South Carolina, Coach Dawn Staley Use NIL To Support Practice Squad Members
“The Highlighters are an essential part of the South Carolina women’s basketball team,” added Darren Brown, Head of Marketing for OOFOS. “They learn plays, help scout and practice with the team but are never seen on the court. OOFOS recovery footwear exists between workouts and games, often going unseen.” While the Highlighters are an important […]
“The Highlighters are an essential part of the South Carolina women’s basketball team,” added Darren Brown, Head of Marketing for OOFOS. “They learn plays, help scout and practice with the team but are never seen on the court. OOFOS recovery footwear exists between workouts and games, often going unseen.” While the Highlighters are an important part of South Carolina’s preparation, practice squads usually do not travel with the team. Staley and OOFOS changed that.Decked out in neon t-shirts and footwear, the Highlighters were easy to spot throughout the weekend and during the game behind Duke’s bench.”The highlight was stepping onto the court postgame and having all the girls run to us to celebrate,” White continued. “That moment showed how much our presence meant. The biggest impact was the energy we created from our section: being loud, engaged, and making sure the team felt our support every step of the way.”“OOFOS made this experience possible with the first-ever practice player NIL deal by covering our entire trip,” White added. “They went above and beyond by providing shoes and gear, ensuring we were comfortable and able to support the team at our best while setting a new standard for how practice players can be involved.”The Highlighters received VIP treatment throughout the weekend, including a luxury bus for the squad to travel from South Carolina to Birmingham for the Sweet 16 and Elite 8, where the No. 1 seed Gamecocks defeated No. 2 Duke to advance to the Final Four. As part of the partnership update, OOFOS provided an all-expense paid trip for the Highlighters to support the Gamecocks and share in the NCAA Tournament experience for the Elite 8. The Gamecocks look to earn their forth NCAA Tournament title and next face fellow-No. 1 seed Texas in the Final Four matchup on April 4. The winner will match up against the winner of UCLA/UConn in the National Championship on April 6.
The team will be featured on the brand’s digital and social marketing channels — much like during the NCAA Tournament — and had the chance to gift the full women’s team with their own custom slides featuring their “uncommon” mantra for this season.As part of the unique NIL deal announced in February, OOFOS provided a full recovery toolkit, including custom Highlighter and additional OOFOS footwear throughout the year. “Bringing visibility to the importance of what the Highlighters do behind the scenes aligns with our efforts in helping athletes become their best through game-changing recovery,” Brown continued. “The fact that it is also a feel-good moment for the entire organization – team included – only furthers our corporate mission to make ‘yOO’ feel better through products, services, and experiences. And that is what this is all about.”
Staley – who is one of the top brand ambassadors for active recovery footwear leader OOFOS – helped support her practice squad players with a historic NIL partnership of their own. She connected the dots between OOFOS and the Highlighters for a first-of-its-kind partnership in February, and they’ve leveled it up for the NCAA Tournament.The South Carolina women’s basketball team and legendary coach Dawn Staley have reached the Final Four for a fifth straight year and as the Gamecocks continue to dominate on the hardwood, they also innovate in the NIL space off the court.“Being there in person made all the difference. We weren’t just supporting from afar. We were at practice, helping scout, and bringing energy during the game,” said Highlighter player Benjamin White.
Mike Bobo overpowered Oregon’s NIL offer 5-Star Jared Curtis
2026 Five Star QB Jared Curtis announced that he will attend UGA over Oregon on Monday, closing a long running recruitment that saw him originally commit to UGA, then de-commit, and ultimately once against choose Athens, GA. Brandon Adams of DawgNation joins The Midday Show and told Andy and Randy that UGA Offensive Coordinator Mike […]
2026 Five Star QB Jared Curtis announced that he will attend UGA over Oregon on Monday, closing a long running recruitment that saw him originally commit to UGA, then de-commit, and ultimately once against choose Athens, GA. Brandon Adams of DawgNation joins The Midday Show and told Andy and Randy that UGA Offensive Coordinator Mike Bobo may have made the difference.
“He reminds you of Matthew Stafford a little bit, maybe slightly more athletic. This is a legitimate five star, the fact that Georgia and Oregon had gone in so hard indicates that,” said Brandon Adams. “Oregon is known to be a big-spending program, if Georgia didn’t have a big offer they wouldn’t be in the final list, but I believe the relationship with Mike Bobo helped win the day for Georgia.”
Jared Curtis is listed as the #1 QB prospect in the Class of 2026 and #5 overall according to ESPN’s 300 and he is the 2nd highest ranked QB prospect in UGA history, behind only Justin Fields. The 6-3, 225 pound HS Senior singlehandedly took UGA’s 2026 recruiting class from 25th to 17th nationally according to 247Sports.
Haley and Hanna Cavinder Are Ready to Build a Business Empire After College, NIL
When Todd Graves, the owner and founder of Raising Cane’s, was opening a new restaurant in Miami in January of 2023, he knew exactly who he wanted to help promote the venture: the Cavinder twins. Haley and Hanna, then guards on the Miami basketball team, were pioneers in the burgeoning NIL market with millions of […]
When Todd Graves, the owner and founder of Raising Cane’s, was opening a new restaurant in Miami in January of 2023, he knew exactly who he wanted to help promote the venture: the Cavinder twins. Haley and Hanna, then guards on the Miami basketball team, were pioneers in the burgeoning NIL market with millions of followers. Since then, they’ve completed their eligibility, done plenty more NIL work and launched their own app, TWOgether, a fitness and nutrition program they hope will especially appeal to young girls.
Recently, the twins sat down with Graves—a high school QB turned multibillionaire—to discuss their business philosophies and plans for the future as part of a video series called The Playbook, which was created by Entrepreneur and Sports Illustrated.
Graves:I learned so much from sports that I carried over into being a business leader. How did y’all carry over being college athletes into your social posting and then in the businesses you started?
Hanna: Haley and I are very consistent, routine-like people. College athletics teaches you that and sets the standard for that. So it was very seamless when we got into the NIL space and then in starting our TWOgether app—all those traits just kind of carried over.
I think that starts with college athletics: the discipline and the routine and the commitment to it, that you’re going to give your 100% to something.
Graves, a former high school QB turned multibillionaire, shared his business insights with the Cavinder twins. / Jeffery A. Salter/Sports Illustrated
Haley: So being an athlete and then going into business—do you think you were really routine-based? Do you have a daily routine or does it change?
Graves: I really don’t have a routine. My schedule is crazy. Two days ago I was with Luke Bryan at the Raising Cane’s restaurants in Nashville, raising money for charity. Doing that means a lot to me … but I’m gonna be up till 2 a.m. doing emails, right?
Hanna: Where did that drive come from?
Graves: So I don’t think entrepreneurs are created. I think entrepreneurs are born, like it’s an art. It’s in our DNA. I was the kid in the neighborhood that had the lemonade stand when I was old enough. So I was always interested in business and creating that economy. But what I like more about it is bringing people in to do that with me.
So you guys have a great personal brand. What is your secret sauce with creating these communities, where people who like to follow you then like to buy the products because they trust you?
Hanna (above) and Haley started their college basketball careers at Fresno State but transferred to Miami ahead of the 2022-23 season. / Jim Dedmon/IMAGN
Haley: With social media, there’s a lot of negative and there’s a lot of positive thinking. And I have learned that [you need] a community with positivity on social media apps. That’s what really helped us when we started our health and fitness side of things, really having a purpose in helping young girls who need help, whether it’s with nutrition or if it’s working out.
Graves: When NIL came around, how did you get that fire to do it—and do it right?
Haley: We understood that we could brand ourselves and make a career out of this and try to build a business with the same fire that we had [in basketball]. It was the same juice that keeps flowing—how we continue to want more and more and more.
Hanna: And female athletes, they don’t always get the same opportunity to go professional. When NIL did pass, at first it just started off as something fun when COVID was going on, us working on something that we enjoyed that took up time. We were bored in the house, didn’t know what to do and then when NIL passed, we started understanding that you can get all this revenue from different sources of income from social media.
The Cavinders now have their own fitness and nutrition app, TWOgether. / Jeffery A. Salter/Sports Illustrated
Graves:What’s the next plan?
Hanna: Just constantly having more ideas. I don’t want to ever box us in.
Graves:You’ve got a 40-year plan. What is that?
Haley: Growing up, our dad embedded into us at a very young age that it’s not a four-year plan. It’s a 40-year plan. Save your money and invest it. And that’s always stayed with Hanna and me. We never touched our money with any NIL deal. The 40-year plan is what we always tell ourselves. So, yeah, that’s what it is. So talk to us when we’re 40.
Graves:It’s a marathon. Look, if you love what you do, you’ll do it till the day you die. I think [too] often in business, people value money and wealth more than purpose. People ask me, What’s your endgame? Yeah, there’s an endgame. I’m going to grow old and die with this business, and the kids are going to take it on and keep those values going. And then hopefully their kids, and we’ll just keep those values going forever.
ICE detains Honduran national in Virginia after local court drops charges
(TNND) — Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have detained Hyrum Baquedano-Rodriguez, a Honduran national, in Fairfax County, Virginia, after local authorities dropped several charges against him, including child abduction and home invasion. In a statement, ICE officials detailed that Baquedano-Rodriguez’s charges include “abduction of a person with intent to defile and burglary, entering a […]
(TNND) — Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have detained Hyrum Baquedano-Rodriguez, a Honduran national, in Fairfax County, Virginia, after local authorities dropped several charges against him, including child abduction and home invasion.
In a statement, ICE officials detailed that Baquedano-Rodriguez’s charges include “abduction of a person with intent to defile and burglary, entering a house to murder, rape, etc.”
Russell Hott, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Washington, D.C., Field Office Director, said, “Though the court saw fit to drop his most recent charges, Hyrum Baquedano-Rodriguez has been convicted of numerous crimes in Virginia and represents a calamitous hazard to our Virginia residents.”
“Every one of his convictions represents another one of our neighbors that Baquedano-Rodriguez has victimized. ICE Washington D.C. will continue to prioritize public safety by arresting and removing criminal alien offenders from our Washington, D.C. and Virginia communities,” Hott added.
This is not the 26-year-old’s first encounter with law enforcement. Fairfax County police arrested Baquedano-Rodriguez in November 2021 and charged him with three counts of indecent liberties, including exposing genitals to a child.
Michael Lombardi Says 4-5 UNC Players Have Backed Out of NIL Contracts
North Carolina‘s football program has undergone a massive roster overhaul in the last five months. A total of 51 players left UNC to enter the college football transfer portal this offseason, the most transfer departures of any ACC team and the most for the Tar Heels in the portal era. General manager Michael Lombardi told […]
North Carolina‘s football program has undergone a massive roster overhaul in the last five months. A total of 51 players left UNC to enter the college football transfer portal this offseason, the most transfer departures of any ACC team and the most for the Tar Heels in the portal era. General manager Michael Lombardi told ACC Network’s Mark Packer on Monday that multiple players have backed out of signed NIL deals since he and Bill Belichick arrived on campus in December, citing the “loosely written” language of the contracts as a contributing factor.
“The most disappointing thing about the college game that I’ve experienced is that the players don’t view the contracts as binding,” Lombardi said. “I come from a league where the contracts are binding. We’ve had four or five players we signed in in December, before we got here, that have left already without any hesitation. They’re free to do that because the contracts are loosely written based on NIL. We, as a league, the NCAA, and all these conferences have to make players honor a contract when they put their John Hancock on it. Just like I have to honor my contract. That’s part of life. That’s the only disappointing thing.”
Two of UNC’s biggest transfer portal departures came in recent weeks as last season’s sack leader Beau Atkinson and top returning linebacker Amare Campbell entered the transfer portal. Atkinson landed at Ohio State, while Campbell visited SMU and Penn State ahead of his decision.
Lombardi and Belichick have assembled an impressive transfer portal class. The Tar Heels’ 34-man portal class ranks No. 9 in the nation and No. 3 in the ACC behind Miami (No. 3) and Florida State (No. 6). Only three Power Four schools have larger commitment lists than UNC: West Virginia (51), Purdue (50) and Oklahoma State (38). There’s been a noticeable emphasis on size with UNC’s portal additions. Ten of the Tar Heels’ transfers are 6-foot-5 or taller and nine are 300+ pounds.
“I’ve got to make this team look like a Southeast Conference team,” Lombardi said. “We need a roster conducive to building a big, fast, physical football team. A roster that can play in any kind of weather, has mental and physical toughness and can control the middle of the field. You cannot be a great executive in football without studying the past history of football. Why did Clemson win a national championship? Why was Florida State good in the ACC? What made Miami good? It’s because they’ve been so damn good along the offensive and defensive lines. They’re physical, and they’re big up front. They have 6-foot-5 defensive linemen, not 6-foot-1. The first thing I noticed on this roster is that we have to get bigger, more physical and stronger. We’ve added an (NFL) weight program. We’ve added 450 pounds of muscle and lost 125 pounds of fat within the team that we have since January. We’re making progress.”
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RUSTON – Louisiana Tech softball is set for the Conference USA tournament after ending the regular season at 30-23 (15-12 CUSA). The Bulldogs enter this week’s tournament as the No. 4 seed and will open with New Mexico State on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. for their first-round matchup. […]
RUSTON – Louisiana Tech softball is set for the Conference USA tournament after ending the regular season at 30-23 (15-12 CUSA). The Bulldogs enter this week’s tournament as the No. 4 seed and will open with New Mexico State on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. for their first-round matchup.
The six-team tournament is a double elimination event, with the top two seeds earning first-round byes. Liberty is the No. 1 seed, followed by WKU (No. 2), Jax State (No. 3), LA Tech (No. 4), New Mexico State (No. 5) and SHSU (No. 6).
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION Date: May 7-10 Time: Wednesday – 2:30 p.m. vs. No. 5 New Mexico State Location: WKU Softball Complex (Bowling Green, Ky.) Watch: ESPN+ CUSA Tournament History: 11-12
CUSA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
This will be LA Tech’s 10th appearance in the CUSA Tournament. The Bulldogs have made every tournament since joining the league except for 2014. LA Tech is 11-12 in CUSA tournament games after going 1-2 in last year’s CUSA tournament. LA Tech has won two CUSA Tournament Championships (2017, 2019). The Bulldogs went 4-1 in the 2017 tournament and defeated FIU 1-0 in the Championship game. The 2019 tournament saw the Bulldogs go 3-0 with a 3-1 win over Marshall in the Championship game.
ABOUT LA TECH
LA Tech concluded its regular 53-game season at 30-23 (15-12 CUSA). The Bulldogs went 1-2 this past weekend in Huntsville, winning the middle game of the series 5-4 in eight innings.
The win marked number 30 for the Bulldogs, giving head coach Josh Taylor 30+ wins in each of his first four seasons at the helm. It also marked the 27th time in program history that the Bulldogs have finished with 30+ wins.
The Bulldogs had three players finish with 50+ hits in the regular season, and five players with a .300 average or better. Alexis Gilio leads the team with 55 hits, followed by Elena Heng (54), and Nicole Hammoude (53). Claire Raley (49) and Reagan Marchant (47) were the only other two Bulldogs to finish with 45+ hits. Hammoude’s .353 batting average leads the team, followed by Marchant (.322), and Gilio (.318).
Three LA Tech player’s drove in 30+ runs, with two driving in 45+. Marchant leads the team with 49 RBI, followed by Hammoude (42), and Raley (33). The Bulldogs launched 36 home runs this season, with 17 of them coming off the bat of Marchant. Hammoude finished second with eight long balls, followed by Raley who hit six. Marchant hit her 17th home run this past weekend against SHSU to tie the program’s single season home record. The redshirt sophomore just needs one more to set a new mark.
Allie Floyd finished the season 21-13 after earning a win and taking a loss against SHSU. The right-hander led CUSA in wins (21), complete games (17), innings pitched (195.1), and strikeouts (177). She recorded three shutouts and was the only pitcher in the league to record more than 145 strikeouts. She became the program’s all-time single season record holder with 13 CUSA wins this season, while she became the 18th Bulldog to record 20+ wins in a single season.
Laney Johnson finished with a 5-4 record in the circle during the regular season. The true freshman was second on the team in wins, innings pitched (69.1) and finished tied for second with 21 strikeouts.
Alyssa Martin and Mattison Buster both earned two wins this season. Martin had a career day in the season finale against SHSU as she carried a perfect game into the bottom of the seventh inning. The former walk-on registered a career-high 6.0 innings, while allowing one run and one hit.
ABOUT NEW MEXICO STATE
The Aggies enter this week’s tournament as the No. 5 seed after recording a 27-25 (14-13 CUSA) mark.
New Mexico State had two players finish with 50+ hits in Kristiana Watson (60) and Desirae Spearman (53). Watson led the team with 47 RBI, followed by Spearman with 44. Spearman led the team with 19 home runs while Watson blasted 15.
The Aggies are batting .299 as a team with 67 total home runs this season. Opponents are batting .297 against the NMSU pitching staff, which carries a 4.46 team ERA.
In the circle, Faith Aragon led the team with 12 wins, followed by Spearman with 11. Aragon tossed a team-high 122.1 innings, followed by Spearman’s 108.0. Spearman led the staff with 112 strikeouts while Aragon fanned 83.
The Bulldogs went 1-2 against the Aggies when they made a visit to Ruston during the regular season (Mar. 7-9). NMSU won the opener 5-0, while defeating the Bulldogs 3-1 on Saturday. LA Tech defeated NMSU 10-4 in the series finale. Floyd earned the win in the circle after allowing four runs on 11 hits with seven strikeouts. Heng collected three hits, while Raley had two base knocks in the win. Addison Snyder drove in three runs followed by Hammoude with two.
SUPPORT LA TECH ATHLETICS
Championships require championship resources. Fans can make a direct impact on the success of LA Tech Athletics through LTAC, Aillet Society, T-Club, and Young Alumni program as well as the Bulldog Community Outreach which is the NIL collective that supports Bulldog and Lady Techster student-athletes. Visit BuildTheLegacy.com today.
BARK LOUDER
Our mission is to engage, develop, and advance the Louisiana Tech Athletics brand. You can do that by spending time consuming our content and by investing your talents. By barking louder with your time and talent, you can affect progress and brand advancement in a meaningful way. Visit LATechSports.com/BarkLouder today. You bark. We bark. Louder together.
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Attorney predicts NCAA settlement will resolve judge’s concerns
Steve Berman is optimistic that the NCAA settlement will address roster limits and resolve Judge Wilken’s concerns by Wednesday’s deadline. WASHINGTON D.C., DC — An attorney in the $2.8 billion legal case reshaping college sports said Monday he thinks “the agreement we will reach with the NCAA will solve the judge’s concerns” over roster limits […]
Steve Berman is optimistic that the NCAA settlement will address roster limits and resolve Judge Wilken’s concerns by Wednesday’s deadline.
WASHINGTON D.C., DC — An attorney in the $2.8 billion legal case reshaping college sports said Monday he thinks “the agreement we will reach with the NCAA will solve the judge’s concerns” over roster limits that have delayed final approval.
Steve Berman, co-lead counsel for the defendants, told The Associated Press that all is on track to file paperwork by Wednesday, which is U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken’s deadline for addressing concerns that prevented her from granting approval to the deal last month.
Berman said he created a chart listing the several dozen athletes who lodged objections to the agreement based on roster limits. He said he thinks almost every one will be offered a solution.
“We’re still negotiating, and I’m confident that everyone who lost a roster spot will have a chance to get a spot back,” he said.
He did not go into detail about whether those spots would be on their previous teams or new ones.
NCAA vice president of external affairs Tim Buckley said the NCAA would not comment on the litigation while negotiations are ongoing.
Wilken looked favorably on other key components of the settlement — namely, the up to $20.5 million some schools can pay their athletes for name, image likeness (NIL) deals and the nearly $2.8 billion in back pay that will go to players who said the NCAA and five biggest conferences wrongly kept them from earning NIL money.
But she asked lawyers to rework the part of the deal that will replace scholarship limits with roster limits. It’s a proposal that could make more overall scholarship money available but could cost thousands of athletes their spots on rosters in moves that began shortly after Wilken gave preliminary approval to the deal last fall.
The NCAA’s first response to Wilken’s request — which included the idea of “grandfathering in” current players to their roster spots — was to change nothing, arguing that undoing roster moves already in play would create more turmoil in an already chaotic process.
Wilken wasn’t moved, saying in her April 24 order that “any disruption that may occur is a problem of Defendants’ and NCAA members schools’ own making.”
Berman acknowledged that the objectors likely wouldn’t approve of the new deal being worked on.
“But I don’t think it’s going to be a big deal,” he said, because it is designed to find roster spots for virtually all the individual athletes who objected.
Attorney: Saban should stay on the sideline
Berman also criticized Nick Saban after reports emerged that the retired Alabama football coach was urging President Donald Trump to undo damage he says has been caused by all the money flowing into college sports.
The Wall Street Journal reported Trump is considering an executive order that would call for some sort of structure behind NIL compensation now going toward players who are now able to move more freely between schools.
Berman said he believes an executive order would be subject to lawsuits “like there are against so many of his other orders.”
“But here, the question is, ‘Why does the president need to get involved?’” Berman said, while outlining the financial gains players have made in the NIL era. “Just because Nick Saban thinks he knows better and resents change? This is a coach who made more money off college football than any other coach, did absolutely nothing to make it right for these student-athletes. Why should he drive the president’s thinking?”
Saban, who made more than $11 million in his last year at Alabama and who some have said should become the commissioner of college football — a position that doesn’t exist — has said he isn’t completely against players making money.
But he has argued for rules and laws to keep things from looking like the “pay for play” model that the NCAA hopes to avoid but that is often what NIL payments look like.
