Latest news with #SanDiegoState
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Fresno State notifies Mountain West it is departing the league, will join Pac-12
Fresno State has informed the Mountain West Conference that it will leave the league at the end of 2025-26, according to a university source, a next step in joining a rebuilding Pac-12. Boise State, Colorado State, San Diego State and Utah State also notified the Mountain West they would be departing the conference, according to reports. Oregon State and Washington State are holdovers in the Pac-12, which was decimated by conference realignment that started when UCLA and USC bolted for the Big Ten. Gonzaga, which does not have a football team, will also join the Pac-12 in 2026 in the sports that it sponsors. Fresno State and the other universities departing the Mountain West notified the conference just ahead of a June 1 deadline to avoid an exit fee doubling from $18 million to around $36 million. It also was something of a financially-driven formality. According to the term sheet Fresno State signed in September 2024, it could revoke its election to join the Pac-12 only if receiving an invitation to join a Power Four conference, then paying liquidated damages of $30 million. If Fresno State were not to become a member of the Pac-12 on July 1, 2026, for any other reason, it would have to pay the conference liquidated damages of $40 million. The Pac-12 must still add one more full member to get to eight schools, the number required to be recognized by the NCAA. The exit fee Fresno State and the other four Mountain West schools will pay remains unresolved. The Pac-12 and Mountain West are in mediation over exit fees and a poaching penalty that was part of a scheduling agreement between the conferences for the 2024 football season.
USA Today
4 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Sean Payton regretted his Alvin Kamara comparison at the time, but may have got it right
Sean Payton regretted his Alvin Kamara comparison at the time, but may have got it right Kamara's numbers, play style mirror Marshall Faulk's career We're entering the part of the offseason where we start to get kind of wistful. A little nostalgic. Introspective, maybe. Look back on years past, and consider how comments made before look with the benefit of hindsight. Back when he was leading the New Orleans Saints as their Super Bowl-winning head coach, Sean Payton had a blunt reaction to being asked about comments he'd made comparing rookie draft pick Alvin Kamara to Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk, who he had coached in college at San Diego State. Payton had complimented how quick a learner and adept a receiver both players had been (similar body types helped; Faulk played at 5-foot-10 and 211 pounds, while the Saints list Kamara at 5-foot-10 and 215), but that's where the comparison stopped. "Stop," Payton told reporters back in 2017. "Marshall Faulk's a first ballot Hall of Famer. We're not doing that to a rookie running back. This kid has got really, really good football intelligence. He has good transitional speed. But even when I made the comparison back in training camp it was prefaced with, hey, not making a comparison to Marshall, I'm just saying he's a guy that learns very quickly and that's how Marshall was. I just don't want to see Marshall Faulk headlined with Alvin Kamara, that's all." But you can't put the toothpaste back in the tube, and Payton's comparison has only looked more apt with time. He's right that Faulk was a different caliber of player than Kamara, but he was also right to compare the two in the first place. At this stage in his career, Faulk had appeared in 121 games, totaling 2,155 carries (17.8 per game) with 548 receptions (4.5 per game), amassing 14,889 yards from scrimmage with 79 touchdown runs and 31 touchdown catches. He had also been selected for six Pro Bowls, was a six-time All-Pro, had won league MVP, and was named Offensive Player of the Year three times. Kamara doesn't have as many accolades, but his five Pro Bowls and two All-Pro appearances are nothing to sneeze at. Through his first eight years he's appeared in 115 games, recording 1,543 rushing attempts (13.4 per game) and catching 573 passes (4.9 per game). He's gained 11,541 yards from scrimmage. So while they have averaged the same number of yards per carry (4.4), the four extra rushes per game that Faulk got made a very big difference. And now Kamara is on the verge of doing something special. He's 238 receiving yards away from joining Faulk, Marcus Allen, and Tiki Barber to become the fourth running back in NFL history to gain at least 5,000 yards as both a rusher and receiver. Look at the numbers: Marshall Faulk: 12,279 rushing yards, 6,875 receiving yards Marcus Allen: 12,243 rushing yards, 5,411 receiving yards Tiki Barber: 10,449 rushing yards, 5,183 receiving yards Alvin Kamara: 6,779 rushing yards, 4,762 receiving yards It feels like a safe assumption that Kamara will go the distance and join those great players in the 5,000-yard (10,000?) club, but just how far can he go? Kamara's contract is set to run out after the 2026 season, so he has at least two more years to keep building on his legacy. He's talked before about not wanting to play football until his body breaks down, and his abundance of interests away from the field gives him options. If he decides to keep playing after this contract runs out, he might close the gap with Faulk in the end. Maybe. And here's one more stat for the road. Since the two-point conversion was adopted in 1994, just two players have successfully converted it seven times. Those two players? Marshall Faulk, and Alvin Kamara.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
LSU softball adds two experienced transfers following early NCAA Tournament exit
LSU softball added two high-profile transfers in shortstop Kylee Edwards and pitcher Cece Cellura. Both players announced their move on social media this week. The pair brings a combined four years of starting experience to a team that fell short of expectations in 2025. Edwards made the in-conference move from Mississippi State, while Cellura comes from San Diego State. Advertisement Edwards, a rising junior, batted .280 through two seasons with the Bulldogs. As a sophomore, she finished with 47 hits, 37 RBI and 24 walks with a .945 fielding percentage at shortstop. She finished with All-South region second-team honors. In a first-team All-Mountain West season, Cellura finished with a 2.28 ERA and 19 wins. She made 39 appearances, including 20 starts, as a sophomore in 2025. Through 153.2 innings pitched, she accumulated 94 strikeouts and three saves. Hitters batted .248 against her as she led the Aztecs to their third-straight conference tournament title. After an earlier-than-expected exit from the NCAA Tournament, LSU added two proven talents to its roster. This article originally appeared on LSU Wire: LSU transfer portal: Softball makes two key additions
USA Today
28-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
LSU softball adds two experienced transfers following early NCAA Tournament exit
LSU softball adds two experienced transfers following early NCAA Tournament exit LSU softball added two high-profile transfers in shortstop Kylee Edwards and pitcher Cece Cellura. Both players announced their move on social media this week. The pair brings a combined four years of starting experience to a team that fell short of expectations in 2025. Edwards made the in-conference move from Mississippi State, while Cellura comes from San Diego State. Edwards, a rising junior, batted .280 through two seasons with the Bulldogs. As a sophomore, she finished with 47 hits, 37 RBI and 24 walks with a .945 fielding percentage at shortstop. She finished with All-South region second-team honors. In a first-team All-Mountain West season, Cellura finished with a 2.28 ERA and 19 wins. She made 39 appearances, including 20 starts, as a sophomore in 2025. Through 153.2 innings pitched, she accumulated 94 strikeouts and three saves. Hitters batted .248 against her as she led the Aztecs to their third-straight conference tournament title. After an earlier-than-expected exit from the NCAA Tournament, LSU added two proven talents to its roster.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
UCLA crushes San Diego State for second win in NCAA regional tournament
UCLA third baseman Jordan Woolery, fielding the ball during a game Friday, had a home run, triple and five RBIs in a victory over San Diego State on Saturday. (Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times) The crack of the ball off Jordan Woolery's bat in the first inning sent a sharp, resounding message — the Bruins weren't going to let their opponent dictate the tone this time. Woolery, UCLA's RBI leader, went two for three with a three-run homer, a triple and five RBIs to lead the Bruins to a 10-0, six-inning shutout over San Diego State in Game 2 of the Los Angeles Regional on Saturday afternoon. Advertisement The No. 9 Bruins (51-10) cruised into Game 6 of the regional, where they'll have a chance to clinch a spot in the Super Regionals with one more win. Their opponent has yet to be determined for Sunday's 4:30 p.m. PDT first pitch. It was a complete role reversal. Just a day after UCLA's bats stayed quiet through the first four innings in an eventual victory over UC Santa Barbara, the Bruins opened their second regional matchup with intent. On the first pitch, Jessica Clements ripped a leadoff double. One pitch later, Savannah Pola dropped down a bunt and, spotting an uncovered second base, the speedy second baseman turned it into a heads-up double. With runners in scoring position, Jordan Woolery did what's become second nature — she brought them home, and did so with a bang. Advertisement Read more: UCLA softball opens NCAA regional with dominant win over UC Santa Barbara Staying patient in the box, Woolery worked the count full, waiting for a pitch she could drive. She then clobbered a high fly ball that just cleared the glove of San Diego State center fielder Julie Holcomb, sailing over the wall for a three-run homer. A candidate for national player of the year, Woolery is one of UCLA's most consistent threats near the top of the lineup. She entered the regional ranked fifth in the nation with 75 RBIs — the second-highest single-season mark in program history. Woolery added another RBI later, legging out a triple after a diving attempt by the Aztecs' right fielder missed and the ball skipped past, allowing Clements to score. The hit brought her total to six RBIs for the weekend. Advertisement In an encore to her heroics at the plate and dominance in relief the night before, Kaitlyn Terry took the mound with poise and command. The left-hander turned in a smooth outing, giving up only two hits and one walk while striking out five. Her only trouble came in the bottom of the third. A walk, an infield single and a fielding error loaded the bases, giving San Diego State a prime chance to take the lead. But Terry stayed composed. After recording two outs, Terry dug in for a seven-pitch battle with Angie Yellen — and won, inducing a routine groundout to end the inning and preserve the Bruins' lead. From there, she settled in and found her rhythm, retiring nine straight batters and striking out three, earning the complete-game shutout victory. Advertisement A six-run rally in the sixth inning sealed the game via the run rule. Kaniya Bragg opened the onslaught with a two-run double, followed by an RBI single to right field from Terry. Then, just like the night before, Megan Grant delivered the finishing blow — a two-run triple that slammed high off the center-field wall, narrowly missing a three-run homer. With the win, the Bruins notched back-to-back mercy-rule victories — their 27th of the season, extending a program record. Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
