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Alex Lodise Wins Dick Howser Trophy as National Player of the Year

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida State baseball junior shortstop Alex Lodise has been named the 2025 recipient of the Dick Howser Trophy as the national player of the year.   Lodise is the third player in program history to win the Dick Howser Trophy, along with outfielder J.D. Drew in 1997 and catcher Buster Posey in […]

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida State baseball junior shortstop Alex Lodise has been named the 2025 recipient of the Dick Howser Trophy as the national player of the year.
 
Lodise is the third player in program history to win the Dick Howser Trophy, along with outfielder J.D. Drew in 1997 and catcher Buster Posey in 2008. The prestigious award, presented annually since 1987 to college baseball’s best player by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA), is named after FSU All-American shortstop (1955-58) and head coach Dick Howser (1979).
 
A shortstop from St. Augustine, Florida, Lodise already is a two-time First Team All-American, by the NCBWA and Perfect Game. He also is a finalist for two other national player of the year accolades, the Golden Spikes Award, which recognizes the best amateur player in the country, and the Brooks Wallace Award, which is presented to the nation’s top shortstop.
 
One of the nation’s most prolific hitters and best defenders, Lodise had a breakout 2025 campaign. He ranked No. 9 in the country in hits (95), No 11 in total bases (170) No. 12 in hits per game (1.64) and No. 23 in batting average (.394). Lodise was third in the ACC in RBI (68), fourth in slugging percentage (.705) and fifth in triples (3). He hit 17 home runs, had 18 doubles, scored 62 runs with 27 walks and was a perfect 6-of-6 in stolen base attempts. With a .977 fielding percentage, Lodise was part of 34 double plays and committed just five errors in 216 total fielding chances.
 
While starting all 58 of FSU’s games at shortstop, Lodise had at least one hit in 48 of those 58 games played, with 31 multi-hit games. He notched three or more hits in 13 games, which is more than the number of times he was held hitless (10) and almost as many games as he had just one hit (17). Additionally, Lodise is believed to be the first player in major college or professional baseball history to complete the cycle with a walk-off grand slam. The historic performance to beat rival Florida in his hometown of Jacksonville on March 25 was one of seven game-winning hits for Lodise in 2025.
 
The ACC Player of the Year and ACC Defensive Player of the Year, Lodise also was named the NCBWA District 3 Player of the Year. An NCBWA and Perfect Game First Team All-American and named to the Southeast All-Region First Team by the ABCA, Lodise was recognized as the midseason National Player of the Year and the country’s No. 1-ranked shortstop late in the season. He was selected as a team captain in 2025 for the Seminoles.
 
His two All-America honors this week come after he was named to one Freshman All-America team in 2023 at North Florida.
 
Lodise helped the Seminoles to a second consecutive NCAA Super Regional appearance in 2025 with a 42-16 record. As they both earned All-ACC honors, FSU went 17-10 in the conference and finished in second place with a .630 winning percentage. The ACC runner-up finish and No. 2 seed at the conference tournament were the team’s best since 2014.
 
For more information on Florida State baseball, check Seminoles.com for the latest news and scheduling information, and keep up with the team on social media through Twitter/X and Facebook (@FSUBaseball) & Instagram (@NoleBaseball).
 





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The new college sports agency is rejecting some athlete NIL deals with donor-backed collectives

By EDDIE PELLS – AP National Writer The new agency in charge of regulating name, image, likeness deals in college sports sent a letter to schools Thursday saying it had rejected deals between players and donor-backed collectives formed over the past several years to funnel money to athletes or their schools. Those arrangements hold no […]

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By EDDIE PELLS – AP National Writer

The new agency in charge of regulating name, image, likeness deals in college sports sent a letter to schools Thursday saying it had rejected deals between players and donor-backed collectives formed over the past several years to funnel money to athletes or their schools.

Those arrangements hold no “valid business purpose,” the memo said, and don’t adhere to rules that call for outside NIL deals to be between players and companies that provide goods or services to the general public for profit.

The letter to Division I athletic directors could be the next step in shuttering today’s version of the collective, groups that are closely affiliated with schools and that, in the early days of NIL after July 2021, proved the most efficient way for schools to indirectly cut deals with players.

Since then, the landscape has changed yet again with the $2.8 billion House settlement that allows schools to pay the players directly as of July 1.

Already, collectives affiliated with Colorado, Alabama, Notre Dame, Georgia and others have announced they’re shutting down. Georgia, Ohio State and Illinois are among those that have announced plans with Learfield, a media and technology company with decades of licensing and other experience across college athletics, to help arrange NIL deals.

Outside deals between athlete and sponsor are still permitted, but any worth $600 or more have to be vetted by a clearinghouse called NIL Go that was established by the new College Sports Commission.

In its letter to the ADs, the CSC said more than 1,500 deals have been cleared since NIL Go launched on June 11, “ranging in value from three figures to seven figures.” More than 12,000 athletes and 1,100 institutional users have registered to use the system.

But the bulk of the letter explained that many deals could not be cleared because they did not conform to an NCAA rule that sets a “valid business purpose” standard for deals to be approved.

The letter explained that if a collective reaches a deal with an athlete to appear on behalf of the collective, which charges an admission fee, the standard is not met because the purpose of the event is to raise money to pay athletes, not to provide goods or services available to the general public for profit.

The same would apply to a deal an athlete makes to sell merchandise to raise money to pay that player because the purpose of “selling merchandise is to raise money to pay that student-athlete and potentially other student-athletes at a particular school or schools, which is not a valid business purpose” according to the NCAA rule.

A deal, however, could be approved if, for instance, the businesses paying the players had a broader purpose than simply acting as a collective. The letter uses a golf course or apparel company as examples.

“In other words, NIL collectives may act as marketing agencies that match student-athletes with businesses that have a valid business purpose and seek to use the student’s NIL to promote their businesses,” the letter said.


AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports



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Angel Reese calls out Robert Griffin III, claims he’s lying ‘for clout’ in wake of Caitlin Clark take

Angel Reese called out Robert Griffin III for his take on her not liking Caitlin Clark. Without saying Griffin’s name, Reese went after him, who said he talked to people in her inner circle. “Lying on this app when everybody know the first and last name of everybody in my circle for clout is nastyyyy […]

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Angel Reese called out Robert Griffin III for his take on her not liking Caitlin Clark. Without saying Griffin’s name, Reese went after him, who said he talked to people in her inner circle.

“Lying on this app when everybody know the first and last name of everybody in my circle for clout is nastyyyy work,” Angel Reese wrote. This came after Griffin called out people who attacked Reese after she was named a cover athlete for NBA 2K26. In the X/Twitter post, the former NFL quarterback mentioned that he spoke to Reese’s inner circle about the Chicago Sky star not liking Cark.

“People in Angel’s inner circle called me and told me I was right and Angel Reese has grown to hate Caitlin Clark because of the media always asking her about Caitlin and being constantly compared to her,” Griffin wrote. “Some people made it about race, but I never did and never will. Instead of becoming the villain in anyone’s story, I decided to just not.”

What Robert Griffin III said about Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark

Robert Griffin III originally shared his take on Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark in May after Clark fouled Reese in the Sky vs. Indiana Fever game. Reese went after the Clark before she was calmed down by the Sky coaches.

“So why do I think Angel Reese hates Caitlin Clark? It could be the fact that Aliyah Boston had to save Angel Reese from ending her career… After the foul, Caitlin Clark put on Angel Reese, and Angel Reese tried to hit her,” Griffin said at the time. “But if it wasn’t for Aliyah Boston putting her arms in the way, Angel Reese would not be playing basketball anymore, because she was going to sucker punch Caitlin Clark. Now, you tell me a time when you’ve seen somebody get fouled on a basketball court in a professional league, where they try to almost sucker punch somebody that they were friends with, because of a hard foul?”

Reese and Clark have been competing against each other since they were in college. Reese played at LSU, and Clark played at Iowa. Reese and LSU defeated Clark and Iowa in the 2023 National Championship Game, and the two went on to enter the WNBA in 2024. Clark was named WNBA Rookie of the Year last season, and Reese finished second in Rookie of the Year voting.



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NCAA basketball committees consider March Madness expansion

The idea of expanding the tournament picked up steam in the spring when NCAA President Charlie Baker said it could add value. WASHINGTON — The committees for men’s and women’s Division I basketball met this week to discuss possible expansion of the March Madness tournaments, but made no immediate decisions or recommendations. “The still viable […]

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The idea of expanding the tournament picked up steam in the spring when NCAA President Charlie Baker said it could add value.

WASHINGTON — The committees for men’s and women’s Division I basketball met this week to discuss possible expansion of the March Madness tournaments, but made no immediate decisions or recommendations.

“The still viable outcomes include the tournaments remaining at 68 teams or expanding the fields to either 72 or 76 teams in advance of the 2026 or 2027 championships,” Dan Gavitt, the NCAA senior vice president of basketball, said in a statement Thursday.

The idea of expanding the tournament picked up steam in the spring when NCAA President Charlie Baker said it could add value and that he’d like to see the issue resolved in the next few months.

He said the NCAA has had “good conversations” with TV partners CBS and Warner Bros., whose deal runs through 2032 at the cost of around $1.1 billion a year. Baker also mentioned increasingly difficult logistics involved with adding teams to what is now known as the “First Four” — a series of four games played on Tuesday and Wednesday of the first week to place four teams into the 64-team bracket.

Though there has been no concrete plan for how expansion would work, speculation has centered on bringing more at-large teams, likely from major conferences, into the 64-team bracket. Such a move that would come at the expense of champions of lower-level conferences.

Currently, two of the First Four games involve 16 seeds — teams that automatically qualify by winning lower-ranked conferences — while two more involve at-large teams often seeded 11 or 12. For instance, in 2021, UCLA made the Final Four as an 11 seed that also played in the First Four.

“I don’t accept that that model just continues in the future,” Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey said at league meetings in May.

He used the example of North Carolina State advancing to the Final Four as an 11 seed in 2023 as how bubble teams from big conferences can make long runs in the tournament.

“You could go ask my colleagues in the (automatic qualifier) conferences what should happen, and I’m certain they want that split to continue for life,” Sankey said. “But you’ve got some really, really good teams … that I think should be moved into the tournament.”

Any recommendation for expansion would have to be approved by the NCAA’s Division I board, which next meets in August.

AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball



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New college sports agency is rejecting some athlete NIL deals with donor

The new agency in charge of regulating name, image, likeness deals in college sports sent a letter to schools Thursday saying it had rejected deals between players and donor-backed collectives formed over the past several years to funnel money to athletes or their schools. Those arrangements hold no “valid business purpose,” the memo said, and […]

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New college sports agency is rejecting some athlete NIL deals with donor

The new agency in charge of regulating name, image, likeness deals in college sports sent a letter to schools Thursday saying it had rejected deals between players and donor-backed collectives formed over the past several years to funnel money to athletes or their schools.

Those arrangements hold no “valid business purpose,” the memo said, and don’t adhere to rules that call for outside NIL deals to be between players and companies that provide goods or services to the general public for profit.

The letter to Division I athletic directors could be the next step in shuttering today’s version of the collective, groups that are closely affiliated with schools and that, in the early days of NIL after July 2021, proved the most efficient way for schools to indirectly cut deals with players.

Since then, the landscape has changed yet again with the $2.8 billion House settlement that allows schools to pay the players directly as of July 1.

Already, collectives affiliated with Colorado, Alabama, Notre Dame, Georgia and others have announced they’re shutting down. Georgia, Ohio State and Illinois are among those that have announced plans with Learfield, a media and technology company with decades of licensing and other experience across college athletics, to help arrange NIL deals.

Outside deals between athlete and sponsor are still permitted, but any worth $600 or more have to be vetted by a clearinghouse called NIL Go that was established by the new College Sports Commission.

In its letter to the ADs, the CSC said more than 1,500 deals have been cleared since NIL Go launched on June 11, “ranging in value from three figures to seven figures.” More than 12,000 athletes and 1,100 institutional users have registered to use the system.

But the bulk of the letter explained that many deals could not be cleared because they did not conform to an NCAA rule that sets a “valid business purpose” standard for deals to be approved.

The letter explained that if a collective reaches a deal with an athlete to appear on behalf of the collective, which charges an admission fee, the standard is not met because the purpose of the event is to raise money to pay athletes, not to provide goods or services available to the general public for profit.

The same would apply to a deal an athlete makes to sell merchandise to raise money to pay that player because the purpose of “selling merchandise is to raise money to pay that student-athlete and potentially other student-athletes at a particular school or schools, which is not a valid business purpose” according to the NCAA rule.

A deal, however, could be approved if, for instance, the businesses paying the players had a broader purpose than simply acting as a collective. The letter uses a golf course or apparel company as examples.

“In other words, NIL collectives may act as marketing agencies that match student-athletes with businesses that have a valid business purpose and seek to use the student’s NIL to promote their businesses,” the letter said.

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Robert Griffin III fires back at Angel Reese over liar accusation, Caitlin Clark ‘hate’

Robert Griffin III is not backing down from Angel Reese, who went after him for claiming to have spoken to her inner circle about the Caitlin Clark hate. On X/Twitter, the former NFL quarterback told Reese that she should “tighten” her circle instead of “trying to check” him. “I spoke up in support of Angel […]

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Robert Griffin III is not backing down from Angel Reese, who went after him for claiming to have spoken to her inner circle about the Caitlin Clark hate. On X/Twitter, the former NFL quarterback told Reese that she should “tighten” her circle instead of “trying to check” him.

“I spoke up in support of Angel Reese against racism not to start drama,” Robert Griffin III wrote. “But I won’t let anyone twist the truth just because it’s inconvenient to them. Instead of trying to check me, just tighten up your circle. They calling me and saying you hate Caitlin Clark, not the other way around. I have zero interest in being the villain in anyone’s story. I just want to have fun, tell the truth and celebrate sports. But I won’t pretend or lie just to protect feelings.”

This began on Thursday morning when Griffin went after the fans who were attacking Angel Reese for being on the cover of NBA 2K26. In the social media post, Griffin said people in Reese’s inner circle talked to him about her relationship with Caitlin Clark.

“People in Angel’s inner circle called me and told me I was right and Angel Reese has grown to hate Caitlin Clark because of the media always asking her about Caitlin and being constantly compared to her,” Griffin wrote. Reese saw the post later in the morning and went after Griffin.

More on Robert Griffin III and Angel Reese

“Lying on this app when everybody know the first and last name of everybody in my circle for clout is nastyyyy work,” Reese wrote. It’s clear Reese doesn’t believe that Griffin spoke to anyone close to her about Clark.

In May, Griffin said that Reese hates Clark and explained his reason. “It could be the fact that Aliyah Boston had to save Angel Reese from ending her career,” Griffin said about an incident between Clark and Reese during a Chicago Sky vs. Indiana Fever game. “After the foul, Caitlin Clark put on Angel Reese, and Angel Reese tried to hit her. But if it wasn’t for Aliyah Boston putting her arms in the way, Angel Reese would not be playing basketball anymore, because she was going to sucker punch Caitlin Clark. Now, you tell me a time when you’ve seen somebody get fouled on a basketball court in a professional league, where they try to almost sucker punch somebody that they were friends with, because of a hard foul?”

Reese, who played at LSU, is having a strong start to her WNBA career. The 23-year-old is averaging 13.3 points and 12.8 rebounds this year. In 2024, Reese finished second in Rookie of the Year voting (behind Clark) after averaging 13.6 points and 13.1 rebounds.



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Texas Athletics, Learfield partner to launch Longhorn Sports Agency to manage NIL …

Texas Athletics announced in late June that it would be partnering with Learfield to launch the Longhorn Sports Agency, an initiative to “optimize (Name, Image and Likeness) operations and maximize opportunities for Longhorn student-athletes”. Learfield is the top media company in the world of college athletics, with ties to over 1,200 universities and connections to […]

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Texas Athletics, Learfield partner to launch Longhorn Sports Agency to manage NIL ...

Texas Athletics announced in late June that it would be partnering with Learfield to launch the Longhorn Sports Agency, an initiative to “optimize (Name, Image and Likeness) operations and maximize opportunities for Longhorn student-athletes”.

Learfield is the top media company in the world of college athletics, with ties to over 1,200 universities and connections to over 12,000 national and local brands. These connections will significantly assist Texas when it navigates what remains of the NIL world after the House v. NCAA settlement on June 6.

“The Longhorn Sports Agency reflects our commitment to building an industry-leading infrastructure that supports our student-athletes and strengthens the Texas brand,” Texas Athletics director Chris Del Conte said.

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The partners plan to run the Longhorn Sports Agency using three objectives. The first is to create “on-campus NIL leadership,” making advising opportunities readily available for student-athletes on the Forty Acres. 

The second is to assist athletes in creating content campaigns, with the aim of building and eventually monetizing a strong personal brand for each student-athlete. 

Lastly, the Longhorn Sports Agency will provide access to “deal facilitation and compliance technology through the Compass NIL platform”. 

Compass NIL is an app that stores all NIL exchanges in one place, providing athletes with a platform to receive deal opportunities, make agreements and receive payment from those deals through a digital wallet. Created by Learfield, this platform plays a vital role in the structure of the Longhorn Sports Agency.

“With the House settlement and the current landscape of college athletics, it’s critical to accelerate innovation, and we’re proud to support Texas as they continue to lead with a bold, future-focused approach to NIL,” said Solly Fulp, Learfield’s executive vice president of NIL growth and development.

Following the three initiatives, with the assistance of Compass NIL, Texas Athletics will staff the agency with NIL executives accordingly, including a director of NIL business development, an associate of business development and an NIL marketing partnership manager. 

These executives will work with a group of Learfield staff, consisting of two supervising producers, an editor and a social content producer. The Learfield content creation team and Texas Athletics NIL executives will work with Longhorn Network and Longhorn Sports Properties to maximize athlete profit through storytelling and personal branding. This group of staff will work under Lucas Motta, vice president of Longhorn Sports Properties.

“Everything we do at Texas is about setting a high standard, and NIL is no different,” Del Conte said. “This initiative is about doing NIL the right way, with intention, innovation and the full backing of our partner, Learfield, who knows how to achieve excellence in NIL.”

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