Latest news with #JUCO
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Texas A&M told Rob Vaughn he 'wasn't good enough': How it shapes Alabama baseball today
Long before he finished sentences with "Roll Tide," Alabama baseball coach Rob Vaughn grew up saying "Gig 'Em." Earl Vaughn, now 78, played baseball at Texas A&M in 1967 and 1968, so like any son whose favorite superhero was dad instead of Iron Man, little "Robby" wanted to suit up for the Aggies. Advertisement Vaughn's earliest memories of football were made in the Home of the 12th Man. Hour-and-a half long car rides to Blue Ball Park followed suit in the spring. Once he knew he had the potential to play at the next level, he set his sights on College Station, a little over 90 miles from his native Humble, Texas. Only Texas A&M had different plans for the backyard legacy. REQUIRED READING: Rob Vaughn hitting milestones with Alabama baseball, but he almost didn't take the job TRANSFER PORTAL OR 'SPEED DATING'? How Alabama baseball flipped 2025 roster with 13 additions "My senior year, I went there, and I played great. I'm thinking, 'Alright, I played really good. I think I'm getting an offer." Vaughn told the Tuscaloosa News. Advertisement "Literally, their words were, 'You're not 6-foot, 200 pounds.' " Vaughn was listed at 5-foot-11, 160 pounds on his last high school scouting report. Perfect Game evaluators said he had an "advanced bat" and ran well "for a catcher," but then came the inevitable criticism: "He's not big in size." Vaughn never forgot those words from A&M, but his mindset has shifted since the initial sting of rejection. Being able to say he had a successful career at Kansas State, where he found his wife, Kayleigh, and helped the Wildcats to their first ever NCAA Tournament, before getting drafted to the White Sox in 2009, doesn't hurt. Advertisement "That was the best thing that ever happened to me was Texas A&M's crew saying, 'Sorry, Rob, you're not good enough to play here,' because it draws me to those kind of kids," Vaughn said. Texas A&M denied Alabama baseball coach Rob Vaughn his dream: Why it was 'the best thing' ever The Crimson Tide added 13 transfers to its 2025 roster. About half of them have come through the JUCO system at some point in their career, including starters Bryce Fowler and Richie Bonomolo Jr., who were plucked straight from standout seasons at community college. "If you look around our team, there's a reason there's a heavy JUCO influence," Vaughn said. "Those kids were all, at some point, told they weren't good enough, and they had a choice to feel bad for themselves. But if you're going to go to JUCO and play baseball, it's because you want to be a lead baseball player, not for the glitz and the glamour of it." Advertisement "It's not sexy to say you're going to Wallace Dothan to play community college baseball, leaving Auburn, but you do it because you want to turn yourself into a guy," Vaughn said, referencing second-year member of the Crimson Tide Kade Snell. "That's what these kids did because they want to be good at baseball. They care. It's important to them to be good. And that's really what grit is." Vaughn finds the trials and tribulations that some Alabama players have faced are the reasons they're mentally battle-tested enough to take a run-rule on the chin in the opener and bounce back for a series win against Georgia. Or why Vaughn would be able to return as a coach to the same school he "wasn't good enough" to catch for and lead the Crimson Tide to sweep the Aggies, who have fallen from their status as the No. 1 team in the nation entering the season to standing as the 14th seed in the SEC Tournament. Advertisement No. 9 seed Alabama kicks off the week of tournament play in Hoover against No. 16 seed Missouri at 9:30 a.m. CT on SEC Network before A&M wraps up the first round against No. 11 seed Mississippi State later on Tuesday evening. Alabama head coach Rob Vaughn watches his team from the dugout during the game wtih Mississippi State at Sewell-Thomas Stadium in Tuscaloosa Friday, April 11, 2025. Emilee Smarr covers Alabama basketball and Crimson Tide athletics for the Tuscaloosa News. She can be reached via email at esmarr@ This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Texas A&M told Alabama baseball coach Rob Vaughn he 'wasn't good enough'
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Missouri State basketball, Cuonzo Martin land productive JUCO transfer
Missouri State basketball landed the commitment of another junior college transfer. Shamarrie Hugie, a 6-foot-6 wing from Cowley College (Kansas), announced his commitment to the Bears and Cuonzo Martin on Thursday morning on social media. ranks him as the No. 67 juco player in the 2025 class. Advertisement The Savannah, Georgia, native is coming off a season in which he averaged 14.1 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. He was a 47.5% shooter from the field and 33% from beyond the arc. Missouri State extended an offer to him on Tuesday, and he accepted it quickly. Tennessee Tech and Stephen F. Austin are his two other listed offers. Hugie elevated his game from his freshman to sophomore year, becoming a nightly starter and improving his shooting totals from one year to the next. He was also an 83% free-throw shooter en route to a second-team All-Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference honors. Hugie is the fifth player to announce his transfer to Missouri State since the end of the 2024-25 season, after all but three players from last season's roster entered the transfer portal. He's the second JUCO player to commit to the Bears, joining Logan A. College transfer Cameron Boone. This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Shamarrie Hugie: Missouri State basketball lands JUCO transfer
NZ Herald
12-05-2025
- Sport
- NZ Herald
The future is looking bright for Māori basketballer in US
Originally published by Māori Television Kahuranaki Treacher, an 18-year-old Māori basketballer from Hastings, has his sights firmly set on the upcoming United States college basketball season, one he says is already 'filled with blessings'. Treacher has just completed his freshman year at Eastern Arizona College, where he quickly established himself as an elite junior college athlete. His standout performance has now earned him a place among the top 48 returning junior college (JUCO) players in the US. 'It's the most prestigious, the biggest JUCO camp there is. So the JA 48 is for the top 48 returning JUCO players in the country. So, literally all of America and I just happen to be one of them,' he says.
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
New motion marks Alberto Osuna's latest bid to play baseball at Tennessee
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — Alberto Osuna has launched another bid in his ongoing efforts to gain NCAA eligibility and suit up for the Tennessee baseball team. A motion was filed Monday in federal court seeking to reverse the denial of a preliminary injunction that would've him allowed him to take the field for the national champion Volunteers. The motion pointed to a recent decision by the District Court of New Jersey that granted eligibility to Rutgers football player Jett Elad for the 2025 season, contending that Osuna's request should be granted since both cases are largely based on the same evidence. 'Elad involves the same JUCO rules and same Sherman Act antitrust claim at issue in this case. Elad also submitted and relied on substantially the same evidence as Osuna, including the expert testimony of Dr. Joel Maxcy regarding the anticompetitive effects of the NCAA's JUCO rules. The NCAA's JUCO rules have now been enjoined by two District Courts who relied on expert testimony provided by Dr. Maxcy that is the same or substantially the same as the evidence and testimony provided in this case.' Federal motion filed on April 28 He filed a lawsuit against the NCAA in February, arguing that his one season at Walters State Community College should not count against his eligibility. He played the 2021 season at the school in Morristown, Tennessee before spending the last three years at North Carolina. Osuna had joined Division II program Tampa believing he had no Division I eligibility left. When an injunction was issued allowing Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia to play another year after a judge determined that his season at New Mexico Military Institute shouldn't count against his Division I eligibility, Osuna entered the transfer portal and came to Tennessee in hopes that he would win a similar ruling. Burchett chides NCAA on House floor over Osuna's fight to play baseball at Tennessee All three cases assert that NCAA rules violate the federal antitrust law, arguing that using junior college play into determine Division I eligibility denies athletes the full earning potential they would've received from four full years of name, image and likeness opportunities at a D-I program. Osuna batted .259 with a .359 on-base percentage, 45 homers and 140 RBIs in 177 career games at North Carolina over the last three seasons. He hit .281 with a .376 on-base percentage, 14 homers and 56 RBIs in 62 games last season while helping the Tar Heels reach the College World Series. No. 5/12 Tennessee currently sits in fourth place in the SEC baseball standings with a record of 13-8 in conference play. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
USA Today
28-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Former Auburn guard Chad Baker-Mazara announces transfer to Big Ten program
Former Auburn guard Chad Baker-Mazara announces transfer to Big Ten program Chad Baker-Mazara is heading to another power conference following Auburn's Final Four run. Nearly two weeks after sharing the stunning news of his intent to transfer out of Auburn's program, guard Chad Baker-Mazara has found a new home within a power conference. The former Auburn wing shared on social media Monday that he is heading to Los Angeles to play for Eric Musselman and the USC Trojans. He will use his sixth season of eligibility gained through a blanket waiver that allows athletes with JUCO backgrounds the opportunity to play an extra season at the NCAA level. Baker-Mazara announced his decision to transfer away from Auburn on April 17, becoming the most notable name from Auburn's Final Four roster to leave through the transfer portal. He averaged 11.2 points and 3.3 rebounds in 23.7 minutes per game over the last two seasons. Last season, his 12.3 points per game were the second-highest on the team behind Johni Broome, and his 89% free-throw percentage ranked No. 3 on the team. Auburn loses over 60% of last season's roster, but head coach Bruce Pearl has worked tirelessly to fill the voids created by the departures of Baker-Mazara and several other key playmakers. Auburn has added forwards Keyshawn Hall and Keshawn Murphy from the transfer portal, while Abdul Bashir and Emeka Opurum have joined the roster from the JUCO ranks. Baker-Mazara is the second former Tiger to announce his next destination, joining forward Jahki Howard, who announced his plan to transfer to Utah last week. Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Taylor on Twitter @TaylorJones__
