College Sports
Messiah Hampton college decision: New York’s top football recruit makes his pick today
Syracuse, N.Y. — The top football recruit in New York is set to announce his commitment on Friday, and Syracuse is among the small number of schools Messiah Hampton is considering. Hampton is the star of James Monroe in Rochester and will announce his commitment in front of coaches, teammates, family and reporters at Monroe […]

Syracuse, N.Y. — The top football recruit in New York is set to announce his commitment on Friday, and Syracuse is among the small number of schools Messiah Hampton is considering.
Hampton is the star of James Monroe in Rochester and will announce his commitment in front of coaches, teammates, family and reporters at Monroe around noon Friday.
Syracuse.com will be in attendance and have news coverage from Rochester on Friday afternoon.
Hampton, a four-star prospect and one of the top-ranked receivers in the country, is one of two highly touted wide receivers the Orange is targeting in the Class of 2026.
Miami Northwestern’s five-star prospect, Calvin Russell, is set to commit in early July.
The Orange is competing with Oregon, Penn State, Georgia, Miami, Ohio State and Michigan for Hampton, the player in their backyard.
As Hampton’s commitment nears, experts who have tracked his recruitment believe it’s a two-horse race between Syracuse and Oregon.
The Ducks wide receivers coach Ross Douglas Sr. left Syracuse in February. Prior to his departure, he was the primary recruiter for Hampton. Now, he is trying to lure Hampton to the Pacific Northwest.
Syracuse currently has the 23rd-ranked recruiting class in 2026, according to 247Sports. Hampton would be the top-rated player in the Orange’s class.
Among the 22 schools ranked ahead of the Orange, six are from the ACC — including second-year programs Southern Methodist, California and Stanford.
If Hampton commits, the Orange will have five, four-star recruits committed to its 2026 class, ranking third in the conference behind Miami and Clemson.
Recruits can formally sign with a school in December.
Oregon was Hampton’s final visit before his commitment date, flying him out four days after his visit with Syracuse last week.
College Sports
Livvy Dunne calls out New York Times for 2022 ‘Sex Sells’ headline, recalls aftemath
Back in 2022, the New York Times put together an article about the new NIL era in college athletics. LSU gymnast Livvy Dunne was a part of the story, with a picture of her being used. The headline ended with the two words “Sex Sells” and it’s something Dunne has been critical of ever since. […]

Back in 2022, the New York Times put together an article about the new NIL era in college athletics. LSU gymnast Livvy Dunne was a part of the story, with a picture of her being used. The headline ended with the two words “Sex Sells” and it’s something Dunne has been critical of ever since.
She expanded on the topic recently when appearing on the What’s Your Story? podcast. Dunne explained the process of how the New York Times went about a photoshoot. Nothing different than what she would normally wear as a gymnast.
“They came to our gymnastics facility at LSU, took pictures of me,” Dunne said via What’s Your Story? “They said, ‘wear your team-issued attire, put on a leotard,’ and they took a picture of me standing in front of the beam, like any gymnast would, and then they blew it up on the screen and put the headline, ‘Sex Sells.’
“Okay, well, you just came into the facility and took pictures of me in our team-issued attire and blew it up on a screen… So I was like, ‘okay, well, this is crazy.’ And there was obviously a lot of backlash to the New York Times because of that.”
Dunne has been one of the faces of NIL since college athletes were allowed to be paid. Not many athletes out there have built a bigger brand for themselves in that time. The portfolio expands well outside gymnastics too, as Dunne partners with a large number of brands out there.
This is not the first time Dunne has called out this specific article, either. Once describing it as “BS,” Dunne knew something was off from the very beginning while being interviewed.
“The interviewer called me and he was asking me very odd questions,” Dunne said in 2023 on the FULL SEND PODCAST. “It was worded quite weird. He was like, ‘So, how does it feel to be a small petite blonde gymnast doing so well with NIL?’ I was just like, ‘Why does it matter that I’m petite and blonde?’ You can just ask me about NIL without you having to use these weird ways of saying it.”
Dunne has since run out of eligibility, ending her gymnastics career. Her affinity for LSU has not changed though, most recently cheering on the Tigers in Omaha as Jay Johnson led them to another national championship.
College Sports
Blake Wheeler, Who Once Ruptured A Testicle, Officially Retires After 16 NHL Seasons
Right-winger had his best years in Winnipeg, including a pair of back-to-back 91-point seasons PublishedJuly 19, 2025 6:39 PM EDT•UpdatedJuly 19, 2025 6:39 PM EDT Facebook Twitter Email Copy Link He didn’t sign with an NHL team last season, so there was speculation that he may be hanging them up, but not former Winnipeg Jets […]

Right-winger had his best years in Winnipeg, including a pair of back-to-back 91-point seasons
He didn’t sign with an NHL team last season, so there was speculation that he may be hanging them up, but not former Winnipeg Jets captain Blake Wheeler is making it official: he’s retiring.
Wheeler appeared on an episode of the radio show Jets at Noon this week and revealed that he had decided to call it a career after 16 NHL seasons and 1,172 games played.
“More or less, right after last year knew I was all done,” Wheeler said, per Global News. “I just haven’t felt like a rush to make a formal announcement or anything. But yeah, after my injury and kinda the way things ended last year, I just didn’t have anything left in the tank for it. So yeah, I was at peace with it almost immediately after last year, and yeah, I’m just enjoying being a dad and kinda slowing things down a little bit, and being around my family.”
Wheeler, a native of Plymouth, Minn., played for the Green Bay Gamblers of the USHL and then played college hockey for the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
Despite being selected by the Phoenix Coyotes in the 2004 NHL Draft, Wheeler signed with the Boston Bruins as a free agent in 2008. In 2011, he was traded to the Atlanta Thrashers and played the tail end of their season before the team moved to Winnipeg.

After 16 NHL seasons, Blake Wheeler has officially announced his retirement. (Photo by Andreea Cardani/NHLI via Getty Images)
Wheeler had his best years in Winnipeg, including a pair of back-to-back 91-point seasons, and was named the team’s captain for the 2016-17 season.
In 2023, he signed with the New York Rangers, but missed a chunk of the season with a leg injury. He appeared in one game for the Blueshirts during the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, which proved to be his final NHL game.
Congrats to Wheeler on a heck of a career. I think he’s going to go down as one of the most underrated Americna-born players. He was on the 2014 Olympic team and was a Hockey Guy’s Hockey Guy.
I mean, who could forget when he ruptured a testicle and stayed in the game?
Now that’s peak Hockey Guy-ism.
College Sports
NHL all-time record scorer Ovechkin calls for Russian return to global sports | National News
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College Sports
Two ASU Future Commits Invited to USA Hockey Camp
Don’t let anyone tell you that hockey doesn’t belong in the desert, because Tempe, Arizona is quickly becoming a hotbed. Shortly after getting its first-ever first-round draft pick in Cullen Potter, the Sun Devils keep piling up the high-end commits. This time, two ASU commits were invited to USA Hockey’s Selection Camp for the Hlinka […]

Don’t let anyone tell you that hockey doesn’t belong in the desert, because Tempe, Arizona is quickly becoming a hotbed.
Shortly after getting its first-ever first-round draft pick in Cullen Potter, the Sun Devils keep piling up the high-end commits.
This time, two ASU commits were invited to USA Hockey’s Selection Camp for the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, which occurs every summer.
It’s a prestigious tournament that features the world’s most talented players under the age of 18, and some of the biggest names in the NHL have participated in it over the decades.
Ben Kevan, an ASU commit and second-round NHL Draft pick, participated in last year’s Cup.
This season, defenseman Henry Chmiel, who boasts a large frame for someone his age, will take the ice.
At just 17 years old, he stands 6 feet tall and weighs 212 pounds.
He’s coming off an exceptional career at Shattuck St. Mary’s, a program that’s developed high-end NHL players for years.
This past season at Shattuck, he posted five goals and 20 assists in 55 games.
Chmiel is expected to spend next season in the USHL with the Des Moines Buccaneers, who selected him in the fourth round of the 2024 USHL Futures Draft.
Continuing the trend of young, big-bodied skaters, Jimmy Egan will also be participating.
Currently, Egan stands at 6-foot-2, 187 pounds, and he’ll be playing for the Brandon Wheat Kings of the Western Hockey League next season.
As part of the NCAA-CHL agreement, players are allowed to start their careers in major junior before transitioning to the college ranks.
It’s the perfect trajectory for a young player, especially someone who’s dominated practically everywhere he’s played.
This past season, Egan tore up the U16 AAA ranks with Sioux Falls Power, racking up 45 points in 26 games.
Once Sioux Falls’ season ended, he suited up for three games with the Omaha Lancers of the USHL, though he didn’t score.
Granted, the Lancers were the worst team in the league by far, and Egan’s chances of succeeding were slim.
That’s why, after the season, he committed to playing in Brandon for the 2025-26 campaign before making the jump to college.
It’s a new day for Arizona State hockey, and it’s become a destination for young players who not only want to enjoy the desert weather but also get a high-end education and develop into NHL players.
When you walk through the desert, that’s not a mirage you’re seeing — that’s an ice rink. And it’s leading you to a program that’s building a perennial contender for years to come.
Please follow us on X when you click right here and let us know you’re thoughts on ASU hockey!
College Sports
Livvy Dunne calls out New York Times over infamous ‘Sex Sells’ headline
In November 2022, The New York Times published a story, “New Endorsements for College Athletes Resurface an Old Concern: Sex Sells.” The article concerned the growth of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) in women’s college sports and how some female college athletes, based on their large social media followings and conventional attractiveness, were being rewarded […]

In November 2022, The New York Times published a story, “New Endorsements for College Athletes Resurface an Old Concern: Sex Sells.” The article concerned the growth of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) in women’s college sports and how some female college athletes, based on their large social media followings and conventional attractiveness, were being rewarded for “traditional feminine desirability over athletic excellence.”
The lead image of the article was of LSU gymnast Olivia “Livvy” Dunne, wearing her gymnastics leotard while standing behind a balance beam. With a massive social media following and millions in NIL money, Dunne had become the face of this new era. And the placement of “Sex Sells” in the headline next to her photo was hard not to notice.
“…the new flood of money — and the way many female athletes are attaining it — troubles some who have fought for equitable treatment in women’s sports and say that it rewards traditional feminine desirability over athletic excellence,” wrote reporter Kurt Streeter. “And while the female athletes I spoke to said they were consciously deciding whether to play up or down their sexuality, some observers say that the market is dictating that choice.”
Dunne, who has previously criticized the story and its presentation to her, expressed similar thoughts during a recent appearance on What’s Your Story? podcast.
“They came to our gymnastics facility at LSU, took pictures of me. They said, ‘wear your team-issued attire, put on a leotard,’ and they took a picture of me standing in front of the beam, like any gymnast would, and then they blew it up on the screen and put the headline, ‘Sex Sells,’” Dunne said. “Okay, well, you just came into the facility and took pictures of me in our team-issued attire and blew it up on a screen… So I was like, ‘okay, well, this is crazy.’ And there was obviously a lot of backlash to the New York Times because of that.”
The former LSU gymnast also shared that after mocking the Times on social media, that led to Sports Illustrated reaching out and offering her a spot in their swimsuit edition.
“I decided I was going to put that same picture that they posted and captioned ‘sex sells’ on my Instagram story and write ‘@The New York Times, is this too much?’ Because, come on, you know what you’re doing. You just put a picture of me in a leotard for clicks and then caption it ‘sex sells,” Dunne said.
“And then people loved that. They were like this is so great because no, it’s not too much. You’re in your team-issued attire, which is a leotard for gymnasts. There was a lot of positive feedback from that. So, Sports Illustrated reached out to my agent. I was so excited about that. That was always a dream of mine. There’s some legends and some amazing athletes that have been in Sports Illustrated.”
These comments echo comments she made in 2023 on the Full Send Podcast, when she called the article “BS,” and claimed the reporter asked her “weird” and “odd” questions.
“It was complete BS. I mean, they called me on the phone in November and they told me that they were going to write about my accomplishments and stuff, and I was like, ‘OK, for sure. That’s awesome. The New York Times. That’s huge,’” she said.
“The interviewer called me and he was asking me very odd questions. It was worded quite weird,” she explained. “He was like, ‘So, how does it feel to be a small petite blonde gymnast doing so well with NIL.’ I was just like, ‘Why does it matter that I’m petite and blonde?’ You can just ask me about NIL without you having to use these weird ways of saying it.”
Dunne also made several videos in response to the New York Times article after it was published.
College Sports
Big inning allows Huskies to rally for win – Duluth News Tribune
LA CROSSE — The Duluth Huskies used an eight-run sixth inning to turn around their game at the La Crosse Loggers and eventually win it 10-9 on Friday night. The Huskies were down 7-2 through five innings before their breakout, which began with four straight hits, including a two-run triple from Nate Novitske. Novitske came […]

LA CROSSE — The Duluth Huskies used an eight-run sixth inning to turn around their game at the La Crosse Loggers and eventually win it 10-9 on Friday night.
The Huskies were down 7-2 through five innings before their breakout, which began with four straight hits, including a two-run triple from Nate Novitske. Novitske came in on an RBI groundout to make it a one-run game. Trey Craig’s two-run double gave the Huskies the lead and Nate Vargas followed with a two-run homer.
The Loggers pulled a run back in the bottom half of the inning and closed to within one in the eighth, but Huskies closer Danny Hesse worked around a leadoff single to finish off the win.
Vargas led the Huskies, going 3-for-4. He also homered in the second inning. Noah Furcht and Jake Downing recorded two hits apiece.
Proctor native Nick Terhaar allowed two runs on three hits in the fifth inning but was the pitcher of record when the Huskies rallied and earned the win.
Duluth (12-4 second half) will face the Loggers in La Crosse again on Saturday.
Our newsroom occasionally reports stories under a byline of “staff.” Often, the “staff” byline is used when rewriting basic news briefs that originate from official sources, such as a city press release about a road closure, and which require little or no reporting. At times, this byline is used when a news story includes numerous authors or when the story is formed by aggregating previously reported news from various sources. If outside sources are used, it is noted within the story.
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