Latest news with #FinalFours
USA Today
29-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Nebraska participating in Big Ten Volleyball Media Days
The Nebraska volleyball team participated in the fourth annual Big Ten Volleyball Media Days on Monday in Chicago. Head coach Dani Busboom Kelly, senior middle blocker Rebekah Allick, and junior outside hitter Harper Murray represent the Huskers at the event. Nebraska finished 33-3 last season, ending the year in the NCAA semifinals. Now, the team is entering a new era following the retirement of John Cook. For the Big Ten this season, the Huskers rank No. 1 in the preseason rankings. The Big Ten's coaches have also noticed the individual talent the Huskers roster holds this season. Four Huskers were named to the Preseason All-Big Ten Team. Those four players are Harper Murray, Rebekah Allick, Bergen Reilly, and Andi Jackson. Busboom Kelly returns to Nebraska after spending eight years at Louisville and turning the Cardinals into a national contender. In her tenure, Louisville reached two NCAA Championships, three Final Fours, five regional finals, and four ACC titles. She compiled a 203-44 record in her eight seasons with the Cardinals, including a 120-15 (.889) mark from 2021 to 2024, the second-best winning percentage in the country during that span. Busboom Kelly is a national champion, having served both as a former player and an assistant coach for the Huskers. Nebraska will begin the 2025 season on Friday, August 22, when the Huskers host Pittsburgh at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Contact/Follow us @CornhuskersWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Nebraska news, notes, and opinions.
Indianapolis Star
20-07-2025
- General
- Indianapolis Star
Osterman: Longtime sportswriter Bob Hammel was a bridge for all of us, covering IU and beyond
BLOOMINGTON — My first occasion at meeting Bob Hammel came in his office at the Cook Medical complex on the far west side of town. Working on a project for Mike Conway's history of journalism class, I reached out to Hammel — this would be the last time he would allow me to call him anything other than 'Bob' — hoping for 20 minutes of his time. We sat for two hours. To know Bob Hammel was to have a friend and confidant in all weathers and on all subjects. For someone in this job, he was something even greater. Bob was a bridge for all of us, connecting more people, more moments, more places in time, than anyone else I've ever met. He was the keeper of the history of this place, and a willing, eager one. He leaves behind him an unfillable void matched in its size only by the remarkable legacy it reflects. Hammel died Saturday night at 88, his family told the Herald-Times. Anyone who knew Bob had at their fingertips the answer to seemingly anything. He was among the smartest, most learned people you could hope to meet. To the place he called home for nearly 60 years, he provided connective tissue binding generations of Indiana University, IU Athletics and Bloomington itself together. An IU student at 16, Bob eventually returned to Bloomington for good in 1966. Herman B Wells was still chancellor then. Seventh Street ran all the way through campus. Indiana had not been to the Rose Bowl yet. Bob Knight's hiring was five years out. For decades, Bob Hammel bore witness to the way this place, its people and its culture evolved. He chronicled it dutifully. His output was legendary — sometimes thousands of words per day, for a paper that through much of his tenure there still published in the afternoons. On the average football game week, for example, Bob would produce reams of copy on every inch of Indiana's forthcoming game. He would also often take time to write with care about newsworthy members of the opponent's roster. His reasoning was delightfully simple: Those players deserved recognition too. For IU fans across decades, he became a central figure in the story of their alma mater. He was an ever-present figure at Memorial Stadium and Assembly Hall, and across the Big Ten, in addition to consistent coverage of national events like Final Fours and Olympic Games. His career is perhaps most synonymous with the talented, tempestuous Knight, whose tenure all but mirrored Hammel's: The former served as IU men's basketball coach from 1971 to 2000, the latter Herald-Times sports editor from 1966 to 1996, when he retired. Doyel: Bob Knight didn't like many sportswriters. But he trusted Bob Hammel. Why? Spend time with him. I did The confidence they shared became an inexorable part of the story of Bob Knight's Indiana tenure. But it also conveyed upon Bob Hammel an importance to college basketball as a sport. At a time before social media could bridge the thousands of miles separating parts of the country that cared deeply for the sport — New York, New England, the mid-Atlantic, Tobacco Road, the Midwest, the West Coast — men like Bob bound the game together. Alongside other legendary sportswriters like Dave Kindred, Dick Weiss, Jim O'Connell and John Feinstein (to name just a fraction of a long, long list), Bob was a keeper of the game that meant and still means so much to the school he covered, the city he served and the corner of the world in which he lived. It was for good reason he was a charter inductee into the U.S. Basketball Writers Association Hall of Fame. That did not stop with retirement. He remained more than happy to pass on his knowledge and memories from a lifetime spent gathering both, accommodating students and sportswriters alike. He served the Monroe County Sports Hall of Fame, and for as long as he could, he remained a fixture at IU basketball games. 'One of the kindest and funniest': Bob Knight chronicler Bob Hammel dies at age 88 When word got around Bob had entered hospice care this spring, a procession of friends and former colleagues made their way to Bloomington to pay respects. It was impossible to venerate the man too much, even if he might have disagreed with that sentiment. The ripples Bob leaves behind flow across so many of us today, and will continue to indefinitely. But none of us can replace his impact fully. He was, as the many tributes flowing forth Sunday attested, one of a kind. And we will all miss him dearly.
USA Today
16-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
The Athletic names Michigan State's Tom Izzo a Top-25 NCAA basketball coach of the 2000s
Where does Tom Izzo stand amongst the great men's college basketball coaches of the last 25 years? The Athletic and writer CJ Moore have their answer, which was published in their recent ranking of the top 25 coaches of the 2000s. The Athletic has Tom Izzo in the top ten, coming at No. 9 overall. One important note about these rankings is that they intentionally did not include the 1999-00 season. Obviously, Tom Izzo's Michigan State Spartans won the national championship that year, which would have probably altered these rankings quite a bit. Below, you can see what they had to say about Izzo and his ranking. You can also click the link to read their article, which also goes over his coaching statistics: If we were including the 1999-2000 season, Izzo's resume looks even better because we'd be including a national title. But even taking that out, he trails only Roy Williams for Final Fours this century. Izzo is also tied with Bill Self and Mark Few for most NCAA Tournament appearances; all three have yet to miss. Izzo's personal run, dating back to 1998, is the longest. It looked like Izzo was starting to slip the last few years, but he just won the Big Ten and made an Elite Eight. In an era where players are transferring and some coaches are scared to coach their players too hard, Izzo hasn't budged. He knows his way works. Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan state news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Andrew Brewster on Twitter @IAmBrewster.
NBC Sports
14-07-2025
- Politics
- NBC Sports
Kansas political skirmish emerges regarding Chiefs vs. Royals
Kansas wants to lure the Chiefs and the Royals across the border with Missouri. But what if it comes down to one or the other? A skirmish has emerged in Kansas regarding whether the powers-that-be have a preference. Via Matthew Kelly of the Kansas City Star, Senate President Ty Masterson (a Republican) has repeatedly accused Governor Laura Kelly (a Democrat) of favoring the Royals. 'It is political,' Masterson recently told reporters. 'And I think most Kansans know there's a little bit of a disconnect. I think the administration tends to favor the Royals over the Chiefs, and I think most everyone else in the conversation would say the inverse. But it would be great to have both of them.' Some argue that the Royals get the edge because they host many more games — 81 at home, every season. The Chiefs host 10. (Obviously, both can host more in the postseason — and the Chiefs annually do.) A domed Chiefs stadium brings benefits beyond a bunch of baseball games. 'If you build a dome, you're talking Super Bowls, Final Fours, major concerts, lots of development around it,' Masterson said. It remains to be seen where it goes from here. But it could be that, in the end, Kansas focuses on the Royals. Giving Missouri the ability to keep the Chiefs.
USA Today
23-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Former Gator Alijah Martin among college hoops coaches' 2025 NBA draft sleepers
The 2025 NBA draft is just a few days away, and while the Gator Nation feels confident that at least one of the members of this season's men's basketball national championship team — guard Walter Clayton Jr. — will be among those selected, there is another who lurks in the shadows who should be selected as well. Florida's guard Alijah Martin, who transferred to UF from the Florida Atlantic Owls during the previous offseason, is the other former member of the program expected to be picked at the end of this week after Rueben Chinyelu and Alex Condon decided to return to school. There is also fellow backcourt swingman Will Richard who is hoping to hear his name called, but Martin appears to be a better bet. Well, at least according to a handful of college basketball coaches surveyed by The Athletic's CJ Moore, who suggested that the title-winning Gators guard could go at No. 43 in the draft. However, the overall outlook for Martin is not terribly optimistic. Florida guard Alijah Martin (No. 43) "He's going to be a G-League guy. He's a 6-2 small forward, and I just don't think that really translates in the NBA," Moore offers. "The one thing that could be said about him is that he's a winner. He's been to two Final Fours, won a national championship, and so he impacts winning on both ends of the floor." Alijah Martin's 2024-25 campaign highlights Martin was a key member of Florida's roster during his lone season in Gainesville, averaging a career-high 14.4 points per game along with 4.5 rebounds, 82 assists and 79 3-point field goals. He started 36 of his 38 appearances with the Orange and Blue, and his 546 points rank 17th in Florida history in a single season and the third-most by a transfer. His efforts helped him become the first player to start in a Final Four for two different teams. Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.
