Sports
Breaking down the offseason for Michigan, Arizona, UConn, Illinois, Duke
The NCAA tournament ended just eight days ago — and in that time, the entire college basketball landscape has changed. More than 2,000 players are in the transfer portal, and a flurry of commitments over the weekend has jump-started the roster-building process for plenty of teams.
Some are further ahead than others, and that also applies to the four teams that were playing in Indianapolis just more than a week ago.
Michigan, UConn, Arizona and Illinois have all lost players to the transfer portal since the season ended, and three of those programs have already added replacements.
How are each of the national semifinalists — and one team that came heartbreakingly close — faring in their quests to rebuild and get back to the Final Four?
All information as of April 14
Players leaving: Starters Yaxel Lendeborg and Nimari Burnett are both out of eligibility, as are Roddy Gayle Jr. and Will Tschetter. End-of-bench players Winters Grady and Malick Kordel entered the portal. L.J. Cason and incoming freshman Lincoln Cosby are likely to redshirt as they recover from injuries.
Players staying or coming in: The reigning national champions began their reload during halftime of their Final Four win over Arizona, when five-star guard Brandon McCoy Jr. announced his commitment. Dusty May then made quick work in the portal, landing a commitment from Tennessee transfer J.P. Estrella a couple of days after the title game. In addition to McCoy, Michigan is also bringing in ESPN 100 recruits Quinn Costello and Joseph Hartman. The Wolverines also agreed to deals to keep guards Elliot Cadeau and Trey McKenney in Ann Arbor.
Players in limbo: Much of Michigan’s frontcourt work will depend on the NBA draft decisions of Morez Johnson Jr. and Aday Mara. A dominant late-season surge propelled Mara into the late lottery range of ESPN’s last big board update, while Johnson is projected as a late first-rounder.
Work to do: May also clearly wants some additional perimeter pop: The Wolverines hosted Wake Forest transfer Juke Harris, one of the elite scorers in the portal, for a visit this past weekend. Harris left the visit without committing and then met with both North Carolina and Tennessee.
Dan Hurley has set a remarkable standard at UConn, going to three Final Fours in four years, including two national championships. How will he get the Huskies back there next season?
Players leaving: Program legend Alex Karaban and NCAA tournament star Tarris Reed are both gone, while Malachi Smith is a senior. UConn was also hit by the transfer portal, with former McDonald’s All American Eric Reibe opting to depart despite likely filling Reed’s shoes next season on a full-time basis.
Players staying or coming in: On the plus side, Silas Demary Jr. announced on Tuesday that he’s coming back to UConn, and there is no reason to believe Solo Ball won’t follow, so the two can again start alongside each other in the backcourt. Two-way sixth man Jayden Ross is also back, and the Huskies bring in a pair of top-50 wings in Colben Landrew and Junior County.
Players in limbo: Braylon Mullins is a projected first-round pick, but Hurley has spoken publicly about the program’s attempts to keep him in Storrs for another season. Veteran forward Jaylin Stewart is also yet to announce his next move.
Work to do: The focus of UConn’s portal efforts is the frontcourt. There is a long list of targets for the Huskies, including Syracuse transfer Donnie Freeman and Seton Hall transfer Najai Hines. Saint Mary’s transfer Paulius Murauskas was one to watch, but Louisville and Arizona State have made the two-time All-WCC selection a priority and could have the edge. UConn has also been linked with Moustapha Thiam (Cincinnati) and Andrew McKeever (Saint Mary’s).
Arizona had a roller-coaster finish to the season, reaching the program’s first Final Four since 2001, fending off North Carolina to keep Tommy Lloyd in Tucson — and then losing big to Michigan in the national semifinals.
Players leaving: Big 12 Player of the Year Jaden Bradley, Tobe Awaka and Anthony Dell’Orso are seniors, while Brayden Burries has played himself into lottery projections. The only rotation player to hit the portal was freshman Dwayne Aristode.
Players staying or coming in: The only rotation player that seems guaranteed to return is Ivan Kharchenkov, who emerged as one of the best two-way freshmen in the Big 12. Top-five recruit Caleb Holt will slot into the starting lineup immediately, and they also have top-50 recruit Cameron Holmes.
Players in limbo: Lloyd now awaits the stay-or-go decisions from Koa Peat and Motiejus Krivas. Both were projected in the 20s of ESPN’s most recent big board but could potentially boost their stock with another year at Arizona.
Work to do: Arizona’s portal priority was a point guard. Oregon transfer Jackson Shelstad was atop the Wildcats’ board, but he committed to Louisville. The Wildcats quickly pivoted and landed a pair of freshman transfers on Monday evening: Derek Dixon (North Carolina) and JJ Mandaquit (Washington). They’re also pursuing Kansas transfer Bryson Tiller, who is expected to visit Tucson this week; the Wildcats will need to conduct some frontcourt business regardless of Peat’s and Krivas’ decisions.
Brad Underwood has found a formula that works, and it centers around size defensively and skill offensively — in an incredibly efficient offensive system.
Players leaving: Keaton Wagler has announced he’s heading to the NBA draft, while starting guard Kylan Boswell and reserve forward Ben Humrichous are out of eligibility. Seldom-used Mihailo Petrovic and Toni Bilic, who enrolled at the semester break and didn’t play in a game, are the only players to enter the transfer portal so far.
Players staying or coming in: The frontcourt is in good shape with starters Tomislav Ivisic and David Mirkovic both likely to return, along with backup Zvonimir Ivisic. Shooter Jake Davis is also back, while incoming freshman Lucas Morillo is a top-60 recruit and can play a depth role on the perimeter.
Players in limbo: The Illini await Andrej Stojakovic‘s decision about his future. Stojakovic could turn pro or enter the transfer portal; he was the team’s second-leading scorer this past season but came off the bench for the final 11 games.
Work to do: Underwood began his backcourt reload during Final Four week by landing former Wake Forest signee and top-30 recruit Quentin Coleman and continued it with Sunday’s addition of Providence transfer Stefan Vaaks, an Estonia native who emerged as one of the surprise freshmen in the country this past season. Next on the list is Wisconsin transfer John Blackwell, an All-Big Ten selection who had 31 points against the Illini in the Big Ten tournament. The Illini are battling Duke, UCLA and Louisville for the high-scoring guard.
Duke was not a Final Four team, but the Blue Devils came within a 35-foot Braylon Mullins 3-pointer of getting there. They’re also facing a fascinating reload, so let’s take a quick look at them too.
Players leaving: Cameron Boozer will be a top-five pick in the NBA draft, so he’s gone. Maliq Brown is out of eligibility. And Nikolas Khamenia and Darren Harris entered the transfer portal. Outside of that, nothing appears set in stone.
Players staying or coming in: Caleb Foster and Cayden Boozer are both trending toward a return, and Jon Scheyer is bringing in the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class, led by three top-25 recruits: high-ceiling forward Cameron Williams, point guard Deron Rippey Jr. and shooter Bryson Howard.
Players in limbo: Isaiah Evans has moved up draft boards and is well inside the first round, while Dame Sarr and Patrick Ngongba were in the second round of ESPN’s most recent big board. There’s some optimism that both Sarr and Ngbonga will return to Durham.
Work to do: So what does Duke need? The top priority is a high-scoring perimeter player and the top target is Wisconsin’s John Blackwell, the best guard in the portal. The Blue Devils are also expected to be a main contender for Santa Clara transfer Allen Graves if he withdraws from the NBA draft. Even if Ngongba comes back, Duke needs another big man, and the Blue Devils are hoping Indiana didn’t close a deal with Alabama transfer Aiden Sherrell. They’ve also been linked to Cincinnati transfer Thiam.
Peshawar Zalmi won the toss and elected to bowl first against Quetta Gladiators in the 23rd match of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 11 at Karachi’s National Bank Stadium on Wednesday.
The two sides have met 26 times, with Zalmi holding a narrow edge with 13 wins, while the Gladiators have secured 12 victories, and one match ended in no result.
Playing XI
Peshawar Zalmi: Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Haris, Kusal Mendis (wk), Farhan Yousuf, Michael Bracewell, Iftikhar Ahmed, Abdul Samad, Aeron Hardie, Sufiyan Muqeem, Mohammad Basit Ali, and Ali Raza.
Quetta Gladiators: Shamyl Hussain, Saud Shakeel (c), Rilee Rossouw, Hassan Nawaz, Khawaja Nafay (wk), Tom Curran, Jahandad Khan, Ahsan Ali, Alzarri Joseph, Abrar Ahmed, and Usman Tariq.
Head-to-head
Traditional rivals Zalmi and Gladiators have come face-to-face 26 times since the advent of the marquee league.
The 2017 champions dominate the head-to-head record with 13 victories, closely followed by the previous edition’s runners-up, who have 12 triumphs to their name.
Their last meeting came in the landmark 10th edition of the marquee league, which saw the 2019 champions registering a thumping 64-run victory.
- Matches: 26
- Peshawar Zalmi: 13
- Quetta Gladiators: 12
- No Result: 1
Form Guide
The two teams enter the fixture with contrasting momentum as Zalmi are unbeaten after playing six matches, winning five, while their match against Islamabad United was abandoned due to rain in Lahore. The 2017 champions, as a result, sit at the summit of the standings with nine points.
Gladiators, on the other hand, started their campaign with a narrow 14-run defeat at the hands of Karachi Kings before registering their first victory over Hyderabad Kingsmen in the subsequent fixture.
The 2019 champions failed to stretch their winning run and succumbed to back-to-back defeats at the hands of Islamabad United and Multan Sultans, respectively, until eventually thumping RawalPindiz by 61 runs.
Peshawar Zalmi: W, W, W, W, NR (most recent first)
Quetta Gladiators: W, L, L, W, L
Jude Bellingham has said that he, Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior can deliver together on the pitch for Real Madrid ahead of an “all-or-nothing” Champions League quarterfinal second leg at Bayern Munich on Wednesday.
The midfielder has had a challenging season — first recovering from shoulder surgery and then suffering a hamstring problem — in a difficult campaign all-round for Madrid, with the Champions League now the team’s last realistic chance of winning a major trophy.
Madrid were beaten 2-1 by Bayern at the Bernabéu last week in the first leg, a game which Mbappé and Vinícius started, while Bellingham was introduced by coach Álvaro Arbeloa as a second-half substitute.
“It’s difficult, because I still feel like there’ve been many games where we’ve mixed really well,” Bellingham said in a news conference on Tuesday, when asked about combining with the two superstars.
“At times, it can be difficult with two naturally left-sided players [Mbappé and Vini].
“It can be difficult when we’re all on the same side. Arbeloa’s found a balance with me on the other side a bit more. We’re fluid, we have freedom to move around, at times that can disorganise a bit, but with both of them, you have to trust in their ability… When things are right, hopefully like tomorrow. I’ve seen it before.”
Madrid are nine points behind leaders Barcelona in LaLiga after they dropped more points in a 1-1 home draw with Girona on Friday, putting even more pressure on the Bayern tie.
“We want to still be playing for something at the end of the season,” Bellingham said. “It’s hugely important for us, for the club… Obviously it’s been a bit of a frustrating season for me, my first one like this, missing so many games with injury.
“Any loss in the Champions League feels like a disaster. Given the situation we’re in, we understand tomorrow is a final. We have to see it as an all or nothing game.”
– Ogden: Why Klopp, Luis Enrique are the only managers that can fix Real Madrid
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– Real Madrid’s title hopes all but over after Girona draw
Arbeloa — whose long-term future as coach has been questioned after Madrid failed to win in their last three games, against Real Mallorca, Bayern and Girona — said the 2-1 first leg scoreline meant his side “don’t need to perform any miracles” in Munich.
“To begin with, we are Real Madrid,” Arbeloa said. “If there’s a team that comes to this stadium to turn things around, it’s us. If we won [the first leg], it wouldn’t have been anything crazy. Their goalkeeper [Manuel Neuer] was the MVP. We are capable of it.
“The Real Madrid coach believes, the players believe, and the club believes. There hasn’t been a single fan I’ve met these past few days who doesn’t believe we’re going to win.”
Sports
Who is Johnnie Robbie? Meet West Coast Pro’s women’s champion and rising star on the indie scene
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LAS VEGAS – Johnnie Robbie will enter WrestleMania week as a relative unknown and rising pro wrestling star, but when the dust settles in Las Vegas this week, fans will certainly know who she is.
Robbie is a California native who has trained at New Japan Pro-Wrestling and has made brief appearances at Ring of Honor and All Elite Wrestling. She will enter the week as West Coast Pro wrestling’s women’s champion. She will have about a half-dozen matches over the course of the week, headlining the company’s show and competing in several others.
She opened up to Fox News Digital about her background and how she got started.
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Johnnie Robbie hits Persephone with a crossbody from the top rope. (Courtesy Marc Blair)
“I watched it a bit as a kid,” Robbie said of getting started in pro wrestling. “Kinda fell off of it. Then, my best friend got me into it and then I started rewatching it again. And then I just thought I rather do it than watch it. A little bit about Johnnie Robbie – she’s just kinda doesn’t take anything from anybody.
“I come from Chicano roots – the way I was praised pretty much. From the sneakers that I wear to the way that I’m dressed, you can see that it’s streetstyle and some people may be reminded of home it.”
Robbie said she initially started training as a referee before she was able to receive more bookings.
“My best friend, like I said, he was like, ‘Oh, figure out how to become a wrestler because you’re always saying you want to be something new every day,’ and this was something I dug for and tried to find a school because it is kinda hard to find a school, especially here in LA because there just a handful of them,” she said. “I started training and then I wasn’t picking up as much as everyone else and my trainers at the time, they suggested I become a ref until I’m ready for my main debut. I believe that’s how they did it – they school they came from, they would do that. I took the idea from there.”
JAPANESE PRO WRESTLING STAR MIYU YAMASHITA GEARS UP FOR LAS VEGAS RETURN AT SLAM FEST
Robbie told Fox News Digital she is trying to amplify her roots when she comes to the ring.
She said the gear she wears from head-to-toe all have something to do with where she’s been and her background.
“I’m here for a good time and so I’m irked or I’m p—ed off and I tend to get p—ed off very easily. I think I tend to show that in-ring. I have a quick temper and if I’m on top, I kinda get, I don’t want to say cocky, but I get real comfortable,” she said. “I think mostly what you see is someone not as big as everyone else or just be able to take hits and just the way that I move in the ring,
“I think that comes across well in terms of … One of my best friends, Alan Breeze, I go, ‘I don’t know what my style is,’ and he’s like, ‘You’re a little pitbull, you’re a little dog, you’re just like messy.’ You’re style is, I think he said, ‘Scrappy.’ I think that comes into play when I’m wrestling. You can see that. Like I said, I pull from the way I was raised by a bunch of, ‘Cholos.’ Just like I said, the Chicano lifestyle. I think you see a lot of that when I’m in the ring.”
Johnnie Robbie feels the wrath of Persephone in the ring. (Courtesy Marc Blair)
Robbie stressed that being able to share her background with the people that come to her shows is important to her and how much of a difference it makes.
SLAM FEST TO BRING PRO WRESTLING FESTIVAL TO PALMS CASINO RESORT IN LAS VEGAS
“I personally love it because are sometimes people are like, ‘Oh, you’re just kinda cool,’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah, no, you just don’t get it because you never seen it before.’ As opposed to when I’m here in LA or up north in San Francisco with West Coast, I have the little girls that look like me or I have fans that are older and they’re like, ‘Oh my God you remind me of my sister, you remind me of my tia,’” Robbie said. “Little girls see themselves in me or they see their bigger sister in me.
“So, I think it’s whether you not recognizing where I come from or it’s the little kids seeing it or it’s the people who grew up like me seeing it, that just makes a difference. I’m just happy to be that person you’re reminded of somewhere because even if you’re not familiar with the way I was raised opposed to a little girl out here in LA, you’re still now being introduced to it. So, I enjoy the fact that, ‘Oh, this is what they mean by that.’”
Robbie said she will be in six matches during the week, but it wasn’t her initial play.
She said she had hoped to do at least three matches and put on quality shows, until more people started to call her to wrestle at their shows. The hustle mentality is a driving force for Robbie.
“I think we’re all hustling … But I was look at, some fan made a list of everybody who had matches, and I remember thinking coming in, like, ‘Oh, I only want maybe three matches this year,’ because last year I think I had just as many. I want quality over quantity,” Robbie said. “I didn’t want to be over or under booked. And then, I just getting these opportunities, big names or people I’ve always been wanting to wrestle. I was like, ‘Oh, well, OK, I guess, I’m free, so. …’ It’s ‘Mania week and I’ve just, I don’t even know how to explain it. You want as many matches as you can possibly have because even if you’re not trying to, you just keep getting these opportunities because everyone from all over the world is here.
“If you’re not out there having many (matches), or if you’re just not out there at all, I would hope you would like to get out there. I know its difficult – it’s a whole week off. Hustling in general for me, that hustle mentality, are you giving it your all in terms of what you can do? If I could do was three matches and I did everything I could do is have those three matches and get to WrestleMania week that is good enough. … It’s OK to miss it as well because the hustle is still going on on the other side. What can you do if you’re not showing up for that week? To me, I use every moment and every opportunity to chase after whatever it is while also understanding that there’s limitations. As long as you’re doing it and not whining and not doing it, to me, you’re hustling.”
Johnnie Robbie appears in a Ring of Honor match against Persephone. (Courtesy Marc Blair)
Robbie will be among the dozens of wrestlers who will be involved in matches over the course of the week.
She will start her week with two matches on Wednesday — one at Pandemonium Pro Wrestling and another with Unapologetic Pro.
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Thursday night, Robbie will defend the West Coast Pro Women’s Championship at their event and then continue on to a Marvelous event. Then, she will be looking for another belt at PrideStyle Pro as well, going up against Chris Nastyy for the PrideStyle World Championship on Friday night. It will be her first of two matches there.
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