Michigan’s Elite RB Turns Heads by Making Major NIL Move originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

The college football transfer portal saw over 4,000 entries between the winter and spring portal windows, allowing a plethora of teams to make significant additions.

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Although there were plenty of talented players in the portal, one of the hottest commodities was Alabama transfer running back Justice Haynes. The former five-star recruit spent two seasons in Tuscaloosa before deciding to transfer, with 247Sports ranking him as the No. 1 running back in the portal.

He ended up transferring to the program that handed Alabama its final loss of the season in the Michigan Wolverines, and will look to become the program’s featured back as it hopes to return to title contention.

While fans are already excited about his play on the field as he rushed for 51 yards on six carries in the team’s spring game, according to On3, they are also just as enthused about his ventures off of it. As shared to X on Monday, Haynes inked an NIL deal with Loom Juice, which will see him have an ownership stake in.

“Go blue! Loom juice will be stocked shortly,” wrote one fan.

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“NIL! Go Blue,” exclaimed another.

“Remember when this was the vision for NIL instead of who has the biggest donor base,” suggested a third.

“Equity ownership stake. The ichigan difference,” commented a fourth.

“Actual NIL! Very refreshing to see,” said another.

“OWNERSHIP over ENDORSEMENT,” added another.

According to the company’s site, Loom Juice is a “juice water” with no added sugars. They were named one of the best new brands in 2024 by BevNet.

As for Haynes, On3 currently has his NIL Valuation at $684,000, with this being his first recorded NIL deal since transferring to Michigan. The Wolverines will open the 2025 season against the New Mexico Wolfpack on Aug. 30.

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Related: Rule of Legendary NFL Coach May Prevent Arch Manning From Entering 2026 NFL Draft

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 2, 2025, where it first appeared.

{KXLG – Watertown, SD} The Watertown Shamrocks have been recognized as the North American Hockey League’s (NAHL) 2024-25 Organization of the Year, the league announced. This prestigious award highlights the Shamrocks’ exceptional achievements both on and off the ice during their inaugural season in the NAHL.

Shamrocks’ President Ryan Bisgard expressed his gratitude, stating, “We are so honored to accept the league award of Organization of the Year. Thanks to the dedication of the players, coaching staff, front office, game day staff, and most importantly, the community of Watertown, the Shamrocks have been able to build a long-lasting foundation for years to come. I am immensely proud of what our organization has been able to achieve in such a short amount of time and can’t wait to see what is in store for Watertown, on and off the ice.”

In their debut season, the Shamrocks demonstrated remarkable success in engaging the Watertown community. They sold out 20 of their 29 regular-season home games and reached full capacity five times, fueled by what the organization calls “the best fans in the NAHL.” The team also secured significant financial backing through partnerships with 65 local businesses, ensuring high standards for players and staff.

Vince Foley, Chairman of the Shamrocks, commended the team’s personnel, saying, “We appreciate the recognition offered by the league to our staff. Our front office, broadcast team, athletic training, and coaches worked tirelessly and brought imagination and energy to creating a Shamrocks team that Watertown can be proud to call its own. We also appreciate the support and mentorship of the other Central Division teams’ staff as our team worked through our build-out.”

Beyond their performance at the arena, the Shamrocks made a significant impact through community service. Players dedicated an impressive 972 hours volunteering for various local organizations, including Joy Ranch, Watertown Youth Hockey, Watertown Lions Club, Watertown’s Girls Rule, Watertown’s People Against Child Hunger, the Salvation Army, local elementary schools, and The Village of Harmony Hills assisted living facility. This commitment was further underscored by forward Owen Chartier recently receiving the NAHL’s Community Service Award.

The Shamrocks also actively engaged in philanthropic efforts, raising $49,864 through auctions of game-worn jerseys and first-goal pucks. Their Teddy Bear Toss Night saw fans donate 612 stuffed animals to the Salvation Army. Head Coach and General Manager Casey Kirley has emphasized the importance of character and community involvement among his players, a quality that has resonated with the Watertown community.

On the ice, the Shamrocks overcame a slow start to finish strong, going 14-11-0-4 in the latter half of the season and securing a 6th-place finish in the Central Division. The team has also successfully facilitated over 12 players’ achieving collegiate hockey commitments.

Looking ahead to the 2025-26 season, the Shamrocks are already experiencing tremendous support. Season tickets are currently sold out, and a waiting list exceeds 200 tickets, indicating strong anticipation for their second year in the league.

The marathon legal battle regarding player compensation and the makeup of college athletics in a landmark, multibillion-dollar antitrust case took another turn Monday night.

A federal judge granted attorneys involved in the $2.8 billion settlement an extension to to file “summary judgement and Daubert briefing.” With both sides still waiting for a final judgement and the original deadline coming on June 6, the new June 27 date provides proper time for a potential appeal. It also pushes the timeline for a potential resolution even closer to the expected start of revenue sharing payments to athletes on July 1. 

Both sides came to a compromise on tweaking the aspect of roster limits in the settlement on May 7, which they hope will convince a federal judge to grant final approval. The judge twice voiced concerns over proposed roster limits, a small but significant aspect of the deal that will enable schools to pay athletes a portion of their media revenues, capped at $20.5 million.

Under the compromise, schools would be allowed — but not required — to reinstate players who were cut from rosters during the 2024-25 academic year without those players counting against new roster limits set to be implemented July 1. Purged players exempt from roster limits can also transfer to new schools.

The key language in the brief, however, is that roster-limit exceptions are to be made at a school’s discretion. It remains to be seen if the brief will satisfy Judge Claudia Wilken of the Northern District of California, who specifically asked attorneys to “grandfather” all players into the deal, after twice delaying a decision on whether to approve the settlement in April.

“In other words, there are no guarantees that designated student-athletes will get or maintain roster spots,” the NCAA and power conference’s counsel wrote in a supplemental brief Wednesday. “But that does not adversely affect any injunctive relief class member.”

High school seniors who were promised scholarships that were later rescinded because of the proposed roster limits will also be exempt.

Now, college athletics waits – again – for a decision from federal court. Wilken gave preliminary approval in October, speaking in favor of most aspects of the deal. However, she has twice delayed final approval because of language tied to roster limits, which could lead to an estimated 5,000 players being cut from sports across the NCAA. 

Several objectors testified April 7 against replacing scholarship limits with roster limits at a settlement hearing in the District Court of Northern California. In a brief filed April 23, Wilken ordered attorneys to develop a plan to “grandfather” current players into the agreement, allowing schools to temporarily exceed new limits as part of a phase-in solution for rosters. A two-week negotiation ensued.

If Wilken is not satisfied with the parties’ resolution and declines final approval, the case may advance to trial, a daunting prospect for the NCAA, which has been bludgeoned legally over student-athlete compensation and lambasted by the Supreme Court over the last five years. If the NCAA and power conferences lose in trial, the parties could be liable for $20 billion in damages.

If the settlement is not approved, schools may soon turn to their state governments to help legalize direct pay to players, who have planned to be paid a share of the $20.5 million pool next fall.

Wilken’s request on April 23 to renegotiate aspects of roster limits sent shockwaves across the country, complicating matters for many schools that had already begun cutting players from rosters. Under the preliminary settlement released in October, football rosters were set to shrink to 105 players, meaning as many as 30-plus players would be cut at each school. Even before the judge’s final approval, schools began to cut players in the spring in preparation for the settlement’s implementation on July 1.

Putting the toothpaste back in the tube could prove difficult for athletic departments. Some purged players landed at new schools, but many remain without a home, hoping to land again at their former schools. Most schools might be unwilling to re-sign players and spend extra scholarship money – as well as room and board, meals and health care – that balloon already-tight budgets.

In a brief filed April 23, Wilken was unmoved by the schools’ plight, writing that “any disruption that may occur is a problem of Defendants’ and NCAA members schools’ own making.”

The settlement’s touchstones remain uncchanged. Starting July 1, NCAA schools can share as much as $20.5 million in revenue with their athletes, and former athletes who played between 2016 and 2024 will be paid $2.8 billion in back payments if the settlement is approved.

Each school’s revenue-sharing cap will increase 4% each year during the 10-year agreement. 

What is House v. NCAA?

The class-action antitrust lawsuit was filed in 2020 by Arizona State swimmer Grant House and women’s college basketball player Sedona Prince seeking an injunction against the NCAA and the Power Five conferences. It sought to lift restrictions on revenue sharing of media rights revenues. 

Powerful antitrust attorneys Steve Berman and Jeffrey Kessler represented the plaintiffs.

If approved by the judge, the settlement would resolve three antitrust lawsuits: Carter v. NCAA, House v. NCAA and Hubbard v. NCAA.

What’s next?

A decision: Judge Claudia WIlken will study the brief and decide whether to grant final approval to the House v. NCAA settlement, which was first introduced in October and has included months of negotiations.

Revenue-sharing formula: Many schools are preparing to mirror the back-payment formula in their revenue-sharing model for the future. That means roughly 75% of future revenue will be shared with football players, 15% to men’s basketball, 5% to women’s basketball and 5% to all remaining sports. Those numbers will differ from school to school, but most power programs have shared similar models with administrators.

CBS Sports has learned one school is preparing to share more than 85% of the $20.5 million pool with football players – a reflection of the percentage of annual revenue the sport generates for its athletics department. 

More lawsuits: Concerns over Title IX and antitrust issues will continue after the settlement is approved. However, instead of the NCAA being the target, individual schools may soon become the focus of litigation. Each school will split the revenue pie based on its own formulas, meaning a women’s basketball player may sue a school if they believe they are not receiving their fair share of cash. The same can be said for a football player if their revenue share is lower than that of a rival player at another school. 

The White House is set to weigh in: The NCAA has long lobbied Congress to pass legislation protecting the organization and its members from antitrust litigation. Now the White House has zeroed in on college athletics.

President Donald Trump is creating a presidential commission on college athletics to find solutions for “issues ailing the ecosystem,” according to Yahoo! Sports. Trump was considering an executive order to regulate NIL after meeting with former Alabama coach Nick Saban, according to the Wall Street Journal. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, the former Auburn coach, also met with Trump last week to discuss college athletics. Steve Berman, a lead attorney for the plaintiffs in the House case, criticized the president’s potential actions, saying that an executive order would lead to more lawsuits.

Sen. Ted Cruz is reportedly drafting a bill that could offer the NCAA limited antitrust protection. It’s not clear how Trump’s plans may affect Cruz’s draft.

New enforcement model: The power conferences are expected to launch soon the College Sports Commission, an enforcement arm to police the settlement among its schools. The new organization effectively replaces the NCAA regarding NIL enforcement, and will monitor NIL deals between players and third parties, and oversee revenue-sharing practices at schools. This new organization will also penalize schools and individuals who break rules. 

Who is footing the bill? The NCAA is responsible for 40% of the $2.8 billion settlement, and the remaining 60% will come from reducing its revenue distributions to the 32 Division I conferences over the next 10 years ($1.6 billion). The NCAA is utilizing a formula based on revenue distribution presented to each league over a nine-year period starting in 2016, which leans heavily on basketball units tied to NCAA Tournament participation, according to Yahoo Sports. The Power Five conferences – ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC – will pay 24% of the overall damages, followed by the Group of Five at 10%.The FCS is on the hook for 14% and non-football conferences in Division I will pay 12% of the overall agreement, according to documents reviewed by CBS Sports.

House v. NCAA settlement terms

• $20.5 million salary cap for revenue-sharing at each Division I school (starting July 1)
• $2.77 billion in back payments to as many as 390,000 athletes who played an NCAA sport between 2016 and 2024.
• Outside NIL deals of more than $600 must be vetted by a third-party clearinghouse
• NIL deals must meet “fair market value.” How that fair-market value is determined is the subject of intense debate.
• Unlimited scholarships with new roster size limits
• At least 88,104 of approximately 390,000 athletes have filed back-pay claims, plaintiff attorney Steve Berman said in April. That number was expected to reach 118,879 at the end of April.
• 343 athletes opted out of the settlement

Bill McGovern ’85, an All-American defensive back for the Holy Cross football team and a member of the Varsity Club Hall of Fame, returns to the 2026 ballot for the College Football Hall of Fame, as announced this week by the National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame.

McGovern was a four-year starter for the Crusaders at free safety during the early 1980s. He helped lead the team to an overall record of 31-13-1 during his four years, with Holy Cross claiming the Lambert Cup and making its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs in 1983. McGovern earned first team All-America honors as a senior, in addition to being named All-New England once and All-ECAC twice. 

As a senior captain in 1984, he set a school single-season record and led the nation with 11 interceptions. McGovern would finish his career with 24 total interceptions, which was tied for the most in Division I-AA history at the time, in addition to totaling 225 tackles and 25 pass breakups.

Following his playing career, the late McGovern went on to enjoy a nearly 40-year coaching career, most recently serving as UCLA’s defensive coordinator prior to his passing in May 2023. Prior to his time at UCLA, McGovern spent time at the professional level with the Chicago Bears, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants. He additionally served as a defensive coordinator with Boston College and the University of Massachusetts. His coaching career began at Penn before McGovern joined the Holy Cross staff in 1986, working with the Crusaders from 1986-87 and again from 1991-92. 

McGovern was inducted into the Varsity Club Hall of Fame in 1996 and into the Holy Cross Football Ring of Honor alongside his brother, Rob, in 2018.

The announcement of the 2026 NFF College Football Hall of Fame Class will be made in early 2026. 

FOLLOW THE CRUSADERS 

Be sure to follow the Holy Cross football team — and all things Crusader Athletics — on social media!

X – @HCrossFB | @goholycross

Instagram – @hcrossfb | @goholycross

Facebook – Holy Cross Football | Holy Cross Athletics

YouTube – GoHolyCross

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Garrett Milan is the starting forward and points leader for the Rock Lobsters, Athens’ first-year FPHL hockey team that has taken the city by storm. As a Canadian native with nearly 18 years of professional hockey experience, Milan starred in all 56 games this season and tallied six game-winning goals for the Rock Lobsters on the way to being named league MVP.

With their season recently wrapping up after exiting the Commissioner’s Cup Playoffs, Milan reflected on his unforgettable first season in Athens. 

Q: With the Rock Lobsters’ inaugural season in Athens, what were your expectations for the team and the success of the organization entering the season?

A: Obviously, it’s tough with a new team. You never know exactly how it’s going to go. But looking at the roster when I signed, and talking to coach Steve Martinson, it’s pretty blatant that we knew that it was going to be a good team right off the hop. And I think that’s why a lot of us older guys or new guys came in to play here, is that we knew that it was going to be a good team. Did we know we were going to have such a good start? Maybe not as good, but I knew that we were going to be right where we are right now, for sure.

Q: What was your mindset entering this season following your back injury last year playing for Pensacola?

A: It was tough. Last year was a little frustrating year for myself, just pain wise, injury-wise, it wasn’t the best season that way. And then the offseason, I did a lot of rehab after surgery, so I wasn’t too sure if I was going to be able to play or not this year. But come September, I started feeling a little better and got on the ice, and when Steve called me, it was kind of a no-brainer for what he was pitching and what Athens brought: a brand-new organization. And this year has been tremendous. Obviously, it’s a lot better to play hockey when you’re not hurting.

Q: How has the success of this new Athens team and fanbase fueled you and the squad to such an impressive first season?

A: It’s been huge. You never know going to a new organization what the fan base is going to be like. Obviously, with the Georgia Bulldogs, they have a good following already, and we tried to get some people from there, and I think we have. And then we also dipped into that student pool, which the students have been tremendous. Coming to games, they’re nice and loud, and that gets the guys going in the locker room. I’ve been around for a while and seen a lot of fans, a lot of fan support, but I think for the young guys, it’s been tremendous that they actually see what playing professional hockey is. We’re pretty lucky here in this league, for sure.

Q: At 34 years old, what are your plans or goals for the rest of your hockey career?

A: That’s a good question. I’m kind of taking it year by year now. Obviously, last year I kind of thought was my last year. This year’s kind of sparked a new energy in myself, just, you know, playing injury free this year. So we’ll see. 

Q: How has Coach Martinson’s experience helped develop this team in only its first year of existence?

A: It’s huge. Obviously, he’s got a lot of knowledge, a lot of experience. He knows a lot about the game, so it’s kind of like doing nuances and practice, or if it’s in video, or if it’s kind of bringing in one of the younger guys aside, and showing them little tricks here and there. I think it’s tremendous working with a coach like that, that you can approach and talk to. You know, he knows that the games change as well, so he takes information. If myself or Carter (Shinkaruk) want to talk about certain things, he takes that in and actually wants to use that as well. So that’s good, coming as a player. But yeah, he’s been tremendous with us, and I think the young guys have definitely helped with that, for sure. 

Q: As the team’s points leader, how have you elevated your game this season and at this point in your career?

A: I think coming in, I knew that they were going to rely on me offensively that way. That’s kind of my game. It comes with a little bit of, you know, people want to see you score. People want to see good points. So there’s that added pressure, but I think that’s good pressure. Obviously, you want that pressure, and you want the success from the team first and foremost. But I think that to help with that, I do my job as well.

Q: As a Canadian player, how have you seen hockey expand and grow in popularity in the Southeast, especially with the unprecedented success of a team in Athens?

A: It’s been huge. Obviously, I played in the South in Florida, and I saw that kind of grow. From the first year, two years, we had about 3,000 average, and then it went to, you know, 5,500 average. And then coming here, it’s been tremendous. Right from the start, I think everyone was excited. I think they did a great job of marketing the team to the community, but also to the whole South. Down here, it kind of seems like we’ve got people coming from two hours away to see our games. The support and the livelihood and the rink and the fan support has been tremendous. I think in the South, hockey’s not big, but once you go to a game and you actually get them in the seats, they love it. The fighting, the body checking, the loud atmosphere, it’s tremendous. And I think everyone keeps coming back. So, it’s been good.

Q: How has your career in hockey inspired you to share your passion with youth players as a trainer?

A: It’s cool. I’m from a small town ski resort that doesn’t breed a lot of hockey players, I’d say. But you see the passion in the kids, and you want to make it fun, but you obviously want to make them, you know, get something out of it, get better at the game. But it’s cool to give back when you can, and see that spark in the kids’ eyes, or the smile that they love doing it. So I think it’s been good to kind of share your knowledge and express that with the kids. 

Caden Klein is a student in the undergraduate certificate program in the Carmical Sports Media Institute at the University of Georgia.

Oklahoma City’s Mark Daigneault has the best record of any NBA coach this season. And he has the second-best record of any coach in his house.

Daigneault is a coach — and a coach’s husband too. His wife is Oklahoma assistant women’s gymnastics coach Ashley Kerr. She and the Sooners went 33-2 this season and won another national championship, their third in four years.

So as Daigneault chases his first NBA title — he and the top-seeded Thunder open the NBA Finals at home against the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night — his wife has been part of seven national championships over her career on the staffs at Florida and Oklahoma, the most recent of those coming just a few weeks ago as the Thunder were starting this playoff run.

Daigneault isn’t shy about touting the strengths of his wife’s resume, either.

“Among my wife and I, she is — by far — the more accomplished, more impressive, better coach,” Daigneault said. “She’s the real deal.”

It’s a relationship born from ties to Florida. Daigneault — a Massachusetts native — was a student manager under Jim Calhoun at Connecticut, part of the team that won an NCAA championship there in 2004, then started his assistant coaching career at Holy Cross for three years before moving on to Billy Donovan’s staff at Florida.

Kerr, a Florida native, was a gymnast whose four years as a student-athlete for the Gators was ending around that time. She was brilliant, a four-time All-SEC academic selection, and Florida found a way to keep her with the program once her eligibility was exhausted. Kerr became a volunteer student manager for the 2011 season, then got promoted to team manager and eventually assistant to the head coach.

Along the way, she and Daigneault started dating and over time things got serious. And then the relationship reached a key moment. Daigneault had an offer from the Thunder to coach the Oklahoma City Blue, their G League franchise. He was ready to leave.

Kerr had a job in Gainesville. She was not ready to leave.

“The OKC job was a no-brainer for him,” Kerr told The Oklahoman newspaper for a story in 2021. “I was like, ‘You have to do it. You have to.’”

It became a long-distance relationship for a few years, until Kerr decided it was time to leave Florida and try to embark on a coaching career in Oklahoma. The Sooners didn’t have a job for her initially, before a volunteer position opened up right around the time she was going to make the move anyway.

Kerr kept that volunteer job — coaching balance beam and helping Oklahoma win three NCAA titles — for about six years before the NCAA changed rules to allow volunteer assistant positions to be converted into full-time, paid positions.

Over that time, Daigneault was promoted from the Blue to the Thunder, they got married and started a family.

“She has a way of connecting with our student-athletes on a personal level and is an exceptional leader,” Oklahoma coach K.J. Kindler said when Kerr was finally promoted.

Daigneault likes to say the real coaches in his house right now are the couple’s two children, ages 3 and 2, who basically run the show.

“We are not in charge,” Daigneault said. “We are just surviving.”

The younger of the two kids was born April 15, 2023 — a day after the Thunder were eliminated from that season’s play-in tournament and the day the Sooners were competing in the NCAA gymnastics final in Fort Worth, Texas. It was also more than a week before Kerr’s due date.

She went into labor in Fort Worth at about 5 a.m. Daigneault had been back in Oklahoma City for about an hour after the middle-of-the-night flight home from Minnesota, where the Thunder lost that play-in game. He hopped in the car and made it to Fort Worth just in time for the birth that morning, and later that night the Sooners won a national title.

“Our team really rallied around her,” Kindler said.

There are obvious benefits to a coach being married to another coach, as Daigneault and Kerr have found. There is an understanding of the jobs, an understanding of long hours and late nights and travel and unpredictability. But when they’re home, they try to be home, not still at work.

“There’s certainly a lot more things that define our relationship together, starting with our kids now,” Daigneault said. “That’s occupying the majority of our bandwidth, but even beyond that, we’ve always tried to compartmentalize it in a way that’s pretty healthy because we both like to be home when we’re home and not just using the house as an extension of our jobs.”

Daigneault got his master’s degree from Florida, though he originally intended to get it immediately after graduating from Connecticut. If he had stuck to that schedule, though, he almost certainly wouldn’t have coached at Holy Cross. He might not have made it to Florida. He might not have met Kerr. He might not be married to someone with seven national championships. He might not have come to Oklahoma City. He might have missed out on these NBA Finals.

Right place, right time.

“If you replayed my life 10 million times — I used to say a million, but now that we’re playing in the NBA Finals, I’ll say 10 million — this would only happen once,” Daigneault said. “And so there’s never a minute that I’m not grateful.”

Originally Published: June 2, 2025 at 11:54 AM CDT