NIL

Ranking the Big Ten MBB teams in the transfer portal

The landscape of college sports is forever changing. The transfer portal is now the norm across the country and especially for teams in a power conference like the Big Ten. This is a ranking of how the conference has done in the transfer portal so far: No. 1: Michigan The Wolverines made a big splash, […]

Published

4 weeks ago

May 9, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Ranking the Big Ten MBB teams in the transfer portal

No. 1: Michigan

The Wolverines made a big splash, landing the top rated player in the transfer portal in UAB’s Yaxel Lendeborg from UAB. Lendeborg is still going through the NBA Draft process to see if he gets any first round interest, but if he doesn’t (which he hasn’t yet), then he’s going to be the top dog on Michigan. Last season with UAB, Lendeborg averaged 17.7 points and 11.4 rebounds per game and was one of the top players in the country last season. The Wolverines also got three four-star caliber players on top of landing Landeborg: center Aday Mara from UCLA, forward Morez Johnson Jr. from Illinois and guard Elliot Cadeau from UNC. Specifically with Mara, he showed flashes at UCLA and with Dusty May’s coaching, he could be in for a huge breakout season. Michigan is looking better than ever despite some of its own transferring out (guards Tre Donaldson and Justin Pippen as well as forward Sam Walters). Don’t be surprised if the Wolverines go back-to-back with a Big Ten Championship in 2025-2026.

No. 2: USC

I’m gonna start off with talking about who USC is losing in the portal this year. Desmond Claude, in his one and only year as a Trojan, led the team in scoring with 15.8 points and tied for first in assists with 4.2 per game. The other player to average 4.2 assists, Saint Thomas, is also in the portal alongside Claude. Both are currently looking for a new team. USC’s second leading scorer from a season ago, Wesley Yates III, is still playing in the Big Ten, just not for the Trojans. On the other hand, Chad Baker-Mazara from Auburn and Rodney Rice from Maryland were the two big splashes made by USC. Baker-Mazara was the second leading scorer behind Naismith College Player of the Year runner-up Johni Broome as the Tigers made it to the Final Four. Rice was the third leading scorer for the Terps behind Derik Queen and Ja’Kobi Gillespie as they made a run to the Sweet 16. Adding onto this transfer class are Jacob Cofie from Virginia and Gabe Dynes from Youngstown State. USC improved despite losing its top end talent from 2024-2025.

No. 3: Drake..I mean Iowa

Iowa hired former Drake head coach Ben McCollum. With that hire came an influx of former Bulldogs who followed their coach to Iowa City. The Hawkeyes added one of the top players in the portal in Drake’s Bennett Stirtz. The 6-foot-4 guard averaged just over 19 points per game on close to 50/40/80 splits. Also from Drake is four players who saw run in the 2025 NCAA Tournament. This includes Drake’s rebounds leader Cam Manyawu. Iowa also landed Robert Morris’s second leading scorer and top rebounder Alvaro Folgueiras and Kansas State’s sharpshooter Brendan Hausen. The Hawkeyes did say goodbye to Pryce Sandfort, Josh Dix, Owen Freeman, Brock Harding and Ladji Dembele, but Ben McCollum has brought over his players and his culture to reshape Iowa basketball into a tournament team.

No. 4: Indiana

Yes, Malik Reneau, Mackenzie Mgbako, Myles Rice and Bryson Tucker among others are no longer with Indiana, but the Hoosiers got a whole bunch of dogs and look to be stronger entering the 2025-2026 season. Tucker DeVries from West Virginia and Lamar Wilkerson from Sam Houston State headline the transfer class for Indiana. DeVries averaged 14.9 points and 4.9 rebounds while shooting 47.3% from three. He did only play in eight games after an injury ended his season early. Wilkerson averaged 20.5 points for the Bearkats last season (11th in the country) and was one of the best three point shooters in the country, making 109 on 44.5% shooting. Davidson’s Reed Bailey, Elon’s Nick Dorn, Troy’s Tayton Conerway and the North Florida duo of Jasai Miles and Josh Harris also headline this transfer group. Indiana got 10 transfers in and all could easily be playing next season.

No. 5: Washington

After finishing last in the Big Ten this past season, Washington has a chance to finish higher up in the conference next year. The Huskies did lose Mekhi Mason and Tyler Harris to the portal, but they more than makeup for those losses with what they gained. USC’s Wesley Yates III is the highlight of this transfer class. Beyond that, the Huskies landed Quimari Peterson from ETSU, Lathan Sommerville from Rutgers, Bryson Tucker from Indiana and Jacob Ognacevic from Lipscomb. Peterson led ETSU in scoring last season, averaging 19.5 points per game and shooting over 40% from three. Sommerville was the third option on a Rutgers team that included likely top-3 picks in Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper. Tucker is entering his sophomore season and showed flashes at Indiana. Ognacevic was Lipscomb’s leading scorer (20.0) and rebounder (8.0) as the Bisons won the ASUN conference to make the NCAA Tournament.

No. 6: Maryland

Maryland did lose a lot of significant contributors in the transfer portal. The main ones being Ja’Kobi Gillespie, Julian Reese and Rodney Rice. However, with Kevin Willard going to coach at Villanova and the Terps bringing in Buzz Williams from Texas A&M, some of Williams’ players followed him to College Park. Pharrel Payne is the highlight of the former Aggies following Williams, plus three others. Outside of the A&M transfers, Maryland got Elijah Saunders of Virginia, David Coit Jr. of Kansas, Myles Rice of Indiana and Isaiah Watts of Washington State.

No. 7: UCLA

There are both pros and cons to UCLA’s transfer class. Starting with the negatives, the Bruins saw Aday Mara, Sebastian Mack and Dylan Andrews along with a few others. Mara, despite only playing 13 minutes per game, was a game wrecker at times and has insane potential. Mack was the third leading scorer for the Bruins and Andrews led them in assists. Now onto the positives: New Mexico’s Donovan Dent is now playing at UCLA. Dent entered the portal after his former head coach Richard Pitino took the coaching job at Xavier. In each of his three seasons at New Mexico, Dent took massive leaps. In his junior season he averaged 20.4 points per game (12th in the country) and scored 21 points in the Lobos’ Round of 64 victory over seven seed Marquette. The Bruins also got Xavier Booker to come play in Los Angeles. Although Booker struggled at Michigan State, he was a five star recruit out of high school in 2023 and might just need a change of scenery. UCLA also landed UMKC’s Jamar Brown and San Diego’s Steven Jamerson to round out its class.

No. 8: Illinois

Despite some major adds overall this season, the Fighting Illini only got two of those additions from the portal while losing some contributing pieces. The most impactful outgoing transfers were Morez Johnson Jr. and Tre White. Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn, Carey Booth and Keaton Kutcher entered the portal as well. Even with some big blows to the roster from the portal alone, Illinois got two ballers. First is Tomislav Ivisic’s twin brother Zvonimir Ivisic from Arkansas. Zvonimir Ivisic averaged 1.9 blocks per game a season ago and was Arkansas’ fifth leading scorer. The other addition from the portal is California’s Andrej Stojakovic, son of NBA legend Peja Stojakovic. Andrej Stojakovic averaged 17.9 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game on 40/30/80 shooting splits. If he is anything like his dad though, he can become a lethal three point shooter.

No. 9: Wisconsin

This is specifically transfer portal rankings, not power rankings. That’s why the loss of John Tonje doesn’t matter here. Wisconsin did very well in the portal this season. None of its top six scorers from 2024-2025 entered the transfer portal or have already transferred. The team’s biggest loss transfer wise is Carter Gilmore, who averaged just 3.9 points per game. On the flip side, the Badgers have brought in Andrew Rohde from Virginia. Rohde was the third leading scorer for the Cavaliers and led them in assists with 4.3 per game. Wisconsin also got Nick Boyd. Boyd played his first three seasons at FAU before transferring to San Diego State for the 2024-2025 season. He led the Aztecs in scoring and in assists. The other big get was Austin Rapp from Portland. The first-year was second on his team in scoring and averaged 1.5 blocks per game. The Badgers also landed Braeden Carrington from Tulsa to round out their transfer class.

No. 10: Minnesota

The Golden Gophers lost their top four scorers to the transfer portal. Dawson Garcia entered with the hope of being granted an extra year of eligibility, while Lu’Cye Patterson, Mike Mitchell Jr. and Femi Odukale are all still awaiting new destinations. On the other hand, new head coach Niko Medved, formerly of Colorado State, has enticed the fourth leading scorer for the Rams to come to Minnesota. Jaylen Crocker-Johnson averaged 9.0 points and 4.4 rebounds per game last season under Medved. Also joining the Gophers is Davidson’s three-point specialist Bobby Durkin, Northern Colorado’s Langston Reynolds, California’s BJ Omot and Western Michigan’s Chansey Willis Jr. among others headed to the Twin Cities.

No. 11: Nebraska

The Cornhuskers brought in a lot of new faces from the transfer portal. It’s headlined by Pryce Sandfort from Iowa, Ugnius Jarusevicius from Central Michigan and Kendall Blue from St. Thomas. Sandfort only averaged 8.8 points per game but shot 40.0% from three. Jarusevicius led the Chippewas in scoring (16.2 points per game) and rebounding (7.3 rebounds per game). Blue was St. Thomas’ second leading scorer and its leading rebounder. Nebraska also didn’t lose much. Only two ‘Huskers entered the portal: Nick Janowski and Gavin Griffiths. Both didn’t have much of an impact in 2024-2025 for Nebraska so transfer portal wise, it’s a solid class.

No. 12: Ohio State

In terms of the transfer portal, the highest scorer for Ohio State that entered was Meechie Johnson Jr. who averaged just 9.1 points per game. Aaron Bradshaw and Sean Stewart also did enter which brings this class down a bit, but the Buckeyes got good returns out of the portal. Seven footer Christoph Tilly from Santa Clara averaged 12.5 points and 4.9 rebounds. Josh Ojianwuna from Baylor started in all 23 games he appeared in before going down with an injury. Before that, Ojianwuna averaged 6.4 rebounds while being on the same team as one of the best rebounders in the country in Norchad Omier. The last big get for the Buckeyes was Wright State’s leading scorer, Brandon Noel. Noel averaged 19.0 points per game on 50/35/70 shooting splits.

No. 13: Oregon

The Ducks didn’t lose too many impact pieces in the portal. Brandon Angel is the headliner of the transfer out group for Oregon as he was its fifth leading scorer and third leading rebounder. In terms of what the Ducks brought in, they chose to bet on younger players and upside. Penn State freshman Miles Goodman and Texas sophomore Devon Pryor haven’t played too much in their college careers. Ohio State sophomore Sean Stewart averaged 5.7 points and 5.8 rebounds for the Buckeyes a season ago in 18.4 minutes per game. Elon junior TK Simpkins is the veteran of this transfer class. Simpkins led the Phoenix in scoring on 16.4 points per game.

No. 14: Michigan State

The Spartans lost three players in the transfer portal. Xavier Booker was never able to find a spot in the rotation in East Lansing. The same went for Gehrig Normand. The big loss for Tom Izzo is Tre Holloman. Holloman was the Spartans’ third leading scorer and was second in assists. Coming in for Izzo is FAU’s leading scorer Kaleb Glenn. Glenn averaged 12.6 points for the Owls as they finished the season 18-16. The other transfer is Samford’s leading scorer Trey Fort. Fort averaged 14.6 points on close to 45/40/75 shooting splits.

No. 15: Northwestern

For Northwestern standards, this class is fantastic. The Patriot League’s 2024-2025 Rookie of the Year Max Green comes to NU, bringing a well-rounded skill set as a 6-foot-6 guard. The ‘Cats also brought in USF’s Jayden Reid, a volume three point shooter who can initiate the offense. Lastly, Northwestern added big man Arrinten Page from Cincinnati to try and fill in at the center position. The ‘Cats didn’t lose much to the portal; just Blake Barkley and Luke Hunger entered and are now with different teams. Because this transfer class has been discussed more in-depth on the site compared to the other Big Ten teams, make sure to check out the other Northwestern transfer portal content!

No. 16: Purdue

Purdue didn’t do much in the portal because it didn’t need to. Myles Colvin and Camden Heide were the main losses, but with Braden Smith and Trey Kauffman-Renn both returning, not much really changed for the Boilermakers. They did bring in Oscar Cluff from South Dakota State. Cluff led the Jackrabbits in scoring and rebounding, averaging a double-double and shooting 63.4% from the field. They also landed North Florida’s third leading scorer Liam Murphy. Murphy shot 42.3% from deep on 7.7 attempts per game.

No. 17: Rutgers

Obviously losing Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper to the draft is a big loss for the Scarlet Knights. That doesn’t change the fact that even without including them, they still don’t have a great transfer class compared to the rest of the Big Ten. Rutgers lost its first, second and fifth leading scorer from a season ago (not including Bailey and Harper) with Lathan Sommerville, Jeremiah Williams and Jordan Derkack either committed elsewhere or still waiting in the portal. They did bring in Baye Fall from Kansas State, Tariq Francis from NJIT and Darren Buchanan from George Washington. Fall has only appeared in 13 career games over his two seasons in college. Francis led NJIT in scoring with 19.2 points per game, but the team only won six games. Buchanan had a better year as a freshman than he did at a sophomore, with his scoring average dropping by five points from his first to second season.

No. 18: Penn State

All Penn State did in the portal was bring in forward Josh Reed from Cincinnati. Reed played over 17 minutes per game last season but scored under five points per game. While his shot volume was low, his shooting percentages weren’t that good. With an increase in volume, Reed may end up blossoming for the Nittany Lions. He’ll likely need to do so too as Puff Johnson and Miles Goodman among others are either in the transfer portal or have already committed elsewhere.

NIL

Lodise Named Finalist for Golden Spikes and Brooks Wallace Award

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida State baseball junior shortstop Alex Lodise has been named a finalist for two major national player of the year accolades, the Golden Spikes Award and Brooks Wallace Award. Awarded annually to the best amateur baseball player in the country by USA Baseball, Lodise is one of three finalists for the […]

Published

7 minutes ago

June 5, 2025

Your Sports Nation

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida State baseball junior shortstop Alex Lodise has been named a finalist for two major national player of the year accolades, the Golden Spikes Award and Brooks Wallace Award.

Awarded annually to the best amateur baseball player in the country by USA Baseball, Lodise is one of three finalists for the Golden Spikes Award. He is one of five Brooks Wallace Award finalists, which is presented to the best shortstop by the College Baseball Foundation.

Lodise is the only ACC player named a finalist for either award.

Fan voting will play a part in the Golden Spikes Award again in 2025. Fans can vote for Lodise at GoldenSpikesAward.com now until June 20. There is no voting limit, and fans are encouraged to vote for Lodise as many times as they’d like every day. Direct short links to share and support Lodise’s campaign is available below.

Vote for Alex Lodise: https://noles.co/GSVoteAlex

Lodise is the 11th FSU player to be named a Golden Spikes Award finalist and first since Buster Posey in 2008, who ultimately won the award. Posey is one of four Seminoles to have won the Golden Spikes Award since it was first presented in 1978, joining Mike Fuentes (1981), Mike Loynd (1986) and JD Drew (1997). Posey also earned the Brooks Wallace Award in 2008. That accolade was first presented in 2004 and recognized the national player of the year from 2004-08 before honoring the top shortstop beginning in 2009.

One of the nation’s most prolific hitters and best defenders, Lodise is having a breakout 2025 campaign while leading the Seminoles to a top-10 national ranking and a second consecutive NCAA Super Regional appearance. The ACC Player of the Year and ACC Defensive Player of the Year, Lodise was recognized as the midseason National Player of the Year and the country’s No. 1-ranked shortstop late in the season. He is a team captain and also was honored as a Dick Howser Trophy Semifinalist.

Lodise is No. 10 in the country in hits (92) and hits per game (1.67), No. 11 in batting average (.405), No 12 in total bases (167) and No. 21 in slugging percentage (.736). He also is second in the ACC in RBI per game (1.22), third in RBI (67), fifth in triples (3) and sixth in home runs (17) and runs per game (1.11). He has scored 61 runs with a .473 on-base percentage, 18 doubles and 26 walks. He is a perfect 6-for-6 in stolen base attempts.

While starting all 55 of FSU’s games at shortstop, Lodise has at least one hit in 46 of those 55 games played, with 30 multi-hit games. He has notched three or more hits in 13 games, which is more than the number of times he has been held hitless (nine) and almost as many games as he has just one hit (16).

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 is one of seven game-winning hits for Lodise in 2025. It was FSU’s first cycle since 2019, the 10th in program history and second to include a grand slam. At the end of the week, Lodise was bestowed with National and ACC Player of the Week honors on April 1.

Away from baseball, Lodise spends time volunteering at a local middle school, where he builds relationships with students, helps them with homework and plays games during recess. He was selected as a member of FSU’s CGS Leadership Academy.

Up next, Lodise and the Seminoles continue their postseason run at the Corvallis Super Regional from June 6-8. No. 9-seeded Florida State travels to No. 8-seeded Oregon State for a best-of-three series. The winner of the Super Regional will advance to the 2025 Men’s College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.

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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NIL

Texas Tech linebacker opens up about how NIL has impacted his life

There’s no question that NIL has had a major impact on today’s college athletes. While the headline-grabbing deals involving private jets and multi-million-dollar contracts often steal the spotlight, for most student-athletes, NIL provides support in much more practical and meaningful ways. When it comes to Texas Tech linebacker Jacob Rodriguez, he says he’s used NIL […]

Published

24 minutes ago

June 5, 2025

Your Sports Nation

When it comes to Texas Tech linebacker Jacob Rodriguez, he says he’s used NIL support from The Matador Club to pay for his wedding and for travel expenses to see his wife, who currently serves in the Army.

“The Matador Club has been one of the greatest things that has happened in my life,” Rodriguez said. “It was a big funder for my wedding and for me to be able to have the life that I have right now. My wife is living in Alabama right now. Being able to see each other as much as we do, not many long-distance people get to do that. I love to play football, and she loves to be in the Army. That’s something that we kind of chose, and as hard as it is, we make it happen. So this is definitely something that has helped us, for sure.”

It’s no secret that The Matador Club has been a driving force behind Texas Tech emerging as an early favorite to win the Big 12 championship. While some reports claim the Red Raiders have invested over $40 million in this year’s roster, that’s simply the cost of competing at the highest level in today’s college football. And while fans can often be turned off by some of the most lucrative NIL deals that garner most of the attention from the media, the reality is that stories and experiences like the one from Rodriguez are far more common.

– Enjoy more Texas Tech coverage on Texas Tech On SI –

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ESPN announces broadcast teams for 2025 NCAA Baseball Super Regionals

ESPN has announced its broadcast teams for the NCAA Super Regionals. The next round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament — and the last step before Omaha — will begin on Friday. All eight best-of-three series will air across ESPN platforms, including on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU. All games will also be available to stream live […]

Published

26 minutes ago

June 5, 2025

Your Sports Nation

ESPN has announced its broadcast teams for the NCAA Super Regionals. The next round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament — and the last step before Omaha — will begin on Friday.

All eight best-of-three series will air across ESPN platforms, including on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU. All games will also be available to stream live on ESPN+. Numerous broadcast teams will be in play for the Super Regionals. Some include ESPN’s top on-air talent.

Below are the commentators calling the various Super Regionals. ESPN’s lead team of three will be in Fayetteville, while all other broadcast teams will have two members.

Super Regional Broadcast Teams

Louisville: Mike Ferrin, Gaby Sanchez
Corvallis: Roxy Bernstein, Devon Travis
Chapel Hill: Eric Frede, Jensen Lewis
Auburn: Roy Philpott, Lance Cormier
Los Angeles: Victor Rojas, Todd Walker
Durham: Clay Matvick, Gregg Olson
Baton Rouge: Dave Neal, Ben McDonald
Fayetteville: Tom Hart, Kyle Peterson, Chris Burke

ESPN provided some brief highlights of the Super Regional action in its press release announcing this weekend’s broadcast teams. Below are some of the most pertinent details.

Per ESPN Baseball Insider Kiley McDaniel, the Super Regional round will feature 14 of the top 40 MLB Draft prospects, including top overall prospect and Florida State ace Jamie Arnold. Other top prospects include left-handers Liam Doyle (Tennessee) and Kade Anderson (LSU), and power-hitting shortstop Aiva Arquette (Oregon State).
Tennessee and Arkansas match up in an intriguing Super Regional filled with a number of the country’s top players, including 2025 Golden Spike Award semifinalists Doyle and Wehiwa Aloy, the star Razorback shortstop.
Despite seven of the top 16 teams being eliminated, college baseball powerhouses remain in the field. Recent MCWS champions playing this weekend include Tennessee (2024), LSU (2023), Oregon State (2018), Coastal Carolina (2016), UCLA (2013) and Arizona (2012).

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North Carolina Basketball Reportedly Has Jaw Dropping New NIL Budget Figure

In today’s current era of Name, Image and Likeness in collegiate sports, programs which are historically successful with large alumni backings and a dedicated administration are able to turn things around quicker than places where that may not be the case. According to a new report, that may be the case right now with the […]

Published

42 minutes ago

June 5, 2025

Your Sports Nation

According to a new report, that may be the case right now with the North Carolina Tar Heels, one of the most iconic brands in all of college basketball.

A report by Inside Carolina states that that UNC’s payroll for its roster this upcoming season has exceeded a mark of $14 million, a number which would be more than triple what was spent on last season’s roster.

The Tar Heels massively underachieved last season and though they were granted a spot in the NCAA Tournament, they were eliminated in the first round after a 23-win season.

Clearly committing to major changes, the program had already hired longtime NBA agent Jim Tanner to be the general manager back in February and better help head coach Hubert Davis to navigate the difficulties of this current era and the chaos it brings.

Spending this kind of money on the roster is part of the investment that bringing in Tanner — who is set to make $850,000 this season — came along with.

Not only did the Tar Heels bring in a top-15 recruiting class from the high school ranks, they also took in four transfers from the portal in order to try to regroup and get things right.

With guys like Jarin Stevenson of Alabama and Henri Veesaar of Arizona, there’s no question a huge chunk of those funds were spent in the portal.

Notably, the high school class is headlined by one of the top players in the nation in big man Caleb Wilson, who is already featured by On3 on their NIL 100 list as the No. 81 highest paid athlete in college athletics.

Davis is headed into his fifth season as the head coach for the Tar Heels and this is not a program that is used to losing.

A massive budget for the upcoming season is only going to bring more pressure upon Davis as he tries to figure out how to turn this ship around.

UNC is making a commitment to getting back to being one of the sport’s premiere programs, and they are putting up the cash to show it.

Kiyan Anthony Talks $1.1M NIL Valuation, Launching Clothing Brand at 16, and Building His …

At just 17 years old, Kiyan Anthony is turning heads—not only with his skills on the basketball court but also with his early ventures into the business world. The son of Hall of Famer Carmelo Anthony and actress La La Anthony, Kiyan holds a Name, Image, and Likeness valuation of $1.1 million, marking him as […]

Published

1 hour ago

June 5, 2025

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He graduated Saturday from Long Island Lutheran High School and is set to follow in his father’s footsteps at Syracuse this fall. Notably, Kiyan launched his own clothing brand at 16, underscoring his sharp entrepreneurial instincts ahead of his collegiate debut.

Carmelo’s Son Kiyan Anthony Makes Waves With $1.1M NIL and Early Entrepreneurial Moves

Kiyan Anthony, son of Basketball Hall of Famer Carmelo Anthony and actress La La Anthony, is quickly emerging as one of the most marketable young athletes in the nation. With a Name, Image and Likeness valuation of $1.1 million, the 17-year-old guard is already outpacing many college stars in the NIL space—and doing it on his own terms.

Off the court, Kiyan is just as driven. At age 16, he co-founded a clothing brand, One Way Clothing, with his friend Jadyn. What began as an “anti-boredom project” has turned into a Harlem-based streetwear company specializing in hoodies, T-shirts and joggers.

The brand’s latest “1617” collection—named for the ages at which Kiyan and Jadyn launched their venture—has taken off, pushing the company into six-figure revenue territory.

Kiyan’s entrepreneurial mindset places him among a new generation of athletes shaping their brands long before reaching college. Speaking on NILOSOPHY, fellow prospect AJ Dybantsa praised the shift.

“I try to advocate for myself, just trying to create my own name and create my own lane,” Dybantsa said. “Instead of being somebody’s son, it’s automatically just me on the front of something just because I’m doing good.”

Kiyan stays locked in his venture stating,

“I’m really locked in on when I’m not on the court so just trying to continue to build it and trying to connect it to me on the court as much as possible like we have a brand deal coming like a collab with Syracuse we trying to do collabs with multiple other brands so just.”

With endorsement deals already in place from brands like PSD Underwear, Nerf, DoorDash and AT&T, Anthony has leveraged his growing influence into tangible results. He understands the importance of balancing his basketball responsibilities with his off-court interests.

“Basketball comes first and everything else comes second,” he said. “My people around me, my mentors, my agents—just doing a great job of putting everything in order and making sure I’m staying focused.”

As he prepares to begin his college career at Syracuse, Anthony will be joined by his cousin, who will help him manage the business side of his growing brand.

“He’s super locked in and invested into what I got going on,” Anthony said. “I’m looking forward to just living out there with him.”

KEEP READING: Is 2025 the Most Anticipated BYU Basketball Season Ever? AJ Dybantsa Hype Reaches New Heights

Kiyan Anthony’s story isn’t just about carrying a legacy—it’s about creating one. As the 36th-ranked prospect in the 2025 ESPN 100, Kiyan has committed to Syracuse University, the same school where his father became a national icon.

College Sports Network has you covered with the latest news, analysis, insights, and trending stories in football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, and baseball!

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FCS coach taking leave to deal with family medical issues

Joe Perri, who played collegiately at Pittsburgh and launched his coaching career with the Panthers, is temporarily stepping away from coaching college football. Defensive line coach at FCS program Elon University since February 2024 and on staff there since 2022, Perri is departing the Phoenix to “take care of a family member and be with […]

Published

1 hour ago

June 5, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Joe Perri, who played collegiately at Pittsburgh and launched his coaching career with the Panthers, is temporarily stepping away from coaching college football.

Defensive line coach at FCS program Elon University since February 2024 and on staff there since 2022, Perri is departing the Phoenix to “take care of a family member and be with his family,” FootballScoop has learned. Perri will step away from Elon for the entirety of the 2025 season.

With vast coaching experience including ACC work both at his alma mater as well as four seasons on staff at Virginia Tech, Perri has been regarded among his peers for his excellent work developing defensive linemen.

The Elon program had heralded Perri for his work with the defensive line, noting in his bio that Elon ranked 13th nationally in sacks per game in 2022 – same as Perri’s arrival on staff — with nearly 3.0 sacks per game. The Phoenix defense was top 20 again in 2023 and averaged two per game in 2024.

Additional stops for Perri have included Western Michigan and Saginaw Valley State, as well as junior college and other posts.

Elon, after an 6-6 season that included a four-game winning streak to close the year under Tony Trisciani, is scheduled to open its season against Duke for a second-straight year. The Phoenix visit the Blue Devils Aug. 28, a Thursday night game that kicks off college football’s first full weekend of games.

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