NIL
South Carolina loses another pitcher to the NCAA transfer portal
Another one bites the dust as the Gamecocks lose yet another talented arm to the NCAA transfer portal. Right-handed pitcher Ryder Garino will be entering the portal as of Tuesday, first reported by On3’s Pete Nakos. The 6-foot-5 freshman appeared in 24.2 innings this season with one start against Davidson. Garino had a 2-0 record, […]


Another one bites the dust as the Gamecocks lose yet another talented arm to the NCAA transfer portal. Right-handed pitcher Ryder Garino will be entering the portal as of Tuesday, first reported by On3’s Pete Nakos.
The 6-foot-5 freshman appeared in 24.2 innings this season with one start against Davidson. Garino had a 2-0 record, earning a 5.84 ERA with 34 strikeouts across 16 appearances.
Garino joins a long list of Gamecocks who are going to be transferring. He’s now the 14th player to enter the portal, which officially opened on Monday, June 2. The portal window will remain open for all players until July 1.
South Carolina baseball transfer portal resources:
Ryder Garino’s South Carolina Bio from GamecocksOnline
PRIOR TO CAROLINA
- Attended Cherry Hill West High School in Cherry Hill Twp., N.J., where he was the New Jersey Pitcher of the Year as a senior in 2024
- Had a 0.39 ERA in 2024, allowing just 27 hits while striking out 94 batters with three earned runs in 53 innings of work
- Threw nine complete games in 2024
- Had a combined 20-2 record at Cherry Hill West
- All-State and All-Conference (2022, ’23, ’24)
- Helped the Lions to a 24-5 record in 2024 with a Joe Hartmann Diamond Classic title and a sectional semifinal appearance
- Struck out 91 batters in 56 innings pitched as a junior in 2023
- Had 70 strikeouts and won five games in 39 innings pitched his sophomore season in 2022
- Was the No. 29 overall player and No. 15 right-handed pitcher in the state of New Jersey in the class of 2024 by Perfect Game
- Perfect Game Preseason All-Northeast Region first team (2024)
PERSONAL
- Born on April 5, 2006
- Son of Sarah Ball Garino and Jim Garino
- Major is undeclared
NIL
Michigan legend Tom Brady on current college athletics landscape: ‘The priorities are a bit messed up’
Former Michigan Wolverines football quarterback Tom Brady went 20-5 as a starter in college, before going on to win seven Super Bowls in the NFL. Having retired following the 2022 season, Brady will undoubtedly be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2028. Brady often credits his career at Michigan for setting up […]

Former Michigan Wolverines football quarterback Tom Brady went 20-5 as a starter in college, before going on to win seven Super Bowls in the NFL. Having retired following the 2022 season, Brady will undoubtedly be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2028.
Brady often credits his career at Michigan for setting up the success he had in the pros. He was buried on the depth chart to start, persevered, earned a starting job but was continued to be pushed, got drafted in the sixth round and learned how to climb the ranks in the NFL, too.
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The 48-year-old joined Fox Sports’ Joel Klatt on ‘Big Noon Conversations,’ discussing, among many other topics, the current landscape of college football and how it relates to his time at Michigan.
The five-time Super Bowl MVP has been vocal about his concerns with how the unlimited transfer rule and NIL are shaping college athletics. He believes today’s youth may be missing out on experiences and lessons that they could benefit from long term.
“You look at your own personal experience with college football and the blessing that college football was for me and how it really propelled me into a successful professional career,” Brady said. “There were so many lessons that I learned in college about competition, about growing up, about responsibility and accountability, about team, about decision-making, about work ethic, about leadership.
“All of those sustainable traits that I learned at Michigan, through not only my doing, my experience, but watching some of the other incredible men that I got to be a part of on that team and teams that I was a part of, for my entire life I can look back on that and be grateful.”
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In college, and subsequently throughout life, Brady faced adversity head on.
“I didn’t go to three different colleges,” the Michigan legend continued. “I didn’t leave college when it seemed like I wasn’t gonna play. I wasn’t at college to do anything other than have a great college experience, to go to school, to have camaraderie with my teammates and to compete at a high level. That’s really where the focus was. And at a young age, that’s where I think the focus needs to be.”
The focus now, Brady implied, is on the money and finding the path of least resistence.
“The commercialization of what’s happened in college sports, I wonder whether many kids these days will learn those sustainable traits that I think are invaluable to their life and life experience,” he said. “Are we doing them a disservice because we’re tempting them with some money in their pocket?
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“It’s very intriguing to get that quick dollar. Look, we had a $400 scholarship check, and it seemed like I was rich. It really did. I’m sure most kids felt like that. We got pizza cards to go to dinner, and we had training table, and it was an amazing experience. We didn’t think about the money.
“These kids are at such young ages. Their frontal lobes aren’t even fully developed yet, and now we’re tempting them with real life, adult situations — and their parents, and now they have agents. I’m sure it’s a very confusing time, and I’m sure a lot of parents are confused, I’m sure a lot of kids are confused.
“But because we’re just talking about money, money, money, money … that’s the only value in college? Is that what we’re saying? To me, the priorities are a bit messed up.”
Would Tom Brady have stayed at Michigan if current rules were in place?
In the past, Brady has discussed how he considered leaving Michigan for California, but decided to stick it out after conversations with head coach Lloyd Carr and athletic counselor Greg Harden, who’d hammer home the point of making the most of his opportunities and not worrying about those he was competing with.
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In those days, a football player would’ve had to sit out a year before becoming eligible at a new school. But if the current rules were in place, he would’ve been able to play right away. Brady was asked if he would’ve stayed at Michigan given the new transfer freedom that current athletes have.
“It’s such a hypothetical situation or question to think about,” the former Michigan quarterback said. “The only thing I could answer is to say that based on what my experience was, I wouldn’t want it any other way than the way that I did it.
“My college experience was very challenging. It was very competitive. The lessons I learned in college — and certainly about competition — those traits transformed my life as a professional. I was ready to compete against anybody, because the competition in college toughened me up so much that I had a self-belief and self-confidence that whatever I was faced with, I could overcome that.
“If we take that away from a young student athlete to say, ‘You know what? I know it’s tough to compete. But you know what we’re gonna do: Before you have to compete, we’re actually going to put you somewhere else so that you don’t have to compete.’ That is absolutely the wrong thing to do to a young child.
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“And I would challenge all the coaches and all the parents, they’re the ones that have to guide these kids. You can’t expect a 17- or 18-year-old to make these great decisions. They’re young. They don’t have life experience. It should be the parents. Be a good parent! Teach your kid the right values! What’s gonna sustain them in their careers over a period of time? Whether it’s football or whether it’s business or whether it’s teaching or law school or medical school or a trade, whatever you want to do.
“You’re gonna have to go through hard things in your life, you’re gonna have to make tough choices. And the value isn’t always about the last dollar. All of these things that are happening in college sports, we’re prioritizing the wrong things. We’re valuing the wrong things.
“I’m not saying it’s not important. It’s one of 10 things that are important. And certainly, to me, it’s not the most important. So when kids do go through that the right way, they’re actually learning the right values. When you have the right values in life, that’s gonna sustain you as you move on through the rest of your life.”
NIL
Mizzou football's hire of Verma
Mizzou football Eliah Drinkwitz has made one thing clear on Missouri’s hire of Gaurav Verma: He is not a general manager. While the GM position is becoming a more prevalent role across other programs and sports — including Tim Fuller for Mizzou men’s basketball — it isn’t something Drinkwitz is currently seeking. Instead, Verma will […]


Mizzou football Eliah Drinkwitz has made one thing clear on Missouri’s hire of Gaurav Verma: He is not a general manager.
While the GM position is becoming a more prevalent role across other programs and sports — including Tim Fuller for Mizzou men’s basketball — it isn’t something Drinkwitz is currently seeking.
Instead, Verma will step into a role as director of football strategy and finance.
“I just want to make it clear: he’s not a GM. … That’s not even kind of what we did,” Drinkwitz said Saturday in a news conference. “It’s really just roster construction; he doesn’t have the ability to fire me.”
Verma will be the business guru of sorts for Missouri, or as Drinkwitz likes to call it, “G-Money.” The idea of his role is navigating the program through revenue sharing and contract management amid the expansion of NIL with the $2.8 billion House settlement.
With plenty of experience under his belt in the finance world, Verma has the credentials to take on such a role.
What is Verma bringing to Mizzou?
Verma received a bachelor’s degree in economics and political science from Johns Hopkins in 2017. He later earned an MBA in finance from MIT in 2023.
Verma’s experience primarily consists of investment banking and data science. However, his most recent position came with the Denver Broncos as a salary cap specialist, per a Mizzou Athletics news release. According to his LinkedIn profile, it was also an administrative role.
Although the NFL salary cap is different than that of college football, Verma seems to be tackling a similar job with Missouri. Now that athletic departments can share up to $20.5 million of revenue with student-athletes, having someone with his background can help ensure the football program’s share is distributed properly.
What Verma provides isn’t going to directly translate on to the field, but he will be an important part of what the Tigers can build in the future.
“With college football evolving rapidly through revenue sharing and strategic roster management, I’m excited to apply my background in finance and the NFL to help Mizzou build sustainably competitive teams on the sport’s biggest stage — the SEC,” Verma said Friday in a news release.
What does the role mean?
Verma is the first-ever director of football strategy and finance at Mizzou, so there isn’t much groundwork to estimate what his impact could look like. However, there are enough details to get an idea.
These following job responsibilities are stated in the news release:
- Roster, scholarship and revenue cap planning
- Talent evaluation and scouting operations
- Recruiting calendar and logistics
- Analytics and recruiting infrastructure
- Compliance, NIL and interdepartmental collaboration
Verma will be reporting directly to Drinkwitz on any matters, while also collaborating with the “recruiting staff, compliance department, athletics administration and Every True Tiger Brands.”
So, what does that all mean?
Unlike Fuller, Verma isn’t expected to handle much of the player and agent relations. His job ultimately comes down to strategic planning for the program’s finances — an area that Drinkwitz can now take less of a responsibility in. The NIL expansion brings a lot of question marks, but he can help answer them.
As Drinkwitz mentioned Saturday, Verma will be able to inform the program on what the contracts of players look like. The third-string running back, a second-year returner and incoming recruits all bring different value, and he can determine what the designated salary for each should look like. In roster building, this should ensure stability and continuity.
As college athletics undergo substantial changes, Verma’s hire puts Mizzou in a position to be ready for them.
NIL
Rick Pitino joins Coach K in calling for ACC-Big East merger
Back in January, Mike Krzyzewski made headlines when he pitched the idea of the ACC and the Big East merging to form a “mega conference” to keep up with the SEC and Big Ten. Another prominent voice has joined him: Rick Pitino. On a podcast with Jon Rothstein, Pitino said that the Big East teaming […]

Back in January, Mike Krzyzewski made headlines when he pitched the idea of the ACC and the Big East merging to form a “mega conference” to keep up with the SEC and Big Ten. Another prominent voice has joined him: Rick Pitino.
On a podcast with Jon Rothstein, Pitino said that the Big East teaming up with the ACC would be “an awesome thing” for college basketball, combining the traditional powers of Duke, North Carolina, and Louisville with the Big East brands of UConn, Villanova, St. John’s, etc. Last season, Pitino brought St. John’s back to prominence in year two, leading the Red Storm to a 31-5 record, including an 18-2 mark in conference play, and the Big East championship.
“In order for the Big East and the ACC to survive this football mania — because a bad college football game will surpass an NBA playoff game as far as viewership is concerned,” Pitino said. “So, if we want to survive basketball-wise with the ACC and the Big East and to preserve the Dukes, the Carolinas, the Louisvilles of the world, and the Big East, combining it into a mega conference would be an awesome thing.”
Awesome, yes, but realistic? Not exactly. Most of the schools in the Big East don’t play football, so it’s hard to see the ACC agreeing to a merger from a financial standpoint. There are also TV rights to consider. Pitino said he would like the Big East to expand to 16-17 teams “yesterday” in order to give each school a natural partner/rival; however, he said the league’s presidents are against expansion because adding more schools would mean distributing more money.
“Unfortunately, outside of Coach K and myself, I don’t think there are a lot of feelings that way,” he said of a potential ACC/Big East merger. “I don’t think the NCAA is very proactive, I don’t think the ACC and the Big East are very proactive. I don’t think they think outside of the box.”
Even at age 72, Pitino is still thinking outside of the box. Later in the conversation with Rothstein, he said coaching “keeps [me] young” and opened up about a recent conversation he had with his son Richard, the head coach at Xavier.
“My son and I, Richard, had a huge discussion the other night. He said, ‘Why would you ever retire?’ And I said, ‘Well, you get on in age.’ He said, ‘Yeah, but what would you do? You suck at golf. What else would you do?’ I said, ‘I’ll go watch you play, Richard, and hopefully see you get to a Final Four. And he said, ‘No, let’s talk seriously.’ I said, ‘No, I agree with you. I don’t know what else I would do.’
“I think the blessing for me is I was two years out of the game, and boy, did I miss it. I can’t do what Jay Wright does. He’s just such a together person; he really is. He’s just great at so many different things. If I’m without basketball, I think I would age considerably.”
One thing is for certain: Pitino being back and good makes college basketball a much more entertaining sport.
NIL
Tom Brady sounds off on what’s wrong with college football
College sports are significantly different from when Tom Brady led the Michigan Wolverines at quarterback in the late 1990s, and the retired seven-time Super Bowl champion is wary of the current landscape of college football in the NIL era. The path that Brady took at Michigan is becoming a rarity in today’s era. He appeared […]

College sports are significantly different from when Tom Brady led the Michigan Wolverines at quarterback in the late 1990s, and the retired seven-time Super Bowl champion is wary of the current landscape of college football in the NIL era.
The path that Brady took at Michigan is becoming a rarity in today’s era. He appeared in only 6 games before getting his first real opportunity as a full-time starter as a junior. Brady went on to start his final two seasons before landing to the New England Patriots with the 199th pick in 2000 NFL Draft.
Fast forward to today, where players, especially quarterbacks, are tempted with lofty NIL packages and playing-time guarantees in the transfer portal. Players are no longer incentivized to develop behind the scenes, waiting their turn for a starting role.
“I wasn’t at college to do anything other than have a great college experience, to go to school, to have camaraderie with my teammates and to compete at a high level,” Brady said on “The Joel Klatt Show.” “That’s really where the focus was, and at a young age, I think the focus needs to be.”
The NCAA doesn’t consider student athletes as employees of their schools, but players are basically professionals. And that has even trickled down to the high school ranks, where recruits are offered revenue-share contracts before playing a snap of college football.
That has created a shift to “messed up” priorities, according to Brady.
“I wonder whether many kids, these days, will learn those sustainable traits that, I think, are invaluable to their life and life experience,” Brady continued. “Are we doing them a disservice because we are tempting them with some money in their pocket? The quick dollar, it’s very intriguing to get that quick dollar. To me, the priorities are a bit messed up.”
NIL
Charlotte student signs historic NIL deal
Bryce Slay, 18, will officially sign one of the first major NIL deals with a national brand for a recent Charlotte high school athlete. Author: wcnc.com Published: 2:23 PM EDT August 11, 2025 Updated: 2:23 PM EDT August 11, 2025 1


Bryce Slay, 18, will officially sign one of the first major NIL deals with a national brand for a recent Charlotte high school athlete.
NIL
Rick Pitino on potential return to Louisville: ‘I would go back in a New York Minute’
Much has been made over the past two or three seasons about a game allowing for a return by Rick Pitino to Louisville. That includes just the past few days with both sides having discussed it publicly with CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein. After Pat Kelsey, the current head coach of the Cardinals, spoke highly of […]

Much has been made over the past two or three seasons about a game allowing for a return by Rick Pitino to Louisville. That includes just the past few days with both sides having discussed it publicly with CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein.
After Pat Kelsey, the current head coach of the Cardinals, spoke highly of him in his interview last week, Pitino then appeared on ‘Inside College Basketball Now’ on Monday and, during that, spoke a bit on where he stands now with his former program in Louisville. He began by explaining that a lot has changed between he and the Cards, with new names in charge and different decisions made, since his departure in 2017.
“Well, I think, I had a lot of problems with the University of Louisville, and there’s certain things I’ll never forgive that they did,” Pitino said. “But that has nothing to do with the president and administration at the University of Louisville because the people that I was upset about are no longer on the Board of Trustees.”
“I wasn’t really upset that they fired me. Anybody can be fired. I’m okay with that. It was the treatment they gave Tom Jurich. But, just recently, they named the street outside of the practice facility to Tom Jurich Way” Pitino continued. “I really don’t care too much about myself. My staff did some things that I did not appreciate and I have no problem with them terminating me at all.”
With that being the case, Pitino has no ill will towards Louisville as their separation reaches nearly a decade long. That’s why, at this point, he too would welcome a return by him back to the KFC Yum! Center.
“All is forgiven, all is forgotten,” said Pitino. “I no longer even think the slightest bit negatively about the University of Louisville and I would go back in a New York Minute. So, everything is forgiven.
Again, this has been a topic since Pitino returned to college basketball back in 2020 at Iona. That’s only picked up the past three years since Pitino became head coach at St. John’s and with Kelsey having taken over at Louisville last year. Both the Red Storm and Cardinals have previously discussed games against one another but, to this point, it just hasn’t worked on their schedules as it remains an option on the table in the future.
Pitino is one of the two best coaches in the history of the program at Louisville, posting a record of 416-143 (.744) while winning ten total conference titles, across three different leagues, with 13 berths into the NCAA Tournament leading to three appearances in the Final Four and a since-vacated national title in 2013. As part of that, the Cardinals also had several wins over four years of his tenure vacated from 2011 to 2015 due to one of a few scandals that took place over his 16 years there, with the last one leading to his firing prior to the start of the season in ’17-’18.
Pitino has already made right with the other notable fanbase in the state, with a game also coming this season against Kentucky in the CBS Sports Classic in December. That leaves just one thing left for him to do as far as the bluegrass goes as a matchup with the Cardinals, specifically one back in Louisville, Kentucky, remains to be determined.
“I’ve got to take responsibility for what happened. But, I also take responsibility for 17 unbelievable years,” said Pitino. “So, great memories, great place.
“And Pat Kelsey is doing, like Mark Pope, an awesome job, an awesome job. I love his enthusiasm. I love what he’s all about as a teacher,” Pitino said. “They’ve got two great coaches in the state of Kentucky – as good as there is in our game.
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