NIL

Dejan Joveljic brace sends Sporting to sweet 2

By Sam Kovzan – Sporting Kansas City Dejan Joveljic scored a scintillating second-half brace to propel Sporting Kansas City (1-5-1, 4 points) to a momentous 2-0 win over archrivals St. Louis City SC (2-3-2, 8 points) on Saturday night at Children’s Mercy Park. In Kerry Zavagnin’s first match as Sporting’s interim head coach, Joveljic fired […]

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3 weeks ago

April 6, 2025

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Dejan Joveljic brace sends Sporting to sweet 2

By Sam Kovzan – Sporting Kansas City

Dejan Joveljic scored a scintillating second-half brace to propel Sporting Kansas City (1-5-1, 4 points) to a momentous 2-0 win over archrivals St. Louis City SC (2-3-2, 8 points) on Saturday night at Children’s Mercy Park.

In Kerry Zavagnin’s first match as Sporting’s interim head coach, Joveljic fired the hosts ahead in the 71st minute off a Manu Garcia assist and iced the result with an opportunistic finish on 88 minutes as Kansas City snapped a 13-game winless run in all competitions and secured victory for the first time since Sept. 18, 2024.

Saturday’s battle saw Sporting improve to 3-0-2 at home against St. Louis, giving Kansas City its first victory in the cross-state rivalry series since a memorable 2-1 playoff triumph at Children’s Mercy Park on Nov. 5, 2023. With Joveljic’s late double, Sporting also hit 400 regular season home goals scored at Children’s Mercy Park.

Sporting’s 1,100th match in club history delivered a predictably festive atmosphere as both teams approached the game with palpable fervor. The visitors were first to threaten in the 16th minute when Conrad Wallem pinged a shot off the left post, then forced an intervention from Sporting goalkeeper John Pulskamp before Akil Watts bundled his rebound attempt well over the bar.

All-action midfielder Jake Davis was involved in a pair of Sporting chances closer to halftime, seeing a 22-yard drive saved by Ben Lundt and teeing up Joveljic for a bouncing shot that was also corralled by the St. Louis goalkeeper. At the opposite end, Alfredo Morales and St. Louis captain Marcel Hartel brandished long-range bombs that narrowly missed the target.

Garcia was increasingly involved in the second half and clipped a dangerous ball into the area that fell to center back Joaquin Fernandez, whose venomous volley screamed wide in the 52nd minute. Seconds later, Davis tried to catch Lundt off his line with a chip shot that floated wayward into the Cauldron.

Pulskamp, earning his 50th career start for the club in all competitions, produced his finest performance of the season, highlighted by a clutch save in the 54th minute to deny Hartel from the left side of the box.

Sporting blew the roof off the stadium with a wonderfully orchestrated go-ahead goal on 71 minutes. Second-half substitute Nemanja Radoja played an incisive pass through to Garcia, who received on the half-turn and slipped an impudent ball into the box for Joveljic. The Serbian international made no mistake from there, slotting low past Lundt to make the score 1-0. It was the second time Sporting’s freshly minted Designated Players have combined this season after Garcia assisted Joveljic’s late equalizer in a 3-3 draw against Minnesota United FC on March 15.

With their tails up and momentum in favor of Sporting, left back Logan Ndenbe buccaneered down the left side and played a cutback pass to Joveljic, whose thunderous blast was blocked in traffic. Not to be denied a second time, the 25-year-old bagged his second goal of the night with two minutes remaining. Garcia latched onto a pinpoint cross from substitute Erik Thommy and rattled the woodwork with a strike that had Lundt firmly beaten, but Joveljic was on hand to steer the rebound into an empty net for his team-leading fourth goal of the campaign, all of which have come at Children’s Mercy Park. Joveljic now has 11 goals in his last nine MLS home appearances dating back to last season with the LA Galaxy.

Pulskamp still had work to do to secure his first clean sheet of the season and did well to smother Simon Becher’s piledriver two minutes into stoppage time. Joveljic then went agonizingly close to completing a hat trick, rounding the goalkeeper on the edge of the six-yard area only to see his shot blocked near the goal line by St. Louis defender Josh Yaro.

Sporting, which improved to 6-0-1 all-time in matches played on April 5, returns to Children’s Mercy Park next Sunday, April 13, to host the Portland Timbers in the club’s 29-year anniversary of its inaugural match at Arrowhead Stadium in 1996. Kickoff is slated for 1:15 p.m. CT with tickets available at SeatGeek.com and national coverage on FOX, FOX Deportes and MLS Season Pass via Apple TV.

2025 MLS Regular Season | Match 7
Children’s Mercy Park | Kansas City, Kansas
Attendance: 18,116
Weather: 45 degrees and cloudy

Sporting Kansas City 2-0 St. Louis City SC

Score	1	2	F
Sporting Kansas City (1-5-1, 4 points)	0	2	2
St. Louis City SC (2-3-2, 8 points)	0	0	0

Sporting Kansas City: John Pulskamp; Khiry Shelton (Nemanja Radoja 59′), Jansen Miller, Joaquin Fernandez (Dany Rosero 79′), Logan Ndenbe; Jacob Bartlett, Jake Davis, Manu Garcia; Shapi Suleymanov (Erik Thommy 79′), Dejan Joveljic (Mason Toye 90+4′), Daniel Salloi (C)

Subs Not Used: Ryan Schewe, Tim Leibold, Memo Rodriguez, Stephen Afrifa, William Agada

St. Louis City SC: Ben Lundt; Josh Yaro, Henry Kessler, Joakim Nilsson (Tomas Ostrak 26′); Akil Watts, Alfredo Morales (Cedric Teuchert 80′), Marcel Hartel (C), Kyle Hiebert; Conrad Wallem, Joao Klauss, Celio Pompeu (Simon Becher 65′)

Subs Not Used: Christian Olivares, Timo Baumgartl, Michael Wentzel, Joseph Zelinsky, Jake Girdwood-Reich, Emil Jaaskelainen

Scoring Summary:
SKC — Dejan Joveljic 3 (Manu Garcia 2, Nemanja Radoja 1) 71′
SKC — Dejan Joveljic 4 (unassisted) 88′

Misconduct Summary:
STL — Conrad Wallem (yellow card; delaying a restart) 28′
SKC — Jacob Bartlett (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 39′
STL — Tomas Ostrak (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 78′
STL — Cedric Teuchert (yellow card; unsporting behavior) Postgame

Match Statistics

STAT	SKC	STL
Fouls	11	14
Offsides	2	1
Corner Kicks	3	4

Referee: Tori Penso
Assistant Referee: Kathryn Nesbitt
Assistant Referee: Brooke Mayo
Fourth Official: Sergii Demianchuk
VAR: Michael Radchuk
AVAR: Meghan Mullen

NIL

Nebraska GM Pat Stewart offers another reminder how much the college game has changed

LINCOLN, Neb. — Pat Stewart, the new general manager of the Nebraska football program, counted one visit to Memorial Stadium in his nearly two decades as a scout in the NFL. The Huskers hosted Oklahoma State, and he saw Ndamukong Suh and Dez Bryant, future first-round draft picks and NFL All-Pros. Stewart doesn’t recall the […]

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8 minutes ago

April 26, 2025

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LINCOLN, Neb. — Pat Stewart, the new general manager of the Nebraska football program, counted one visit to Memorial Stadium in his nearly two decades as a scout in the NFL.

The Huskers hosted Oklahoma State, and he saw Ndamukong Suh and Dez Bryant, future first-round draft picks and NFL All-Pros. Stewart doesn’t recall the year of that matchup.

But there was only one such game — in 2007, the first year of his initial stint of 11 seasons with the New England Patriots. It also happened to rate as one of the darkest days in Nebraska football history. The Cowboys led 38-0 at halftime en route to a 45-14 win. Two days later, Nebraska fired its athletic director. A coaching change came six weeks later.

Here’s hoping that Stewart’s return to the stadium in September unfolds more smoothly for Nebraska.

His introduction Thursday went well, albeit in a kind of morbidly fascinating way. In a 20-minute interview session, Stewart’s first since leaving the NFL last month after two seasons as the Patriots director of pro personnel, one Stewart answer after another seemed to eradicate the innocence of college football.

Of course, the innocence died long ago, even before the end of so-called amateurism.

Never until Thursday, though, has an administrator or coach at Nebraska spoken so plainly about the high-stakes business that is college football. Stewart addressed the football salary cap in the era of revenue sharing — a figure unreleased, for now, but expected to land in the range of $14 million — player acquisition, evaluation, valuation and the untethered landscape on which the sport is conducting business.

“I don’t have a lot of college football experience,” Stewart said, “but I could have been in this business for 15 years, and I’d probably still be on the same plane as everyone else. Because everything’s changing.”

Much like Bill Belichick, the NFL coach under whom Stewart worked longest, he talks about football in unemotional tones. It’s a contrast to Matt Rhule, who worked alongside Stewart from 2020 to 2022 when Rhule coached the Carolina Panthers.

Stewart received a three-year, $2.55 million contract from Nebraska to oversee the acquisition, retention and finance aspects of the Huskers roster. He reports to Rhule, different from some coach-GM dynamics in the NFL.

“I brought Pat in because I think he’s an absolute difference maker,” Rhule said.

Stewart said that he and Rhule see football in a similar light. “What it’s about,” Stewart said, “what kind of players we want, the type of people we want to build a team around.”

Their strengths seemingly complement each other. In assessing a player in this salary-cap system, Rhule said, personal value does not equal player value.

Rhule’s nature is to focus on personal value. The third-year coach doesn’t engage in financial conversations with his players or their families. That’s the job of Stewart.

“Those discussions can get pretty personal,” Stewart said. “When you hear where somebody values your child and it doesn’t match up with what your opinion of it is, there are going to be some feelings. So it’s kind of trying to thread that needle of being considerate to people’s emotions and feelings about how much they’re valued, where we see them falling on the roster as far as role and what we’re going to ask of them. And just trying to balance that out.”

With limited data in college to create a valuation system, Stewart said, he finds that the ask is always going to be higher than the offer.

“Sometimes, exponentially higher,” he said.

The best practice in communication is honesty.

“Tell people exactly where they stand,” Stewart said, “so nothing’s a surprise.”

An Ohio State graduate and former student manager under Jim Tressel, Stewart said he arrives daily at the Osborne Complex prepared to adjust. On Wednesday, for instance, a curveball in the House settlement case prompted Nebraska leaders to consider the likelihood that the 105-player roster limit will not go into effect in 2025.

Stewart took the news in stride. The Huskers will adjust as needed, he said.

Other nuggets from the GM on Thursday:

• Stewart’s work in the NFL exposed him often to the college game. He arrived at Nebraska with a baseline expectation. And the Huskers’ development surprised him.

“A lot of guys on defense playing with their hands at levels I wouldn’t expect,” Stewart said. “Quarterbacks who know how to go through progressions. Receivers who know how to run routes. I’ve been surprised more on the positive side of things, trying to adjust my eyes to watching a different type of football.”

He likes the talent that he saw in 14 spring practices. And that’s not all.

“The effort, the grind, the grit, the toughness of this team has been really impressive,” Stewart said.

College football remains on track to institute some version of a salary cap. Observers often compare the transfer portal in college to free agency in the NFL. But Stewart is quick to note the differences between the college and pro systems.

NFL contracts allow for incentives and deferred payment schedules that generate room for general managers to work creatively. “You really can’t do that under this setup,” he said.

Similarly, in NFL free agency, executives know for months who’s about to come on the market.

“Here, guys become available and you have to pivot right away,” Stewart said.

Transfer portal activity more resembles cutdown periods in NFL training camps when rosters shrink from 90 to 53 in one day, flooding the market with available talent.

Responsibility falls on the general manager and his staff — Stewart wants to hire several scouts — to anticipate who might enter the portal and understand their value to Nebraska in advance.

“You can look around the country every week,” Stewart said, “college and the NFL, and most (games) are decided in a five-play stretch, where a decision has to be made and you have to perform at high speeds and make decisions at a high level.”

Stewart’s job, he said, is to identify, acquire, retain and compensate players with the experience to win those five plays.

“Find good football players,” he said. “That’s pretty much the secret sauce.”

(Photo: Mitch Sherman / The Athletic)

NIL

College football spring games face uncertain future in NIL era

US LBM Coaches Poll: Ohio State claims top spot after national title run See where your team landed in the final US LBM Coaches Poll ranking of the year. Sports Pulse While college football adopted offseason workouts not long after Rutgers beat Princeton — Harvard claims to have conducted the first out-of-season practice on March 14, […]

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April 26, 2025

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While college football adopted offseason workouts not long after Rutgers beat Princeton — Harvard claims to have conducted the first out-of-season practice on March 14, 1889 — the spring game truly flourished this century, as programs began to stage largescale recruiting spectacles around what had evolved into one of the tentpole events on the sport’s annual calendar.

Steadily, the traditional end-of-spring scrimmage began to adopt a far less essential on-field purpose. One contributing factor was the increase in overall interest in these showcases. In response to ESPN and conference-branded networks starting to broadcast dozens of games every spring, many programs opted for an overly narrow glimpse at personnel and the playbook so as not to provide any insight for opponents on that season’s schedule.

That represented a deviation from the spring game’s original intent: to provide a game-like atmosphere as a way to evaluate a larger roster and specific position-by-position competitions.

Now, amid similar concerns stemming from dramatic changes to the NCAA model, spring games are approaching the territory of leather helmets, wishbone offenses and the four-team playoff — former college football hallmarks that have drifted into antiquity.

“What I think is happening with spring games is a consequence of what is happening in college football in general,” said Baylor coach Dave Aranda.

Conventional spring games have gone from a luxury to a liability because of NIL and the transfer portal, which have combined to turn roster management and retention into a free-for-all frenzy. With very little to gain but much to lose by mirroring a realistic game-day environment, many coaches who once embraced the positives of the spring showcase have shifted toward a closed-door approach as a way to combat widespread player movement.

“There’s more potential downside than upside for us,” said SMU coach Rhett Lashlee.

Said Illinois coach Bret Bielema, “I always worry about outside voices. I’m not oblivious to the fact that our guys were probably contacted by college programs that want their services.”

Twenty-five Power Four teams have decided against the traditional spring scrimmage, including nearly half of the Big Ten. Among the programs opting for something more closely resembling a practice-like setting are Nebraska, Florida State, Southern California, Oklahoma, LSU and Texas.

The reasoning is simple: Coaches and programs have become openly wary of having their rosters poached by teams that see potential contributors on tape and, because of NIL enticements and the ease of the portal, have the wherewithal to sway players through unofficial channels.

“The word ‘tampering’ doesn’t exist anymore,” Nebraska coach Matt Rhule said. “It’s just an absolute free, open, common market. I don’t necessarily want to open up to the outside world and have people watch our guys and say, ‘He looks like a pretty good player. Let’s go get him.’

“Honestly, to me, it’s about protecting the roster and protecting through that portal period.”

This weekend is the final weekend where a significant portion of the Power Four schools will wrap up spring practice and look toward offseason preparations.

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said the Longhorns will conduct NFL-style training sessions in lieu of a normal game. Arizona State is more focused on situational gameplay such as red-zone offense, coach Kenny Dillingham said. Nebraska will hold skills competitions and 7-on-7 games involving current and former players, among other events, and then a scrimmage featuring backup players battling for spots on the Cornhuskers’ roster.

Concerns that holding a spring game could influence roster makeup isn’t reserved for the Power Four. While major-conference teams might worry about the loss of depth and young talent not quite ready for larger roles, those on the Group of Five fear that starting-caliber players could be lured away by programs with much deeper pockets and ample NIL offerings.

“My primary intent is both to protect and retain our current roster and to keep our schemes and strategies unknown from our opponents for as long as possible,” Utah State coach Bronco Mendenhall said in announcing the Aggies will not hold a spring game and will close all spring practices to the public.

Overall, thousands of players have entered the portal since the first transfer window opened in December. The spring window closes on Friday, though players are only required to enter the portal during this period in order to be immediately eligible this season.

Canceling these spring games may have a minimal impact on the overwhelming amount of roster turnover every Bowl Subdivision program has encountered since the portal and NIL legislation went into effect earlier this decade.

“Listen, whether you have a spring game or not, it’s going to be tampering,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said.

A largely unregulated landscape has been intensified by the potentially seven-figure payouts handed out to college football’s best players at key positions such as quarterback, to the point where even starters at high-profile programs are evaluating their options in advance of the expected House settlement that will set an annual cap on athletics department spending on NIL.

In the most glaring example, former Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava decided to transfer this month amid a dispute over his NIL contract. But Iamaleava’s departure for UCLA came before the Volunteers’ spring game; there was already plenty of tape establishing the sophomore as one of the most promising young passers in the FBS.

“People are going to tamper with our players whether we like it or not,” Sarkisian said. “That’s fine. Hopefully, we’ve built a culture and they believe in the development of the other guys before them in the program and feel this is the best place for them.”

Yet many programs have stayed the course and closed spring drills with an intrasquad scrimmage, accepting the tradeoff between the clear positives behind conducting a game-like setting — player development and the chance to evaluate the competition for a starring role — and the potential fallout of losing players into the portal.

“We have enough players that will benefit from the work that we think that offsets any of the other implications,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said. “You can’t be scared to do everything. We have to get guys better. That’s our number one objective.”

Even as these holdouts cling to tradition, the concept of a realistic, game-like scrimmage to close spring practices seems destined to be replaced by either modified jamborees or, as with the Longhorns, types of offseason training sessions designed to maximize development away from prying eyes.

One option raised this spring by Colorado coach Deion Sanders was a controlled scrimmage between two teams, which would mirror the NFL model. While Sanders’ call for an opponent was answered by Syracuse coach Fran Brown, the waiver was denied by the FBS oversight committee.

“Under current NCAA Bylaws, teams cannot play another school in the spring,” an NCAA spokesperson told USA TODAY Sports.

With no ready solution for balancing the need for development with the chance of largescale player movement, traditional spring games face an increasingly high likelihood of being erased from the college football schedule.

“To each his own,” said Florida coach Billy Napier. “I’m either going to have coaches tampering with my players, or I’m going to have a fanbase that’s pissed off at not having a spring game. It’s pick your poison.”

NIL

Nebraska basketball lands Tulsa transfer post Jared Garcia

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Nebraska basketball lands Tulsa transfer post Jared Garcia

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‘Unforgettables’ would never have happened in NIL, portal era

To appreciate the full gravity of where we are in college athletics, understand this: If NIL and the transfer portal existed at the time, there might never have been an “Unforgettables,” the darling 1992 Kentucky team. Nor Cameron Mills’ dramatic 3-pointer to give UK a late lead against Duke in 1998. Nor Darius Miller’s solid […]

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April 26, 2025

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Nor Cameron Mills’ dramatic 3-pointer to give UK a late lead against Duke in 1998.

Nor Darius Miller’s solid contributions to the 2012 national championship run.

In each instance, much beloved in-state players like Richie Farmer would never have gotten a chance to shine because they would have been recruited over by coaches adding older players with proven track records, either standouts at smaller schools or frustrated five-stars at big time programs looking for a fresh start.

You think Tennessee Tech’s Van Usher, who led the nation in steals and assists in 1992, wouldn’t have been a hot portal commodity, potentially stealing away Farmer’s minutes? How about prolific scorers Charles Jones of Long Island or Ball State’s Bonzi Wells burying Mills on the depth chart in ’98?

The portal and NIL would have stolen so many precious memories Kentucky fans cherish and it’s ruining the game today, not because of evil coaches but because of an absurd situation that demands this chaos.

Given that frustrating reality, you understand why Travis Perry has now reluctantly chosen to leave Kentucky after just one season.

Perry is known for many things, most notably as a Kentucky Mr. Basketball, the state’s all-time scoring champion and Sweet 16 MVP in leading tiny Lyon County to the 2024 state championship. Today, he adds a new notation, though it’s not one he would celebrate – poster child for college athletics in 2025.

On April 22, in the final hour on the last day before its closing, the Kentucky freshman decided to leave his dream school and enter the transfer portal. The kid who chose No. 11 because of John Wall voluntarily surrendered that lifelong goal after just one season.

Perry certainly didn’t want to do it, agonizing until the deadline forced a decision, but he knew what we all knew, the kid had no choice. He is a basketball player who needs to be on the court, not a glorified walk-on.

Welcome to the new day for college athletics, the Old West where coaches are the town’s powerful business owners bankrolling hired guns to protect and advance their wealth.

In olden times, less than a decade ago, Perry need only worry about beating out any new freshmen added to the roster. Knowing that players typically show their greatest growth between the freshmen and sophomore seasons, Perry could have held his own against a precocious kid making the leap in competition enabling him to develop into a valuable contributor as a junior and senior.

In this new day, however, Perry’s head was on a swivel, not only looking back to incoming freshman Jasper Johnson, but ahead to a pair of hired guns – Pittsburgh junior transfer Jaland Lowe and Florida senior Denzel Aberdeen.

One could argue Perry should stay and compete. But let’s be honest, he would never have gotten that chance. The replacement gunslingers will arrive soon and given the reported price tags for each, who do you think is going to get the first shot to see the court?

Truth be told, Perry would never have seen the floor this past season if not for a rash of injuries. The kid who was recruited to Kentucky by John Calipari saw new coach Mark Pope re-recruit him while also adding five new guards – Lamont Butler, Kerr Kriisa, Collin Chandler, Koby Brea, Otega Oweh and Jaxson Robinson.

Perry saw action in the two exhibition wins, but Kriisa’s return sent Perry to the pine. He never left the bench against Duke, WKU and Clemson and averaged fewer than three minutes in five other games despite an average win margin of 33 points.

But injuries to Kriisa Dec. 7 at Gonzaga, Butler Jan. 14 versus Texas A&M and Robinson on Feb. 7 ahead of the South Carolina game forced the issue. Perry played in 31 games with four SEC starts and averaged 2.7 points. His best game was in a Feb. 22 loss at No. 4 Alabama when Perry played 28 minutes with 12 points and four assists, a time when all three injured players were missing in action.

Clearly that performance, nor any others, were enough to secure his future as Perry did not play in Kentucky’s final two NCAA Tournament games and then saw his coach add two veterans on top of him in the rotation, including Aberdeen just one day prior to the portal window closing.

Going forward, what is the lesson for future Travis Perrys?

Sadly, the transfer portal holds the answer. Most kids, especially in-state players, will be best served going to a school where they can spend two years proving their talent to Kentucky in hopes of spending their latter seasons in Lexington. Brea shined at Dayton, Amari Williams at Drexel. Why not a similar path for future Kentucky Mr. Basketballs?

Without doing so intentionally, that worked for Travis Ford (Missouri) and Patrick Sparks (WKU), who became invaluable additions to the Kentucky roster, leading UK to the 1993 Final Four and 2005 Elite Eight, respectively.

So while Perry is bound for a new school, he will forever be a Wildcat – the family bleeds enough blue to change the water color at Lake Barkley – but he is a gifted basketball player first and foremost.

Ultimately, that is the dream that must be followed.