College Sports
Power 4 stakeholders lobby for NIL legislation on Capitol Hill
Open Extended Reactions WASHINGTON — A who’s who of leaders from the Big Ten, SEC, Big 12 and ACC gathered on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to meet with state representatives and lobby for federal NIL guidelines — a strong showing of unity from the NCAA’s largest and wealthiest conferences just days after a federal court […]


WASHINGTON — A who’s who of leaders from the Big Ten, SEC, Big 12 and ACC gathered on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to meet with state representatives and lobby for federal NIL guidelines — a strong showing of unity from the NCAA’s largest and wealthiest conferences just days after a federal court hearing inched college athletics closer to a landmark settlement.
University presidents and chancellors, athletic directors and a few coaches and players concluded the day with a cocktail reception at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium, where SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, ACC commissioner Jim Phillips, Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark and Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti participated in a brief panel recapping the day.
“We’re kind of in a seminal moment,” Phillips said. “We’re trying to find something that has sustainability to it. It’s a modernization of college sports. I think for all of us, we are passionate about access and affordability to higher education … at the heart of this thing is opportunities for young men and women. Times have changed, and whether we like all the things that have occurred, or we don’t, we find ourselves in a position where we are major stewards of the future of college sports.”
Auburn men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl, fresh off a Final Four appearance, attended the event, along with Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian.
“We’ve been here repeatedly,” Sankey said of the commissioners. “The reality is the timing of the House settlement, the new Congress and when we planned really months ago to be here, there was a nexus of issues. We know there’s conversations taking place. We’ve educated, I think, effectively members of the House and Senate, and we need to keep pushing and to do that with our universities is much healthier than simply doing that as commissioners and doing so in a coordinated way across the four conferences.”
On Monday, there was a federal court hearing in Oakland, California, regarding the highly publicized House settlement in which the NCAA has agreed to pay roughly $2.8 billion in damages to past and current athletes.
Wednesday’s meeting also came on the heels of March Madness and a week from the opening of the spring transfer portal window.
“Everyone knows there’s a sense of urgency,” Yormark said. “Time is not on our side, so we have to move quickly and swiftly.
“The settlement is one thing, but it needs to be codified on the Hill.”
College Sports
Schwartz ’26, Rogan ’28 earn all-NESCAC women’s track and field honors
Story Links 2025 Women’s Track & Field All-NESCAC Performers Hamilton College’s Dana Schwartz ’26 (Cape Elizabeth, Maine/Cape Elizabeth HS) and Keira Rogan ’28 (Saratoga Springs, N.Y./Schuylerville Central School) earned 2025 New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Women’s Track & Field All-Conference honors […]

Hamilton College’s Dana Schwartz ’26 (Cape Elizabeth, Maine/Cape Elizabeth HS) and Keira Rogan ’28 (Saratoga Springs, N.Y./Schuylerville Central School) earned 2025 New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Women’s Track & Field All-Conference honors on Wednesday, April 30 when the conference released its end-of-season award winners.
Schwartz and Rogan are all-NESCAC for the first time. The top three finishers in each individual and relay event at the 2025 NESCAC Championships at Wesleyan University’s Andersen Track on April 26 were all-NESCAC performers.
Schwartz finished in second place in the javelin throw with a distance of 39.78 meters (130 feet, 6 inches). Her performance broke her own team record for the fifth time this season.
Rogan was runner-up in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10:28.60 and took third place in the 5,000-meter run in 16:48.61. Rogan’s time in the 5,000 eclipsed a team record held by Maggie Hanson ’02 since 2000 and was ranked 22nd in Division III.
College Sports
Donald Trump considering executive order on paying college athletes after speaking with Nick Saban: Reports
President Donald J. Trump is considering issuing an executive order aimed at how college athletes can be compensated after he met with Nick Saban during a trip to Tuscaloosa, Ala., earlier this week, according to multiple reports. The Wall Street Journal first reported news of Trump’s executive order consideration. Trump and Saban, Alabama’s former football […]

President Donald J. Trump is considering issuing an executive order aimed at how college athletes can be compensated after he met with Nick Saban during a trip to Tuscaloosa, Ala., earlier this week, according to multiple reports.
The Wall Street Journal first reported news of Trump’s executive order consideration.
Trump and Saban, Alabama’s former football coach, met Thursday night after the president gave the commencement address at the university. Saban told Trump the professionalization of big-time college sports — with some athletes now being paid hundreds of thousands, even millions, of dollars — has hurt the enterprise and created an uneven playing field, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, the former Auburn coach, also said he talked with Trump about name, image and likeness compensation for college athletes Thursday.
Had a great conversation with President Trump last night about the importance of establishing national standards for NIL.
College football is the heart and soul of America — but it’s in danger if we don’t level the playing field. pic.twitter.com/GlUycduFxY
— Coach Tommy Tuberville (@SenTuberville) May 2, 2025
The White House did not immediately respond to The Athletic’s request for comment.
The Wall Street Journal, citing anonymous White House officials, said the president instructed aides to begin studying what could be in an executive order. What that might entail and whether it would provide stability for college sports is unclear.
“The challenge with any ruling or order is that there are multiple levels that would need to be addressed. This is not just an antitrust issue; it’s also a labor and employment issue. It’s also a Title IX issue. There’s also contract issues, right of publicity issues. There’s a lot in there,” said Gabe Feldman, a sports law professor at Tulane.
Trump has already signed an executive order banning transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports, which prompted the NCAA to change its policies. The Trump administration has also directed the Department of Education to investigate schools, such as Penn, that have allowed transgender athletes to compete in women’s sports for Title IX violations.
“We have seen the president be aggressive in many different areas, including transgender athlete participation, so I don’t think it would be a shock if he tried to intervene here,” Feldman said.
A congressional aide told The Athletic that an executive order might not stabilize the college sports system, which requires legal certainty and a limited safe harbor from litigation. Legal protections and the pre-empting of state NIL laws can only be addressed through congressional legislation.
“We’ve got all these different states making rules about what they can and can’t do,” Saban said last September at a panel in Dallas alongside NCAA president Charlie Baker. “The federal government should do something to create something where each state doesn’t have a different law for what you can do.”
Rep. Michael Baumgartner, a freshman Republican from Washington who recently introduced a bill to disband the NCAA and reshape conferences by geography, told The Athletic last month that he hopes Trump will get involved in the college sports issue. The NCAA was formed out of action by Teddy Roosevelt’s White House.
“I think it’s going to take presidential involvement to get something done,” Baumgartner said. “I think there is an opportunity with President Trump. He obviously is a sports fan. It’s going to take some leadership there because it’s just in so many different committees, and so it’ll be a challenge to (pass something) unless there’s presidential involvement.”
College sports are on the cusp of a landmark change as the NCAA and major conferences await final approval of the settlement of three antitrust lawsuits that threatened to bankrupt the association and leagues.
If U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken approves the terms of the deal, which includes $2.8 billion in damages to former and some current college athletes, schools that opt into the agreement will be permitted to share up to $20.5 million in revenue with their athletes.
The NCAA and conferences have until Wednesday to respond to Wilken’s latest order, demanding some changes to the deal. A final ruling will likely come within a few weeks, and most in college sports are still confident she will sign off.
Even with the settlement agreement, the NCAA and conferences have acknowledged the need for a federal law to bolster a new system.
College sports have been in tumultuous reform for several years since the NCAA lifted its rules banning athletes from making money from sponsorship and endorsement deals in 2021. The NCAA has been virtually helpless in defending itself from antitrust lawsuits since a unanimous Supreme Court ruling against the association in 2021 in a case about athlete compensation.
Baker, conference commissioners, athletic directors, coaches and even some athletes have been lobbying lawmakers in Washington to pass a federal law to help regulate college sports since even before the NCAA changed its NIL rules. In recent years, though, the conversation has shifted from paying athletes to antitrust protections, athlete employment and pre-empting state laws, which create a patchwork of rules for college sports.
“I think the biggest thing they’re looking for is the antitrust exemption because then that allows the NCAA to put in rules that allow them to have things like a salary cap and the restrictions on third-party NIL compensation without getting sued for antitrust violations,” said sports law attorney Mit Winter. “And transfer rules as well because that’s become a big thing now, too. Every week there’s a new lawsuit related to eligibility rules, and that’s an antitrust issue as well.”
Only a bill passed by Congress could address those issues. Numerous bills and drafts have been introduced, announced or floated by members of both houses of Congress, and there have been a dozen public hearings since 2020, when state lawmakers began forcing the NCAA’s hand by passing myriad laws that allowed college athletes in their states to be compensated. The four Power 4 commissioners again visited Washington last month to lobby for support.
None of the bills has gone anywhere yet.
“The NCAA is making positive changes for student-athletes and confronting many challenges facing college sports by mandating health and wellness benefits and guaranteeing scholarships, but there are some threats to college sports that federal legislation can effectively address, and the Association is advocating with student-athletes and their schools for a bipartisan solution,” said Tim Buckley, NCAA vice president of external affairs.
Saban, who coached Alabama to six national championships before retiring last year, has often said he supports college athletes benefiting financially from the revenue their sports generate.
“But the system and the way we’re doing it right now, there’s very little name, image and likeness in college athletics,” Saban told the panel in Dallas last year. “It’s just pay for play.”
(Photo of Donald Trump and Nick Saban at Alabama’s graduation: Gary Cosby Jr. / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
College Sports
2025 All-ACC Academic Gymnastics Team Announced
Story Links CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com) – NC State’s Chloe Negrete was named the Atlantic Coast Conference 2025 Gymnastics Scholar-Athlete of the Year and headlines the sport’s All-ACC Academic Team, the league announced on Friday. Negrete was named the ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year for Gymnastics for the second consecutive season. The graduate […]

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com) – NC State’s Chloe Negrete was named the Atlantic Coast Conference 2025 Gymnastics Scholar-Athlete of the Year and headlines the sport’s All-ACC Academic Team, the league announced on Friday.
Negrete was named the ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year for Gymnastics for the second consecutive season. The graduate student out of Frisco, Texas, graduated in May of 2023 with a bachelor of science in sports management with a minor in psychology. She is set to complete her graduate degree in parks, rec, tourism and sport management with graduate certificates in sport and entertainment venue management and leadership and volunteer management in May of 2025.
Negrete closed out her collegiate career with 24 podium finishes and 13 individual titles in the 2025 season, recording 13 scores of a 9.900 or higher. This year, Negrete was named the ACC Gymnast of the week once and the ACC Specialist of the week four times to help claim the 2025 Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association (WCGA) Southeast Gymnast of the Year title and a spot on the WCGA All-American Second Team for beam. She was also named an American Athletic, Inc. (AAI) Award nominee for the second year in a row, which is awarded to the most outstanding gymnast in the nation for their dedication, leadership and excellence in the sport.
Thirteen student-athletes who earned All-ACC honors this season also secured spots on the academic team, highlighted by ACC Gymnast of the Year Mya Lauzon (California), Specialist of the Year Lali Dekanoidze (North Carolina) and Newcomer of the Year JoJo Valahovic (North Carolina).
All six ACC gymnastics programs were represented on the All-ACC Academic Team with Clemson, North Carolina and Stanford leading the conference with 12 student-athletes each, followed by NC State and Pitt with 11, and California with seven.
The ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards were established in September of 2007 to be awarded annually to the top junior or senior student-athlete in their respective sports. Candidates for the awards must have maintained a 3.0-grade point average for their careers, as well as a 3.0 for each of the last two semesters.
Academic requirements for selection to the All-ACC Academic Team are a 3.0-grade point average for the previous semester and a 3.0 cumulative average during one’s academic career. In addition, student-athletes must compete in at least 50 percent of their team’s contests.
The full list of the 2025 Gymnastics All-ACC Academic Team can be found below:
School | Name | Class | Major |
California | Annalise Newman-Achee | So. | Integrative Biology |
California | Casey Brown | Jr. | Environmental Engineering Science |
California | CJ Keuneke | Fr. | Undeclared |
California | eMjae Frazier | Jr. | Psychology |
California | Kyen Mayhew | So. | Integrative Biology |
California | Maddie Williams | Sr. | Nutrition & Metabolic Biology |
California | Mya Lauzon | Sr. | Nutrition & Metabolic Biology |
Clemson | Brie Clark | Sr. | Communication |
Clemson | Danika Nielsen | Fr. | Pre-Business |
Clemson | Eve Jackson | Gr. | Marketing (G) / Communication (UG) |
Clemson | Hannah Clark | Fr. | Health Science |
Clemson | Kielyn McCright | Sr. | Health Science |
Clemson | Lauren Rutherford | Sr. | Accounting |
Clemson | Lilly Lippeatt | Jr. | Mechanical Engineering |
Clemson | Madison Minner | Sr. | Biological Sciences |
Clemson | Molly Arnold | Sr. | Human Capital & Development |
Clemson | Quinn Kuhl | So. | Communication |
Clemson | Rebecca Wells | Gr. | Athletic Leadership |
Clemson | Tara Walsh | Gr. | Athletic Leadership |
NC State | Ava Myers | Fr. | Criminology |
NC State | Caroline Volk | Fr. | Nutrition |
NC State | Chloe Negrete | Gr. | Parks, Rec, Tourism & Sport Management |
NC State | Elle Hadrick | So. | Biomedical Engineering |
NC State | Kailee Adomaites | Jr. | Agricultural Business |
NC State | Katie Harper | So. | Psychology |
NC State | Krista Zultevicz | Gr. | Youth Development and Leadership |
NC State | Lauren Wright | So. | Communication |
NC State | Madeline Hall | So. | Elementary Education |
NC State | Meg Adler | Jr. | Psychology |
NC State | Peyton Childs | Sr. | Biological Sciences |
North Carolina | Claire Stippich | Jr. | Economics |
North Carolina | Elly King | So. | Psychology |
North Carolina | Gwendolyn Fink | Jr. | Management and Society |
North Carolina | Isabella Miller | Sr. | Business |
North Carolina | Isabelle Schaefer | Sr. | Psychology |
North Carolina | Jessica Naranjo | So. | Exercise and Sport Science |
North Carolina | Jordan Valahovic | Fr. | Undecided |
North Carolina | Julia Knower | Sr. | Media and Journalism |
North Carolina | Kaya Forbes | Jr. | Psychology |
North Carolina | Lali Dekanoidze | Sr. | Exercise and Sport Science |
North Carolina | Neve King | Jr. | Communications |
North Carolina | Taylor Schulze | Sr. | Media and Journalism |
Pitt | Camryn Chiu | Fr. | Undeclared |
Pitt | Darbi Simcox | Fr. | Undeclared |
Pitt | Elizabeth Cesarone | Gr. | Management |
Pitt | Emily Todd | So. | Psychology |
Pitt | Jah’Liyah Bedminster | Sr. | Biological Sciences |
Pitt | Jaime Pratt | Jr. | Communication: Rhet & Comm |
Pitt | Jordyn Ewing | Sr. | Social Work |
Pitt | Kennedy Duke | So. | Accounting |
Pitt | Lila Pileggi | Fr. | Undeclared |
Pitt | Meika Lee | Fr. | Public Health |
Pitt | Olivia Giunta | Fr. | Undeclared |
Stanford | Alana Walker | Fr. | Undeclared |
Stanford | Anapaula Gutierrez | Sr. | Design |
Stanford | Anna Roberts | Jr. | Economics |
Stanford | Ashley Carter | Jr. | Human Biology |
Stanford | Ava Sorrento | Jr. | Management Science and Engineering |
Stanford | Brenna Neault | Sr. | Human Biology |
Stanford | Claire Dean | Jr. | International Relations (BA) / Biology (Masters) |
Stanford | Kendra Chang | Fr. | Undeclared |
Stanford | Sienna Robinson | So. | Undeclared |
Stanford | Taralyn Nguyen | Jr. | Computer Science/Symbolic Systems |
Stanford | Temple Landry | So. | Undeclared |
Stanford | Ui Soma | Fr. | Undeclared |
College Sports
Softball Schedule Update – Union College Athletics
Story Links SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – Due to more wet weather set to hit the Capital Region on Saturday, the Union College softball team has moved up the time of Saturday’s Senior Day doubleheader against the University of Rochester. The first pitch of game one is set to be thrown at 10:00 a.m., followed […]

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – Due to more wet weather set to hit the Capital Region on Saturday, the Union College softball team has moved up the time of Saturday’s Senior Day doubleheader against the University of Rochester. The first pitch of game one is set to be thrown at 10:00 a.m., followed by game two at approximately 12:00 p.m.
For the most up-to-date information on all schedule changes, check UnionAthletics.com and follow Union Athletics on X, Facebook and Instagram.
Last updated 5/2/25, 10:00 am
College Sports
Kansas State University
By: D. Scott Fritchen The man in purple sits behind an L-shaped polished wood desk flush against the cream wall in his office at Colbert Hills Golf Course. To his left on the other side of the office is a steady, seemingly endless row of golf clubs. On one wall hangs five academic degrees or […]

The man in purple sits behind an L-shaped polished wood desk flush against the cream wall in his office at Colbert Hills Golf Course. To his left on the other side of the office is a steady, seemingly endless row of golf clubs. On one wall hangs five academic degrees or golf instruction certificates in pretty frames. But it’s the bright yellow commemorate golf flag encased in glass that first catches the eye. The flag is from the Augusta National Women’s Amateur and bears a black, cursive, handwritten inscription: “Stew, thank you for making this week possible!! Carla Bernat Escuder.”
It’s been 26 days since the 21-year-old Kansas State senior captured the most prestigious women’s amateur title in the world on perhaps the world’s most famous golf course while becoming the first golfer to record three rounds in the 60s in ANWA history. Bernat carded a 4-under 68 during the final round at Augusta National Golf Club, becoming the first woman from Spain to win the event.
It’s been 14 days since another K-State senior, Sophie Bert, of Belgium, fired a final-round 5-under par 66, rising 13 spots up the leaderboard to capture the Wildcats’ first-ever individual conference championship title at the 2025 Big 12 Championship at Houston Oaks Golf Club in Hockley, Texas. Bert’s 54-hole score of 2-under par 211 made her the only player to finish under par and her final-round total of 66 was the best ever by a K-State player in a conference championship.

It’s been a dizzying past month for the 39-year-old man in purple, second-year K-State head coach Stew Burke, who occupies his office seven hours after arriving in Manhattan at 2:40 a.m., navigating the severe thunderstorms that shook the team van as it crept along the Flint Hills hours after several Wildcats competed in the U.S. Women’s Open qualifier at St. Clair Country Club in Bellville, Illinois.
“Torrential rain heading back to Manhattan,” Burke says. “Today, I’m going to eat lunch with my mom and dad. They flew in from Scotland and have been here the last month. After lunch, I’m going to pick up my 4-year-old so she can go to the airport with grandma and grandpa and wave them off.
“The last month? Pretty amazing. It’s the way it’s supposed to be. It’s what I want K-State to be. Currently, it is.”
At 5:50 a.m. Saturday, the K-State women’s golf team embarks upon a new journey.
K-State will fly from Manhattan Regional Airport to Lexington, Kentucky. Following one the best regular seasons in program history, K-State earned a postseason bid for the first time since 2017 as the Wildcats were selected as the No. 5 seed in the 2025 NCAA Lexington Regional. It’s the latest high-water mark for a fast-rising women’s golf program — one determined to bust through the door reserved for blue bloods and take a seat at the table.
“Jim Colbert told me the story about Bill Snyder when he was hired and how he told Coach Snyder that it couldn’t be done,” Burke says. “When Jim Colbert called me during the interview process, I said, ‘It can be done. I promise you, it can be done!'”

Burke, the 2022 American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year at Tulane and former K-State assistant coach, was named the Wildcats’ head coach on June 30, 2023, after four seasons leading the Green Wave. In addition to spending parts of three seasons as an assistant coach at K-State, he also served as associate head coach for parts of three seasons at USC.
Last season, Burke and assistant coach Rinko Mitsunaga guided K-State to a school-record 290.25 scoring average (it topped the previous team scoring average by over six shots per round), one tournament victory (its first tournament victory away from Manhattan since 2017) and three other top-five finishes, and a third-place finish at the 2024 Big 12 Championship (its highest finish in a conference championship in school history).
Last season, K-State was also the first team left out of the 2024 NCAA Regionals.
This season, K-State re-established itself with a school-record 287.66 scoring average (nearly three shots better than in 2024) and has a school record-tying two victories and six top-three finishes. This season has also featured five of the top seven team rounds in school history.
A dose of national respect arrived on the GOLF Channel shortly after K-State’s regional selection on April 23. Front and center during the afternoon selection show special, the man in purple planted a Powercat flag on TVs across America.
“At Kansas State, we’re a hard-working, blue-collar team, and we’re a team everybody can root for,” Burke said on the GOLF Channel. “Maybe we’re not one of the premier blue chippers in women’s college golf, but we’re going to do our best with grit and effort and compete right to the end.”

The NCAA Women’s Golf Regionals features six sites and 12 teams at each site. The top five teams from each regional site will advance to compete in the NCAA Championship on May 16-21 at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California.
The top six overall seeds are all entrenched in the cool club among women’s golf programs: Stanford, South Carolina, Florida State, Arkansas, Oregon and Texas. The other teams among the top 18 seeds include Virginia, Ole Miss, LSU, Ohio State, Arizona State, Auburn, USC, TCU, Wake Forest, Arizona, Northwestern and North Carolina.
The Lexington Regional looks this way: 1) Florida State, 2) USC, 3) TCU, 4) Vanderbilt and 5) K-State.
“You’ve got to be a disruptor,” Burke says. “I’m sure there are people who don’t want us there. They’re like, ‘Damn.’ Well, we’re pushing our way in. We have to take a little bit of swagger into it. They’re not going to be scared of anybody. The Augusta National Women’s Amateur — our player won it. The conference championship — our player won it.
“There’s no reason to be scared of anybody.”

Burke is passionate, thoughtful and well educated by virtue of the three college degrees framed upon his office wall. He played collegiately at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri, and graduated with a degree in sports management in 2007. Then he earned a master’s degree in educational, school and counseling psychology with an emphasis in positive coaching from Missouri in 2019. Then he earned another master’s degree in sports studies at Tulane in 2021.
His competitive fire ignites without warning.
“I kind of had an idea in my head about our first season at K-State and it was very rankings based,” he says. “I like numbers. Personally, I wanted to break every single record here. I wanted to break all the records as quickly as possible. That was a huge motivator. I knew the scores. There was a process to making sure we did the little things right while we talked about big, lofty goals, and the girls bought in. They could see themselves there. That’s always a part of it.
“You have to help others to see themselves going where they want to go.”

It didn’t take long for Burke to decide where he wanted to go. He was born and raised in the tiny village Bridge of Weir in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. While the village’s traditional industries are cotton milling and leather tanning, Burke’s father was a precision engineer who manufactured springs for everything from fighter jets to cash registers, and his mother was a schoolteacher.
“Dad introduced me to golf when I was 4 as a way to tire me out,” Burke says. “He’d take me and hit balls in a field. It’s a very working-class sport in Scotland. Everybody plays — absolutely everybody. My junior golf course membership between age 10 and 15 was $50. Everybody I grew up with played golf. It’s like baseball in America. We’d go to the club for dinner, have a couple beers, and play a quick five or six holes.”
Burke tells of his high school physical education teacher who never turned professional but who made nine birdies in a row on a women’s European Tour event to set a Guiness World Record. The P.E. teacher’s brother-in-law went to college on a golf scholarship. That piqued the interest of Burke, who calls his decision to play college golf in the United States “a no-brainer.”
“Then you figure out in year two that you’re maybe not good enough to play at the next level,” he says. “That’s when the interest in teaching and coaching sparked for me.”
As for all his degrees?
“I kind of get a little bit bored,” he says, chuckling.

As for the toughest challenge breaking into coaching?
“The visa process and getting a coach to take a risk,” he says. “I got really lucky. I had helped some golfers who came to the states have a lot of success and started to make a name for myself. K-State head coach Kristi Knight asked me to be her assistant. I was going to a friend’s wedding in St. Louis. The timing was perfect. All the stars were aligned. I loved the opportunity to help something grow. We started that spring and got running.”
While at K-State as an assistant, Burke helped raise the Wildcats’ Golfstat ranking from No. 105 into the top 40 as they tallied three team victories and four individual crowns. K-State also posted its top two scoring average marks in school history at the time with Burke on staff in 2014-15 (297.30) and 2015-16 (297.31).

Burke left K-State in the spring of 2017 to serve as the assistant coach and later the associate head coach at USC, where he helped guide the Trojans to consecutive appearances in the NCAA Championship semifinals (2017 and 2018) and in the quarterfinals (2019). In 2018-19, USC was the No. 1-ranked team by both Golfstat and Golfweek and captured the 2019 Pac-12 Championship. He coached players that combined for 10 All-America accolades.
“Southern Cal is a tough place to be,” Burke says. “If you don’t win, it’s a failure. We won a conference championship and there were no rings. You only got a ring for nationals. That’s since changed. But that environment — everybody is all over the place. You didn’t get to meet very many other coaches every often. You were in a coaching suite and people went to their office and worked and left because they had an hour commute. But you got special things there, too. You were around world-class athletes and great coaches within the area, so you got to learn and pick their brain. You can really make out of it what you want. You can become a great coach, or you can be lazy.”
And Burke is not lazy.
When Knight retired, Burke immediately called K-State. He went through a formal interview process and waited.
“There was an awful 10-day wait because I was the first interview,” he said. “I knew I was the person for the job with how passionate I was about this place. It was my job. I loved the place. Everyone assumed I was getting the job. It was a great job. You’re mentally there, but you’re going to be devastated if you don’t get it.”
Burke was immediately impressed with K-State athletic director Gene Taylor.
“I knew I had to be well prepared, and he was going to ask the right questions,” Burke says. “I’d interviewed with other Power 4 schools, and those people didn’t know about golf, development, and goals for the program. Gene knew exactly what he was looking for in taking the program forward. It was great to talk with somebody who was speaking your language.”

Burke made meeting with the team his top priority. He was in Spain recruiting at the time and introduced himself to the Wildcats on Zoom. Then he flew to Dallas, Texas, to watch three Wildcats compete in a U.S. Open qualifier. He called the golfers and got to know them. He also phoned Mitsunaga, his assistant coach at Tulane. She was in. Eventually, Carla Bernat, who adores Rinko like a sister, entered the transfer portal and joined Burke and Mitsunaga in Manhattan.
“Carla sent me an e-mail: ‘Would you consider me for your roster?’ It was very professional,” Burke says. “I had to give her a hard time.”

Burke and Mitsunaga traveled to five different countries to assemble this 2024-25 K-State team. Bernat hails from Castellon, Spain, as does sophomore Julia Ballester Barrio; senior transfer Sophie Bert is from Deurle, Belgium; junior Noa van Beek is from Oene, Netherlands; sophomore Alenka Navarro is from Mexico City, Mexico; freshman Nanami Nakashima is from Kani, Japan; and freshman Natalia Fiel Ros is from Valencia, Spain.
“We had to reestablish the brand, which is what Kristi and I had done the first time around,” Burke says. “Kristi sent me to Europe my first year, and I stayed six weeks. I went to a tournament, flew back, and took a flight somewhere else. People would see me.
“They’d say, ‘Oh, it’s the man in purple.'”
It still happens to Burke, where he’ll be driving in a major city somewhere in the United States, wearing the Powercat, and he’ll pause and say to himself, “I get to do this! I don’t believe it!” Or he’ll be walking a golf course in a different country, his competitive juices on fire, much like they were when he got Nakashima over California, Clemson, Baylor and UCLA.

K-State women’s golf has its foot firmly in the door. The Wildcats are crashing the party. Burke offered a warning of sorts soon after appearing on the GOLF Channel.
“Blue-chip programs get so much coverage,” Burke says. “There are other programs that can beat these top schools. We want to make sure we’re getting our seat at the table.”
It’s been quite a journey from growing up hitting golf balls into a field in Scotland. And it’s been quite a year for the Wildcats.
The best still could be to come.
“I don’t want to say this is the best team we’ve ever had,” Burke says. “On paper, yeah… but if we don’t get to nationals, I’ll be disappointed.”
There will be a time at the NCAA Lexington Regional, where much like at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, Burke pauses for a second and breathes in the moment. It could happen on day one. Or on day two. But the time will come when Burke fully digests the enormity of the quest. And the quests to come.
The man in purple is leading the way as the Wildcats navigate the greens and plant their proverbial flag at Keene Trace Golf Club in a NCAA Regional for the first time in eight years. And the man in purple appreciates the journey.
“I’ve learned you can achieve what you put your mind to,” Burke says. “You have to be relentless. I wanted to be here. Once I got here, I wanted to make it great.”
He pauses.
“Maybe we’re not great yet,” he says, “but we’re certainly on the pathway to it.”
College Sports
Millikan Goes Out With Eighth Consecutive Moore League Championship To Conclude Final Year – The562.org
Photo by Jonathan Hayes. Even in the final year of the sport, it wouldn’t have been a true Millikan gymnastics season if the Rams hadn’t come out on top. That was the case during the Rams’ final gymnastics meet ever on Friday night at Millikan, where they took down St. Joseph 145.3–142.2 to finish with […]

Photo by Jonathan Hayes.
Even in the final year of the sport, it wouldn’t have been a true Millikan gymnastics season if the Rams hadn’t come out on top.
That was the case during the Rams’ final gymnastics meet ever on Friday night at Millikan, where they took down St. Joseph 145.3–142.2 to finish with an eighth consecutive Moore League championship. Millikan’s Eva Esqueda was named the Moore League Gymnast of the Year with an all-around score of 36.150.
“All of us on this team have worked so hard for this so it’s just so rewarding knowing that the hard word paid off in the end,” said Esqueda.
“I’m just so proud of the girls,” added Millikan coach Ashleigh Ferguson. “I think that they just really shined out there today and they came for it. We just thought, ‘Let’s have a good time together and let’s love each other. It’s our last meet ever.’ There were tears after every single event but in the end it was all them. Their talent spoke for itself. I will admit, it felt nice.”
The win marks the Rams’ 16th title in the last 17 years, dating back to when Ferguson first started coaching at Millikan in 2009. The Rams had been without a championship for 22 years prior to Ferguson’s arrival.
Millikan hosted a tribute for Ferguson before the meet in honor of the final season of her gymnastics program. The tribute was attended by former gymnasts from Ferguson’s tenure at Millikan, including one from the beginning of her career.
“All these gymnasts came back, including a gymnast here from 16 years ago that came to say that she loves me,” Ferguson said. “But again, it’s not me though. It’s truly them.”
Esqueda made the podium in three of the four events and narrowly edged St. Joseph’s Katie Bell in the all-around scoring by just five-hundredths of a point. She took gold on bars, placed second on beam, and finished third on vault.
“When I saw her name on the sheet I was just so excited for her,” Ferguson said of Esqueda. “She always works hard and she’s just such a great person. She’s been with me since her sophomore year and she’s never won gymnast of the year. So for her to take it, it’s really exciting.”
Millikan’s Milan Blanco placed third overall and made two podium appearances. Sofia Barba finished fourth and was top five in every event.
St. Joseph was led by Katie Bell, who finished second overall with a 36.100. Bell took home gold on vault, beam, and floor.
When the Rams heard their name called one last time, the gymnasts rushed to Ferguson for a group hug. Tears fell across a handful of faces—not because of the win, but because of the lasting relationships built over the history of the Millikan gymnastics program.
“It’s the connection with the girls,” said Ferguson. “It’s not about the trophy. It’s just about living life with them and hearing their ridiculous stories and drama everyday. I’m going to miss that. I’m going to miss seeing them everyday.”
“I made bonds with people I never would’ve talked to if I didn’t join gymnastics,” added Esqueda. “And I’m always gonna miss Ferg and everything she’s taught me. I stayed [in gymnastics here] for her and a lot of us have stayed just for her. I feel like I won it for her. I won for her.”
Varsity Results:
All-Around:
1st – Eva Esqueda, Millikan, 36.150
2nd – Katie Bell, St. Joseph, 36.100
3rd – Milan Blanco, Millikan, 35.200
4th – Sofia Barba, Millikan, 34.600
5th – Camilla Islas, St. Joseph, 34.250
Vault:
1st – Katie Bell, St. Joseph, 9.50
2nd – Avery Phelps, St. Joseph, 9.15
3rd – Eva Esqueda, Millikan, 9.10
4th – Sela Ju, St. Joseph, 9.00
5th – Sofia Barba, Millikan, 8.90
Bars:
1st – Eva Esqueda, Millikan, 9.15
2nd – Milan Blanco, Millikan, 9.10
3rd – Camila Islas, St. Joseph, 9.00
4th – Liliana Pirona, St. Joseph, 8.15
5th – Sofia Barba, Millikan, 8.05
Beam:
1st – Katie Bell, St. Joseph, 9.80
2nd – Eva Esqueda, Millikan, 9.00
3rd – Sofia Barba, Millikan, 8.75
4th – Sela Ju, St. Joseph, 8.65
5th – Liliana Pirona, St. Joseph, 8.35
Floor:
1st – Katie Bell, St. Joseph, 9.70
2nd – Milan Blanco, Millikan, 9.30
3rd – Sela Ju, St. Joseph, 9.15
4th – Camilla Islas, St. Joseph, 9.00
T-5th – Eva Esqueda (Millikan), Sofia Barba (Millikan), Jessica Peterson (Millikan), 8.900
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