Sports
Building men’s college basketball’s version of USA vs. the World
On Feb. 15, the NBA will debut a new All-Star Game format that features three teams in a mini “USA vs. the World” tournament. The rosters are stacked with stars: The USA teams include future Hall of Famers, and the world squad has some of the top international talents in the NBA.
Based on that All-Star tweak, we’ve decided to put together our own “USA vs. the World” teams in college basketball.
The NBA’s international team features players from around the world — and Karl-Anthony Towns, who was born in New Jersey but whose late mother was from the Dominican Republic. He has stated his desire to one day honor her by playing for the Dominican national team in the Olympics.
We’ve used similar criteria to add players to our world team. They either were born in another country, have played for another country’s national team, or have a parent from another country and could qualify to represent that nation one day, even if they’re U.S.-born.
Each team has five starters, eight reserves and two alternates.
Who are you picking in this matchup? Team USA or Team World?
TEAM WORLD
Starters
G Christian Anderson, Texas Tech (Germany)
The Texas Tech star (19.6 PPG, 7.5 APG, 44% from beyond the arc) is the son of a German father and recently played for Germany’s 2025 FIBA U19 World Cup team. In that event, he averaged 17.3 PPG, leading the nation to a silver medal. He could be an All-American this season and represent Germany once again in the 2028 Olympic Summer Games.
G/F AJ Dybantsa, BYU (Jamaica)
The potential No. 1 pick in the upcoming NBA draft was born and raised in Boston, and he has won three gold medals with Team USA in FIBA competition. He also has a connection to Jamaica, where his mother was born. Dybantsa recently launched a relief effort to help the country recover after Hurricane Melissa. He’ll also have a path to represent his mother’s homeland in international competition one day, if he so chooses.
F Nate Ament, Tennessee (Rwanda)
Ament, a 6-foot-10 projected lottery pick, has averaged 25.4 PPG and connected on 50% of his 3-point attempts in Tennessee’s past five games. The Vols are 4-1 during that stretch. He’s on this roster because of his basketball prowess, but also because of his connection to his mother’s home country, Rwanda, where he also organized a basketball camp and charitable effort last summer.
F Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan (Dominican Republic)
Lendeborg is the leader of a Wolverines squad that is ranked first on KenPom. He has made 67% of his shots inside the arc this season. Off the court and on it, he has strong ties to the Dominican Republic, which both his mother and father represented in national competition. Lendeborg has stated a desire to follow in their footsteps and play for the country in future competitions.
C Zuby Ejiofor, St. John’s (Nigeria)
He was born in Texas, but the Big East Preseason Player of the Year moved to Nigeria with his family when he was young before returning to the United States in the sixth grade — and incidentally discovering a love for basketball. Ejiofor, who had 21 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, three blocks and three steals in his team’s win over UConn on Friday, has helped St. John’s win 10 games in a row.
Reserves
G Aden Holloway, Alabama (Canada)
In 2023, Holloway scored 15 points at the Nike Hoop Summit, where he represented Canada. His tie to the country? The Alabama guard’s mother was born in Calgary and raised in Toronto. This season, he’s averaging 17.2 PPG and connecting on 44% of his shots from beyond the arc.
F Thijs De Ridder, Virginia (Belgium)
The standout freshman helped Belgium secure a fourth-place finish in the FIBA U20 European Championship in 2023. At Virginia, De Ridder is averaging 16.7 PPG, 6.6 RPG and 37% from 3, helping to make the Cavaliers an ACC contender in Ryan Odom’s first season as head coach.
C Rueben Chinyelu, Florida (Nigeria)
He has played a pivotal role in Florida’s turnaround in the second half of this season, making 69% of his shots around the rim and holding opposing players to a 40% clip in the same category, per Synergy Sports.
G Ebuka Okorie, Stanford (Nigeria)
The freshman standout scored 40 points in a win over Georgia Tech on Saturday and has now scored at least 25 points in 11 games. He’s currently sixth in the nation in scoring (22.4 PPG). His family is from Nigeria, and he has done nonprofit work there as well.
F Alex Condon, Florida (Australia)
The Australian forward withdrew from the NBA draft in the offseason for a chance to win another national title. He has positioned the Gators to do exactly that with a strong start to his junior season, averaging 13.8 PPG, 8.1 RPG, 3.7 APG and 1.5 BPG.
F Flory Bidunga, Kansas (Democratic Republic of Congo)
The Kansas big man has held the Jayhawks together in a turbulent season full of injuries and adversity. Hailing from the Democratic Republic of Congo, he’s averaging an impressive 14.5 PPG, 8.9 RPG and 2.6 BPG.
C Henri Veesaar, North Carolina (Estonia)
Veesaar’s clutch 3 in the final minutes of UNC’s win over Duke on Saturday was his biggest moment in a season full of highlights. The Estonian center is averaging 16.8 PPG and 9.0 RPG for the Tar Heels after transferring from Arizona.
G Chad Baker-Mazara, USC (Dominican Republic)
The Dominican forward is on the midseason top-10 watch list for the Julius Erving Award (the nation’s top small forward) after averaging 18.3 PPG and connecting on 37% of his attempts from the 3-point line for USC. He lived in the Caribbean country until he moved to the United States for high school.
Alternates
G Tounde Yessoufou, Baylor (Benin)
Averaging 17.7 PPG and 2.1 SPG for the struggling Bears, the 6-5 wing is a projected first-round pick in the upcoming draft and could become the first NBA player from Benin, a nation of 14 million.
F Rienk Mast, Nebraska (Netherlands)
Nebraska’s undefeated streak came to an end versus Michigan on Jan. 27, a matchup Mast missed because of injury. But when on the floor, the 6-10 forward from the Netherlands is averaging 14.1 PPG, 5.9 RPG and 3.0 APG for the Cornhuskers, who are chasing their first conference title in more than 70 years.
TEAM USA
Starters
Kelvin Sampson rarely trusts young players to lead his teams. But Flemings, who’s averaging 17.1 PPG, 37% from 3 and 5.9 APG, has earned that responsibility in a stellar freshman season. Against BYU on Saturday, he helped his team make a second-half run to win a fourth consecutive game. With him at the point, the Cougars are now one game behind Arizona in the race for the Big 12 title.
G Darryn Peterson, Kansas
The narrative surrounding Peterson has switched between injury concerns (11 missed games) and a buzz that he’s not only the potential No. 1 draft pick but also possibly the best player in America. He has made the case with his numbers: 20.5 PPG, 42% from beyond the arc, 55% inside the arc, 79% from the charity stripe.
F Caleb Wilson, North Carolina
UNC’s freshman superstar put his stamp on the season with his 23-point effort in Saturday’s thrilling 71-68 victory over rival Duke. The 6-10 big man had been playing at a high level well before, but his effort in the biggest rivalry in the sport might have helped him secure a spot on one of the AP All-America teams at the end of the season.
Last season, former Duke superstar Cooper Flagg put together one of the greatest freshman seasons in recent college basketball history. Boozer (23.3 PPG, 10.0 RPG, 38% from 3) is having a year that’s superior in many categories. He also has been the frontrunner — without any real competition — all season in the national player of the year race.
F Joshua Jefferson, Iowa State
The Iowa State standout is the anchor for a team that’s chasing a top-three seed in the NCAA tournament. Jefferson (17.2 PPG, 7.7 RPG, 5.1 APG, 1.5 SPG, 41% from beyond the arc) is one of the most versatile offensive players in the country and an excellent defender. At 6-9, he’s one of America’s most difficult matchups.
Reserves
The only returning AP first-team All-American entered the season as the favorite to win the Wooden Award. He’s second in the nation in assists (8.7 APG) in what has also turned out to be a better season than a year ago (43% from 3).
The Arkansas point guard is the latest ball handler for John Calipari with All-American aspirations. He’s an excellent shooter (42% from 3) and playmaker (6.3 APG). He’s also trustworthy (3-1 assist-to-turnover ratio). Acuff is a complete guard and could lead the Razorbacks in making some noise in the NCAA tournament.
A year after the Tigers reached the Final Four under his father, first-year head coach Steven Pearl could lead a brand-new roster to the NCAA tournament. Hall (21.0 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 40% from the 3-point line), a transfer from UCF, is the catalyst for the 12th-best team in adjusted offensive efficiency, per KenPom.
He was a four-star prospect in the 2025 class after winning a high school state title in Kansas last year. He has turned into a strong contender for Big Ten Player of the Year after leading Illinois to the top of the league standings despite the Illini missing standout Kylan Boswell due to a wrist injury.
F Milan Momcilovic, Iowa State
Momcilovic was named to the Julius Erving Award midseason top-10 list following a strong start to the 2025-26 season. Not only is he averaging 18.7 PPG, but he’s also the top 3-point shooter in the country by a healthy margin (53.3%).
F Thomas Haugh, Florida
Haugh decided to return to college this season to improve his NBA draft stock. It appears to have been the right move. He’s averaging 17.8 PPG and 6.4 RPG, including scoring 22 points in an 86-67 win over Texas A&M on Saturday — a win that catapulted the Gators to first place in the SEC.
F JT Toppin, Texas Tech
The Texas Tech star has developed rapidly in recent years. He was an unheralded freshman at New Mexico before taking home Mountain West Freshman of the Year honors. He secured a second-team AP All-America nod last season. As a junior, he’s averaging 21.8 PPG and 10.6 RPG, and could pick up more awards this season.
G Labaron Philon Jr., Alabama
Philon’s 25-point effort Saturday helped the Crimson Tide knock off rival Auburn. It wasn’t an unusual performance from one of the top players in the SEC, however. The combo guard has had 11 games this season with at least 17 points and five assists.
Alternates
The Gonzaga star has improved every season, and this campaign, he has an offensive rating that’s among the best in the nation. The 6-9 forward has made 60% of his shots inside the arc and 37% of his shots outside. He’s also a critical part of one of Mark Few’s best defensive teams.
Karaban could finish his fourth season in Storrs with a third national title. He averages 13.5 PPG and 42% from 3 and remains the steady leader on a stacked Huskies roster featuring multiple players who can step up on any given night.
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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