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JV boys' soccer team wins season opener

Despite a slew of weather postponements, our Rapp athletes got in 11 games last week, many of them tough losses, but a few of them resulted in victories for the Panthers. Coach Jeremy Graves’ JV boys’ soccer team takes the lead this week on the strength of its season opening win over Strasburg last Tuesday. […]

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JV boys' soccer team wins season opener

Despite a slew of weather postponements, our Rapp athletes got in 11 games last week, many of them tough losses, but a few of them resulted in victories for the Panthers.

Coach Jeremy Graves’ JV boys’ soccer team takes the lead this week on the strength of its season opening win over Strasburg last Tuesday. Rapp dominated the field through the first half but a stingy Rams’ goal defense kept the Panthers from scoring. 

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Head coach talks impact on high school sports – Valley Times-News

Head coach talks impact on high school sports Published 11:00 am Thursday, May 8, 2025 VALLEY — Adam Hunter, the head football coach and athletic director at Valley High, was the guest speaker at Wednesday’s noon hour meeting of the Kiwanis Club of Valley. He brought with him next year’s starting quarterback for the Rams, […]

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Head coach talks impact on high school sports

Published 11:00 am Thursday, May 8, 2025

VALLEY — Adam Hunter, the head football coach and athletic director at Valley High, was the guest speaker at Wednesday’s noon hour meeting of the Kiwanis Club of Valley. He brought with him next year’s starting quarterback for the Rams, Caden Foreman, reviewed how sports played out this year at Valley High and talked about how the Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) rules of college football has filtered down to have a major impact on high school sports.

Foreman transferred to Valley from Beauregard High School last year and finished the year as the team’s starting quarterback, leading the Rams to wins over Beauregard and Dadeville.

“He’s a tremendous player,” Hunter said. “He’s very athletic and an excellent pocket passer. We have a deep and talented group of receivers he can throw to. We won’t be one dimensional in our offense next year. We will be opening it up.”

Hunter said he wants the school’s home games to be more fan friendly next year. “We will be bringing back the game-day programs and we will have a shuttle to the stadium for those who need it,” he said. “We will also have season passes and reserved seating this coming season.”

Most of the team’s offensive line will be returning from last year. It will be up to them to protect a passing quarterback, but Hunter believes they will be up to the task.

The squad has gone through five practice sessions heading into a spring game this coming Thursday at Ram Stadium. They will be taking on Eufaula in a 7 p.m. EDT scrimmage.

Hunter said Valley High had good seasons in baseball and softball. He was especially pleased with some of the performances of Valley High track athletes at the recent 5A meet in Gulf Shores. The girls basketball team had a very good season as well.

After spring practice wraps up, the football team will be going through seven-on-seven meets this summer in preparation for the 2025 season.

Something that’s been a long time coming is the air conditioning of the Valley High gym. Two seven-and-a-half ton units are in place. “This is a big deal,” Hunter said. “I know our volleyball players will appreciate it. It gets pretty hot inside the gym when they are playing in there.”

Hunter said the state of Alabama is going to have to do something with all the transferring from one school to another that’s taking place. “There are times when this is appropriate and times when it’s not,” he said.

NIL is a sore subject for Hunter and many other high school coaches. “It has really messed things up,” he said. “There needs to be some guidelines to control it. It’s a good thing for this state that Alabama does not have NIL in high school sports, but that’s not true of all states.”

NIL allows athletes to collect money for the use of their personal brand. It gives them a legal right to control how their image is used, including commercially.

Hunter said he’s like to see some upgrades at Ram Stadium, possibly a new scoreboard and a resurfaced track. He’s pleased with the playing surface. “With the high school, middle school and Point University games, there were 17 games played there last fall,” he said, “but it’s a pretty doggone good field to have held up as well as it has with all that’s been going on there.”

One thing Hunter and many other high school coaches would like to see is more parental involvement. It’s just not like it once was. “We’d also like to have more sponsorship,” he said. “We’d like to see the names of local businesses being displayed at the stadium.”



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The NIL and the demise of college athletics

The LBSU student section were loud and on their feet, with a total of 4,676 people filling up the arena. UCI however overcame the LBSU crowd and upset The Beach 3-0. Photo credit: Samuel Chacko Name, image and likeness coupled with the unregulated transfer portal is causing the perfect storm that is leading to the […]

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The NIL and the demise of college athletics


The LBSU student section were loud and on their feet, with a total of 4,676 people filling up the arena. UCI however overcame the LBSU crowd and upset The Beach 3-0. Photo credit: Samuel Chacko

Name, image and likeness coupled with the unregulated transfer portal is causing the perfect storm that is leading to the downfall of our beloved college sports.

Name, Image and Likeness

Since its birth on July 1, 2021, the NIL landscape has changed drastically from its beginning to its current state, spiraling out of control as the days go by. 

It started in 2021 with the simple idea that athletes would be able to profit off their name, image and likeness– something that should have happened a long time ago– and players became influencers per se, attaching their names to brands for money. 

However, on December 10, 2024, it was announced that schools can directly pay players, turning recruiting and the transfer portal specifically into the “Wild West”.

In 2025, college sports have turned into a bidding war with athletes jumping from school to school, trying to see which school will pay them the most money, diminishing the core principles of college sports.  

Take former University of Tennessee star quarterback Nico Iamaleava, for example.

He led the Volunteers to the No. 9 seed in the College Football Playoff and just recently made headlines when he left Tennessee after shopping himself around in an attempt to improve on the reported $2.4 million he was set to make at Tennessee this year. 

After losing to Ohio State in the first round of the CFP, Iamaleava’s representatives– including his father, Nic– were reaching out to other schools behind the back of Tennessee and eventually landed on the University of California, Los Angeles, where he will be earning less than he was set to earn at Tennessee, according to ESPN. 

Iamaleava, who is now being referred to on social media as “Nico Imma leave ya,” embodies everything that is wrong with the current state of NIL in college athletics.

College athletes deserve to profit from their name, image and likeness as they are the product that the college is producing, they are the reason fans buy tickets and spend money at concessions, but how NIL is being abused is not right.

Transfer Portal

In April 2024, the NCAA made a ruling that an athlete can transfer as many times as they want with immediate eligibility as long as they meet the new school’s academic requirements. 

Ever since, that rule has been taken advantage of.

As of April 21, 2025, it has been reported that there are over 2,300 men’s basketball players, up 1,363 from 2019 when the portal was introduced, and over 1,500 women’s basketball players in the transfer portal.

The new narrative in college sports is that if a player has a good season at a small school, they enter the portal and try to go to a better school that can pay them more money.

If they have a bad season or don’t play as much as they feel they should at a big school, they transfer down in hopes of having a good season to transfer back up and make more money as an established player. 

This narrative creates a toxic environment that encourages players to jump from team to team and to forgo the loyalty and development process that we have been used to seeing, all in hopes of benefiting monetarily. 

Because of the ever-present transfer carousel, mid-majors, like Long Beach State, around the country are losing their best players year after year to larger schools that can pay them more, causing a lack of parity from top to bottom in college basketball. 

We saw this come to light in this year’s NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament, when the Elite 8 was an almost uniform outcome with there being four No. 1 seeds, three No. 2 seeds and a No. 3 seed in Texas Tech, which was the outlier. 

Six out of the eight teams’ leading scorers for the 2024-2025 season were transfers, with Michigan State and Duke University being the only two teams not to be led by a transfer. 

The parity of one of the great sporting events has been stolen away by the transfer portal. It is a small sample size, but the lack of a “Cinderella team” in this year’s tournament was evident.

Whatever happened to waiting your turn? Whatever happened to developing at one school? But most of all, whatever happened to loyalty?

Loyalty to a fanbase that has welcomed you with open arms and supported you through good and bad games, and loyalty to a coaching staff that embraced you, recruited you and invited you into their collegiate families.

College fans around the country are constantly getting figuratively slapped in the face when their favorite player abandons them to go chase more money.

This “Wild West” needs to be tamed.

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‘Hands tied’: Athletes left in dark as NCAA settlement leaves murky future for nonrevenue sports

In Brief: $2.8B NCAA settlement could reshape college sports Walk-on athletes face uncertainty under new rules Settlement allows direct NIL revenue sharing Some athletes may return to teams without counting on rosters The $2.8 billion NCAA settlement awaiting final approval from a federal judge is touted as a solution for thousands of athletes to finally get the […]

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In Brief:
  • $2.8B NCAA settlement could reshape college sports
  • Walk-on athletes face uncertainty under new rules
  • Settlement allows direct NIL revenue sharing
  • Some athletes may return to teams without counting on rosters

The $2.8 billion NCAA settlement awaiting final approval from a federal judge is touted as a solution for thousands of athletes to finally get the money they deserve and provide some clarity to recruiting. For some, it may have come too late.

Sophomore distance runner Jake Rimmel says he was one of five walk-ons cut from Virginia Tech’s cross country team after Thanksgiving break. Rimmel decided to take a leave of absence and train independently while considering his next move — something that’s proven easier said than done.

“Everyone’s got their hands tied right now, so there’s just not many opportunities for me,” Rimmel told The Associated Press. “I’ve just been having to bet on myself and trust the process. It’s just been lonely. I’ve been at home training by myself and living with my family again. Thank God for my family and all, I appreciate them. It’s still kind of lonely though, being out of the norm, not being at school and with my friends.”

Pending approval, the so-called House settlement will allow schools to share revenue with athletes directly for use of their name, image and likeness (NIL). That could secure generational wealth for some but not others, and replacing scholarship caps with roster limitations is expected to leave walk-ons, partial scholarship earners, nonrevenue sport athletes and high school recruits at risk. There are deep concerns about the potential impact on sports that feed the U.S. Olympic teams.

U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken told attorneys handling the settlement to come back to her with a plan soon to protect athletes currently or recently on rosters at schools across the country, a request seen as a way to soften the blow.

That filing came late Wednesday, with attorneys saying schools must offer athletes who lost their spots a chance to play — at their old school or their new school — without counting against the roster limits for as long as they have eligibility.

There is no guarantee those athletes will win a spot on the roster and, for now, thousands of athletes like Rimmel have no idea where they might be this fall or are in jeopardy of no longer playing college sports at all. And many athletes balancing school and their sport are unaware of what’s at stake and have more questions than answers.

Belmont track and field athlete Sabrina Oostburg said everything she knows about the settlement is from personal research.

“My school doesn’t do a lot of education around it (the settlement). Every now and then, we’ll be told, ‘Hey, if you want to sign up to potentially get some money from this House settlement that’s happening, you can do that,’” Oostburg said. “It’s almost like the education we’re being given is optional to consume, even though it’s limited.”

Oostburg is used to taking matters into her own hands, securing over 50 NIL deals by herself. She has contacted lawyers and asked for updates on the settlement, but she’s not quite reassured. The chaotic nature of college athletics, so obvious to the public, is even worse for the athletes themselves.

“Being a college athlete, it’s so hard to stay up to date with what’s happening every day because it’s so constantly changing,” she said.

Smaller, nonrevenue-generating programs don’t often have a point person to navigate NIL deals or educate athletes. At Belmont, Oostburg said, NIL-related responsibilities are managed by an already busy compliance office.

“To take time to learn about what’s happening is just so time-consuming, especially if you’re not in that one percent or one of the football players where they have people dedicated to helping them stay up to date,” she said.

Over the next six weeks, athletes will wrap up their spring semesters and many of them have league tournaments or even NCAA championship competition ahead before what many expect will be the final summer before college sports sees some of the most dramatic changes in history.

For athletes like Rimmel, those changes are already here. On the bright side, his name was among those on an eight-page list of “designated student-athletes” released in Wednesday’s court filing, meaning he is one of many who will be able to seek a roster spot without counting against a school’s roster limit.

Some of the others cut from the Virginia Tech program have given up on their dreams of collegiate running altogether. Rimmel hasn’t given up completely; he spoke with his former coach recently, who said the Hokies’ athletics department is still trying to figure out what’s to come.

“I’m still kind of hoping I might be able to find my way back there next fall,” he said.

___

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

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Mocs Outlast Mercer to Advance in SoCon Tournament

Next Game: vs. #3 Samford 5/9/2025 | 10:00 a.m. May. 09 (Fri) / 10:00 a.m. vs. #3 Samford History SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Chattanooga outlasted Mercer Thursday in the first game of Day Two of the Southern Conference Tournament, winning 8-7 in extra innings on a walk-off single.   Olivia Lipari […]

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SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Chattanooga outlasted Mercer Thursday in the first game of Day Two of the Southern Conference Tournament, winning 8-7 in extra innings on a walk-off single.
 
Olivia Lipari was hit to lead off the bottom of the ninth. Acelynn Sellers, already with a SoCon Tournament tying record three home runs, laid down a bunt that was placed perfectly between first and the circle and both runners were safe. Baileigh Pitts laced a shot into right field to load the bases with no outs.
 
Jayce Pudy took a 1-2 pitch down the line in right, driving in Lipari for the game winner.
 
Chattanooga led 7-0 after five innings, but the Mercer bats awoke to tie the game and force extras.
 
Kailey Snell led off the first with a single into left and advanced to second on a sac bunt. With two outs, Sellers put the Mocs up 2-0 with the first of three two-run homers for the Rocky Face, Ga., senior.
 
The third started off with another single from Snell through the left side. Camryn Cernuto again bunted her over to second and she reached third on a fly out to right from Lipari. Sellers home run hit off the Wofford scoreboard and put UTC up 4-0.
 
The Mocs added a fifth run in the fourth. Lexi Cooley singled up the middle followed by a single from Zoe Wright. Snell singled to center field, scoring Cooley to make it 5-0.
 
Sellers completed the hat trick in the seventh. Lipari led off the inning with a single. Sellers third home run of the game, tying Reagan Armour ’22 for the SoCon Tournament record, was to center for a 7-0 Chattanooga advantage.
 
In the sixth, Mercer scored four runs. A bases loaded single scored the first. Two more singles and a ground out drove in three more to make it 7-4.
 
Chattanooga had runners at the corners with nobody out and Wright stole second. However, the Bears would get the next three out to end the Mocs threat.
 
Mercer loaded the bases on three walks and a single scored the fifth run. The next came on a bases loaded walk and a play at the plate that went wide allowed the tying run to score.
 
A runner was left stranded for the Mocs in the seventh and the game went on to extra innings.
 
A walk put the first runner on for Mercer. A sac bunt, however didn’t fall as Purdy picked up the ball at the plate, firing down to second for the out. She then got the second out on a caught stealing and the final out came on a pop up to Snell at short.
 
Snell doubled with two outs in the eighth but was left stranded and Mercer went three-up, three-down in the top of the ninth.
 
Purdy’s rope down the right field line was close enough for a review, but it held up and the Mocs grabbed the win that took three hours and 13 minutes.
 
Chattanooga advances to take on No. 2 UNC Greensboro or No. 3 Samford Friday morning at 10:00 a.m. at Hope Field.
 
Links for live stats and video streaming can be found online at GoMocs.com on the softball schedule page.
 
FOLLOW CHATTANOOGA SOFTBALL
For the most up-to-date information and news regarding Chattanooga Softball, please follow @GoMocsSB on Twitter & Instagram and ChattanoogaSB on Facebook.
 
 





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CUSA Softball Tournament Update | A Sea of Red

Liberty softball is in Bowling Green, Kentucky where the Lady Flames are seeking its second straight CUSA tournament championship and seventh conference title of all-time. Liberty enters the tournament field as the No. 1 overall seed and is one of six teams that advanced to the CUSA Championship and those teams now play a double […]

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Liberty softball is in Bowling Green, Kentucky where the Lady Flames are seeking its second straight CUSA tournament championship and seventh conference title of all-time. Liberty enters the tournament field as the No. 1 overall seed and is one of six teams that advanced to the CUSA Championship and those teams now play a double elimination tournament this week culminating with a winner take all championship game Saturday.

All games will be streamed on ESPN+ with the exception of the championship game which will air on CBS Sports Network. We will be providing updates throughout the week on all the action in Bowling Green so check back here for the updates every day this week.

Wednesday, Day One, May 7, 2025 (ESPN+)

Game 1: (#3) Jax State 11, (#6) Sam Houston 0 (5 innings)

The Gamecocks jumped all over Sam Houston’s first-team All-CUSA pitcher Abigail Young, scoring four runs off her in the bottom of the first inning, highlighted by Makalyn Kyser’s three-run home run. Young, who entered the postseason with a 1.66 ERA, didn’t escape the first inning and the four runs surrendered were the most she allowed in a single outing this season. Jax State continued to pour it on early and often, scoring in each of the first four innings and hitting four home runs during that time as the lead exploded to 11-0. Meanwhile, Jaliyah Holmes pitched a complete game shutout, allowing five hits while walking one and striking out two in the win.

Game 2: (#4) Louisiana Tech 5, (#5) New Mexico State 4

Freshman catcher Addison Snyder blasted her first career home run, a two-run, walk-off shot to dead center to cap Louisiana Tech’s win over New Mexico State. The Bulldogs overcame a 4-1 deficit with four runs, all with two outs, the final frame. Reagan Marchant began the comeback with a two-run shot to right center for her 18th homer of the season. New Mexico State’s Riley Carley gave her team a 4-1 advantage with a three-run, two-out home run in the top half of the seventh.

Game 3: (#6) Sam Houston 5, (#5) New Mexico State 3 (New Mexico State eliminated)

Jenny Robinson was 3 for 3 with three RBI for the Bearkats to help push them past New Mexico State in the first elimination game of the week. Bella Perez hit a solo home run, her 13th of the season, in the third inning, to push the lead to 2-0. In the fifth, Robinson and Brodie Quinian left the yard to push the lead to 5-0. The Aggies were held off the board for six innings before attempting to mount a comeback in the seventh. Desirae Spearman launched her 20th home run of the season, a three-run shot to cut the deficit to two. Later in the frame, NMSU would put the tying run on base and bring the winning run to the plate before freshman Tamara Carranza grounded to finish the game.

Thursday, May 8 (ESPN+)

Game 4: (#3) Jax State 2, (#2) Western Kentucky 1

Makalyn Kyser picked up where she left off Wednesday with a two-run, two-out home run in the top of the third to give the Gamecocks the early 2-0 lead. The host Hilltoppers got on the scoreboard with a run in the e bottom of the third, scoring on a wild pitch. WKU also put two runners on base with two outs in the bottom of the sixth, but JSU’s Kat Carter got a strikeout to end the threat. Carter then worked around a two-out single in the 7th to seal the win.

Game 5: (#1) Liberty 8, (#4) Louisiana Tech 0 (6 innings)

The reigning champs and top seed Lady Flames jumped on top of Louisiana Tech in the first inning and did not look back. Liberty plated five runs in the first inning, started by a leadoff home run by Savannah Woodard. KK Madrey plated two on a triple and then scores herself on a sacrifice pop-out in foul territory. Rachel Craine would then scores on Savannah Jessee’s double as Liberty batted around and chased Louisiana Tech’s starting pitcher.

Mattison Buster was strong in relief for the Bulldogs. She pitched 2.1 scoreless innings to allow Louisiana Tech to stay within striking distance. Liberty would then begin to find the way against Buster. JaMaya Byrum would blast a pitch beyond the left field wall in the fourth to push the lead to 6-0, and Brooke Roberts hit the Flames’ third solo home run in the fifth to make it 7-0.

CUSA Pitcher of the Year Elena Escobar dazzled in the circle for Liberty. She tossed a complete game shutout while allowing three hits while striking out five and not issuing a walk while earning her 20th win of the season. Liberty would get the run-rule victory after Rachel Roupe walked with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the 6th.

Game 6: (#6) Sam Houston vs (#2) Western Kentucky, 4 p.m.

Friday, May 9 (ESPN+)

Game 7: (#3) Jax State vs (#1) Liberty, 1 p.m.
Game 8: (#4) Louisiana Tech vs Winner Game 6, 3:30 p.m.
Game 9: Loser Game 7 vs Winner Game 8, 6 p.m.

Saturday, May 10

Game 10: Winner Game 8 vs Winner Game 9, 1 p.m. CBS Sports Network

*photo courtesy Conference USA



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Georgia, Oregon, Texas, Ohio State

The Oregon Ducks are coming off one of their best seasons in program history in 2024. Oregon coach Dan Lanning led the Ducks to a 13-1 record and a Big Ten championship in their inaugural season in the conference. Lanning has the program rolling both on and off the field with the Ducks consistently finishing […]

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The Oregon Ducks are coming off one of their best seasons in program history in 2024. Oregon coach Dan Lanning led the Ducks to a 13-1 record and a Big Ten championship in their inaugural season in the conference.

Lanning has the program rolling both on and off the field with the Ducks consistently finishing with top ranked recruiting classes. Oregon has began to grow into one of the best jobs in the country with the amount of NIL support, success on the field, administrative support.

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Oregon coach Dan Lanning oversees his team as the Fighting Ducks face off against Mighty Oregon in the Oregon Ducks spring game on April 26, 2025, at Autzen Stadium in Eugene. / Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Both Andy Staples and Ari Wasserman of On3 were in a collective agreement that Oregon is the fourth best job in the country. Ranked ahead of the Ducks are No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Ohio State and No. 3 Texas on Staples’ list.

Rounding out his Top-10 best coaching jobs are No. 5 LSU, No. 6 Notre Dame, No. 7 Alabama, No. 8 Michigan, No. 9 Clemson and No. 10 Penn State.

Staples said the Ducks’ NIL support has helped secured the talent needed to build a championship level program. During this offseason, the Ducks have secured the No. 2 overall player in the transfer portal, offensive tackle Isaiah World, and the No. 1 safety in Dillon Thieneman.

“Oregon’s willingness to spend on players has vaulted the job up these rankings. Before the NIL era, geography probably would have created a lower ceiling for the program. Now? The Ducks can get in on any player they want, whether he’s a blue-chip high school recruit or a high-profile transfer. They don’t get all of them, but they’re almost always in the mix. That’s how you build a national championship roster,” Staples said.

Wasserman said the Ducks have ascended as one of the best programs in recent years because of their aggressiveness in the NIL space and Lanning’s tenacity as a recruiter. Every recruiting class the Ducks have signed under Lanning has been inside 247Sports Top 25.

“Oregon would have been lower on this list had this ranking come out five years ago, but the Ducks have proven time and time again that geographical footprint has never meant less. Oregon is one of the leaders of NIL and has a recruiting-hungry coach, which has resulted in a tremendous upgrade in baseline roster talent since Dan Lanning started…it seems like Oregon is going to win it all in the next 10 years at some point. It feels like an inevitability,” Wasserman said.

MORE: Dallas Cowboys Wide Receiver Traeshon Holden ‘Hurt’ After Going Undrafted

MORE: 5-Star Quarterback Jared Curtis To Commit To Oregon Ducks, Georgia Bulldogs?

MORE: Best Uniforms In Big Ten Ranked: Oregon Ducks, Michigan Wolverines, Ohio State Snubbed?

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Nov 18, 2023; Tempe, Arizona, USA; Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Mountain America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

After falling short in the CFP this past season, Oregon has the third best odds of winning a national championship at +750 according to ESPN BET.

If Lanning is able to get the Ducks over the hump and secure the school’s first national title, it could truly elevate the job to became the best in the country with the amount of resources that could be flying into Eugene.



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