Sports
Battle for future of Razorbacks football begins Saturday
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — It wasn’t supposed to be the case, but because of a shuffle in the football practice schedule, one of the most exciting quarterback battles in a long time on the Arkansas campus is going to kick off Saturday.
No, there is no threat to Taylen Green in the starting spot. Offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino would rather join those awkward Texas A&M administrators on stage doing those cult chants from a few days ago than willingly take the field without Green.
However, the future of the entire program begins to be determined with the first passes KJ Jackson and true freshman Madden Iamaleava throw in Saturday’s team scrimmage. It’s a full year battle that may not even be settled this time next year.
Right now Jackson is the veteran with the advantage of having a full year of the Petrino offense under his belt. On top of knowing the offense better, he has developed a reputation for being the guy who is going to take care of the ball and not make costly mistakes.
“It’s good competition in there, but I like KJ, and he’s made some good throws,” Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman said earlier this month. “Learning continues. [Jackson] continues to learn, but I think we’ll all feel really comfortable when he goes in the football game.”
Petrino can rest easy not only knowing Jackson is going to know the plays and his progressions, but that a drive isn’t going to suddenly be killed by trying to force a ball where it shouldn’t be thrown. That level of reliability is a big deal, especially coming off a season where most of Arkansas’ losses came because of turnovers as the worst possible time.
The only drawback for Jackson at the moment is his lack of actual game experience. With Malachi Singleton taking all the snaps last year when Green went down with injuries, Arkansas has no idea for sure how Jackson will handle himself under the pressure of live game action in the SEC.
While Jackson appears to have the back-up role locked down in the short team, Iamaleava has made a huge push for the No. 3 quarterback designation and well on his way to making a push of Jackson when it comes to who is going to be Green’s successor.
“But you’re right, right now [Iamaleava’s] gotten, not all, but most of the three reps,” Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman said. “So we’re trying to find — really right now KJ would be the two — and then we’re just trying to find out who that three is.”
He is the natural talent who just jumps off the screen when his tape runs. While he is a long way from knowing the offense, he has quickly built a reputation of instinctually finding the open man even if the progressions might have been wrong.
“You know, Madden’s a special talent now,” Petrino said earlier this week. “He can really get the ball out of his hands. He sees stuff and has a great, quick release. I know there’s times he drops back and he doesn’t know what the play is, but somebody pops open and he can stick it and put it right on their hands. The last guy that I coached that did that a lot as a true freshman was Lamar Jackson.”
His gifted arm talent and how quickly he has grown over the past few weeks in spring practices have given him the aura of a prodigy. There’s likely to be a wall that will pop up at certain points in full live action settings, but it’s difficult to picture him having missed an entire football season because he was ruled to be an ineligible transfer his final season of high school.
“You know where you don’t see anything but all of a sudden they throw a post for a touchdown and everyone’s going, ‘Damn, how did he see that?’” Petrino said. “‘That wasn’t even in his progression.’ Now we do need to get him to know the plays. There’s no question about that. But that ability is something that is hard to coach. And his vision is just something that’s really good.”
The last time Iamaleava officially touched the field, he threw for 3,626 yards and 43 touchdowns during his junior year. The following season he enrolled in Poly/Long Beach, a school he had attended before, but left after a semester to follow his brother Nico to Warren (a school in California not to be confused with the Lumberjacks in Arkansas).
When the state governing body ruled, his denial for transferring back to Poly with his sisters for his senior season was so harsh he was banned from playing there or anywhere else in California until Oct. 1, 2026. Still, without the final season of live work, he still possesses elite fundamentals.
“You’re not having to change anything in his footwork or his release,” Petrino said. “That makes it a lot easier coaching him, I can tell you that, because now it’s all about executing the offense and seeing things and knowing what’s going on. I think he has a chance to be a really special player.”
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TIM WEIGHT/For the Express
Bald Eagle Area’s Leah Bryan and Norah Eppley hold District 6 Class AA championship trophy together. Both were named to the Laurel Highland volleyball all-star team.
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TIM WEIGHT/For the Express
Bald Eagle Area’s Casey Angellotti was named a LHAC volleyball all-star.TIM WEIGHT/For the Express
Bald Eagle Area’s Casey Angellotti was named a LHAC volleyball all-star.
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TIM WEIGHT/For the Express
Bald Eagle Area’s Emily Smith was named a LHAC volleyball all-star.
TIM WEIGHT/For the Express
Bald Eagle Area’s Leah Bryan and Norah Eppley hold District 6 Class AA championship trophy together. Both were named to the Laurel Highland volleyball all-star team.
Following its run to the PIAA Class AA quarterfinals in November, it comes as no surprise that the Bald Eagle Area volleyball team was well represented on this year’s Laurel Highlands all-star team. Four Eagles made the team, including two first teamers.
On the first team, Bald Eagle seniors Leah Bryan and Nora Eppley were present, earning accolades after prolific campaigns at outside hitter and libero respectively.
Fellow senior Casey Angellotti earned second-team honors at setter, and in just her second season, sophomore outside hitter Emily Smith also made the second team.
Apart from the Eagles, Bellefonte and Penns Valley also had all-star representatives. Penns Valley’s Peyton Wasson made the second team as a hitter while Bellefonte’s Colbie Frailey was named an honorable mention.
2025 LAUREL HIGHLAND VOLLEYBALL ALL-STARS
TIM WEIGHT/For the Express
Bald Eagle Area’s Casey Angellotti was named a LHAC volleyball all-star.TIM WEIGHT/For the Express
Bald Eagle Area’s Casey Angellotti was named a LHAC volleyball all-star.
FIRST TEAM
HITTERS
Leah Bryan, Bald Eagle; Addi Basenback, Hollidaysburg; Adi Jarrett, Philipsburg-Osceola; Kynlee Budny, Hollidaysburg.
SETTER
Delayni Baird, Hollidaysburg.
TIM WEIGHT/For the Express
Bald Eagle Area’s Emily Smith was named a LHAC volleyball all-star.
LIBERO/DS
Nora Eppley, Bald Eagle; Kenzi McLanahan, Hollidaysburg.
SECOND TEAM
HITTERS
Lily Metz, Huntingdon; Peyton Watson, Penns Valley; Rylan Crowell, Tyrone; Emily Smith, Bald Eagle.
SETTER
Casey Angellotti, Bald Eagle.
LIBERO/DS
Abigail Anthony, Tyrone.
HONORABLE MENTION
Sonny Diehl, Clearfield; Colbie Frailey, Bellefonte; Crosby Holt, Philipsburg-Osceola; Bailey Snyder, Tyrone.
The Wisconsin Badgers suffered a tough loss to the Kentucky Wildcats in the NCAA National Semifinal on Thursday, ending their season after an incredible postseason run.
One day later, five different players announced their intentions to enter the transfer portal: Freshman setter Addy Horner, sophomore outside hitter Trinity Shadd-Ceres, freshman libero Aniya Warren, sophomore libero Maile Chan, and redshirt freshman middle blocker Tosia Serafinowska.
Horner, a native of Illinois, was considered the No. 1 setter in her class and the No. 2 player in her state coming out of high school last year by PrepDig. She stepped up during a big middle-of-the-season run when Charlie Fuerbringer was out due to injury. But, with the star sophomore still at Wisconsin for the next two years, it makes sense that Horner will look for other opportunities.
Shadd-Ceres played in four matches as a freshman. She saw action in nine games this year, including Wisconsin’s final three matches in the NCAA Tournament, recording three kills against Texas and one against Kentucky, subbing in late in both matches.
Warren was ranked the No. 1 libero in the Class of 2025, and her recruitment had a number of turns before she ended up at Wisconsin. She had seen time in the rotation early in the season and finished playing in 16 sets across nine games.
Chan, considered the No. 1 libero from the state of Oregon in her class, played in 25 matches across two seasons at Wisconsin. With freshman Kristen Simon entrenched at the libero spot to end the year, both Chan and Warren are heading elsewhere.
Lastly, Serafinowska is moving on with three years of eligibility left. She saw action in five games this year.
Those five outgoing transfers join seniors Mimi Colyer, Jada Cerniglia, Carter Booth, and Alicia Andrew as the players departing Wisconsin this offseason.
Dec. 20, 2025, 7:33 a.m. ET
- Coaches from Brevard County public schools have selected the 2025 All-Cape Coast Conference volleyball team.
- Merritt Island High School led the selections with five players named to the team.
- Four players from Edgewood High School were also voted onto the all-conference team.
The selections for the 2025 All-Cape Coast Conference volleyball team has been made by the coaches from Brevard County public schools.
18 athletes from across Brevard County received All-Cape Coast Conference honors. Here are the coaches’ selections to the 2025 All-Cape Coast Conference team:
Harper Lanza, Satellite; Amber Ives, Merritt Island; Kylee Thompson, Merritt Island; Lesleigh Amos, Astronaut; Peyton Riordan, Merritt Island; Reece Loggins, Merritt Island; Lily Wood, Titusville; Anna Ely, Edgewood; Annabelle Jones, Merritt Island; Debbie Walley, Edgewood; Erica Flagg, Edgewood; Emery Hart, Viera; Kyra Davis, Heritage; Bella Taylor, Space Coast; Janay Lin; Macy Feguson, Edgewood; Mattie Russell, Satellite; Peyton Redfern, Astronaut.
Updated Dec. 20, 2025, 10:18 a.m. ET
WEST LAFAYETTE — It had been an emotional year for Dave Shondell, and the 67-year-old’s persistence to see his contract through led to a rejuvenated Purdue volleyball coach.
The details of the four-year contract he announced Dec. 13 following the Boilermakers’ loss to Pittsburgh in the Elite Eight were released this week. He signed the contract five days prior to announcing it. Shondell previously told IndyStar he contemplated retirement before the Boilers’ core helped him decide to continue coaching.
Newsday Player of the Year: Logan Coady, Massapequa, OH, Sr.
Coady was the engine that drove Massapequa to its first state title.
He had 22 kills, including the final point, and a block in Massapequa’s five-set win over reigning champion Penfield in the Division I final and was named the MVP of the state tournament.
Coady, who was Newsday’s Nassau Player of the Year as a junior, was the unquestioned leader of the team on and off the court.
Massapequa’s Logan Coady Credit: Adrian Kraus
“It’s a kind of leadership that is not loud and boisterous, it’s that you lead by example and that’s exactly what Logan does,” coach Elissa DiSalvo said. “The younger kids have been figuring it out just by following his example.”
Coady even had fans from opposing teams approach him after matches to ask for a picture with him.
After missing Massapequa’s loss in the 2023 Nassau quarterfinals with an illness, Coady returned to lead his team to two straight Nassau titles. Massapequa went 21-0 this season, dropping just eight sets. Coady finished with 267 kills, 111 digs, 37 blocks and 25 aces.
“I always trust the guys around me and it’s awesome not to just be a one-man army out there,” Coady said. “The spotlight might be on me, but we have people just as good as me that can put the ball away.”
Suffolk Player of the Year: Jack Cain, Eastport-South Manor, MB/RS, Sr.
Eastport-South Manor’s Jack Cain Credit: Adrian Kraus
Cain played a big role in the Sharks’ run to the 2024 Division II state title. His role only grew this year.
“He was the best middle in the county last year, but I knew he had more to offer. I wanted him to play all six rotations,” coach Bill Kropp said. “We moved him to the right side, something he’s never done. He took on the challenge and he went from being the best middle, to the best right side, to, in my opinion, the best player.”
Cain had 319 kills, 201 digs, 57 blocks and 45 aces and seven assists and led the Sharks back to the state final. Eastport-South Manor went 17-1 and lost just six sets behind Cain’s outstanding play and high energy.
“He is our emotional anchor. He’s able to pump everybody up,” Kropp said. “He’s everything you want in a player.”
FIRST TEAM
Tyler Bottcher, Eastport-South Manor, L, Sr.
He totaled 264 digs, 29 assists, five aces and had a 2.65 serve receive rating. He was the backbone of the Sharks’ defense on their run to two straight appearances in the state final.
Tyler Cope, Connetquot, L, Soph.
The anchor of Connetquot’s defense had 256 digs, 57 assists and 21 aces to lead the T-Birds to the Suffolk Division I title.
Matthew Fitzgerald, Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK, OH, Sr.
He totaled 201 kills, 31 blocks, 97 digs, nine aces and seven assists as the focal point of the Hawks’ offense.
Niall Haughney, Bay Shore, MB, Sr.
The Merrimack commit totaled 259 kills, 70 blocks, 187 digs, 23 aces and 17 assists and led the Marauders to the Suffolk Division I final.
Joseph Kim, Roslyn, OH, Jr.
He totaled 292 kills, 26 blocks, 25 assists, 141 digs and 30 aces to lead the Bulldogs to their second straight Nassau Division II title.
Colin O’Connor, Connetquot, OH, Sr.
He had 249 kills, 156 digs, 11 assists and nine aces to lead Connetquot’s balanced offense.
Arkaidiy Rivkin, Syosset, OH, Sr.
The NJIT commit was one of Nassau’s most feared hitters and a rock for Syosset’s offense the last two years.
Jack Stanley, Massapequa, MB, Sr.
At 6-6, Stanley’s presence in the middle helped spur Massapequa to a state title. He emerged as a superstar alongside Logan Coady and had 10 kills and eight blocks in the Nassau Division I final. He finished with 167 kills, 76 blocks and 25 aces.
Zach Thomas, West Islip, OH, Sr.
He racked up 395 kills, 172 digs, 39 aces, 21 assists and 13 blocks to lead the Lions to the Suffolk Division II final.
Peter Zhang, Great Neck South, S, Sr.
He totaled 677 assists, 162 digs, 45 kills, 45 blocks and 24 aces to lead the Rebels to the Nassau Division I final.
Nassau Coach of the Year: Bryan Patterson, Great Neck South
He led the Rebels to a 12-7 record and their first appearance in the Nassau Division I final.
Suffolk Coach of the Year: Mark Jensen, Bay Shore
He led Bay Shore (15-2) to the Suffolk Division I final after the Marauders went 7-7 and missed the playoffs in 2024.
SECOND TEAM
Nick Altmann, Plainview-Old Bethpage-JFK, S, Sr.
Emerson Atkins, Commack, OH, Sr.
Brayden Bannen, East Islip, OH, Jr.
Nick Dempsey, West Islip, OH/MB, Sr.
James Downey, East Islip, S, Sr.
Andrew Dragos, Eastport-South Manor, OH, Sr.
Tomer Gilady, Roslyn, OH, Sr.
Cameron Giordano, Westhampton, S/RS, Sr.
Zareb Gonzalez, Bay Shore, OH, Sr.
James Huber, Bay Shore, S, Jr.
Andrew Jennette, Oyster Bay, OH, Sr.
Bryan Kuhl, Sachem North, S, Jr.
Jake McBride, Massapequa, S, Sr.
Colin Mizuguchi, New Hyde Park, OH, Sr.
Leo Rohman, Levittown District, OH, Sr.
Benjy Rubin, Roslyn, MB, Sr.
Jack Ryan, Great Neck South, L, Sr.
Gavin Sack, Sayville, OH, Soph.
Ryan Sguigna, Connetquot, OH, Jr.
Braeden Vetro, Massapequa, L, Jr.
Matt Lindsay is a high school sports reporter who joined Newsday in 2022 after graduating from Stony Brook University.
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