SEATTLE – Washington head men’s basketball coach Danny Sprinkle has landed another major addition through the transfer portal, announcing the signing of All-Big Ten Honorable Mention guard Desmond Claude from USC.
 
Claude is Washington’s seventh addition from the transfer portal, joining Lathan Summerville, Quimari Peterson, Jacob Ognacevic, former USC teammate Wesley Yates III, Bryson Tucker and Christian Nitu. Claude is the third incoming Husky that led his team in scoring a year ago.
 
The addition bolsters an already impressive transfer haul, with the Husky class ranking as the third best in the nation per On3, coming in at No. 6 per ESPN’s Jeff Borzello and No. 8 via HoopsHQ.
 
“Desmond was one of the best guards we played all season last year,” Sprinkle said. “He completely dominated and controlled both of our games against USC. He is a veteran, experienced player and has been extremely effective and productive at the Big East and Big Ten levels. We are expecting him to continue that production and have a great senior season for the Dawgs!”
 
On3 ranks Claude as the nation’s No. 29 overall transfer prospect, with the 6-6 guard ranking at No. 31 per 247Sports.
 
Claude, who was voted All-Big Ten Honorable Mention by the media and received NABC All-Pacific District plaudits, paced the Trojans at 15.8 points per game, the 12^th-highest average in the Big Ten, on 48.2 percent shooting. Claude also led USC at over 4.2 assists per game.
 
Claude eclipsed the 30-point mark twice for the Trojans a season ago, hanging 30 on the road at Rutgers and dropping 31 in USC’s road upset at No. 13 Illinois. In Washington’s visit to Los Angeles, the Connecticut native posted a double double with 25 points and 11 rebounds.
 
Prior to USC, Claude spent two seasons at top Big East program Xavier, earning the conference’s Most Improved Player award in 2023-24 after averaging 16.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game. Claude came up clutch for the Musketeers down the stretch, leading the Big East in scoring during the month of March at 22.8 PPG.
 
Claude earned Big East All-Freshman laurels as a rookie, playing in 35 games for Xavier primarily off the bench. The Putnam Science Academy product posted averages of 4.7 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists.
 
A consensus four star, top-100 recruit out of high school, Claude was rated as the No. 83 overall prospect, No. 11 point guard and No. 2 player in Connecticut by On3.

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The stunning sight of a kangaroo hopping down a busy St. Cloud road made headlines last month and, for the animal sanctuary that took in the wayward marsupial, provided another reminder that ordinary people owning exotic animals is not always easy or wise.

“I blame the internet for people getting a lot of things they probably shouldn’t,” said Kylie Reynolds, deputy director of Amazing Animals, a nonprofit exotic animal sanctuary in Osceola County that helped capture and care for the kangaroo found along Old Hickory Tree Road.

Amazing Animals was founded 15 years ago as a reptile rescue due to the “big need” in Florida to take in the slithering ex-pets, she said. Now the nonprofit has more than 100 animals and takes in all kinds of exotic wildlife — most of them former pets.

On May 5, the sanctuary got a call about a kangaroo hopping down the road in St. Cloud and helped corner him in some bushes. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission was able to chemically immobilize the animal and then the male kangaroo — which the rescue named Hickory after the road where he was found — was transported to Amazing Animals, where he spent the next 10 days.

The kangaroo’s owner Bryan Steven Castro Rendon, 27, told FWC officials his friend forgot to close the door of the animal’s enclosure after feeding him on May 5, the day he escaped, records show. Rendon told the agency he acquired the kangaroo in New York about a month earlier.

FWC charged Rendon with second-degree misdemeanors related to the kangaroo’s escape and his failure to have proper state permits. He also was issued a warning for having an enclosure that was too small with fencing that was too low.

Rendon was allowed to take custody of the kangaroo again on May 15 only after getting a bigger enclosure with a double-door entry system and surrounded by an 8-foot tall wire fence, which the FWC inspected, records show.

Reached by phone, Rendon hung up without commenting.

Burmese pythons, an invasive species creating trouble in South Florida, may be the state’s most problematic exotic pet. The snakes were first introduced via that trade in the 1970s and then released into the wild by owners who no longer wanted them.

Amazing Animals, which started with snakes, still handles a lot of reptiles.

“We get a lot of calls for pythons and bearded dragons, and they’re just a little bit more work than people think,” Reynolds said. “A lot of times they’ll get bigger and live a long time and have lots of specialized care that people either can’t keep up with or don’t want to because they’re busy … and then realize it’s a lot more work than what they anticipated.”

The sanctuary also has two bobcats, six sloths, lemurs, capybaras, a caracal, a Geoffroy’s cat, birds of prey — and three kangaroos. Rufus, Amazing Animals’ resident male Red Kangaroo, was taken in after another animal sanctuary closed, and then the center brought in two baby kangaroos from another facility to keep him company.

The FWC regulates exotic pets and would-be owners must get permits, which can cost as much as $140 annually and require a log documenting hours of experience with the animal.

Across the state there are 918 active exotic pet licenses, data from FWC shows, and 91 of them are in Central Florida. The types of animals vary, but monkeys, skunks, racoons and crocodiles are the most common, the data shows.

When the kangaroo was found in St. Cloud, Reynolds’ group knew to try to keep the animal calm.

“They are very sensitive animals so they can, if you’re chasing them, they can drop from a heart attack, overheat or stress out,” Reynolds said.

Workers at Amazing Animals also moved other animals around their facility to give the new kangaroo a well-secured enclosure so he wouldn’t escape again, she added.

Would-be owners of exotic animals should ensure they understand state requirements, diet and veterinary needs before purchasing, Reynolds said.

“Doing your research is super important … for the well being of the animal and for you to be able to know what you’re actually getting into.”

Amazing Animals, located in St. Cloud on Rambler Avenue, is a private facility but does conduct tours that can be booked online. The hour-and-a-half tours cost $300 or more depending on group size.

Since Friday night’s approval of the transformative House v. NCAA settlement formally ushered revenue-sharing across college athletics, there’s been plenty of confusion around how that process will ultimately be implemented. Even among college power brokers, especially those outside the Power conferences.

That’s where the new College Sports Commission and its newly-appointed CEO Bryan Seeley come into play. The College Sports Commission is the new independent enforcement arm that will implement the settlement’s terms and regulate revenue-sharing, third-party NIL deals and roster limits. The Commission will also regulate rules and investigate any potential violations, participate in an arbitration process once violations are discovered by the new NIL Go clearinghouse from Deloitte, and dole out any necessary punishments from an array of predetermined penalites.

Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne provided key insight into the benefits of the new College Sports Commission during an appearance on Tuesday’s episode of McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning with Birmingham, Ala.-based co-hosts Greg McElroy and Cole Cubelic.

“Nothing lasts long-term that doesn’t have some type of regulation, and the steps that have been taken by the House settlement gives an opportunity for us to have a regulated market,” Byrne said Tuesday. “The College Sports Commission is going to be overseeing that, and basically any NIL deal for a young man or young woman that’s over $600 is going to have to go through the (NIL Go) clearinghouse that Deloitte put together.

“They have a formula that basically will say ‘yeah, this thing passes the smell test or no, this thing doesn’t.’ The formula is not going to be released because everybody will try to figure out how to get around it if it’s released,” Byrne continued. “So young men and young women that have legitimate opportunities for name, image and likeness deals will be able to submit those, and if they pass – and private donations ones are going to struggle on that side – but legitimate business opportunities will be OK. Now you’re not going to get a half-million dollars for showing up at an ice cream shop and putting it out on Instagram anymore.”

Greg Byrne on College Sports Commission: ‘It’s not perfect, but it’s a heck of a lot better than where we were’

Along with regulating NIL deals, the CSC will help schools properly implement revenue-sharing. Beginning July 1, Power conference schools — and non-Power conference programs that opted into the settlement by Sunday — will be able to share as much as $20.5 million with athletes, with football expected to receive approximately 75%, followed by men’s basketball (15%), women’s basketball (5%) and the remainder of sports (5%). The amount shared in revenue will increase annually.

Power Four football programs are expected to have an additional $13-16 million to spend on rosters beginning with the 2025 season. Many schools have front-loaded contracts ahead of the settlement’s approval, allowing them to skirt the new rules and take advantage of contracts were not vetted by the newly-formed Deloitte clearinghouse NIL Go.

While there has been some detractors of the new College Sports Commission, especially given some uncertainty with the still-yet-to-be-finalized details regarding how it will implement the new rules, Byrne is confident it’s the best available solution to all that’s been ailing college athletics in the day-and-age of NIL and the NCAA Transfer Portal.

“From listening to football coaches in the SEC, my peers at the other SEC institutions, there is a real desire to make this work,” Byrne added. “And there is arbitration on things that we wouldn’t be able to arbitrate before, so that’ll give both sides an opportunity to be heard when there are challenges that arise. It’s not perfect, but it’s a heck of a lot better than where we were.”

— On3’s Pete Nakos contributed to this report.

AI-assisted summary
• Bay County’s top male spring athletes are nominated for the 2025 News Herald Spring Athlete of the Year.
• Nominees represent various sports including weightlifting, soccer, baseball, track, and tennis.
• Achievements range from state championships and player of the year awards to impressive statistical performances.
• Public voting is open until noon on Friday to determine the winner.

The spring sports season is complete and Bay County boasted state champions, players of the year and record breakers through the seaosn. Now it is time to let the public decide which male athlete overall is their 2025 News Herald Spring Athlete of the Year.

Athletes nominated were chosen based on their statistics and accomplishments in 2025. Winter sport athletes will be included because of their seasons ending in 2025. Voting will be open until noon Friday, June 13.

Evan Earnest, Bozeman weightliftingEarnest closed out his high school weightlifting career in dominant fashion, winning gold medals in both the Olympic and Traditional lifts at the FHSAA State Championships.Travis Novak, Arnold soccerNovak led the state champions in scoring, finishing the season with 16 goals and nine assists. The most important may have been his last goal, as it was the equalizer against Jesuit in the state title game.Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.

Cooper Moss, Arnold baseball

The Class 4A Player of the Year posted a 7-2 record with a 0.63 ERA and racked up 141 strikeouts over 78 innings pitched. At the plate, he hit .390 with 39 hits, 23 runs, 23 RBIs and three home runs.

Thomas Galicia, Arnold soccer

Galicia was the Class 5A soccer Player of the Year with a stellar season, finishing with 26 goal contributions. The senior scored 15 goals and totaled 11 assists.

Lincoln Guynn, Arnold soccer

Guynn recorded 116 saves and posted ten shutout victories. In the state championship, he made a save that was crucial in the 1-1 (4-3) victory over Jesuit.

Richard Brown, Arnold track

Richard Brown dominated the Bay County championship, winning the 100-meter, 200, 400 and 400-meter hurdles. He claimed a district title in the 400 hurdles and finished runner-up in the event at the regional meet. Brown capped his season with a fourth-place finish in the 400 hurdles at the state meet.

Tyler Murzyn, North Bay Haven track

Murzyn claimed the Bay County titles in both discus and shot put, then repeated as champion in both events at districts. He went on to win the Class 2A regional title in discus and placed second in shot put. Murzyn capped his season at state with a fifth-place finish in discus and sixth in shot put.

Pherson Gant, North Bay Haven tennis

The senior posted a 7-2 record in singles play and finished with a 13-6 overall mark, including doubles competition. Alongside teammate Nicolas Silva, he captured the district doubles title and helped lead North Bay Haven to a regional championship.

Banji Bamidele is a sports reporter for the Panama City News Herald. He can be reached at abamidele@gannett.com or through X, formerly known as Twitter, @AdebanjiBamide1.

Hunter Higgins has been on KU’s campus more times than he can count since his recruitment took off as an underclassman. So, his official visit this past weekend had a bit of a different feel compared to other players who might’ve been on campus for the first or second time.

While an official visit typically focuses on showcasing the program, its direction and what it has to offer, Higgins and the dozen other committed Jayhawks on campus all knew about the bells and whistles. They’ve seen the vision for the future and have committed to it. So, the official visit was about bonding and learning from their peers.

As Higgins explained, his favorite memory from the visit came on Saturday afternoon, when all of the visitors and some current players were at Lance Leipold’s house for some afternoon activities.