Latest news with #CharlieBaker
USA Today
19 hours ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Maui Invitational 2025: NC State, Texas highlight 8-team men's college basketball field
One of the most iconic multi-team events in men's college basketball now has its field set for the upcoming 2025-26 season. Arizona State, Boise State, NC State, Seton Hall, Texas, USC, Washington State and Chaminade will compete in the 2025 Maui Invitational, the event announced on July 29. The tournament will take place at the Lahaina Civic Center in Lahaina, Hawaii from November 24-26, ending at its usual time right before Thanksgiving. REQUIRED READING: Charlie Baker doubts NCAA basketball tournament expansion can happen for 2025-26 season Only one of the seven Division I teams in the event, Texas, made the NCAA tournament last season (Chaminade, a Honolulu school that takes part in the tournament in odd-numbered years, competes at the Division II level). Several of the participants could be significantly better in 2025-26. NC State will be entering its first season under coach Will Wade, who restocked the Wolfpack's roster with one of the top-rated transfer classes in the sport. After two underwhelming seasons under Rodney Terry, Texas hired Sean Miller away from Xavier. USC will be entering its second season under coach Eric Musselman, who signed a top-10 transfer class and a five-star freshman in Alijah Arenas (who will be out six to eight months with a knee injury). Boise State has won 99 games and made three NCAA tournaments over the past four seasons. While the Maui Invitational has long been one of the most popular and prestigious early season tournaments in college basketball, there's an open question of how long it can remain that in the rapidly evolving landscape of college athletics. Last year marked the debut of the Players Era Festival, a Thanksgiving week tournament in Las Vegas that gives each participating team $1 million in name, image and likeness opportunities. This year's field for the 18-team event includes Houston, Kansas, Alabama, Auburn, St. John's, Michigan, Iowa State, Gonzaga and Creighton, among others, all of which are widely projected as top-25 teams entering the season. After his team surprisingly went winless in its three games in the Maui Invitational last year, UConn coach Dan Hurley voiced his frustrations with the event. "I'm not doing another three-game MTE again," Hurley said. "Moving forward, we will only play home-and-homes and single-game events in big-time arenas. I don't think I'll ever do a three-game MTE again." Maui Invitational teams 2025 Here's a look at the eight teams that will be taking part in the 2025 Maui Invitational: REQUIRED READING: College sports bill moving to House floor in Congress after passing committee votes Maui Invitational schedule 2025 Here are the matchups for the 2025 Maui Invitational: All times Eastern
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
President Trump's executive order on college sports: Here's what it actually means
WASHINGTON — On Thursday morning in the nation's capital, NCAA president Charlie Baker spoke to a few dozen members and guests of the National Press Club — an operation located in Washington's downtown, just a short walk to the White House. Just hours later, the association's years-long fight for federal intervention in college sports received, perhaps, a boost from the man living just a few blocks away. President Donald Trump released his long-awaited executive order related to college athletics, announcing in a five-page order titled 'SAVING COLLEGE SPORTS' that he is directing members of his cabinet to create policy around several aspects of the industry that protect the NCAA and conferences from enforcing and creating rules to govern it. But what exactly does Trump's executive order mean? What will it change, if anything, about college sports' athlete compensation and transfer environment? The short answer, at least for now, is not very much. The longer answer is … well … there are still questions. What are the most important items in the order? Trump's executive order has been a long time coming. In fact, just last week Yahoo Sports obtained a copy of a draft of the order, which isn't wholly different to the one he signed and released on Thursday. Above anything else, the order's preamble describes the college athletics landscape as having been subject to unfair court rulings that 'created an out-of-control, rudderless system' which is 'under unprecedented threat.' 'Waves of recent litigation against collegiate athletics governing rules have eliminated limits on athlete compensation, pay-for-play recruiting inducements, and transfers between universities, unleashing a sea change that threatens the viability of college sports,' Trump writes in the order. He goes on to write critically that some schools are paying their athletes as much as $50 million this year from a combination of House settlement-related revenue share and third-party NIL. 'A national solution is urgently needed to prevent this situation from deteriorating beyond repair and to protect non-revenue sports, including many women's sports,' he writes. How he plans to do this is to direct various members of his cabinet — the attorney general, secretary of labor, secretary of education, etc. — to create policy around several concepts that the NCAA and conferences have been requesting help on from Congress for years. Among those: Protecting scholarships for non-revenue sports: The executive order, most notably, requires schools to maintain or even increase the number of scholarships they provide to non-revenue sports. This is geared to protect Olympic and women's sports that are at risk of elimination as schools direct more funding away from those and to the sports that generate the revenue like football and men's basketball. Those with $125 million or budgets (most of the power league schools) must provide more scholarship opportunities than they did last year, for instance. Those with budgets of $50 million must provide at least the same. Prohibit third-party, 'pay-for-play': You might call this the prohibition of booster collective pay to athletes, which, in a way, codifies the House settlement terms that prohibit collective pay to athletes if they are not deemed to be for legitimate endorsement or commercial opportunities. This issue is at the heart of negotiations among attorneys that is expected to result in a resolution soon that permits collectives to operate in a more open capacity than first thought. The executive order reinforces that provision in the House settlement. How does Trump plan to enforce these parameters? Well, that remains a bit murky, but he suggests in the order that members of his cabinet, as well as the Federal Trade Commission, have 30 days to create a plan on the enforcement of such, including potentially withholding federal funding for violators, opening up Title IX investigations, etc. Athlete employment: Trump directs the Secretary of Labor and the National Labor Relations Board to 'clarify the status of college athletes' — an obvious gesture toward the ongoing debate over courts potentially deeming college athletes as employees. As stated in the order preamble, Trump is against college athletes becoming employees and is clearly, with this directive, ordering cabinet members and the NLRB — he appoints the board — to rule that college athletes are students. Ironically enough, while many college leaders fight against employment, some of them believe collective bargaining is the only solution for the industry. Limited liability protection: This is another issue the NCAA and conferences have spent millions of dollars and six years lobbying for. They want to be protected from legal challenges so they can enforce their rules over things such as transfers, roster limits, booster pay — many of which have been deemed illegal by courts. Trump clearly disagrees with these court rulings, as he notes in the preamble. The order directs the attorney general and the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission to create policies to protect the 'long-term availability of college athletic scholarship and opportunities' when such is 'unreasonably challenged under antitrust' law. The attorney general and the FTC have 60 days to create such a plan, the order says. What are the immediate impacts of the executive order? The answer here is potentially … nothing. Trump's cabinet members — many of whom are quite busy with other more pressing matters — will need to make policy around these subjects. The specifics of that policy will dictate exactly how pivotal, if at all, this order is. What is a certainty is that whatever policies are created are not law and will likely be subject to legal scrutiny. Congressional action and court rulings are law in this country — not executive orders, legal experts tell Yahoo Sports. Baker even suggested this during his talk Thursday morning. 'You can't fix this stuff from executive order,' he said. 'Our focus for now really needs to be trying to get stuff dealt with through the legislative process.' As it turns out, Wednesday was a historic day for college sports with regard to congressional legislation. An all-encompassing federal college sports bill made its way out of committee for the first time since the NCAA's lobbying efforts began nearly six years ago. The SCORE Act, bipartisan but pro-Republican and NCAA-friendly legislation that many Democrats are against, received the necessary votes to advance out of committees and is eligible for debate on the House floor when members return in September from their traditional summer break. In many ways, the SCORE Act grants the NCAA and conferences similar protections as Trump's order. Above anything, Trump's executive order may get Congress to more urgently and swiftly push the bill across the goal line. However, if it does advance out of the House, the SCORE Act faces stiff pushback in a divided U.S. Senate, where at least seven Democrats are needed to overcome the filibuster and reach the 60-vote margin for any bill passage. The Senate, though, has been working toward the introduction of its own legislation, led by Sen. Ted Cruz, who, much like Trump, has made college sports regulation a priority. He's been in negotiations now for months with several Democrats, most notably Chris Coons, Richard Blumenthal and Cory Booker. No agreement has been reached despite more than a year of intense talks. Will Trump's executive order change that? It's one of many questions on the topic that remains a mystery.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
President Trump's executive order on college sports: Here's what it actually means
WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Thursday morning in the nation's capital, NCAA president Charlie Baker spoke to a few dozen members and guests of the National Press Club — an operation located in Washington's downtown, just a short walk to the White House. Just hours later, the association's years-long fight for federal intervention in college sports received, perhaps, a boost from the man living just a few blocks away. President Donald Trump released his long-awaited executive order related to college athletics, announcing in a five-page order titled 'SAVING COLLEGE SPORTS' that he is directing members of his cabinet to create policy around several aspects of the industry that protect the NCAA and conferences from enforcing and creating rules to govern it. But what exactly does Trump's executive order mean? What will it change, if anything, about college sports' athlete compensation and transfer environment? The short answer, at least for now, is not very much. The longer answer is … well … there are still questions. What are the most important items in the order? Trump's executive order has been a long time coming. In fact, just last week Yahoo Sports obtained a copy of a draft of the order, which isn't wholly different to the one he signed and released on Thursday. Above anything else, the order's preamble describes the college athletics landscape as having been subject to unfair court rulings that 'created an out-of-control, rudderless system' which is 'under unprecedented threat.' 'Waves of recent litigation against collegiate athletics governing rules have eliminated limits on athlete compensation, pay-for-play recruiting inducements, and transfers between universities, unleashing a sea change that threatens the viability of college sports,' Trump writes in the order. He goes on to write critically that some schools are paying their athletes as much as $50 million this year from a combination of House settlement-related revenue share and third-party NIL. 'A national solution is urgently needed to prevent this situation from deteriorating beyond repair and to protect non-revenue sports, including many women's sports,' he writes. How he plans to do this is to direct various members of his cabinet — the attorney general, secretary of labor, secretary of education, etc. — to create policy around several concepts that the NCAA and conferences have been requesting help on from Congress for years. Among those: Protecting scholarships for non-revenue sports: The executive order, most notably, requires schools to maintain or even increase the number of scholarships they provide to non-revenue sports. This is geared to protect Olympic and women's sports that are at risk of elimination as schools direct more funding away from those and to the sports that generate the revenue like football and men's basketball. Those with $125 million or budgets (most of the power league schools) must provide more scholarship opportunities than they did last year, for instance. Those with budgets of $50 million must provide at least the same, as seen in a screen shot of the section here. Prohibit third-party, 'pay-for-play': You might call this the prohibition of booster collective pay to athletes, which, in a way, codifies the House settlement terms that prohibit collective pay to athletes if they are not deemed to be for legitimate endorsement or commercial opportunities. This issue is at the heart of negotiations among attorneys that is expected to result in a resolution soon that permits collectives to operate in a more open capacity than first thought. The executive order reinforces that provision in the House settlement. How does Trump plan to enforce these parameters? Well, that remains a bit murky, but he suggests in the order that members of his cabinet, as well as the Federal Trade Commission, have 30 days to create a plan on the enforcement of such, including potentially withholding federal funding for violators, opening up Title IX investigations, etc. Athlete employment: Trump directs the Secretary of Labor and the National Labor Relations Board to 'clarify the status of college athletes' — an obvious gesture toward the ongoing debate over courts potentially deeming college athletes as employees. As stated in the order preamble, Trump is against college athletes becoming employees and is clearly, with this directive, ordering cabinet members and the NLRB — he appoints the board — to rule that college athletes are students. Ironically enough, while many college leaders fight against employment, some of them believe collective bargaining is the only solution for the industry. Limited liability protection: This is another issue the NCAA and conferences have spent millions of dollars and six years lobbying for. They want to be protected from legal challenges so they can enforce their rules over things such as transfers, roster limits, booster pay — many of which have been deemed illegal by courts. Trump clearly disagrees with these court rulings, as he notes in the preamble. The order directs the attorney general and the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission to create policies to protect the 'long-term availability of college athletic scholarship and opportunities' when such is 'unreasonably challenged under antitrust' law. The attorney general and the FTC have 60 days to create such a plan, the order says. What are the immediate impacts of the executive order? The answer here is potentially … nothing. Trump's cabinet members — many of whom are quite busy with other more pressing matters — will need to make policy around these subjects. The specifics of that policy will dictate exactly how pivotal, if at all, this order is. What is a certainty is that whatever policies are created are not law and will likely be subject to legal scrutiny. Congressional action and court rulings are law in this country — not executive orders, legal experts tell Yahoo Sports. Baker even suggested this during his talk Thursday morning. 'You can't fix this stuff from executive order,' he said. 'Our focus for now really needs to be trying to get stuff dealt with through the legislative process.' As it turns out, Wednesday was a historic day for college sports with regard to congressional legislation. An all-encompassing federal college sports bill made its way out of committee for the first time since the NCAA's lobbying efforts began nearly six years ago. The SCORE Act, bipartisan but pro-Republican and NCAA-friendly legislation that many Democrats are against, received the necessary votes to advance out of committees and is eligible for debate on the House floor when members return in September from their traditional summer break. In many ways, the Score Act grants the NCAA and conferences similar protections as Trump's order. Above anything, Trump's executive order may get Congress to more urgently and swiftly push the bill across the goal line. However, if it does advance out of the House, the SCORE Act faces stiff pushback in a divided U.S. Senate, where at least seven Democrats are needed to overcome the filibuster and reach the 60-vote margin for any bill passage. The Senate, though, has been working toward the introduction of its own legislation, led by Sen. Ted Cruz, who, much like Trump, has made college sports regulation a priority. He's been in negotiations now for months with several Democrats, most notably Chris Coons, Richard Blumenthal and Cory Booker. No agreement has been reached despite more than a year of intense talks. Will Trump's executive order change that? It's one of many questions on the topic that remains a mystery.
Politico
6 days ago
- Politics
- Politico
Trump signs executive order to 'protect' college sports
The Departments of Justice, Education, Health and Human Services, as well as the Federal Trade Commission will have to develop a plan to effectuate Trump's policy within 30 days. It is not immediately clear how the White House intends to enforce such a directive, but the Trump administration has been aggressive in pushing its agenda on universities before, such as its efforts to bring colleges to heel for their handling of campus antisemitism. The NCAA and universities have lobbied Congress to pass legislation that would cement their authority over the college athletics system. Two House committees on Wednesday advanced a bill that would bar student-athletes from being considered employees and, similarly to the executive order, shield intercollegiate sports officials from federal antitrust law. Three of the committee chairs leading that effort praised Trump and said the legislation, known as the SCORE Act, 'will complement the President's executive order, and we look forward to working with all of our colleagues in Congress to build a stronger and more durable college sports environment.' Trump's executive order comes hours after Charlie Baker, the head of the NCAA, said such action would be largely insufficient to address the structural issues with the collegiate sports industry. 'Our focus for now really needs to be on trying to get this stuff dealt with through the legislative process because that, at the end of the day, is really the only vehicle we feel can deal with those issues,' he said at the National Press Club in D.C. After Trump's order was issued, Baker issued a statement saying that the NCAA 'appreciates the Trump Administration's focus on the life-changing opportunities college sports provides millions of young people and we look forward to working with student-athletes, a bipartisan coalition in Congress and the Trump Administration to enhance college sports for years to come.'
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
NCAA basketball tournament expansion growing more unlikely for 2025-26 season due to 'logistics'
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Any expansion of the NCAA basketball tournaments is growing more unlikely for this upcoming season, according to executives in the sport. During a speaking engagement at the National Press Club on Thursday, NCAA president Charlie Baker confirmed comments earlier this week from ACC commissioner Jim Phillips that any expansion of the men's and women's tournaments would be 'tough' to do for 2025-26. 'I think that's a reasonable statement,' Baker said. He pointed to the "logistics" involved with any expansion. The NCAA basketball selection committees — responsible, along with the basketball oversight committees, for making any expansion decision — met earlier this month where committee members learned that expansion, if approved, would most likely start in 2026-27, multiple sources with knowledge of the meeting told Yahoo Sports. The comments from Baker and Phillips further advance that notion. However, during an hour-long address to the National Press Club, Baker continued to speak in favor of expanding the tournament to 72 or 76 teams to grant access to more worthy participants, such as those left on the bubble. 'There are every year some really good teams that don't get to the tournament for a bunch of reasons,' Baker told the crowd. 'One of the reasons is we have 32 automatic qualifiers (for conference champions). I love that and think it's great and never want that to change, but that means there's only 36 slots left for everybody else. 'I don't buy the idea that some of the teams that currently get left out aren't good. I think they are. And I think that sucks,' he continued. For more than a year now, college administrators have been seriously exploring adding four or eight teams to the 68-team field, a move that likely requires the addition of another 'First Four' site. Baker pushed back against suggestions that additional revenue from TV partners is behind the NCAA and conferences' desire to expand. It is not a 'big moneymaker,' he said, and the association would only want to cover the costs of expansion with any additional revenue. The NCAA has been in negotiations with the networks, Warner Bros. Discovery and CBS, for months now. Last month, Baker told Yahoo Sports that the organization has held 'good conversations' with those partners and that any decisions for 2025-26 would need to be made by 'the middle of August.' 'The big challenge is the logistical one,' Baker said Thursday from D.C. 'The tournament has to start after conference championships are over and the selection (show) happens like two hours after the last championship ends. And (the tournament) has to finish by the Tuesday before the Masters. There's not a lot of room there.' That hasn't slowed his support for expansion. In fact, Baker mentioned recent bubble teams left out of the field like St. John's and Indiana State. 'They should have been in,' he said. Expansion is 'a way to preserve the AQs and real Cinderellas, but it's also to make sure some of the 65 best teams in the country who get left out because of the 32 AQs find their way in,' he said. Baker addressed another looming issue: athlete eligibility standards. On Thursday, as he spoke to the press club, the NCAA announced a proposed legislation change to Division II eligibility rules. The proposal would grant athletes five years to play five seasons (five-in-five) instead of the current four seasons-over-five years standard. Such a change in Division I is on the 'backburner' while the NCAA adopts a new governance model, something expected next month from the NCAA DI Board of Directors. 'I would assume at some point (five-in-five) will come up again. I don't know if we'll land there or not,' Baker said of the five-in-five eligibility proposal for Division I.
