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USA Today
13-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
OT Jackson Cantwell, No. 1-ranked college football recruit, commits to Miami
OT Jackson Cantwell, No. 1-ranked college football recruit, commits to Miami Show Caption Hide Caption Jaguars select Travis Hunter No. 2 overall, here's what they'll get Travis Hunter captivated the college football world with his two-way abilities and now the Jaguars are ready to see what he can do in the NFL Sports Pulse Miami football landed a big-time commitment on Tuesday, as coach Mario Cristobal earned a pledge from the highest-ranked recruit of his career. Five-star offensive tackle Jackson Cantwell, the No. 1-ranked player in the 2026 class according to 247Sports' Composite rankings, chose the Hurricanes over Georgia, Oregon and Ohio State on Tuesday. REQUIRED READING: Southern California, Lincoln Riley crushing recruiting in bid for college football resurgence 'Miami excites me a lot because they have an offensive-line oriented coach in Mario Cristobal,' Cantwell told On3 recently. 'I like Coach Cristobal a lot. I think Coach Mirabal is a top-five O-line coach in the country. Even that could be a little like subjective where in the top five it would be. He does a fantastic job. He does a great developing (sic). They always seem to have the right guys on the offensive line.' Cantwell has a 6-foot-7, 325-pound frame, according to his 247Sports page. The Nixa High School product from Nixa, Missouri, was also the Missouri state champion in shot put and discus. Cantwell comes from an athletic background, as his dad, Christian Cantwell, won the silver medal in shot put at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. His mother, Teri Steer, was a thrower at the 2000 Sydney Games. Cantwell reportedly is receiving quite the name, image and likeness package for his commitment. According to a report from Eli Lederman, the national recruiting and college football reporter for ESPN, Miami has an NIL deal in place with Cantwell worth more than $2 million annually. The Hurricanes' 2026 class now ranks ninth nationally, as they have 10 commitments, four of whom are rated as four stars or higher by 247Sports.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Projected $1.5 Million Star Reveals College Football Program Recruiting Him 'Hardest'
Decision time is near for five-star offensive tackle Jackson Cantwell, and one college football program is going all-out to land his services. Cantwell plays for for Nixa High School in Missouri. The 6-foot-7.5, 305-pound tackle is rated as the No. 1 overall player in the class of 2026 by both On3 and Rivals. Advertisement Cantwell is credited with 286 pancake blocks over his three high school seasons, per MaxPreps. He was named as the 2024-25 Gatorade Player of the Year in December and is also a national track and field record holder in shot put, an athletic family legacy. Cantwell's father, Christian Cantwell, won a silver medal in shot put at the Beijing 2008 Games. His mother, Teri Steer, competed in shot put at the 2000 Sydney Games. On the gridiron, Cantwell holds an NIL valuation of $1.5 million entering his senior high school season. And his high-profile recruitment has come down to Georgia, Oregon, Ohio State and Miami. Nixa's Jackson Cantwell as the Eagles take on the Republic TigersNathan Papes/Springfield News-Leader / USA TODAY NETWORK Cantwell previously delayed his commitment date from April 30 to May 13, adding another unofficial visit to the Bulldogs on May 10. He previously took unofficial visits to Miami (March 18), Ohio State (March 22) and Oregon (April 26). Advertisement There's no shortage of recruiting expertise among Cantwell's top contenders, as Georgia, Ohio State and Oregon are coming off top-five classes with the Hurricanes landing at No. 13 (247Sports). According to Cantwell, though, it's Miami and head coach Mario Cristobal that have been putting in more effort as his commitment date approaches. Miami Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal takes the Navarro-USA TODAY Sports 'I'll be honest, Miami is recruiting me the hardest right now,' Cantwell said via On3's Stephen Wagner. Cantwell received an in-home visit from Miami offensive line coach Alex Mirabal on Sunday. Mirabal and Cristobal appear to be in contact with Cantwell every day, and he spoke highly of Cristobal's history as a position coach. Advertisement 'Obviously that's not the end-all be-all, but there's something to be said for that," Cantwell continued. "I hear from coach Cristobal every day. I hear from coach Mirabal every day. Mario Cristobal has coached a lot of guys that play early. He's very open to it. They prioritize O-line development. They're the only program left in it for me that has an O-line guy as their head coach, so I know they'll prioritize that.' It doesn't appear that Cantwell has made up his mind just yet with the May 13 announcement around the corner. While he seemingly learned enough about Miami and Oregon this spring, the Bulldogs will get the final crack at the elite tackle. "That's something I feel good about with Miami and Oregon and we're going to see Georgia one more time, and then I'm going to make my decision on the 13th and I'm not going to look back," he said. Related: Nation's No. 2 QB Drops Intriguing Recruiting Hint After Four Major Offers Related: ESPN Names Last Season's Luckiest College Football Team
Daily Mail
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Loose Women hosting shake-up as brand new star joins ITV panel - and reveals disgusting insult she received just minutes into show
Tanni Grey-Thompson joined the Loose Women panel on Thursday's episode of the show - and revealed a disgusting insult she received just minutes into the programme. The Paralympian, 55, who was born with spina bifida, joined Jane Moore, 62, Coleen Nolan, 60, and Katie Piper, 41, to chat about this week's newsworthy topics. Right at the start of the episode the Loose ladies discussed how you prepare kids for a trauma, after Freddie Flintoff's wife Rachael revealed how she instructed their children to react when confronted with his injuries from his car crash in 2022. During the chat, Tanni touched upon a moment that happened when she was just five years old that left the panel and studio in shock. Tanni said: 'I know when I was young, I was five when I complete stranger stopped me in the street and asked me why my parents hadn't terminated the pregnancy. 'You don't really understand, my mum sat down with me and she talked through what that was and what it meant. 'She was really honest with me. 'When I was born, they were told if I had been born a couple of years earlier, I'd have been taken away, not fed and allowed to die. 'Again, she was talking about that. She was quite open with me. 'She said that if she'd known she was going to have a baby born with spina bifida, she might have considered termination.' Jane chimed in: 'Because she didn't know you at that point.' She continued: 'People get upset but she never said having had you, I would wish to terminate it. 'That open conversation, kids can be really accepting. They see what's in front of them. 'They learn to adapt. It's only later...' Jane said: 'Just don't lie to them!' Tanni is best known for her wheelchair racing career, being a politician and being on the TV. She started her wheelchair racing career at the age of 13 and has gone on to win multiple medals. Some include gold at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games for 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m. She also won gold at the Sydney Games in 2000 for the same events. Tanni also bagged gold at the 1998 World Championships. Elsewhere in the episode Beyoncé's mother Tina Knowles fought back the tears as she recounted her 'devastating' breast cancer battle and divorce. Tina, who is mum to the If I Were A Boy singer, 43, and Solange Knowles, 38, was recently diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer after doctors discovered two tumors during a mammogram appointment. She appeared on the ITV chat show to talk to Charlene White, 44, and Jane Moore, 62, about her new book Matriarch, which was released earlier this week. Her recent diagnosis was touched upon after Charlene was keen to find out if she had a group of close pals that she could turn to in a time of need. Tina said: 'Friendship with women is of the utmost importance to me, it's one of my biggest priorities to stay connected because when I went through that, I depended on my daughters. 'I didn't tell everybody in my friends group. I didn't have to tell them what was going on. 'I just went to Houston, gathered my girlfriends, we went to church, we went to lunch, we went parting at the club, dancing.' As her emotions got the better of her and her eyes started to tell up, she continued: 'I just told them I don't want to talk about what's going on, but I need you right now. 'They were all right there with me. They've been a big part of my life, my whole life.'
The Guardian
03-04-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Big matchups and bigger bucks: Michael Johnson pledges Grand Slam Track will bring ‘fantasy to life'
Michael Johnson is one of the few true legends of track and field. Now, though, he is chasing the holy grail. Every four years, athletics is the biggest sport at the Olympics. In between, for most casual fans, it tumbles off a cliff. But Johnson, a four-time gold medallist across the Barcelona, Atlanta and Sydney Games, believes he can change all that with a new big-money professional track league, Grand Slam Track, which launches on Friday in Kingston, Jamaica. 'Grand Slam Track is the equivalent of UFC and Formula One,' he tells the Guardian. 'The research tells us that people watched track during the Olympics because of the stakes, the stars, and the stories. So that is the recipe. And at the absolute heart of it is the head-to-head competition between the best athletes. Because that's what people want to see.' There will be four 'slams' from April to June, with many of the biggest names in the sport chasing $12.5m (£9.5m) in prize money. But there is also an intriguing twist: at every three-day meet athletes will not only compete in their main speciality but against the world's best in a second event. 'We've got the podium from the Olympic 1500m all competing,' says Johnson. 'Josh Kerr, Yared Nuguse, and Cole Hocker. And in Kingston we've also got the Olympic 800m gold medallist Emmanuel Wanyonyi and the world 800m champion Marco Arop. They will be mixing it up against each other in both the 800m and 1500m, with no pacemakers. And we've got 10 more groups just like that.' 'So the athletes don't just win one race and they are grand slam track champion, they have got to win enough points across two races: one of which is their dominant race, and one of which is not.' The prizes are not to be sniffed at either: each winner this weekend will walk away with $100,000 (£75,800), with second taking $50,000 and even last place picking up $10,000. It's tempting to imagine Grand Slam Track being around in the era of Seb Coe, Steve Cram and Steve Ovett – and the excitement if they had regularly raced each other. 'For years, track fans have been putting matchups together, saying this will be my fantasy race,' Johnson says. 'We have brought the fantasy to life.' Last year, the 57-year-old was quoted as saying that he thought he could save track, which – to put it mildly – divided opinion. But he insists there was more context to that statement than reported. 'Track doesn't need saving,' he says. 'Every four years at the Olympics, it's great. Every four years it's the most popular sport on the planet. Then it drops off, but even in between, over 155 million people every year watch at least two track meets, and 325 million people watch one. We know there is excitement out there. It's just been so fragmented. So the pitch is that if you watched the Olympics and enjoyed it, you will absolutely enjoy this.' Johnson rattles off more of the 48 star names that have signed up for all four meets, including the 400m hurdles world record-holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and the Olympic 200m champion Gabby Thomas. Another 48 athletes will also be parachuted in as 'challengers' for one or more of the slams, including Britain's Dina Asher-Smith, who is racing over 200m and 400m this weekend. All these names are great, I tell Johnson, but don't the athletes also have to do more themselves to push rivalries and tell us what they really think? Perhaps surprisingly, Johnson doesn't entirely agree. 'We in this sport have asked far too much of the athletes,' he says. 'We've asked them to basically do it alone. Because there hasn't been a professional exclusive league for them, no matter what anybody else says. The media does it too. 'You need to show more personality. You need to be more like Bolt. You need to do this. You need to do that.' 'But by creating a professional league and a platform for them, the athletes just have to show up, race, talk from the heart and be authentically themselves. They don't have to try to manufacture some sort of personality, because that persona is not real.' Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion There is clearly a lot of goodwill towards Johnson. But not everyone is a believer. Sceptics point to the fact that the two biggest stars of the Netflix series Sprint, the Olympic 100m champion, Noah Lyles, and the women's 100m world champion, Sha'Carri Richardson, have not signed up – which would have certainly helped attract more eyeballs in the crucial US market. There are also no field events. And filling stadiums in Miami, Philadelphia and Los Angeles across three successive days of competition will also be a hefty challenge. However it is one that Johnson clearly relishes. 'We're doing what every athlete and fan, along with Sebastian Coe, the head of World Athletics, has said the sport needs,' he says. 'We need to grow the sport. We need athletes to make more money. We need better broadcast deals. We want head-to-head competition. So I am not going to over-focus on the few people that have said it's not for me.' So what does success in the first year look like? 'It's about growing the brand, growing our fanbase, growing our attendance at our live events, and growing engagement,' says Johnson. 'But we've already done two of the most difficult parts of all this: getting 48 of the best in the world signed up to the league, and having broadcast distribution in 189 countries.' That includes the UK, where every round of the Grand Slam Track will be shown live on TNT Sports and Discovery+, with the Kingston event starting at 11.30pm on Friday. And Johnson also has a message to those who fear the $30m of investment in Grand Slam Track could run out before he is able to change the sport he loves for the better. 'We're in this for the long haul,' he says. 'Startups aren't profitable in year one. You know if anybody comes to you with a startup, saying: 'Hey, we're going to be profitable in year one,' run away as fast as you can. But we will continue to grow.' In his book, Slaying the Dragon, Johnson talks about learning to love pressure. So how is he feeling on the eve of the big event? 'There's pressure, but there's excitement right alongside it,' he insists, smiling. 'We're ready to finally get this thing started.'
