Latest news with #Classof2023
Miami Herald
a day ago
- Sport
- Miami Herald
Why five-star recruit Okunlola has stuck with UM, and Mirabal's forecast for him
In this world of instant gratification — where some college football players change schools two or three times in a single offseason — it would have been very easy for former five-star recruit Samson Okunlola to flee Coral Gables and look for a college where he could immediately step into a starting lineup. But Okunlola has displayed a quality in short supply in college sports: patience. Despite entering UM in 2023 regarded as one of the nation's top offensive tackles (247 Sports ranked him fourth among tackles and the 20th-best player overall), Okunlola hasn't complained about playing only 64 snaps on offense last season after logging just 15 as a freshman. He hasn't lamented riding the bench while his Class of 2023 teammate Francis Mauigoa, who was rated the No. 2 offensive tackle in 2023, has started for two years. Instead of entering the portal, Okunlola focused on his studies — he received his bachelor's degree in just 2 ½ years — and worked on his game. The growth has been so pronounced that offensive line coach Alex Mirabal said he's confident that Okunlola 'absolutely' will become a multiyear starter for UM — 'I have no doubt about that' — even though he's not expected to start at the beginning of this season, barring injuries. 'He's going to make it because of his work ethic and want-to, which are unbelievable,' Mirabal said during a recent conversation. 'He has done an unbelievable job [improving]. There are 17 ACC schools; he can start at all of them. He has displayed a tremendous amount of a thing people nowadays lack, which is patience. He's trusting in his work. With his intelligence, he's going to achieve what we all want him to achieve.' Asked if he ever considered leaving, Okunlola suggested he hasn't, though he didn't answer directly. 'I'm committed to the process,' he said. 'I love the process. I love hard work. I love being detailed and getting better.' Mirabal said: 'I tell people all the time — the fans, the media, coaches, they complain about how negative the transfer portal is. And then they question the kid, 'How come you stuck around? How come you haven't jumped in the portal?' I truly believe it's because Samson knows and sees that our coaching staff believes in him and trusts him. I feel he believes in us and trusts us, as does his family. He sees himself growing and developing.' Okunlola's willingness to learn guard has made him more versatile. He now could fill in at four positions if UM has an injury to a starting group that is expected to include Markel Bell and Mauigoa at tackle, Michael McCoy and Anez Cooper at guard and James Brockermeyer at center. Ryan Rodriguez figures to be the backup center and backup left guard. Asked what is Okunlola's best position, Mirabal said, 'it used to be tackle, and I still think it's tackle. But he can play guard. A lot of young guys think 'I'm only a tackle.'… He has grown past [that]. Over the last year and a half, he's like, 'I'm an O-lineman. I'll do whatever it takes.' 'I used to think he's only going to be a tackle. But he's a guy in my opinion that can play either tackle or guard spots.' Okunlola said Mirabal, during the past two years, has encouraged him to 'work on the mental side of the game, watching more film, being more confident in the way I play.' He's healthy now, after sustaining a torn MCL as a freshman, then needing surgery on a hand injury suffered during a UM bowl practice last December. Asked if he has felt any frustration not playing after entering UM as a ballyhooed prospect, Okunlola said: 'I leave it up to the Lord. The Lord has been with me through the whole process.' Okunlola, who was an excellent student at Thayer Academy in Braintree, Massachusetts, recently joined backup quarterback Emory Williams as the only current Canes to graduate in 2 ½ years. 'It's definitely an honor,' Okunlola said. 'My mother cried about it. It was a big thing for me and my family.' He's now pursuing a master's degree in sports administration, taking classes exclusively on line. 'I can put more of my time in person to be in person more for football,' he said. 'And online, I can play with my schedule a little more.'
Boston Globe
2 days ago
- Sport
- Boston Globe
BC names Alabama transfer Dylan Lonergan its starting quarterback
'Grayson James is an excellent teammate, a really good player, a very improved player,' O'Brien said. 'At the end of the day, we went with Dylan. We feel like he gives us the best chance to win right now.' O'Brien recruited Lonergan to Alabama when Lonergan was a four-star standout at Brookwood High School and O'Brien was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Lonergan, a 6-foot-2-inch, 211-pound redshirt sophomore from Snellville, Ga., was ESPN's No. 26 player and No. 5 quarterback in the Class of 2023. Advertisement He appeared in two games for the Crimson Tide before transferring to BC in December 2024. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up In training camp, Lonergan has shown the ability to throw on the run and deliver pinpoint passes in traffic. O'Brien said command in the huddle, anticipation, accuracy, and knowledge of the defense and offense played a role in the decision. 'He's got a great feel for the game,' O'Brien said. 'He's got a really good arm. He's got good anticipation, good accuracy. He's very calm, a very poised guy. So is Grayson. Grayson's a very poised guy, too. At the end of the day, in the passing game, Dylan was a little bit ahead of Grayson.' James (6-3, 218), a redshirt senior, completed 63.9 percent of his passes and won four of the six games he appeared in last year. O'Brien lauded him for his work ethic and said he has 'great respect for him.' Advertisement The Eagles open the season Aug. 30, at 2 p.m., at home against Fordham. Trevor Hass can be reached at
Chicago Tribune
07-08-2025
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
Emily Fisher's transfer to Nebraska is more than a change of scenery. The Libertyville alum seeks confidence.
Emily Fisher is searching for something she never thought would abandon her. Her confidence. So after two seasons at Maryland, the former Libertyville star has transferred to Nebraska. 'I started to lose my confidence, especially in my second year,' Fisher said. 'It created a lot of issues in my playing ability. I knew I needed a change.' A 6-foot guard/forward, Fisher was a four-year starter for Libertyville, was ranked No. 80 in the Class of 2023 by ESPN and averaged 2.6 points and 2.8 rebounds while playing in all 33 games during her freshman season at Maryland. 'I loved living at Maryland, and my career started off pretty well,' she said. But Fisher's confidence started to wane near the end of her freshman season, she said. After suffering a concussion in the middle of her sophomore season, she experienced more self-doubt, and she averaged 1.7 points and 1.4 rebounds in 19 games. 'I have never not been confident,' she said. 'I've always been a very confident player growing up. Seeing how I was playing, everybody could tell something was wrong. I couldn't figure it out. It was a mental game.' Fisher's father, Jeramy, who played football at Drake, said she didn't talk about her struggles with her family last season. 'She kept it internalized,' Jeramy Fisher said. 'She just never felt comfortable with her role. That ultimately comes to fit. You want to be comfortable and confident in your role. 'As an AAU player and high school player, she was extremely comfortable in her role. She lost that connection. For a kid that's extremely confident, that's saying a lot. She was disappointed with herself.' Fisher said she's '70 to 80%' back to her old self. She credits a strong support system at Nebraska. 'It was probably one of the biggest challenges I've had to deal with,' she said. 'I've been through injuries and gotten through that. It compared to nothing else I've been through. 'Since I've gotten here, I've been hearing the coaches telling me to shoot, look to score and that my decision-making is the right decision. I don't have to second-guess myself. I'm playing basketball more like I did in high school. I feel like I'm a very versatile player, but I want to be an offensive threat like I was in high school and AAU.' Fisher's younger sister, Lily, a 6-foot-1 junior point guard for Libertyville, is also a Division I prospect and has received recruiting advice. 'It's very overwhelming, especially now with the changes,' Emily Fisher said, referring to the influx of money for name, image and likeness. 'It's way more overwhelming now than when I was recruited. 'The main advice I've given her is to get to know the players and coaches. It's the coaches' job to recruit, but when you go see the players and see their relationships with each other and their coaches, it tells you everything.' Lily Fisher, who said she heeds that advice, looks at Emily as a role model. 'Everyone has their ups and downs, but seeing her always bounce back from those downs has been amazing, and that's the reason she's the person I look up to,' Lily Fisher said. Emily Fisher said she's still working on that. 'The mental stuff is very serious,' she said. 'It's become more of a thing. The coaches have really helped me here. They generally want me to succeed. They treat me like family. Nebraska is still far away from home. I have dinner with the coaches. It's not just about basketball. 'I feel like going though the whole losing-my-confidence thing made me more in tune with my emotions. Growing up, I was not very emotional. I'm going to a therapist, and I'm able to control my emotions and am more aware of them.'
Time of India
01-08-2025
- Business
- Time of India
US law schools post highest job placement rate ever for 2024 graduates, defying market fears
Image credit: Getty Images In a year when many expected the job market for new lawyers to tighten, the Class of 2024 flipped the narrative and set a historic benchmark. According to new data released by the National Association for Law Placement (NALP), U.S. law graduates in 2024 posted the highest employment rate ever recorded since tracking began in 1974, challenging assumptions that a post-pandemic surge in law school enrollment would flood the market. Defying the odds How does a record-sized graduating class, swelled by a pandemic-fueled surge in law school enrollment, end up not only matching but surpassing previous employment outcomes? That's the question legal educators and employers are now asking, after 93.4% of J.D. graduates secured employment within 10 months of graduation. This marks a 0.8 percentage point increase over 2023 and rewrites historical expectations for law school job placement. NALP Executive Director Nikia Gray said the fears of market saturation didn't materialize. 'In the end, it turned out to be over 3,700 additional jobs they needed to source compared to the Class of 2023, but the 2024 graduates—and the NALP community—met that challenge,' she said in a statement. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like You Had One Job: 25 Hilarious Fails Where Workers Did the Absolute Minimum Watch More Undo Bar-passage jobs surge Perhaps even more remarkable was the nature of the jobs secured. More than 84% of the Class of 2024 landed positions requiring bar passage, a 2.2 percentage point jump from last year. These are not stopgap roles or loosely law-adjacent positions; these are bona fide attorney jobs that validate the investment students made in a legal education. Historic low in unemployment Unemployment among 2024 law graduates fell to a mere 5.1%, the lowest rate in NALP's 50-year history. This figure reflects a hiring climate that not only absorbed the largest influx of new lawyers in over a decade but also actively responded to the growing demand for legal services across sectors. Pandemic boom, hiring boom? The seeds of this outcome were planted in 2021, when law schools saw an 11% jump in new enrollments amid the COVID-19 crisis. Students spurred by rising social justice movements, political uncertainty, and shifting work dynamics flocked to legal education. Analysts at the time warned that the Class of 2024, burdened by its sheer size, might suffer in job placement once it hit the market. But that prediction missed the resilience of both the profession and the students. Were employers better prepared than anticipated? Did law schools revamp career support? Or is the legal industry itself undergoing a transformation that's creating space for new talent? Salaries on the rise Adding to the positive news is a noticeable bump in pay. The national median salary for the 2024 law school class climbed to $95,000, up from $90,000 in 2023. While BigLaw salaries remain clustered near the $200,000 mark, this broader median reflects gains across firm sizes and public interest roles, pointing to a robust market across the spectrum. Broader implications The data from NALP aligns with separate figures released by the American Bar Association, which also noted record-breaking employment for this graduating class. Together, these reports paint a picture of a profession not only weathering but evolving beyond the pandemic-era challenges. Is this a one-time surge, or a sign of a long-term shift in legal employment dynamics? What does it mean for future law students now eyeing the Class of 2025 and beyond? What comes next? As the legal field increasingly embraces technology, remote work, and expanded access to justice, opportunities may continue to open for agile, digitally literate graduates. But for now, the Class of 2024 has achieved what many thought improbable: a job market triumph forged in the crucible of uncertainty. Their success offers a blueprin, and a challenge, for the classes that follow. Ready to navigate global policies? Secure your overseas future. Get expert guidance now!
USA Today
24-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
UTEP head coach Scotty Walden discusses former USC QB Malachi Nelson's fresh start
It has certainly been a wild journey for former USC quarterback Malachi Nelson. A five-star recruit in the Class of 2023, Nelson redshirted his first year on campus as the third-stringer behind Caleb Williams and Miller Moss. Following the season, however, Nelson decided to leave the program and transfer to Boise State. Last year, Nelson was beaten out for the Broncos' starting job by Maddux Madsen. After Madsen led Boise State to the College Football Playoff, Nelson elected to hit the transfer portal once again. Now, he heads to El Paso, Texas, where he will play the 2025 season for UTEP. In an interview with 247Sports Wednesday, UTEP head coach Scotty Walden discussed Nelson and his search for a fresh start with the program. "Malachi is as talented as anyone I've ever coached," Walden said. "His arm talent is unbelievable. Now that he's here, I can see the game slowing down for him this summer, so that's been good to see. I can't speak for when he was recruited at USC or anything like that, but what I found so impressive about him in the recruiting process and even with him now was his humility," Walden said. "He's got a lot of humility. This guy genuinely loves ball. He wants to be the best. He knows when he does well and he knows when he needs to do better. I've been super impressed with his work ethic. I look at him in the weight room. "When we recruited him, I called Kliff (Kingsbury), I called Lincoln (Riley) and I called Spencer Danielson at Boise and asked them all separately, because we do boot camp here: 'We're going to do mat drills and get after it. Is he going to want to do that or is he going to be into that?' They all said we wouldn't have any problems with that, and that's the truth. That kid came in, and when he gets in his competitive mode, he's a dog. His body has transformed. He looks great coming out of the weight room. I think his humility and work ethic is certainly there." Nelson certainly has a ton of talent. However, he has yet to put it together on the field at the college level and win a starting job. Perhaps playing for Walden and UTEP will give Nelson the fresh start he needs in order to get his college football career on track.
