Rugby, CWU's lone Division I program, loses varsity sponsorship
Athletic Director, Dennis Francois, and President Jim Wohlpart sent out an email on April 15, stating, “CWU Athletics has decided to discontinue varsity sponsorship of our men’s and women’s rugby programs at the end of the current academic year.” The school will honor the current rugby scholarships for one additional year and plans to help […]
Athletic Director, Dennis Francois, and President Jim Wohlpart sent out an email on April 15, stating, “CWU Athletics has decided to discontinue varsity sponsorship of our men’s and women’s rugby programs at the end of the current academic year.” The school will honor the current rugby scholarships for one additional year and plans to help athletes through the transfer portal process.
Since the creation of both the mens and womens rugby programs at CWU, the women have finished second in the nation twice while the men have consistently been a top-five performing program in the nation.
The program has been the most successful at CWU in terms of producing professional talent, with 12 players being drafted to Major League Rugby and one to the Japanese Top League under head coach Todd Thornley. Both the men and women have had Wildcats represent the USA in rugby.
When the Rugby programs were granted varsity status in 2015, it was done on the condition that they wouldn’t harm the other athletic programs.
Rugby Athletes Initial Thoughts
“Devastating is the best word that a lot of us have used to describe this,” Quaid Hunt, the junior prop said. “I mean, we played our game, we got home, turned in our gear and then the day after we had an informal meeting … Dennis [Francois] was there, he broke the news to the team in pretty short order, not a lot of detail. That was it, it’s all over.”
Fifth year loose forward Philomena Namosimalua spoke on how the team carries themselves and the sisterhood that is being broken up. “We’re a Division I program,
Photo by Nathan Herde
it means a lot when we say that, we rep that with pride. We have been repping Central with pride these past years. It feels very disheartening. I really feel for these girls,” Namosimalua said. “These girls don’t deserve this, and the men’s side doesn’t deserve it either … They are breaking up a family for real. I call these girls my sisters, we’ve been through so much as a team and we lean on one another during hard times. It just sucks to know when we had Central’s back, they didn’t have ours.”
The athletes were caught off guard by the news, going into the meeting unsure of what would come out of it. “We were sat down for a meeting in the second story of the Pav, and we were kind of making jokes beforehand,” Bryn Jones, the freshman scrum-half said. “We didn’t know what the meeting was about. Just no clue, the last thing in everyone’s mind was that rugby would be cut. The second we walked in there, they told us. Everyone just sat there in silence.”
Sophomore prop Macey Dunn shared her reaction to the news as well as the impact it has on the athletes. “It was shocking,” Dunn said. “Since then it has been hard for us to stop crying at this point. Like, that sounds derived, but it’s the reality of it. We’ve been devastated as a team and a community. It is impacting a lot more people in the community, way more than the athletic department realizes.”
“At first, I thought they were joking,” Senior hooker Campbell Robb said. “It came from Dennis and we thought it was just going to be him congratulating us on the season and for the rugby programs making it to the national playoffs … When he got straight to the point and said that we’re cutting both programs, the emotion drained from the room. It was terrible news, people kind of threw their hats on the ground, other people’s faces just dropped.”
CWU alumni Noah Wright, who now plays for the Seattle Rugby Club, looked at both angles of the news. “Looking at it from both perspectives, one as an alumni, but also as an objective observer, is understanding college is a business. College sports are a business and there has to be that idea of cost versus gain,” Wright said. “As an alumni it is really tough to see the program I gave five years to and made so many memories with, made so many long lasting connections through, and now the opportunities that I’ve been given, the joy that I experienced, is now being stripped away from future rugby players.”
Transfer Portal
With many of the CWU Rugby players now having to hit the transfer portal, those athletes must now search for their next university to call home. Although a problem arises of other universities transfer windows being closed already.
“A lot of schools that have opportunities for us have passed the transfer deadline. Being from California, schools like Cal Poly and UCLA, in-state tuition would be a lot easier for us, but this late, I think Cal Poly’s transfer portal ended long ago on Dec. 1. We are way past that,” Jones said. “Now we just have to reach out to coaches and see if we can get an exemption or anything to do with that and just hope for the best.”
Photo by Alistair Hennessey
Dunn plans to transfer to a new university and detailed the struggles of finding a new place to take her talents to. “My plan? My plan is to transfer to another school. Unfortunately, finding out that we have to transfer in the spring has been really difficult because recruitment usually gets done at the beginning of the year, and at that point most of the rosters are set for next year already,” Dunn said. “So to find scholarships and places to play is going to be difficult for every single person trying to transfer. So, I’m hoping I can find a place to go play.”
“I think the way it was handled, and the way they knew this axing of the program was going to happen at the beginning of winter quarter and to not share that with us until now is disgusting,” Robb said. “Now, this has put a huge bump in a lot of peoples’ roads and screwed up their career. So I hope they know that is hanging over their heads.”
Aja Good, a junior center, talked about transferring as an international student as well as how transferring impacts the academic side of her collegiate career. “A bunch of the international students from both programs have set up a meeting next week with our international office at the school to figure out how this will impact our visa, or see how it affects our progress in academics,” Good said. “From the research I’ve done, it looks like a maximum of 60 to 90 credits would be able to transfer. After this quarter, I would have completed 145 credits … I would lose so much progress academically that I would have to do another year or two of school to make up for what I lost transferring.
Effect on the Community
Ellensburg Youth Rugby is a big part of the Ruby community here in Ellensburg with CWU’s mens and womens teams spending plenty of time helping out the youth. Many of those children in the program have dreamed of representing the crimson and black.
“Rugby is an up and coming and growing sport, and it has been for so many years. Our team was really the grassroots for all those young girls who, especially in our community with Ellensburg Youth Rugby, they want to compete at a high level and not have to move far away from home,” Good said. “I chose Central because of the small town culture and how homey it felt and how supportive it felt being in a small town at a great school. Now, it’s almost like my inner childhood dreams have just been crushed and totally disregarded.”
Senior center Rena Tinoisamoa added onto the sisterhood that was built and the impacts that they left on the community. “We all rely on each other, whether that’s physically or mentally, we are always there to have a shoulder for someone to cry on or to just uplift one another. Mens and womens rugby has always made it a point to go support every other team on this campus and cheer our loudest, because we would like that support as well, but really because we are proud to wear Central across our chests,” Tinoisamoa said. “We even go to the local teams, it’s not just for hours, it is to help grow the game in America and to give people someone to look up to. We wanted to leave the jersey better than when we found it, whether that was through our school or through helping the community no matter what.”
“Helping out with the Ellensburg Youth rugby Club, that’s been a part of how we;ve grown as a program. We are trying to develop the next generation of players,” Robb said. “The main guy behind this, Rob Ford, he made this a Division I program way back when, and now he’s trying to develop youth rugby. It’s gonna be sad and I hate to say it, but it’s going to be much harder to keep up and running without CWU Rugby.”
Will CWU’s Rugby Club make a comeback?
With the varsity sponsorship gone, the players who stick around have the option to from a club team, which was the way the program began in the first place. The club would need to present the idea to the student body and if it were to be approved then the team would have to raise their own funds.
Lily Thomas, the junior scrum-half was not fond of the idea of a rugby club. “I mean, I love to see the community grow, but this is a place where we have fostered an environment for elite athletes which belong to a varsity program,” Thomas said. “ These men and women of the program deserve to play for high caliber Division I teams or even National teams. A club is not the fit for the community we have built here.”
Photo by Nevaeh Capetillo
“The whole idea of the rugby club, I think it’s like attempting to put a band-aid over a broken arm or severed limb … The idea of a rugby club,” Hunt said.
Tinoisamoa shared her mixed thoughts on the idea of a club forming. “I think it’s a slap in the face. Especially because so many people worked hard to play Division I Rugby. They put in their blood, sweat and tears, then it was just all swept from under us,” Tinoisamoa said. “But I wouldn’t mind if there was a club. Just because all rugby players want to share the sport with everyone and continue to grow the game.”
Saying goodbye to CWU Rugby
“I want to highlight that the experience at Central Washington University has been one of the greatest experiences of my life without question,” Dunn said. “The athletic training staff has helped me make a full recovery, the coaches gave me opportunities. To not be backed by the institution itself and people that are the faces of the institution, it is heartbreaking because I feel like we represented this university so well.
Robb shared a message to Central Washington University. “To Central Washington, I think you have lost two of the best programs you’ll see in the next couple decades,” Robb said. “We were definitely on the come up, we were very close to winning the national championship this year. It is going to be something you’re going to look back on and majorly regret.”
Tinoisamoa reflected back on her past four years representing the Wildcats. “I am very upset, but I am grateful to be a Wildcat and am forever grateful to be on a varsity rugby team, especially the womens. I’m glad I was able to grow as a player despite what we were given.
“I am grateful that Central did give the opportunity for a rugby team in the first place. We’ve had a varsity team for almost 10 years and people shouldn’t forget that. There have been lots of good players and even more great memories from Central Rugby,” Hunt said. “Just because of this decision, doesn’t mean we can’t cherish those.”
Dave Van Horn couldn’t ask for better out of SEC Tournament week for Hogs
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The Razorbacks got everything they need heading into this week’s SEC Tournament. No distractions For starters, it gets to finally be all about baseball. No tests and no rushing to a computer after a game to submit a project before the midnight deadline. Also, since the tournament is multiple states away, theoretically […]
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The Razorbacks got everything they need heading into this week’s SEC Tournament.
No distractions
For starters, it gets to finally be all about baseball. No tests and no rushing to a computer after a game to submit a project before the midnight deadline.
Also, since the tournament is multiple states away, theoretically there is no pressure to find ways to spend time with girlfriends and make them happy, nor buddies trying to convince them to hang out until 2 a.m.
Regular work week
Also, since the Hogs took care of business against Tennessee this past weekend, there is minimal disruption to the typical weekly baseball routine. Arkansas can stick to its normal practice schedule, plus take in a few games, before settling in to play a typical Friday through Sunday series schedule.
Razorbacks coach Dave Van Horn isn’t having to sort out how to unnaturally stretch his pitching staff or figure out when to rest his catcher. He gets to plan things like any other SEC series.
If the Razorbacks play their cards right, Van Horn wouldn’t have to deal with such stress on himself and his pitching rotation until the College World Series in Omaha. Avoiding that kind of strain so late into a potential national title run is priceless.
No need to stress
The big thing is there’s no pressure on Arkansas this week. If the Hogs win Friday, then that’s great.
It keeps them in a natural rhythm. If they don’t, well, the right to host a super regional is already theoretically locked up and there isn’t a team that will be in the SEC quarterfinals bad enough to change that by beating the Razorbacks a single time.
Arkansas faces either Florida, South Carolina or Ole Miss, all of which will have already burned through at least one starter and most likely multiple relievers. The Hogs swept South Carolina, lost 2-of-3 at Florida and opened the SEC slate by taking two out of three against the Rebels.
No Texas unless for championship
Should the Razorbacks win their opener, they likely face LSU for the right to play in the SEC championship game. If all goes as expected, the Longhorns will be there waiting.
Now, it might seem odd to list not playing Texas until the very end as a positive considering how easily the Razorbacks dispatched what was then the nation’s No. 1 team in a much needed sweep in Fayetteville. However, the Longhorns aren’t regular season SEC champions for nothing.
This won’t be a night game in front of a packed house of rabid Arkansas fans. It will be a rather docile atmosphere in the early afternoon on a neutral site with the possibility of the overall No. 1 seed on the line.
There’s no doubt the Razorbacks could make it four in a row, but why waste the pitching capital on the Longhorns unless there’s something on the line?
The real victory
Whether Arkansas makes it there and wins the SEC Tournament is of little consequence.
The real win would be getting back to Fayetteville with no injuries and confidence still intact. If that’s the case, it will have been the perfect business trip for Van Horn and his Hogs.
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David Pollack voices harsh criticism of Jackson Cantwell’s reported NIL deal
Even though it has been a week since five-star offensive tackle Jackson Cantwell announced his commitment to Miami (FL), the discourse surrounding this decision has not slowed down. Georgia football head coach Kirby Smart was one of the first people to indirectly comment on Cantwell’s decision, saying that he would never pay an incoming freshman […]
Even though it has been a week since five-star offensive tackle Jackson Cantwell announced his commitment to Miami (FL), the discourse surrounding this decision has not slowed down.
Make way for the Euro Invasion: Why more international stars are choosing college basketball over the pros
CHICAGO — Vlad Goldin is a trailblazer, of sorts. The Michigan big man, a Voronezh, Russia, native, left his home country almost six years ago to come to the United States to chase his hoop dreams. He didn’t see his parents, Alexander and Lubov, for nearly five years while he jetted from Putnam to Lubbock […]
CHICAGO — Vlad Goldin is a trailblazer, of sorts. The Michigan big man, a Voronezh, Russia, native, left his home country almost six years ago to come to the United States to chase his hoop dreams. He didn’t see his parents, Alexander and Lubov, for nearly five years while he jetted from Putnam to Lubbock to Boca Raton to Ann Arbor.
The allure of college basketball’s bright lights drew Goldin to the United States, but he also believed it was his best chance to parlay that into an opportunity to play in the NBA. That bet proved wise. After a dominant senior season at Michigan, Goldin earned a spot in the 2025 NBA Draft Combine. His professional career is already firmly underway, but it will shift into overdrive in under six weeks when Goldin finds out which NBA franchise he’s suiting up for.
Posted up alone at a table 10 feet to Goldin’s right sits Neoklis Avdalas. The Greek wing, who turned 19 years old in February, offers a bit of a reminder of Goldin’s past and a glimpse at how much things are changing.
Avdalas played well in multiple scrimmages last week in front of NBA decision-makers, but the 6-foot-8 wing is not a lock to get drafted. He’s already taken visits to Baylor and Virginia Tech as he prepares to pivot to college basketball if he doesn’t get a guaranteed contract. Avdalas is not alone. There are a whopping 34 international prospects currently committed to high-major teams, and Avdalas is one of numerous big-name free agents who could be needle-moving additions for a college basketball team in the coming weeks.
There’s a real possibility that the final number of international players at the high-major ranks soars past 40 next season. And that’s not counting mid-major programs, like St. Bonaventure, who has become an attractive destination, too.
“I think it’s great for the sport to mix American athleticism with European minds,” said Florida star Walter Clayton Jr.
The Balkan Brothers
Tomislav Ivisic averaged 13 points and 7.7 rebounds per game in 2024-25.
Getty Images
In a way, Illinois is the face of the new era of international recruiting that Gonzaga used to dominate. Lithuanian star Kasparas Jakucionis was one of the best freshmen guards in the country this past season at Illinois. Instead of wading into the transfer portal market last spring, Illinois targeted Croatian center Tomislav Ivisic out of the Adriatic League to fill its massive frontcourt void. That turned out to be one of the best return-on-investment moves of the entire 2024 roster-building cycle. No Big Ten big man made more 3s than Ivisic (55). Illinois gets him for a second season and he’s also firmly on 2026 NBA Draft radars now.
Win, win, win.
Illinois coach Brad Underwood has ramped it up into overdrive this spring. Illinois landed Serbian point guard Mihailo Petrovic and Montenegrin forward David Mirkovic from the international market this spring. Arkansas transfer Zvonimir Ivisic transferred to Illinois to play with Tomislav, his twin brother. Oh, and that international flair is another big reason why Cal transfer Andrej Stojakovic opted to pick the Illini over North Carolina. Andrej’s father, Peja, is one of the best Serbian hoopers in NBA history.
Illinois trotting out a Petrovic-Stojakovic-Mirkovic-Ivisic-Ivisic lineup is not likely, mostly due to perimeter defensive questions, but it’s not impossible, either, to the chagrin of copy editors everywhere.
“It’s pretty cool to see that Illinois has started recruiting more and more Europeans,” Jakucionis told CBS Sports. “Before me, before Tomislav, it wasn’t a lot of European guys going over to Illinois. That was a bit of a risky decision for me, but I’m really happy I made that choice. They trusted me. I trusted them. Now, you can see their trust in European players.”
Balkan Brad, indeed.
Underwood’s merry band of Balkan Brothers has become a real talking point in college basketball circles, even at the NBA Draft Combine. Auburn All-American Johni Broome joined Goldin in bringing up Illinois’ roster build unprompted. They’re both fascinated by how a European-heavy roster will fare in the Big Ten.
Illinois did not just magically become the kingpin of international recruiting. Illinois assistants Orlando Antigua and Geoff Alexander have racked up serious frequent-flyer miles to make inroads in the global market. Alexander scouted Jakucionis for three years before he suited up in the orange and blue. Antigua had ties to the Ivisic family for years, dating back to when he helped Kentucky land Zvonimir ahead of the 2023-24 campaign.
“It’s been a lot of work, a lot of miles, a lot of stamps on the passport,” Alexander told Illini Inquirer last November. “Just being over there in front of them, being at every event that we’re allowed to and then some more … I treat it like its own AAU circuit, like the EYBL. Just like we evaluate the 16s and 17s and watch them. I think you got to do the same over there.”
Money talks
The money boom in college basketball is behind all of this. Some college teams can pay up to 10 times what European clubs offer. In the early days, international products like Goldin (and Purdue’s Zach Edey) had to finagle ways to legally earn money off Name, Image and Likeness. Having the correct visa was vital and often hard to get.
With pay-for-play here to stay, the top talents from the international scene are flocking to the United States to cash in and follow the blueprint set by Jakucionis, Ivisic, Goldin and BYU’s Egor Demin.
It’s also offered college basketball programs another avenue to build a roster that’s not quite as costly. In the salary-cap age, every dollar matters and some teams have found international recruiting to be a way to thread the needle and tap into a market inefficiency. The A-tier names in the portal, high school ranks and international frontier are commanding serious dough, but there is no discount in the middle class of the transfer portal where a rock-solid, 3-and-D role player can also command over seven figures.
With international recruiting skyrocketing, the money will certainly go up, but most in college basketball circles still believe that it’s still third in the pecking order, cost-wise, for now.
The transfer portal
Traditional high school/prep recruiting
International
Junior College
Division II, III, NAIA
‘The stock rises’
A Frenchman has been the No. 1 overall pick in back-to-back NBA Drafts (Victor Wembanyama and Zaccharie Risacher). That is going to change next month when the Dallas Mavericks select Duke’s Cooper Flagg, barring something cataclysmic. Jakucionis, Demin and Duke big man Khaman Maluach are expected to be the highest-drafted international products in the 2025 NBA Draft.
Twelve months ago in early 2025 lookaheads, that was not the case. Dazzling French point guard Nolan Traore and Spain wing Hugo Gonzalez were regarded as top-10 picks for the 2025 NBA Draft, ahead of Jakucionis and Demin.
Jakucionis took a bit of a risk leaving an opportunity with FC Barcelona to play at Illinois, but he’s seemingly jumped Traore in the pecking order.
BYU paid a hefty buyout (and another steep NIL agreement on top of that) to get Demin, a Russian prodigy, to leave Real Madrid for Provo.
Gonzalez was another BYU target, but he chose to stay at Real Madrid, where he’s struggled to get real playing time for one of the top Euro League clubs. Maybe the flip-flop would have happened regardless, but it’s clear that college basketball helped both Demin and Jakucionis cement themselves as lottery-pick-caliber guards, while the lack of consistent playing time has certainly hurt Gonzalez’s stock.
The top international talents have taken notice of the recent trends.
“The stock rises,” Avdalas says. “Everybody is here in the U.S. can see you play and watch you. It would be a great step for me if I can’t make it (to the NBA) right now. It’s a new thing for Europeans. I looked around and I was like, ‘I want to do it too.’ All the guys from college can make it to the NBA.”
Leaving home is hard and not for everybody. Even with an up-and-down year, Traore is going to be a first-round pick. Maybe he’s not a top-5 pick anymore, but the 6-foot-5 point guard’s appeal and talent are so obvious. Choosing to stay close to family in France instead of playing for Gonzaga, Duke or Alabama was not an egregious decision by any means. Seven-foot-3 Australian center Rocco Zikarsky chose to play for the NBL’s Brisbane Bullets instead of the college route. He’s a candidate to go in the second round.
“I’m a homebody,” Zikarsky told CBS Sports. “I watched the NBL growing up. When that became an option for me, it crept into my mind that I would love to play for a team that I watched growing up. I got to play with Aron Baynes who was one of my idols growing up. That was really special. But the money now is insane at college. The college market is getting blown out. That can set people up for a long time. I think it’s great that internationals are making their way over. Although my preference was the NBL, other guys have other preferences. I think it’s a really positive step for basketball overall.”
But Australians like Florida’s Alex Condon and ex-Kansas wing Johnny Furphy have showcased what’s possible at the college ranks.
That left an imprint on coveted Australian shooting guard Ben Henshall, who was also a strong performer at the NBA Draft Combine. Henshall noted that he’s “locked in” on trying to get drafted, but if he chooses the college route, title contenders like Texas Tech and Florida are hot in pursuit.
“Being in the states, there’s a lot more scouts around,” Henshall says. “I don’t feel like a lot of these guys got to see me in Australia. The money is crazy right now, but it has a lot to do with more exposure here.”
Who’s actually good and who’s next?
The consensus is that college basketball has become the second-best league in the world, behind the NBA, so it’s natural that college basketball roster-building has started to emulate the NBA’s scour-the-globe approach.
Henshall and Avdalas are serious high-major targets, but Italian wing Dame Sarr may be the best free agent on the board right now, right next to the biggest names in the transfer portal like Darrion Williams, PJ Haggerty, Boogie Fland, Jamir Watkins or RJ Luis. Kansas was in pole position for the sleek, 6-foot-8 stud, but when Duke commit Cedric Coward started blowing up at the NBA Draft Combine, coach Jon Scheyer pivoted to make Sarr a massive priority.
Sarr has not made a decision yet, but he’s going to be at a blue blood next year for a reason.
Montenegrin wing Luka Bogavac, who will turn 22 in September, is another major name to know. He could be a significant needle-moving addition for wing-needy teams late in the process. Mario Saint-Supery is a Spanish point guard who is firmly entrenched with Gonzaga. Virginia has its sights set on Thijs De Ridder, a 22-year-old Belgian stud, who could team up with German product Johann Grünloh to give new Cavaliers coach Ryan Odom one of the best frontcourts in the ACC next season.
Those are just the new names to stack on top of a group of international products that will have a serious imprint on college basketball next season.
If Illinois wants to be one of the Big Ten’s best, Mirkovic and Petrovic need to be trusty rotation players, at minimum.
Washington has loaded up in the portal, headlined by USC transfer Wesley Yates III and East Tennessee State stud Quimari Peterson, but German 19-year-old forward Hannes Steinbach will have a major say in whether Danny Sprinkle’s group competes for an at-large bid in Year 2.
Louisville has its sights set on a special 2025-26. It can’t happen without 6-foot-11 big man Sananda Fru being an impact player. The German star will turn 22 in August, so he’s no typical freshman.
“(Fru) is different,” said Penn State big man Yanic Konan Niederhauser, who grew up in Switzerland and played in Germany in 2021-22 before coming over to the U.S. to hoop at Northern Illinois. “I really like his game. I think he’s going to be a big problem for the NCAA.”
None of this is ending any time soon. International clubs, especially in Europe, are scrambling to figure out ways to keep talent close to home, but money talks. The NCAA is scrambling to figure out eligibility red tape. Tomislav Ivisic was ruled a sophomore when he got cleared last summer. Illinois is not expecting Petrovic, who just turned 22, to have four years of eligibility. Fru will very likely not be ruled as a freshman with four years of eligibility.
In a way, dozens of international imports are closer to transfer portal additions than traditional freshmen.
5 international hoopers you need to know
Dame Sarr
Uncommitted
High-flying, two-way wing who will play in the NBA soon.
Neoklis Avdalas
Uncommitted
Sleek 6-foot-8 wing handler who can shoot it and find a role on any roster.
Johann Grunloh
Virginia
Sweet-shooting 7-footer who can protect the rim.
Sananda Fru
Louisville
Mobile big man who offers serious defensive appeal.
Ben Henshall
Uncommitted
Shooting guard with real positional size and a strap.
Goldin must only laugh at the new reality. He certainly was not the first European player to leave home to play college basketball, but the ecosystem that Goldin entered and the college basketball sphere that he is exiting couldn’t be farther apart.
“It’s beautiful,” Goldin says. “It’s exploring basketball. There are different styles of basketball. Illinois is going to have such a different style this year because they have like so many international guys. I think it just makes it better. You can turn on a game and see something you haven’t seen before. I’m all for it. I love it.”
Oregon Ducks Athletics Win Incredible 8th Big Ten Title With Baseball, Track Victorie
The Oregon Ducks wrapped up their first athletic calendar year as a member of the Big Ten Conference. It was a year of transition as Oregon had previously been in the Pac-8/Pac-10/Pac-12 for over a half century. Being in the Big Ten, Oregon faced off against teams all across the country. It made for a […]
The Oregon Ducks wrapped up their first athletic calendar year as a member of the Big Ten Conference. It was a year of transition as Oregon had previously been in the Pac-8/Pac-10/Pac-12 for over a half century.
Being in the Big Ten, Oregon faced off against teams all across the country. It made for a hectic travel schedule but that didn’t seem to phase the Ducks. Oregon finished the year winning eight different Big Ten championships across numerous sports.
Dec 7, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks celebrate defeating the Penn State Nittany Lions to win the Big Ten Championship in the 2024 Big Ten Championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images / Jordan Prather-Imagn Images
The Oregon Ducks finished at the top of the Big Ten in eight sports. Oregon won the Big Ten in football, baseball, softball, men’s indoor track and field, men’s outdoor track and field, women’s indoor track and field, women’s cross country, and women’s golf.
The driving force of what has caused the conference realignment across collegiate sports is football. In Oregon’s first year in the Big Ten, they won the conference title. The Ducks ran the table in the regular season, going a perfect 12-0. This set up a Big Ten championship game with the Penn State Nittany Lions.
Oregon took care of business against Penn State, winning their first Big Ten conference football championship in their first season. The season did not end how Oregon wanted, as after earning the No. 1 spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff, they fell in the quarterfinals to Ohio State at the Rose Bowl.
The season should still be considered a massive success. Additionally, after the season, Oregon had a program record 10 players selected in the 2025 NFL Draft. The Ducks also landed the No. 2 2025 recruiting class according to 247Sports.
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Oregon’s Carter Garate (3) reacts after hitting a grand slam against Iowa during a Big Ten conference baseball game May 15, 2025 at Duane Banks Field in Iowa City, Iowa. / Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
The Oregon Ducks baseball and softball team each won their respective Big Ten championships. The Ducks baseball team clinched the Big Ten title over the weekend in their sweep over the Iowa Hawkeyes. Oregon’s softball team took home the Big Ten title two weeks prior.
Both will look to keep their dreams alive of making the College World Series in the coming days. Oregon softball walked it off over Stanford on Sunday night to secure a spot in the Super Regional. Oregon baseball on the other hand is getting ready to play in the Big Ten tournament .
Oregon’s Pat Vialva, carries the Big Ten Trophy during day three of the Big Ten Outdoor Track and Field Championships on May 18, 2025, at Hayward Field in Eugene. / Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
The Oregon Ducks have established themselves as a premier program in track and field. The Oregon men won the Big Ten title in both indoor and outdoor track and field. The women won the Big Ten in indoor track and field.
Additionally, Oregon’s women’s cross country and golf teams also were able to bring home Big Ten championships. Overall, the Ducks could not have asked for a better first year in this conference.
Talking Zags: NIL is the ‘Wild, Wild West,’ Gonzaga’s challenges, community-driven approach | Gonzaga Men’s Basketball
SPOKANE, Wash. — Former Gonzaga standout guard Derek Raivio is back in Spokane and taking on a key role in the evolving world of college athletics. Raivio, now the general manager of Gonzaga’s NIL collective, joined Dan Dickau on the most recent episode of Talking Zags to discuss how name, image and likeness (NIL) has […]
SPOKANE, Wash. — Former Gonzaga standout guard Derek Raivio is back in Spokane and taking on a key role in the evolving world of college athletics. Raivio, now the general manager of Gonzaga’s NIL collective, joined Dan Dickau on the most recent episode of Talking Zags to discuss how name, image and likeness (NIL) has changed the college sports landscape and how the Zags are navigating it.
“It’s an ever-changing and unique landscape right now,” Raivio said. “The rules seem to change every month. To this point, it’s kind of been the wild, wild West.”
Raivio said his role with the collective focuses on helping current Gonzaga players maximize their NIL value through partnerships with local businesses in Spokane. Unlike some programs nationally, Raivio said Gonzaga’s collective requires athletes to provide services or promotional work in exchange for compensation.
“You can go out around the country and a lot of these businesses and collectives aren’t requiring that. It’s legit pay-for-play,” Raivio said. “We’re doing true NIL deals with local businesses, and for us to stay competitive, we need that.”
The former WCC Co-Player of the Year in 2007 said Gonzaga has made steady progress in the NIL space over the last year and a half, but acknowledged the challenges of operating in an unregulated market where bidding wars have become common.
Dickau noted the difficulties of NIL’s rapid growth, pointing out that without a salary cap like in professional sports, programs often operate in secrecy with little contract transparency.
“There’s part of it where there’s billions of dollars are being made and profited off these kids playing, which I think they’re entitled and should earn some compensation,” Raivio said.
Looking ahead, Raivio said a significant shift is expected on July 1, when a clearinghouse will reportedly begin auditing NIL payments through firms like Deloitte. He hopes this creates a “false salary cap” to restore a sense of parity in college athletics.
“My hope is there’s this cap after July 1 where everything is running through the system,” Raivio said. “Because if you’re a Cooper Flagg, go get your money — you deserve that, your adding value to New Balance or AT&T, but right now, it’s not really like that. Some schools are doing that, but a majority aren’t.”
Raivio also pointed to upcoming revenue-sharing changes in college sports, which will allow universities to distribute up to $20.5 million across their athletic programs, with a significant portion likely headed to football and basketball.
As Gonzaga prepares for the move to a restructured Pac-12 conference, Raivio emphasized the importance of continued NIL growth and local business involvement to keep the Bulldogs nationally competitive.
“We need more involvement, more community, more reach-out with that,” he said. “These local business leaders need to step up and say, ‘Hey, how can we help?’”
Vandy transfer guard Iyana Moore adds to Notre Dame WBB roster rebuild
The substantial roster-rebuilding for Notre Dame women’s basketball coach Niele Ivey continued on Monday with perhaps the most impactful addition to date. Vanderbilt point guard Iyana Moore becomes the fourth player from the transfer portal this offseason to join three holdovers from last season’s ACC co-championship team as well as injured incoming freshman Leah Macy. […]
The substantial roster-rebuilding for Notre Dame women’s basketball coach Niele Ivey continued on Monday with perhaps the most impactful addition to date.
Vanderbilt point guard Iyana Moore becomes the fourth player from the transfer portal this offseason to join three holdovers from last season’s ACC co-championship team as well as injured incoming freshman Leah Macy. Moore announced her decision Monday on her Instagram page.
And if Ivey has her way, the Irish aren’t done yet.
Notre Dame starts summer classes and summer workouts on June 9 with a roster of eight scholarship plates so far.
The 5-foot-8 Moore is ND’s first addition in a little over a month. She joins April transfer signees Milaya Cowles, a 6-3 forward from Wake Forest, Kansas State 6-4 forward Gisela Sanchez, and Duke 5-8 guard Vanessa de Jesus. All of them, including Moore, have just one season of eligibility left.
The ND returnees are two-time All-America guard Hannah Hidalgo, a rising junior, senior guard Cass Prosper and senior guard KK Bransford, who redshirted this past season.
Notre Dame lost five players after last season to expired eligibility and four more to the transfer portal shortly after ND’s NCAA Tournament exit, 71-62 to TCU, in the Sweet 16 round on March 29.
Moore was a double -figures scorer and prolific 3-point shooter in all three of her active seasons with the Commodores. She missed her sophomore season, 2023, with an injury.
This past season, Moore averaged 12.4 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 32 games for a Vanderbilt team that went 22-11 overall, 8-8 in the SEC and reached the NCAA Tournament for the second season in a row.
She is a Milwaukee native and played her high school ball in Murfreesboro, Tenn., at Blackman High.
The deadline to enter the women’s college basketball players was April 23. Players can select schools after the portal window closes, but that was the deadline to submit their names.
All four of Notre Dame’s outgoing transfers found landing spots — second-team All-America guard Olivia Miles to TCU, freshman center Kate Koval to LSU, sophomore guard Emma Risch to Florida State and grad senior forward Kylee Watson to Villanova.
The Irish lost starters Maddy Westbeld, Sonia Citron and Liatu King to expired eligibility, as well as key reserve Liza Karlen and former walk-on Sarah Cernugel.
5 international hoopers you need to know
