Texas Longhorns guard Jordan Lee wins gold with Team USA
During the tournament, Lee played in all seven games. The Saint Mary's High School product was a human highlight as she made an impact on both ends of the court. In the World Cup game, Lee scored seven points while dishing out four assists. She also was a menace on the boards with ten rebounds.
While Lee is celebrating another significant milestone, this is not unfamiliar territory. She won gold with Team USA during the 2024 FIBA Women's U18 AmeriCup in Colombia. The California native was also part of the 2024 USA Women's Nike Hoop Summit team that defeated the World Select squad. She was the best player on the court, leading all players with a +17 plus/minus in that game.
With the 2025-2026 campaign just a few months away, Lee will again be an important piece for the Longhorns. She is coming off a strong freshman year, in which she earned All-SEC Freshman Team honors. Lee scored in double figures in ten games. However, her best play came during March Madness.
In the final four, the Longhorns' star scored 16 points against South Carolina. While the Longhorns' run unfortunately came to an end against the Gamecocks, Lee was part of history. Last season marked the first time that Texas advanced to the Final Four in 22 years.
With another year of experience, Lee should be an exciting player to watch when the regular season begins.
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USA Today
2 minutes ago
- USA Today
Lionel Messi MLS All-Star Game debacle is ugly own goal for everybody
Lionel Messi, Inter Miami and Major League Soccer experienced the worst week in their two years together, collectively mishandling his 2025 All-Star Game absence. Messi and Jordi Alba were disciplined by MLS commissioner Don Garber for skipping the All-Star Game, causing them to miss a marquee matchup against first-place FC Cincinnati on Saturday, July 26. Soccer fans won't see Messi, the 2024 MLS MVP, on a grand stage against Cincinnati's Evander, a rising Brazilian who captained the MLS All-Stars in Messi's place and is in the conversation with him for 2025 MVP. Instead, there will be numerous shots of Messi stewing in an on-field suite, likely sitting next to Inter Miami's newest signee, Argentina World Cup-winning teammate Rodrigo De Paul. The situation marks lowest point of the Messi era in this the league's 30th season – all while he's been in ongoing contract negotiations to continue his career with Inter Miami. 'He's very upset,' Inter Miami co-owner Jorge Mas said of Messi during a Zoom press conference. 'I'm hopeful it doesn't have an impact long term.' Messi, Inter Miami and MLS should have collectively agreed on him missing the All-Star Game. Garber could have granted Messi an excused absence. And Messi should be on the pitch Saturday doing what he does best. This matter should have been resolved before All-Star Week, offering the spotlight to the MLS players who played in the showcase instead of the shadow cast by Messi's whereabouts and whether he would be disciplined. 'I hope they respect the decision I made, and I understand they're going to be disappointed by that decision,' Garber told USA TODAY Sports. 'I hope that Leo's commitment to our league, and the journey he's been on and we've been on growing Major League Soccer is as important to him going forward as it has been in the past.' What went wrong? There was miscommunication from a series of phone calls exchanged between Inter Miami and MLS. There was no formal meeting on the matter, or a request from the club for Messi to miss the All-Star Game in Austin, Texas. Mas spoke to the league on July 21 and 22, while some around the league expected Messi and Alba to show the day of the All-Star Game on July 23. Mas believed Messi would be exempt from attending – and the one-game suspension – because of his workload. Messi played every minute in 22 of 23 matches since April 2, logging more than 2,000 minutes during the span. His last game off was April 27. He recently set an MLS record scoring two goals in five straight matches, and six of his last seven in the regular season. 'Load management is on Lionel Messi,' Mas said. 'When he steps on the pitch, he will step off when the final whistle blows.' The All-Star Game fell four days after Messi completed nine matches in 35 days, which included representing MLS on a global stage in the FIFA Club World Cup. Inter Miami didn't want Messi and Alba to travel to Texas, following road trips to face Cincinnati and the New York Red Bulls in New Jersey, with their second match with Cincinnati starting another stretch of 10 games in 34 days. 'He's played more games than any player this year, and their schedule has him wanting to take a break. It was based on his commitment to his club, and I understand and respect his decision,' Garber said. 'But we have a long-standing policy that is related to All-Star participation for all players. And unfortunately, I had to enforce the policy. It was a difficult decision to make.' The MLS All-Star policy was first initiated in 2015 after players used 'phantom injuries' to avoid the exhibition in previous years. Zlatan Ibrahimović was suspended when he played for the LA Galaxy for skipping the event in 2018, criticizing the rule at the time for being 'ridiculous.' Messi missing the All-Star Game, however, is a different story. 'From the league's perspective, this is really frustrating,' analyst and former U.S. men's national team star Landon Donovan said on social media. 'You have your best player. Your partners want him there. The owners want him there. The sponsors want him there. The fans want him there. The other guys on the MLS All-Star team want the chance to play with Messi. That's a dream for them. So, this becomes a really challenging situation.' Lionel Messi is 'different' for MLS Messi isn't entirely blameless in this, either. He could have jumped on a plane for the day, signed autographs and posed for photos with fellow players, waved at the fans, and even played a half so MLS could have a moment to celebrate having him in the league. 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I don't think there's been a player, or frankly just about anyone, who has done for MLS than Leo Messi has,' Garber said. 'His games are special moments. Every one of them is a must-see match, and it's that commitment what he does on the field that makes this decision so complicated.' Messi stayed in Miami this week while his wife and three sons went to Italy on vacation. He practiced Friday, thinking he would be able to play against Cincinnati. After practice, Messi reunited with De Paul on Inter Miami's training fields. Then, he signed hundreds of autographs and posed for photos with kids attending Inter Miami's summer camp before he received Garber's decision. 'This whole Messi MLS All-Star game mess was avoidable,' analyst and former U.S. men's national team standout Alexi Lalas said on social media. 'Now, he can have a rest.'
an hour ago
Euro 2025: Spain's style vs. England's will to win sets up fascinating final
BASEL, Switzerland -- A title game between defending champion England and World Cup winner Spain is the Women's European Championship final that many wanted. How they got to Basel on Sunday is a whole other story. Spain has mostly cruised through its five games except for a late scare in a tense semifinal against Germany. England has trailed for long periods of three games and survived being on the brink of elimination in both knockout games. Spain is a supremely technical team with a dream midfield pairing two-time Ballon d'Or winners Alexia Putellas and Aitana Bonmatí. England has incredible will to win and has called a pair of dramatic game-changers off the bench, Michelle Agyemang and Chloe Kelly. 'We always have the confidence that in terms of positioning and having possession, we tend to be very precise and it's difficult to take the ball off us,' Putellas said. "So we're ready for anything.″ It looks like an ideal final of contrasting styles. One made possible only because England's humbling opening 2-1 loss to France ultimately kept the title holder out of Spain's side of the knockout bracket. Four vs. 219. That's the number of minutes Spain has trailed at Euro 2025 games compared to England. Spain fell behind between the 10th and 14th minutes of a group-stage game against Italy when some starters were rested because the team was likely to finish top. England gave up two first-half goals against France in their group, again to Sweden in the quarterfinals and one more to Italy in the semifinals. England's equalizing goals by Agyemang in the knockout games came in, respectively, the 81st and then the sixth minute of stoppage time. 'I think we've nearly killed her twice this tournament!' England's Ella Toone said of coach Sarina Wiegman. 'She says we've definitely aged her.' Spain midfielder Patri Guijarro said of England's resolve: ″There's no fragility. And I think that above all, their competitiveness, is what has got them this far. But what they're doing is not easy.″ Spain and England each beat the other when winning their recent titles, and they traded wins in a UEFA Nations League group this year. England eliminated Spain 2-1 after extra time in the quarterfinals of its home Euro 2022. Does this sound familiar? England trailed into the 84th that day before two substitutes — Alessia Russo and Toone — assisted and scored to force extra time. Spain got a deserved 1-0 win in the 2023 World Cup final played in Sydney, Australia. Spain is now on a run of 13 wins in 14 games and the blip was a 1-0 loss to England at Wembley in February. Spain won the return game 2-1 on June 3, rallying with two Clàudia Pina goals in the second half. For the eighth straight edition, the title-winning coach will be a woman. England's Wiegman and Spain's Montse Tomé were in a minority of seven female head coaches with the 16 teams that started in Euro 2025. They are the last coaches standing to extend a winning run started in 1997. Wiegman won the past two, with England in 2022 and her native Netherlands in 2017. Germany coaches Silvia Neid and Tina Theune won the previous five. Spain never reached the final in 13 previous editions since 1984. That first final 41 years ago is the only one decided by a penalty shootout. Sweden beat England in a rain-soaked, near-empty stadium in Luton after a two-leg final ended 1-1. The scorer of Sweden's decisive penalty, and its goal in the first leg, was Pia Sundhage, who coached Switzerland to the quarterfinals here, losing 2-0 to Spain. England's second shootout in Women's Euros history also was against Sweden, last week in the quarterfinals. A madcap affair saw only five of 14 spot kicks scored and Sweden fail twice when scoring would have sent England home. Spain was involved in just one Women's Euros shootout, losing to Austria in the 2017 quarterfinals.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Euro 2025: Destiny awaits Lionesses ahead of Spain crunch clash
As 87,182 fans flocked to Wembley in the summer of 2022, it was as though they were witnessing destiny fall into place. At Euro 2022, the Lionesses rode a wave of momentum that carried them through a dreamlike summer almost without hitch. From a group stage that saw England score 14 goals and concede none to a 4-0 semi-final win over Sweden, complete with improvised back heels and unending chants of 'it's coming home', they simply seemed unstoppable. It felt like fate when Keira Walsh lofted the ball over the German defence and into the path of Ella Toone, who chipped Merle Frohms and wheeled away to the roar of Wembley. Even when Lina Magull equalised to take it to extra time, the Lionesses had a meeting with history as Chloe Kelly etched her name indelibly into English football's annals and transformed women's football in the country forever. At Euro 2025, the path has not always seemed so fateful. Twice England have looked all but out of their title defence while a defeat in the first match has left them playing must-win football almost from the outset. Performances, too, have hardly been the stuff of dreams. An error-strewn display at the Stadion Letzigrund set the tone for the Lionesses' tournament and the Netherlands and Wales proved kind opponents to allow England to progress with relative ease, neither providing a real test. Against Sweden in Zurich, for 70 minutes it looked like it was back to the England that had first arrived at the tournament in the 2-1 defeat against France. The backline looked fragile, conceding two early goals, and the Lionesses looked out of ideas upfront. But then destiny's child herself Kelly entered the pitch and had everyone saying her name as she delivered two crosses that led to a spell that felt just short of divine intervention. Lucy Bronze nodded home to put England within reach before 19-year-old Michelle Agyemang took the game to extra time and then penalties. Somehow the Lionesses had made it through and the story was much the same in Geneva against Italy. Just like that fateful day in Wembley in 2022, it was the substitutes who made the difference. Agyemang equalised before who else but Kelly poked home the rebound from her saved penalty to fire England into a third consecutive major tournament final. The Lionesses may not have played well but they have played with a belief and inevitability that brings echoes of 2022. Three years ago, it was Spain who arguably came closest to stopping England meeting their destiny at Wembley, and on Sunday it is only Spain who can stop them doing it again. But the world champions enter the match as favourites. They beat England 1-0 in the World Cup final in 2023 and have since proved dominant, certainly within Europe. They boast a starting XI from which no one would look amiss on the Ballon D'Or shortlist while their midfield trio of Alexia Putellas, Aitana Bonmati and Patri Guijarro boast four of the accolades between them, with Patri the shout for Player of the Tournament. On almost every tangible metric this tournament, Spain have outperformed their opponents in Basel, with more goals, less conceded, more shots on target, more passes completed and more corners won. It is in the intangibles that the Lionesses can set their store. A sense of belief and their enduring mantra of 'proper English football', referring to their resilience, has so far been all that has set them apart from their opponents. Hair-raising encounters might have ensued but somehow they have always found a way. And if fate can be found through stats then perhaps it is on England's side in Switzerland. The past three Women's World Cups, past three men's World Cups and past four men's European Championships have all been won by the team with the earlier semi-final. Of course, science also plays a role in terms of recovery but for those of a more superstitious disposition, Spain and England's tendency to alternate results also falls in England's favour. Since 2019, neither side have won consecutive games against the other and it was La Roja who last had the advantage as they triumphed 2-1 over England in the Nations League in June. In elite international football there appears little room for fate as every detail is planned down to the finest margin. But at St. Jakob Park on Sunday, in the year of the underdog, it may very well be England's belief in their destiny that could get them over the line.
