Sports
Best (and worst) men’s college basketball offseason moves
Over the past six months, college basketball has once again experienced another offseason full of coaching changes, staff moves, portal action and recruiting gains and losses. As a result, the landscape is stacked with teams that have seemed to master the new Moneyball approach to restructuring teams every spring and summer. There are others who did not make the improvements they may have anticipated, which means there are winners and losers in this conversation.
Our 2025-26 superlatives list attempts to make some sense of what just unfolded and sort the victors from those who might have missed out this offseason.
Best overall offseason
After winning the national title, Todd Golden lost the best backcourt in America. Departures included the NCAA tournament’s Most Outstanding Player in Walter Clayton Jr. and two more players who were selected in the 2025 NBA draft (Alijah Martin and Will Richard) — but that’s only part of the story. The return of Golden’s frontcourt wasn’t a guarantee as key players flirted with the NBA draft.
But the Gators enter the season with a strong case to be the No. 1 team in the country after securing the returns of Thomas Haugh, Alex Condon and Rueben Chinyelu. They also added former five-star recruit Boogie Fland and all-Ivy League guard Xaivian Lee. In this turbulent climate, few teams have managed to lose the core of a championship squad and bounce back the way this team has ahead of the 2025-26 campaign. Florida won’t look exactly like the title-winning team did, but it will be similarly equipped to chase another ring.
The chemistry the Gators foster over the course of the season will matter the most. Lee and Fland will have to share ballhandling responsibilities. Golden wants Haugh to be an inside-outside threat. And Condon is an SEC Player of the Year candidate who will have to deal with the pressure that comes with that attention. These are all good problems to have because it means Florida has the pieces to be the best team in America again.
Strongest overall transfer class
Rick Pitino made New York City fall in love with St. John’s basketball again with a run to the Big East conference and tournament championships last season. The Red Storm shouldn’t lose any ground as a result of Pitino again hitting the reset button in the portal, with a transfer class headlined by Ian Jackson (North Carolina), Bryce Hopkins (Providence), Oziyah Sellers (Stanford) and Joson Sanon (Arizona State) — all of whom averaged double figures at their previous stops.
Now, there are questions. Will Jackson be a consistent presence this season? He demonstrated his ability to impact a game at a high level only in spurts at North Carolina. Will Hopkins stay healthy? He has battled injuries in recent years. Will Sellers and Sanon continue to build on strong seasons a year ago? It certainly seems possible. But the questions don’t supersede the potential for this stacked group of transfer talent to excel under Pitino.
There’s also Dylan Darling — a star at Idaho State who scored 35 combined points between matchups against UCLA and USC last season — could be a hidden gem. And Dillon Mitchell is a veteran at his third school.
Pitino won big with a similar group a year ago. The same thing could happen in 2025-26.
Most impactful transfer commitment
Last year, Will Wade won 28 games at McNeese State and led the Cowboys to the second round of the NCAA tournament before he left for NC State — his first power conference job since being fired by LSU in 2022 as a result of recruiting violation allegations. He hit the ground running in Raleigh by adding some of the best players in the portal, including Williams.
The former Texas Tech star scored 23 points as the Red Raiders nearly knocked off Florida in the Elite Eight. Averaging 15.1 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.3 steals in 2024-25, Williams is one of America’s most versatile players. His arrival gives Wade a chance to put his team in the NCAA tournament conversation a year after the program won just 12 games.
Biggest transfer portal loss
P.J. Haggerty, from Memphis to Kansas State
Penny Hardaway had his most successful season as coach at Memphis when Haggerty — an Associated Press second-team All-American and AAC Player of the Year — helped the Tigers win 29 games en route to capturing the regular-season and conference tournament championships in 2025-26 while averaging 21.2 PPG.
Haggerty isn’t the only star that the Tigers lost in the portal, but he is the most pivotal prospect who departed. Now a Memphis team that ended last season as a trendy pick to reach the second weekend of the NCAA tournament — until a foot injury that Tyrese Hunter sustained during the AAC tournament changed the Tigers’ outlook — will have to rebuild without one of the country’s top returning players.
Strongest recruiting class
Cameron Boozer is the obvious headliner for Jon Scheyer’s program, but Duke is stacked with young talent that will once again put the Blue Devils in the Final Four conversation.
Boozer, a 6-foot-9 do-it-all talent, is a two-time Gatorade National Player of the Year who could be the most polished freshman in the country. His twin brother Cayden Boozer could also leave his mark on this program. Nikolas Khamenia, a top-15 prospect, had a great offseason on the USA Basketball circuit. And Dame Sarr is a 6-foot-8 former EuroLeague standout who could be a major addition, too — he was ranked as a lottery pick in ESPN’s latest NBA 2026 mock draft.
With 6-foot-8 Sebastian Wilkins — who reclassified from the 2026 class to the 2025 class — also in the fold, the Blue Devils will have the size and versatility to compete with any team in America. Yes, they are young, but they won’t have talent disparities against most opponents.
Best freshman*
*after top-three recruits AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson and Cameron Boozer
Nate Ament, Tennessee Volunteers
Since 2019, Rick Barnes has coached 11 players who were drafted by NBA teams. He knows talent. And he called five-star freshman Ament, a 6-foot-11 small forward, the “No. 1 player in the class” this past April.
Ament is not as physically ready as the three players ahead of him — Peterson, Dybantsa and Boozer — in ESPN’s latest 2026 NBA mock draft. But Ament’s ceiling is high in a scheme that has produced elite players such as Dalton Knecht, Chaz Lanier and Grant Williams in recent years. Ament is big, can play and guard multiple positions, and will continue to grow throughout the season as he begins to understand this level of basketball. His coach will help him get there.
Barnes has shown a willingness to adapt by allowing his elite players to get the shots they want when they are on the floor, rather than being married to a system. That’s how Knecht earned SEC Player of the Year honors two years ago before he was selected 17th overall by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2024 draft. Ament could follow the same path.
Most surprising recruiting miss
Darius Acuff Jr. choosing Arkansas over Michigan
The No. 7 recruit in ESPN’s 2025 rankings is the top-rated point guard in the class, and was also a high school superstar in the state of Michigan until he ended his prep career at IMG Academy in Florida. The Detroit native had three great choices for the next chapter of his career, ultimately selecting Arkansas over Kansas and Michigan, in part because John Calipari has produced a fleet of high-level point guards who became standouts in the NBA (John Wall, De’Aaron Fox, Derrick Rose).
Bill Self had already landed Peterson, who is in the running to be the No. 1 pick in the 2026 draft, but Dusty May missed a chance to turn the in-state star into the next great point guard for the Wolverines. Michigan is still a threat to reach the Final Four, of course. With Acuff, however, May’s squad would have been in a different tier entering this season.
Highest-upside coaching hire
Sean Miller, Texas Longhorns
During a 20-year coaching career that includes two stints at Xavier and a stop at Arizona, Sean Miller has won at least 20 games in 15 season (or 75% of his coaching tenure). That consistency over a stretch that includes the most transformative chapter in college basketball history with the introduction of NIL deals, revenue sharing and the transfer portal has demanded consistency that is difficult to attain. Yet, Miller managed to lead three different programs to the Sweet 16 or beyond.
At Texas, Miller’s standards and expectations will remain. While the SEC has been one of the country’s strongest conferences in recent years, Miller has proved that he can elevate the Longhorns to the same heights Arizona once reached under his watch.
LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska and men’s basketball coach Fred Hoiberg have agreed to a three-year contract extension after he guided the Cornhuskers to a school-record 15 wins in Big Ten Conference play.
The school announced the deal Monday, days before the league tournament begins with Nebraska as the No. 2 seed. Hoiberg is now under contract through the 2031-32 season. He previously signed a two-year extension in 2024.
“Fred has built this program step by step, and his leadership has Nebraska positioned to continue to compete at a high level in the Big Ten Conference and nationally,” athletic director Troy Dannen said in a statement. “Fred is one of the most respected coaches in the country by his peers, and his success has been recognized throughout the college basketball world.”
The Huskers, who have won 20-plus games in three consecutive seasons for the first time in school history, enter the Big Ten Tournament with a 26-5 record. The team reached a program-best No. 5 national ranking in January.
“We have a long family history with the University of Nebraska, and the support we have received over the last seven years is truly remarkable,” Hoiberg said. “We are blessed with world-class facilities, but the people are what make Nebraska special. Our goal is to continue building a program that our fans can embrace and have pride in because it represents the values of Nebraska.”
Sports
Ex-Jets linebacker, charged with first-degree murder, allegedly consulted ChatGPT about cover-up
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Darron Lee, the New York Jets’ former first-round pick, allegedly consulted ChatGPT about how to “cover up” the murder of his ex-partner, who he allegedly stabbed to death last month.
Prosecutors said Lee, 31, allegedly tried to use AI to help carry out the brutal murder of Gabriella Carvalho Perpétuo, who was found dead in a home in Ooltewah, Tennessee, during a preliminary hearing on Monday, per WCTV.
Prosecutors read aloud the prompt that Lee allegedly sent to ChatGPT.
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Former New York Jets linebacker Darron Lee, 31, was arrested by the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office on Feb. 6, 2025 and charged with first degree murder and tampering with fabricating evidence. (Danielle Parhizkaran/NorthJersey.com/Hamilton Country Sheriff’s Office)
“Don’t know what to do right now,” he allegedly wrote to the chat bots. “Fiancée did her crazy thing again and now she’s messed up, I wake up and she has two swollen eyes (I didn’t do anything, self inflicted) she stabbed herself, slit her eye? Idk but she isn’t waking up or responding, what do I do?”
The chat bot responded, saying, “Got it. Here’s exactly what [redacted] is the safest way to handle it without framing it as “police trouble,” according to WDEF.
JUDGE ORDERS EX-NFL PLAYER DARRON LEE HELD WITHOUT BOND AS PROSECUTORS WEIGH DEATH PENALTY
Lee continued the conversation with ChatGPT, asking if someone who has slipped and fell could suffer “puncture wounds.”
“Yeah – it can happen**, but there’s [redacted] to make,” the bot responded. “Can a slip-and-fall cause puncture wounds? Yes, but usually only under specific conditions?”
District Attorney Coty Wamp said to the court that Lee was using ChatGPT as a “legal adviser,” having “dozens of conversations” over a two-day span where he detailed what he allegedly did.
Darron Lee (50) of the Kansas City Chiefs walks off the field before a game against the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium on Nov. 10, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
“He asks how to cover it up. He asks what to say to 911,” Wamp added.
Judges ordered Lee be held without bond last month, as he faces a first-degree murder charge in this case. He also faces a charge of tampering with or fabricating evidence.
Wamp made it clear last month that there was no final decision concerning the pursuit of the death penalty, but he did cite factors that could result in the case becoming eligible for capital punishment.
“Mr. Lee was in a home with a female (who) was, for lack of a better term, beaten to death,” Wamp said in court last month, arguing for the judge to withhold bond. “And the explanation that he gave doesn’t make any sense whatsoever.
Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office Det. Brian Lockhart detailed the home they found Perpétuo in.
“A lot of stuff in the living room. The deceased was in the floor lying on her back. There was blood going up the staircase. On the hand railing there was blood. On the walls, there was blood. On the floor in the living room there was blood. On the floor in the hallway and the stairs.”
The detective added that he was present during the autopsy, which found the potential cause of death was blunt force trauma homicide.
Darron Lee (50) of the Kansas City Chiefs looks on from the bench during a game against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field on Sept. 29, 2019 in Detroit, Michigan. (Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
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Authorities carrying out a search warrant found multiple types of trauma to the woman’s body, including a stab wound to her abdomen, an apparent human bite mark on her shoulder, a large bruise on her head, black eyes with heavy swelling and dried blood on her face and neck, according to the affidavit.
Lee was taken in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft by the Jets, who played three seasons at linebacker following his time at Ohio State. He would later play with the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills.
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- PSL 11 scheduled to run from March 26 to May 3.
- Gaddafi Stadium will host most number of matches.
- PCB allots reserve day for the PSL final on May 4.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Tuesday unveiled the complete fixtures for Pakistan Super League (PSL) 11, scheduled from March 26 to May 3.
The 11th edition of the tournament league will see eight teams, including two new entrants, Pindiz and Hyderabad Houston Kingsmen, playing a total of 44 matches in the 39-day event.
The tournament will commence with defending champions Lahore Qalandars taking on Hyderabad Houston Kingsmen at their home ground on March 26.
As per the schedule, each team will play a total of 10 matches, with the top four qualifying for the playoffs, comprising Qualifier 1, Eliminator, Qualifier 2, followed by the final, scheduled to be played at the Gaddafi Stadium on May 3.
Furthermore, the PCB has also allotted a reserve day for the final on May 4.
The PSL 11 will also feature six double-headers, out of which three will be played at the Gaddafi Stadium.
The landmark 11th edition will be played across six venues in Pakistan, with Faisalabad and Peshawar to host PSL matches for the first time, joining Karachi, Lahore, Multan, Peshawar and Rawalpindi.
Among the six venues, Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium will host the most number of matches (15), followed by Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium with 11, while Faisalabad’s Iqbal Stadium will host seven.
The iconic National Bank Stadium in Karachi will host six matches, while four matches will be played at the Multan Cricket Stadium. Peshawar’s Imran Khan Cricket Stadium to host one match – a day fixture between home side Peshawar Zalmi and Pindiz on March 28.
PSL 11 match schedule
March 27 – Quetta Gladiators vs Karachi Kings at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
March 28 – Peshawar Zalmi vs Rawalpindi Pindiz at Imran Khan Cricket Stadium, Peshawar
March 28 – Multan Sultans vs Islamabad United at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
March 29 – Quetta Gladiators vs Hyderabad Kingsmen at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
March 29 – Lahore Qalandars vs Karachi Kings at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
March 31 – Islamabad United vs Peshawar Zalmi at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi
April 1 – Multan Sultans vs Hyderabad Kingsmen at Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan
April 2 – Islamabad United vs Quetta Gladiators at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi
April 2 – Rawalpindi Pindiz vs Karachi Kings at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi
April 3 – Multan Sultans vs Lahore Qalandars at Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan
April 4 – Rawalpindi Pindiz vs Islamabad United at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi
April 5 – Multan Sultans vs Quetta Gladiators at Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan
April 6 – Multan Sultans vs Rawalpindi Pindiz at Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan
April 8 – Hyderabad Kingsmen vs Peshawar Zalmi at National Bank Stadium, Karachi
April 9 – Lahore Qalandars vs Islamabad United at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad
April 9 – Karachi Kings vs Peshawar Zalmi at National Bank Stadium, Karachi
April 10 – Quetta Gladiators vs Rawalpindi Pindiz at National Bank Stadium, Karachi
April 11 – Peshawar Zalmi vs Lahore Qalandars at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad
April 11 – Karachi Kings vs Hyderabad Kingsmen at National Bank Stadium, Karachi
April 12 – Hyderabad Kingsmen vs Islamabad United at National Bank Stadium, Karachi
April 13 – Peshawar Zalmi vs Multan Sultans at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad
April 15 – Peshawar Zalmi vs Quetta Gladiators at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad
April 16 – Hyderabad Kingsmen vs Rawalpindi Pindiz at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad
April 16 – Karachi Kings vs Islamabad United at National Bank Stadium, Karachi
April 17 – Lahore Qalandars vs Quetta Gladiators at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad
April 18 – Lahore Qalandars vs Rawalpindi Pindiz at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad
April 19 – Multan Sultans vs Karachi Kings at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
April 19 – Quetta Gladiators vs Hyderabad Kingsmen at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
April 21 – Lahore Qalandars vs Quetta Gladiators at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
April 21 – Rawalpindi Pindiz vs Multan Sultans at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi
April 22 – Karachi Kings vs Hyderabad Kingsmen at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
April 22 – Peshawar Zalmi vs Multan Sultans at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi
April 23 – Rawalpindi Pindiz vs Islamabad United at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi
April 23 – Lahore Qalandars vs Karachi Kings at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
April 24 – Islamabad United vs Peshawar Zalmi at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi
April 25 – Quetta Gladiators vs Karachi Kings at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
April 25 – Lahore Qalandars vs Hyderabad Kingsmen at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
April 26 – Rawalpindi Pindiz vs Peshawar Zalmi at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi
April 26 – Islamabad United vs Multan Sultans at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi
April 28 – Qualifier at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi
April 29 – Eliminator 1 at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
May 1 – Eliminator 2 at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
May 3 – Final at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
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