Now Ohanian believes Alos can turn women's track into a mainstream sports product with a season-long schedule featuring individual prize money for each event and a shared team prize for the end of year championship. But the equity component for founding athletes could pay massive athletes when the organization kicked off its new league in 2026, Athos joins a growing trend among sports organizations to gain total buy-in from participating athletes by giving them a financial incentive to promote their league and grow its business. Unrivaled, the new 33 basketball League gave equity in the league to its founding players and generated over $27 million in revenue in its successful debut season. Now Athos is hoping it can jumpstart its own league through a shared athlete ownership model, and locking in a superstar like Shakari Richardson is a great all out of time, so it's officially game over for this week. Thank you so much to Tom and for all of you for joining us. Please make sure to scan the QR code below to follow Yahoo Finance podcast for more videos and expert insights and catch us every Thursday wherever you get your podcast. I'm your host, Joe Pomliano. See you next time. This content was not intended to be financial advice and should not be used as a substitute for professional financial services. Sign in to access your portfolio
Boston Globe
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MIAA, New Balance ink five-year deal to host major championships at The Track at New Balance
Advertisement The Track at New Balance, opened in the developing Boston Landing area in 2022, has quickly earned a reputation as one of the premier indoor track venues in the country. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up As well as professional meets such as the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, the Track has become the annual host of the New Balance Indoor Nationals, the most prestigious indoor high school meet on the calendar. The facility also staged the 2024 NCAA Division 1 track and field championships. Along with its hydraulically banked, six-lane track with stands accommodating 5,000 spectators, the Track includes a dedicated throwing and field event area, basketball and volleyball courts, 24,000 square feet of warm-up area — crucial when thousands of high schoolers pour into the building for major championships — and more off-track amenities. Advertisement The result is a facility that continues to pick up the biggest events on the indoor track schedule at the high school, collegiate, and professional levels. 'You want to make it so that when an athlete comes here, he or she feels comfortable,' said Jim Davis, New Balance chairman, when the Track opened in 2022, 'they've got everything they need — and the track is designed to be quick.' Amin Touri can be reached at
