Facts are sometimes stranger than fiction.

As if on direct orders from Dr. Danny J. White, university vice chancellor and director of athletics, Tennessee has awarded itself “Everything” status in sports.

There is some evidence – three straight top-six finishes in Directors Cup standings.

The brotherhood of athletics directors gives the cup to the school and the brother with the most success in collegiate fun ‘n games. Order of finish in various NCAA championships determines the champ. Stanford usually wins. It sponsors more sports. Texas won first prize this year. Tennessee was again sixth.

“Everything” comes from Dr. Danny proclaiming the pursuit of excellence in all Vol activities. He maxed out his $600,000 bonus structure and received an ovation. I presume it was standing.

Swimming and diving, rowing and softball had very good seasons. Baseball was competitive but fell short of the College World Series.

Men’s basketball went to the Elite Eight. Football was OK until it got to Ohio State.

Here’s the strange part: Tennessee track is running far from excellence. From a safe distance, it appears the track and field program is in disarray.

Duane Ross

The almost legendary Duane Ross is director. He was 2021 national coach of the year (at North Carolina A&T – that is Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro). He came to Tennessee in 2022. He replaced Beth Alford-Sullivan.

I do believe his record is worse than was hers.

Negative news at the university, if announced, is always low-key. In this case, something big is right now happening. It appears at least three assistant coaches have quietly gone away, maybe fired or paid to resign. Nobody has said a word. Famous names have simply evaporated from the department staff list.

Tempest Love

Associate head coach Tempest Love is missing. She was responsible for coaching Tennessee’s horizontal and vertical jumpers. Love spent 10 seasons with Ross at A&T and followed him to Tennessee.

Erik Whitsitt

Erik Whitsitt is gone. He coached throws (shot, discus, javelin). Before joining Ross, Erik coached for a decade at Oregon, a national track and field power. His Ducks set school records and won Pac-12 and NCAA titles.

JaMichael Glass is no longer on the staff list. He worked with Ross in developing sprinters, hurdlers and relay units. He also assisted in strength and conditioning.

Glass worked with Ross in 2021-22 at North Carolina A&T.

Once upon a time, long, long ago, Chuck Rohe “invented” track on behalf of Tennessee. He swiftly produced strong teams. There was a dominant stretch of 21 consecutive Southeastern Conference titles across indoor and outdoor track and cross country.

His Tennessee squads sported an impressive 130-18-2 record back when schools had dual meets on campus that attracted crowds of fans.

Chuck developed some superstars. You may have heard of hurdler Richmond Flowers. Bill Skinner (javelin) and Willie Thomas (880) were NCAA champions. Of course, there were all-Americans –­ and Olympians. Doug Brown was great in the steeplechase.

Stan Huntsman was coach from 1971-85. He built bigger on what Rohe had started. His teams won 31 SEC championships (eight outdoor titles in eight years). Huntsman directed two NCAA title teams.

Stan was a coach at the 1976 Olympics. He was NCAA national coach of the year six times.

Doug Brown was Tennessee coach for 10 years. His Vols won an NCAA title. Bill Webb was coach for 14 years. His Vols won an NCAA outdoor title and somehow added an indoor crown even though Tennessee did not have (and still doesn’t have) an indoor facility.

The down drift started in 2009. Three years ago, Ross was paid up front to stop the trend.

“When researching the best track and field coaches in the world today, it doesn’t take long to find the name Duane Ross,” said Dr. Danny.

“Tennessee track and field has been all about greatness for most of its history – both men’s and women’s. Duane knows what that takes.”

In his first meeting with the UT team, Ross said, “This is not about trying to win a national title … this is about earning a national title every year. I mean complete dominance. I’m unforgiving. I don’t mind saying, ‘I want to be the best.’ That’s why we do this.”

In 2023, Tennessee men tied for 22nd place in the main event, NCAA outdoor track. In 2024, they shared 37th place. Last month, the men moved up to a tie for 14th. They scored 18 points.

UT women were a bit less brilliant. They failed to score. Sixty-eight women’s teams did. UT didn’t mention that.

Marvin West welcomes comments or questions from readers. His address is marvinwest75@gmail.com

Collegiate Olympic sports face roster and funding cuts or even elimination due to the NCAA’s $2.8 billion antitrust deal allowing colleges to pay student-athletes directly for the first time, athletes and coaches said.

Roughly 41 Olympic sports programs have been cut across NCAA Division I, affecting at least 1,000 student-athletes after the settlement was announced by the NCAA in May 2024, said Sam Seemes, CEO of the US Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

“More are likely to follow,” four coaches’ associations for Olympic sports wrote in a statement.

Under the $2.8 billion deal approved June 6 by a federal judge, schools in what had been the five most historically competitive NCAA conferences can share payments worth up to 22% of their average athletic revenue, which is projected to be roughly $20 million per school annually.

Over a 10-year period, the NCAA and the conferences will pay $2.75 billion in back damages to thousands of Division I athletes who played since 2016.

The deal is likely to leave schools facing deficits and hurt sports except basketball and football, said Vin Lananna, director of track and field and cross country at University of Virginia and former president of USA Track and Field. “It can’t be a good thing,” he said.

Washington State

Washington State University announced in mid-June that it was shifting its track and field program to a “distance-focused approach” and would no longer be supporting field events such as jumps and throws “effective immediately.”

The athletic department declined to comment.

As a result, Washington State student-athletes Brooke Lyons and Ashley Willems said they received a little over two hours advance notice of the 10-minute Zoom call where they learned of their program’s dissolution and had no chance to ask questions.

In order to continue their track and field careers, both said they had to enter the transfer portal “very fast” in order to find another school where they could compete.

All three of their assistant coaches were fired, they said, and most of the sprinting and jumping athletes have opted to leave the school after they were told they could choose to stay with “limited resources” available.

Washington State has produced several track and field Olympians and all-Americans; four of its former athletes competed at the Paris Olympics in 2024.

Yet, success isn’t enough to protect a program from elimination, Seemes said.

Men’s Volleyball

That was the case at Grand Canyon University, which announced it was eliminating its men’s volleyball team—which made the NCAA Final Four in 2024—in late April to focus “on supporting its remaining 20 athletic programs.”

Cole Ottmar and Jaxon Herr, who were among 21 players cut from the team, said they were notified of its elimination in a 10-minute conversation with their athletic director.

The meeting wasn’t disclosed as mandatory and their coaches weren’t allowed in the room, they said.

Ottmar said he couldn’t attend the meeting because he had a final exam at the same time, but he found out through social media.

GCU declined to comment besides its public announcement.

Smaller Rosters

Some schools, including Georgia Tech’s swimming and diving team, are cutting their rosters rather than eliminating their programs. Caroline Porterfield and Sabina Mrzyglod were among 19 swimmers and divers on the team cut in April.

Georgia Tech Associate Athletic Director Mike Flynn confirmed, in an email to Bloomberg Law, that roster positions have been reduced across their 17 sports as the athletic department prepares for revenue sharing.

Kevin Sullivan, director of track and field at University of Michigan, a member of the Big Ten, said he has also made some cuts as both the women and men’s teams were over the roster cap of 45.

“Recruiting classes are going to have to get smaller,” he said.

The changes professionalize athletes in a way that makes the NCAA “more and more of a business and less of a collegiate athletic system,” said Ryan Fowkes, a recent Virginia Tech graduate who ran cross country and track.

In the long run, the US may find it harder to win Olympic medals in such sports as swimming, track, and gymnastics, because removing these opportunities for Division I athletes “thins out the competition pool,” he said.

More than 1,200 current, former, and incoming NCAA athletes competed at the 2024 Paris Olympics, including roughly 400 track and field athletes and 220 swimmers.

The settlement will come with a lot of “unintended and unforeseen consequences,” said Russell Dinkins, executive director of the Tracksmith Foundation, a nonprofit focused on increasing opportunity for participation in track and field.

Collegiate football and basketball players who have been “exploited” for decades will get what they deserve, but the settlement will harm high school students who want to pursue athletics, Dinkins said.

Greater competition for roster spots means high schoolers will have to be more elite and developed so they can stand a chance against international athletes and those in the transfer portal, he said.

“College athletics are providers for further education,” Dinkins said.

Mrzyglod said she will forgo her last year of eligibility to receive her degree from Georgia Tech after being cut from the swim team as a rising senior.

Not realizing she’d finished her swimming career at the time was the worst part of this experience, she said.

“Look at all this money coming for basketball and football athletes!” Mrzyglod said. “But what about all the athletes whose careers just ended?”

Mumbai: In a significant leadership transition, Ishan Chatterjee has been appointed Chief Executive – Sports at JioStar, replacing Sanjog Gupta. The move signals a bold step forward in JioStar’s ambition to redefine digital sports experiences and drive scale across content, commerce, and fan engagement.

Ishan’s elevation follows a highly successful stint as Chief Business Officer – Sports Revenue, SMB & Creators, during which he led JioHotstar’s monetization strategy, including a standout performance during the 18th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). His leadership was instrumental in delivering record-breaking viewership and commercial outcomes for the platform.

Having joined JioCinema as Chief Revenue Officer in August 2024, Ishan quickly took on broader responsibilities across the JioStar ecosystem. In his new role, he will lead the full sports vertical across strategy, rights, programming, partnerships, monetization, and operations. He will continue to report to Kiran Mani and work on key transformation initiatives and stakeholder relationships.

Ishan brings over two decades of experience across digital media, consulting, and FMCG. He previously served as Managing Director of YouTube India, where he was a key force behind the platform’s growth in reach, revenue, and creator engagement. His 13-year career at Google saw him hold several senior leadership roles across EMEA and APAC, contributing to Google’s international expansion.

Earlier in his career, Ishan held positions at McKinsey & Company and Hindustan Unilever, grounding him in core business strategy and brand execution. A graduate of The Wharton School and St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, he combines academic rigor with operational excellence.

As CEO – Sports, Ishan will now shape the future of sports for JioStar—overseeing everything from rights acquisitions and live content innovation to monetization and fan ecosystem development. The appointment underscores JioStar’s commitment to building a digitally led, immersive sports experience for audiences across India and beyond.

The offseason is here, with all of Arizona’s sports done for 2024-25 season and the 2025-26 campaigns are still a little ways away.

This means only one thing, it is a great time to take stock on where some of the programs stand now. Over the next few weeks, we’ll take a look at each of the UA’s men’s and women’s athletic programs to see what shape they’re in and what prospects they have for the near future.

We’ll break down each team and evaluate how it is performing under its current coaching staff, looking at the state of the program before he/she arrived and comparing it to now while also looking at what year two in the Big 12 might look like.

To finish up our series we look men’s and women’s track and field program that Andrew Dubs just took over last month:

How it looked before

After leading the cross country and track and field programs for 23 years, former director Fred Harvey announced his retirement in May. Overall he was with Arizona for 38 years.

During his time, across both programs, Harvey coached 11 national champions, 14 olympians, and 160 athletes who earned indoor or outdoor all-american honors.

About three weeks following Harvey’s retirement, the athletic department announced that Dubs would be the new head coach for track & field and cross country.

Where things stand now

Dubs now takes over a program that has seen individual success throughout the years, but has never been able to sustain overall success as a program.

Coming with Dubs is 14 years of Division I coaching experience along with coaching the USA National Track and Field team for the past five years.

When it comes to results on the track, he has coached 79 NCAA qualifiers, 32 all-americans, and 18 conference champions.

From Arizona, Dubs inherits athletes like Erin Tack, McKenna Watson, Antonia Sanchez Nunez, and Tapenisa Havea leading the women’s team.

For the men, it will be Sam Hala’ufia and Yan Vazquez, along with a 4x100m relay team that was able to get to the NCAA championships.

How Big 12 life differs from the Pac-12

Arizona was not able to have success when it came to winning conference championships in the Pac-12, but the move to the Big 12 brought new life into the idea of winning conference championships.

Even though Reinaldo Rodrigues won’t be returning to Arizona, he set a benchmark for his fellow athletes. Rodrigues won the Big 12 championship in the long jump.

This is the first Big 12 championship for the track & field program, and the goal now is to follow up with more next season, this time with Dubs at the helm.

One big question

Can Dubs bring fresh life into the program and stack the “small” wins? Arizona won’t necessarily be starting from scratch with Dubs coming in.

The Wildcats have the athletes, the facilities, and new life in the Big 12. This is a window for the program to start fresh in a way.

If the Wildcats can start to create a history of winning in the Big 12, it can allow them to establish themselves as a top program in a power four conference.

Once Arizona establishes itself as a top program, then being able to compete on a national level will follow. It will all start from the small wins.

Perth, Australia – The USA Women’s National Team went down to the wire with Australia in Perth, falling 12-11 in a shootout in their final tuneup before World Championship play starts later this week in Singapore. Jenna Flynn, Emily Ausmus  and Ava Stryker led the USA offense with two goals apiece in regulation as the match was tied 8-8 after four quarters. Amanada Longan and Isabel Williams again split time in cage combining for 10 saves. Team USA opens play at the World Championships against China this Wednesday at 9:10pm pt with live streaming on Peacock (login required). For more information on Team USA at the World Championships, click here. 

Stats

USA 11 (2, 2, 2, 2) (3) J. Flynn 2, A. Stryker 2, E. Ausmus 2,  J. Roemer 1, M. Allen

AUS 12 (2, 2, 1, 3) (4)

Saves – USA – I. Williams 6, A. Longan 4

Santa Barbara beach volleyball standout Katie Spieler remembered coaching Erin Inskeep and Clara Stowell when they were young teens.

Spieler taught them well.

In the women’s final of the Santa Barbara Open, Spieler and cousin-partner Torrey Van Winden were denied a third title together by Inskeep and Stowell. The college stars went on a late 5-0 run to break open a one-point game and took the championship with a 28-22 victory in front of the famed Bath House on a windy Sunday.

For Stowell, it was her second straight Santa Barbara title. She won last year with Stanford teammate and San Marcos alum Taylor Wilson.

In the men’s final, the Huntington Beach duo of Kyle Baily and Cole Aidnik prevailed in an intense battle with Santa Barbara’s Dylan Foreman and Troy Fitzgerald, 28-25.

The California Beach Volleyball Association tournament was part of Santa Barbara’s Semana Nautica Sports Festival.

Women’s Final

Stowell’s big block helped her side break a 5-5 tie and spark a 6-1 run. But Spieler/Van Winden came roaring back. Van Winden ripped a kill on two and Spieler made some spectacular defensive plays that were converted into points. They tied the score at 14 and took a 15-14 lead.

“There was a little time there when we couldn’t put balls away because their defense was so good,” said Stowell. “So we just looked at each other and said we’re going to find space, giving each other good calls. We really trust each other.”

The teams went back and forth before Cal Poly’s Inskeep gave her side the lead for good (19-18) on a cut shot. The lead expanded to 22-19 before Stowell took over at the net. She scored three straight points on a kill off the block and two stuff blocks.

Inskeep was happy to have Stowell on the same side of the net. 

“I don’t want to play against her,” she’s scary,” said Inskeep. 

The Santa Barbara Open was Inskeep/Stowell’s first tournament together this summer. “With many more to come,” said Inskeep.

“We played two years ago the whole summer and last year played in a couple (of tournaments),” said Stowell. “But every year when you go back to college, we go our separate ways and play with our friends from our school.  But we’re always down to play together because we have a really good connection. We communicate similarly, we have very good chemistry and we’re best friends.”

Spieler, who coaches youth players at East Beach, is impressed by the high level of play from the college players.

“There is so much talent in the youth, especially in college,” she said “We definitely wanted to get the title, but it was fun to play good volleyball at the end and all day.”

Spieler said she coached Inskeep and Stowell when she was living in Manhattan Beach back in the early 2000s.

“To see them now competing at that level is incredible. It’s just so cool to me because I think one of the best parts of beach volleyball is the college game right now. I think that system has really taken off and so I’m stoked to see it’s producing really high-level players and it’s giving girls all these opportunities to play. Even though we’re getting beat by them, it’s great to see.”

Spieler and Torrey Van Winden, who also finished second last year, started the day in an all-Santa Barbara pool that included Torrey’s sister Adlee and her partner Anastasia Kunz, a San Marcos alum. The four practice together at East Beach.

“She’s six months pregnant,” said Torrey of her sister. “It was really fun. “We were joking that it was three against two because Adlee had a full-blown baby.”

In the semifinals, Spieler/Van Winden defeated Emma Zuffelato of Santa Barbara and Faith Bartlett while Inskeep/Stowell beat Santa Barbara’s Portia Sherman and Logan Tusher.

Men’s Final

A service ace by Aidnik opened up a 23-18 lead and Baily delivered some clutch down the stretch to hold off Foreman/Fitzgerald.

“They’re a good team that is very scrappy and has good ball control,” said Fitzgerald of their opponents from Huntington Beach. “I think their service pressure ultimately got the best of us. We didn’t have the service pressure like they did.”

Asked what has been the key to their success, Aidnik replied, “It’s really simple: the power of friendship. I trust him and he trusts me, and I think you get a lot of little points in volleyball when you trust each other and focus on yourself.”

Baily added: “We just do our jobs. I think I got served a little more today, so I was just trying to side out and put up a decent block. (Cole) is really good at running down shots, digging some balls and scoring some points.”

For Foreman and Fitzgerald, getting to the finals of their hometown open tournament was quite an accomplishment, considering they practiced just one day before the tournament.

“The first time I got to play with him this summer was yesterday, so we had very little preparation,” said Foreman, a Santa Barbara High alum. “Last year, we played in this tournament as well and made to the quarters, so big improvement.”

Said the lefty Fitzgerald, a Dos Pueblos alum: “It was pretty short notice considering I’ve been starting to play with the USA (A2) National Team, but Dylan gave me a heads up, ‘Hey, you want to play in the Santa Barbara Open?’ I couldn’t say no. It’s a great pick up and we’re both from SB, obviously, so that made it even sweeter.”

Despite losing in the final, Foreman called it a good day. “We just kept getting better as the day went. We had some bad play in our pool and got second but we struck together and figure it out. It was super windy today and that was definitely a challenge, but it was good. We played well together. They were was just a good team.”

In the semfinals, Foreman-Fitzgerald beat Ben Apstein/Andrew Brown and Baily/Aidnik outlasted Will Rottman/Luke Turner.