Sports
Wetzel: Standing on the brink of anything-goes NCAA eligibility
For a team to succeed in college athletics, you need a quality coach, top-of-the-line facilities and, at least these days, a new asset: a five-star local judge.
On Friday alone, judges will decide if Alabama basketball can continue playing a 7-footer who spent 2½ seasons, including games last month, in the G League and whether Tennessee football next season will have a 25-year-old quarterback who first enrolled in junior college back in 2019.
The rulings, from courthouses in Tuscaloosa and Knoxville, respectively, are likely to be a “yes,” in part because the NCAA has allowed plenty of inconsistencies in eligibility rulings that allowed precedents to be set.
As for judicial home cooking, that’s anyone’s guess — there’s no truth to rumors that one ruling will be stamped “Roll Tide,” or that the other court plays “Rocky Top” before closing arguments.
The issue for college athletics, as aggressive plaintiff lawyers and coaches desperate to keep up use local courts to blow through once agreed upon statutes, is that this tidal wave is just getting started.
And the NCAA seems to have no plan to stop it.
By not controlling who is or isn’t eligible to play, the NCAA is quickly losing the ability to function as an organizing athletic body. This is far more important than, say, NIL compensation, where well-meaning arguments on all sides exist. This is basic stuff.
You can’t play U8 soccer if you’re 10. You can’t be on a city team in the Little League World Series if your players hail from three states over. You can’t play high school sports if you already graduated. You can’t get drafted into the NFL until three years after high school.
This is no longer about establishing guardrails for college sports. It’s about having an actual road on which to establish the guardrails.
The trend is to get a local judge to offer an injunction that allows a player eligibility, even in violation of clear NCAA rules. The player then competes through the season before dropping the case before it’s even heard.
If that holds, then college football in August will be about grabbing any player with even the slightest argument for eligibility who just got cut from NFL training camps.
Come make seven figures in college ball rather than sit on a practice squad … where maxed-out pay for rookies is $235,000 a year. Come play for us until injuries force an NFL team to bring someone in.
A constantly revolving door between NCAA rosters and the pros, with college coaches mining the NFL waiver wire, sounds far-fetched. A guy playing G League ball one Saturday and SEC ball the next once sounded crazy, too, until Alabama’s Charles Bediako made it a reality last month.
Each new absurd eligibility ruling — junior college years don’t count, being drafted isn’t the same as being in the league, it’s just summer league — begets the next even more absurd ruling. Schools now look to exploit the rules they once wrote because if they don’t, the other guy will.
The NCAA spent decades and millions of dollars on a failed legal strategy to preserve “amateurism.” It was beaten in the Supreme Court, 9-zip.
The past half dozen or so years, it has spent millions more seeking a federal legislative solution. The NCAA hasn’t even gotten a bill to the floor for a vote.
And it won’t any time soon, either, at least not the broad reform it wants. Not only can few people agree on what is needed, their opinions keep changing. Even once hardcore advocate Dabo Swinney, the Clemson football coach, now wonders if the answer is granting athletes employee status and collectively bargaining with them.
Asking Washington to save college sports was always a long shot pursuit. Politicians are about politics, not problem-solving. Consider Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s comment to ESPN’s Dan Murphy last week about employee status and possible union membership for athletes.
“From a political perspective, you have labor union bosses that would love to see every college athlete deemed an employee, made a member of a union and contributing union dues to elect Democrats,” Cruz said.
Cruz is saying the quiet part out loud, namely that Democrats might favor this solution so there are 100,000 new union members whose dues might eventually bolster their elections, which is also why Republicans might oppose it. The merits of the argument, one way or the other, are secondary.
Don’t blame Cruz. This is how a politician probably should think. But it doesn’t help college sports.
The NCAA needs a skinny bill that sets clear eligibility standards — five years starting after your high school graduation, voided if you declare yourself for the pros. No carve outs. No exemptions. No granting an extra year because of some heartrending story — illness or injury doesn’t get you more high school eligibility.
The NCAA needs to present that simple, common sense, bipartisan request to Congress that can’t get bogged down in politics. It should lean on the NFL, NBA and other pro leagues, which have considerable lobbying muscle, to get the bill passed.
The NFL, for example, doesn’t want to have its practice squad offers subject to counterbids from desperate college teams.
“There’s obviously a lot of change going on and a lot of disruption, and they do need to bring some clarity to that,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said this week. “If for some reason we could be helpful with the right people, we would obviously be willing to engage with anybody.
“But I think we try to stay in our lane unless we’re invited in to be part of the solution.”
NCAA president Charlie Baker should extend that invitation immediately.
There are other solutions, say, having the NCAA incorporate to limit legal jurisdictions, creating new rules with severe consequences for schools who play questionable eligibility cases and so on.
The skinny bill is perhaps the simplest way, though, to force a yes or no decision.
If not, these eligibility cases — and the value of those five-star judges — will only continue to grow in importance.
SYDNEY: As Twenty20 cricket competitions explode around the world, Australia’s Big Bash League is struggling to chart a vision for the future, after plans to privatise its franchises stalled.
Cricket Australia chief Todd Greenberg is adamant that outside investment is necessary to shore up the game’s financial future and keep pace with a boom in other well-funded leagues played in a similar time slot.
They include the UAE’s ILT20, South Africa’s SA20, and New Zealand’s privately-backed NZ20 scheduled to start in December 2027, all bidding for the best local and overseas players.
“If those salary caps (of other leagues) are significantly higher than ours over the coming years, and players can earn more in those areas, then players will follow those. That’s a real risk to us,” Greenberg told local media.
“I want to make sure that for Australian cricket, our ambition is to have a league that runs at the key part of the year for us, which is the December-January window, and it’s the best T20 league in the world at that moment in time.
“To do that, we have to have a significant amount of money in our salary caps to attract not only the best players from overseas, but to retain and attract our own best players.”
He added: “The concept of bringing private capital to cricket is inevitable at some point.”
While not a direct competitor as it runs in a different window, the benchmark Indian Premier League has seen massive success thanks to wealthy benefactors, with England’s The Hundred also on a roll after an influx of private capital.
But it is a thorny issue in Australia with an initial proposal to sell stakes in each of BBL’s eight teams stalling last month amid concerns about a loss of control for the game’s local custodians.
While the Victorian, Western Australian and Tasmanian cricket associations voiced support and South Australia said it was open to the idea, New South Wales and Queensland rejected the move.
Queensland Cricket, which controls the Brisbane Heat, said it was worried about player payments skyrocketing to unsustainable levels, and that private owners may not be as invested in the grassroots game.
Cricket NSW, which operates the Sydney Sixers and Sydney Thunder, was similarly concerned that it could be detrimental to how the sport is governed and how local players are produced.
‘Sugar hit’
There are also fears about an Indian takeover, with the most likely buyers seen as the rich IPL team owners who have invested in other short-form competitions around the globe.
Former Australian captain Greg Chappell is in the “No” camp, arguing that the BBL belongs to the states and communities that have built it into a successful and well-attended product.
While acknowledging the commercial realities, he said selling it off was not the answer.
“The moment you introduce private ownership at scale, you introduce a set of priorities that may not always align with the long-term health of the game,” he wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald.
“Private investors, however well-intentioned, answer to shareholders, not to Australian cricket.”
Andrew Jones, a former head of strategy at Cricket Australia who was instrumental in the launch of the BBL, is similarly unconvinced.
“A one-off sale is a sugar hit, not a solution,” he said in The Australian newspaper, arguing that revenues can be better grown through sponsorships, wagering, ticketing, and more focus on commercialising the women’s game.
Despite scepticism, Greenberg remains confident and is now eyeing a hybrid ownership model.
This would allow the BBL franchises keen to sell stakes to do so while allowing those against to maintain complete ownership.
“If we end up not going together at the same time, can we still extract the same level of revenue, and can we extract the same level of value?” he said.
“I think we can, but I’ve got to do the work to satisfy a recommendation that would ultimately go to the members and our board.”
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The New York Knicks took a commanding 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference Finals on Saturday as the franchise eyes its first NBA Finals berth since 1999.
Jalen Brunson scored 30 points to lead New York to a 121-108 win over Cleveland, while Mikal Bridges added 22 as the Knicks never trailed in Game 3.
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The New York Knicks bench reacts during the fourth quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers in game three of the Eastern Conference finals at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, on May 23, 2026. (David Richard/Imagn Images)
New York is the seventh team in NBA history to win at least 10 straight during a postseason run. The last team to do it was the Boston Celtics, who also went on a 10-game run on their way to the 2024 title.
All but one of the Knicks’ wins have been by double digits, with an average margin of victory of 22.5 points.
Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell finished with 23 points in 38 minutes, while teammate James Harden added 21. Cleveland shot 12 of 41 from 3-point range and 12 of 19 from the foul line.
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) drives to the basket against New York Knicks guard Landry Shamet (44) during the first quarter in Game Three of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals at Rocket Arena on May 23, 2026 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
Cleveland rallied and tied it at 50-all on a jumper by Harden before the Knicks countered with a 10-1 run. They went into halftime with a 60-54 advantage.
Music superstar Taylor Swift was courtside for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals on Saturday night alongside fiancé and Ohio native Travis Kelce.
Swift and Kelce, who recently signed a three-year, $54 million contract with the Kansas City Chiefs, took their seats in Rocket Arena shortly before the opening tip.
Singer Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce attend Game Three of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals between the New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, on May 23, 2026. (Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
With the Cavs trailing 91-82 at the end of the third quarter, Kelce and Swift were shown on the arena’s giant scoreboard. Fans cheered wildly as Kelce showed off his team cap and wine-and-gold shirt.
Game 4 is set for Monday night at Rocket Arena in Cleveland. The series will return to Madison Square Garden for Game 5 on Wednesday, if necessary.
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Meanwhile, in the Western Conference, the San Antonio Spurs will host the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 4 on Sunday night. Oklahoma City enters the matchup with a 2-1 series lead.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Sports
NASCAR’s Truck Series and O’Reilly Autoparts Series honor Kyle Busch with moments of silence at Charlotte
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The NASCAR world is paying tribute to Kyle Busch this weekend, and that includes some classy ones from two series in which the late driver had a lot of success.
While Busch — who passed away Thursday after “severe pneumonia [that] progressed into sepsis” — had been a full-time driver in NASCAR’s top series, the Cup Series, for more than 20 years, he still competed occasionally in both the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and the Craftsman Truck Series.
He was especially known for his dominance in the Truck Series, winning 69 of his 184 races, and at one point owned a team. In fact, the final win of Busch’s career came just under a week before his death in a Truck Series race at Dover.
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Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 7 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, is introduced before the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series SpeedyCash.com 250 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas, on May 1, 2026. (James Gilbert/Getty Images)
On Friday, the Truck Series was in Charlotte as part of the Coca-Cola 600 weekend for a race that Busch was supposed to take part in.
NASCAR, RACING WORLD REACTS TO KYLE BUSCH’S SHOCKING DEATH AT 41: ‘CANNOT COMPREHEND THIS NEWS’
Corey Day was in the No. 7 Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports, the truck in which Busch took his final win, and it was set to start on pole after Friday’s qualifying was rained out.
Kyle Busch celebrates the final win of his NASCAR career at Dover Motor Speedway. (Photo by David Hahn/Icon Sportswire)
Before the race was set to begin on Friday evening, teams and fans held a moment of silence for Busch.
Unfortunately, the race never got underway and was postponed until Saturday morning and then again to Saturday night.
The O’Reilly Autoparts Series, which Busch raced in many times and won many times during his career, also took a moment to remember him before their race at Charlotte on Saturday.
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That race was also suspended due to rain.
There will be some heavy hearts on Sunday when the Coca-Cola 600, the NASCAR Cup Series’ longest race of the year, gets started at 6 p.m. ET.
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