Prior to No. 2 Alabama’s 86-83 win over Arkansas on Saturday, the freshman forward was announced over the loud speakers at Coleman Coliseum as part of the starting lineup introductions. Miller walked through a tunnel of teammates and smoke machines, before being patted down by senior Adam Cottrell.

Oats explained that the gesture is ‘something that’s been going on all year,’ but the pat-down has taken on new meaning following a recent development in the fatal shooting of a 23-year old woman during an argument last month in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. 

WHAT WE KNOW: Brandon Miller, Alabama basketball, murder and controversy

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Social media users slammed the pat-down as ‘insensitive’ and ‘tone deaf’ in light of the tragic controversy. Oats said the backlash was brought to his attention after the game. 

‘It’s not appropriate. It’s been addressed, and I can assure you definitely will not happen again for the remainder of this year,’ Oats said, adding that he isn’t ‘involved’ with pregame introductions. ‘I don’t watch our introductions. … I’m drawing up plays during that time.’ 

This isn’t the first time the Alabama basketball team has come under fire this week for insensitive behavior. Oats found himself on the receiving end of backlash after he offered up a tone-deaf reply to Miller’s alleged role in the fatal shooting.

“We knew about that. Can’t control everything everybody does outside of practice,’ Oats said on Tuesday. ‘Nobody knew that was going to happen. College kids are out. Brandon hasn’t been in any type of trouble, nor is he in any type of trouble in this case. Just in the wrong spot at the wrong time.”

Oats later issued an apology for his ‘unfortunate remarks,’ saying, ‘In no way did I intend to downplay the seriousness of the situation of the tragedy of that night.’

Miller’s attorney said his client had “never touched the gun, was not involved in its exchange” and “never knew that illegal activity involving the gun would occur.”

He went on to play in Alabama’s 78-76 upset win over South Carolina on Wednesday, putting up a career-high 41 points, eight rebounds and three steals. On Saturday, Miller finished with 24 points and six rebounds against Arkansas.

Goaltender Linus Ullmark is helping the Boston Bruins to a record pace with his stellar play in net.

Now the All-Star has added a rare goalie goal to his repertoire.

Ullmark scored the NHL’s first goalie goal since Nashville Predators netminder Pekka Rinne’s 2020 achievement as the Bruins defeated the Vancouver Canucks 3-1 on Saturday night.

The Vezina Trophy front-runner stopped a rolling puck just below the faceoff circle, set up and wristed a shot toward the empty Vancouver net. The Swedish goaltender’s shot landed between the Canucks faceoff circles and bounced in at 19:12 of the third period to give the Bruins a 3-1 lead.

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He was mobbed by Bruins players then skated to the Boston bench for a goal scorer’s traditional fist bump with teammates.

‘It’s one of the dreams I always had, that I wanted to score a goal and now I had the opportunity,’ he told reporters. ‘I tried in the Winter Classic and didn’t really make it, and now everything came together.’

He said a teammate had encouraged him to do the fist-bump celebration.

‘I appreciate that gesture from them,’ he said.

Only 13 goaltenders have been credited with a goal (16 total times) in NHL history. Ullmark is the eighth to shoot the puck into the net (Ron Hextall did it twice) and the first Bruins goalie. The others were credited when the goaltender was the last player to touch the puck before the opponent scored an own goal.

‘It’s hard to describe what I’m feeling right now,’ Ullmark said. ‘I have to kind of digest it all, but I’m just so bloody happy.’

Ullmark also did well in his traditional role Saturday, stopping 26 of 27 shots for his 30th win of the season. He has a 1.86 goals-against average and .938 save percentage.

The Bruins have 45 wins in 58 games and are on pace to break the NHL record of 62 wins in a season.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Tony Clark, executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, hears the grumbling from the owners, the complaints about the massive payroll disparity, and the formation of MLB’s new economic reform committee. 

He knows exactly what it all means. 

Baseball owners are looking once again to implement a salary cap in their next collective bargaining agreement. 

And once again, the answer is a resounding NO! 

“We are never going to agree to a cap,’’ Clark said. “Let me start there. We don’t have a cap. We’re not going to agree to a cap.’’ 

Not now. Not in four years when the CBA expires. Not ever. 

“A salary cap is the ultimate restriction on player value and player salary,’’ Clark says. “We believe in a market system. The market system has served our players, our teams and our game very well.’’ 

When owners like Bob Nutting of the Pittsburgh Pirates and John Henry of the Boston Red Sox talk about the need for fundamental changes in the economic structure of the game, Clark knows their endgame. 

“It’s focused on how best to depress players’ salaries,’’ Clark says. “That’s the underlying theme there.’’ 

Sure, no one is suggesting the Pittsburgh Pirates have the same revenue stream of the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers or New York Mets, but they’re in a bigger market than the San Diego Padres who have a $250 million payroll – $190 million more than the Pirates. 

When the Pirates were spending, they were winning, reaching the playoffs three consecutive years from 2013-2015, with a payroll nearly twice as much as today. 

The Padres, after having just a $69 million payroll in 2020, now have third-largest payroll in the game, and guess what, they not only are winning, but have a waiting list for season tickets while projecting to draw a franchise-record three million fans. 

“When you see teams in smaller markets, aka San Diego, provide a level of engagement for their fans, and a level of excitement in being one of the seven smallest markets we have,’’ Clark says, “it begs the question why they made that decision [to spend big], and why others aren’t. 

“It’s very clear from the public comments that the owner of San Diego [Peter Seidler] made, that they want to compete. They’re able to compete, are excited about the team that they built there in San Diego. 

“It should be celebrated, not questioned.” 

Major League Baseball did propose a salary floor during the CBA negotiations in which every team would have to spend $100 million on their major-league payroll, but it also came with a $180 million ceiling before severe luxury tax ramifications. 

“What we discussed with MLB was something on the bottom,’’ Clark said, “similar to what currently exists on the top, and that was not a conversation they were interested in having. Appreciate the idea of having something in place that would otherwise force a team to spend a certain amount of money, but we have yet to have a conversation with the league that doesn’t include something far more restrictive on the top end. 

“That makes the conversation null and void to this point.” 

Sure, no one has to spend $336 million like Steve Cohen of the Mets, but don’t expect your team to be a legitimate contender when you’re spending $40 million like the Oakland A’s, either. 

“You don’t want to start the year where any one particular fan base doesn’t believe their team has a chance to win,’’ Clark says, “but a lot of that is predicated on what the team does in order to compete and win.’ 

Clark addressed several other topics Saturday at the union’s new Scottsdale satellite office:

Arbitration

While MLB teams prevailed in 13 of the 19 arbitration cases – with players like Milwaukee Brewers Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes lashing out at the process – Clark says the union has no interest in revisiting MLB’s proposal of eliminating the salary arbitration system by using statistics. 

“We don’t believe there’s any metric on the planet that can suggest exactly what a player’s value is,’’ Clark said. “Going to a system that’s formulaic doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to us.’’ 

Still, this year’s arbitration cases harbored plenty of animosity. Houston Astros All-Star outfielder Kyle Tucker lost his arbitration case that will play him $5 million instead of $7.5 million, and would have earned $8 million under MLB’s formula. 

Burnes will earn $10.01 million from the Brewers instead of the $10.75 million salary he requested, but under the MLB formula, Burnes would have topped $11 million. 

Teams and players have the right to negotiate settlements before a hearing, but more teams are having a “file and trial’’ philosophy, choosing to go to a hearing if the two sides file salaries in which an independent arbitrator must choose. 

“The salary system has always been set up to realize settlements,’’ Clark said. “That was always the premise. It hasn’t been until late that the process has been butchered in the fashion that it has, that what it has historically been, is now more nuanced than what it was before … 

“There is no doubt that the league and the teams have tried to create a narrative that undermines the integrity of what the system was designed to do.’’ 

Minor-league CBA

Clark remains hopeful of reaching a new collective bargaining agreement for minor-league players, but says that if no deal is reached by opening day, a strike is unlikely, with the current deal simply remaining in place for the time being. 

But as long as MLB wants the ability to contract teams or reduce the number of minor-league players, Clark cautions, there will no deal. 

“What is surprising to this point is having a negotiation whereby one of the quid pro quos that’s on the table,’’ Clark says, “is that in order to make improvements, the other side must have the capability of cutting jobs and or additional teams down the road. That’s not why a union gets formed. The exact opposite is true. … 

“I’m encouraged by many of the conversations that have happened so far. I remain optimistic that common ground can be found on most of the issues that remain. But the idea of the league having the ability to cut minor league jobs and/or contracting teams further on the heels of the 40-plus teams that were contracted a couple years ago, is troublesome.’’ 

Bally, television concerns

Clark certainly is concerned if Bally regional sports networks files for bankruptcy as expected, withholding payments of perhaps $2 billion to teams. Warner Brothers and Discovery also have informed teams it will no longer be in the regional sports business. Still, Clark is optimistic that it will be only a short-term financial loss with MLB saying that all of the games will still be televised. 

“We think, based on the expertise that we’re receiving, that over the long term, growth will still happen,” Clark said. “Live events, sports itself, have still done remarkably well. It’s the RSN model that appears to be challenged, not fan interest in sporting events.” 

International draft

According to Clark, there are no plans to revisit MLB’s proposal for an international draft. 

“Players were willing to have discussions,’’ Clark said, “but the league was unwilling to negotiate the protections and value of players. Unless we’re comfortable with the value and the protections that need to be placed, then moving forward we’ll find ourselves in the same conversation four or five years from now.’’ 

Around the basepaths

– Although Manny Machado gave the San Diego Padres a Feb. 16 deadline to work out a contract extension, the two sides continued to talk.

Those talks apparently paid off as Machado and the Padres tore up his old contract and replaced it with an 11-year, $350 million deal.

‘Manny,’’ Padres chairman Peter Seidler said earlier, “is my top priority.’’ 

– Pittsburgh Pirates owner Bob Nutting says that they still are trying to sign All-Star center fielder Bryan Reynolds, which is news to Reynolds, who says the Pirates have not made a new offer. 

The Pirates offered Reynolds a six-year, $80 million contract. Reynolds is seeking an eight-year, $134 million deal. 

And, yes, he still wants to be traded unless he gets a new deal. 

– There’s a concern that Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., 21, could be missing valuable playing time this spring participating in the World Baseball Classic simply because he may barely play. 

When Houston Astros third baseman Alex Bregman played in 2017, he received only five plate appearances in the entire tournament, compared to 33 plate appearances for starting third baseman Nolan Arenado. Bregman skipped this year’s tournament. 

Witt is expected to be on the bench for Team USA with an infield of Arenado, Paul Goldschmidt, Pete Alonso, Tim Anderson and Jeff McNeil. 

Yet, Royals manager Matt Quatraro says that he has no qualms. 

“You can’t discourage him from doing it,’’ Quatraro tells USA TODAY Sports. “It’s probably not the ideal situation, but not something I’m too worried about. 

“I think he’s going to get reps. If anything, from what I’ve learned of him so far, is that it may save a little bit from himself because he works so hard. So maybe it will be a good thing.  

“He’s such a sponge for information, being around all of the superstar players, he can learn. Whether he starts or not, he’s going to work incredibly hard. It’s hard not to be better from that experience compared to spring training.’’ 

– Future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols never forgot that he was drafted in the 13th round, the 402nd pick in the 1999 draft, saying he carried a chip on his shoulder his entire career. 

Well, San Francisco Giants manager Gabe Kapler says, it’s no different for him. 

“I remember literally a kid from my 12-year-old Little League saying something said to me that I’ve never forgotten,’’ Kapler says, “and I still use for motivation every single day. 

“There was a left-handed pitcher, 12 years old, the hardest-throwing kid in the league, and I squared a ball up and hit a home run to center field. He caught up with me after the game, and he said, ‘Lucky home run!’

“I never forgot that. Even now, I’m 47, I think about it all of the time. 

“That’s what professional athletes do, if someone says you’re not good enough, or that was lucky, you use it as motivation.’’ 

– Tampa Bay Rays reliever Ryan Thompson lost his arbitration case, earning $1 million instead of $1.2 million this season, and didn’t hesitate sharing his frustrations on Twitter : 

“If the process is created in order for fairness, then why don’t we learn the laws of the land?’ Thompson said. ‘In some sense, we were shooting in the dark not knowing what the arbitrators leaned into and what they disregarded. These understandings matter.’’ 

– The coolest sight of the spring? 

Los Angeles Dodgers center fielder Trayce Thompson asking Hall of Fame writer Peter Gammons to autograph two baseballs for him and his brother, NBA star Klay Thompson. 

– The Negro Leagues Family Alliance launched a campaign to preserve the legacy of Negro Leagues players, asking MLB to establish a “Negro Leagues Day’’ at ballparks on May 2, the anniversary of the first Negro League games. 

The alliance consists of relatives of 10 Negro Leagues players: Dennis Biddle, Bill Foster, Rube Foster, Josh Gibson, Pete Hill, Buck Leonard, Fran Matthews, Ted “Double Duty” Radcliffe, Norman Thomas “Turkey” Stearnes and Ron “Schoolboy” Teasley. 

– Kudos to Jason Bradley and Jerry Bruce, natives of Pine Bluff, Ark., co-owners of the Beyond Sports Lab, the only minority-owned indoor baseball facility in Arkansas, providing baseball development to more than 400 inner-city children. 

 They recently hosted the first Black history Baseball/Softball youth camp in Arkansas. 

“We just want to give kids exposure and help their development,’’ Bradley says, “making sure the kids have the right training and development no matter what they do in life.’’ 

– Strange but true: In the past 13 years, the Yankees have been to the playoffs (10 appearances) – twice as many times as the Red Sox (five) – but the Yankees have only one more victory and two fewer World Series titles. 

Yankees: 30-28, five ALCS appearances, 0 World Series titles. 

Red Sox: 29-19, three ALCS appearances, 2 World Series titles. 

– The 25th annual worldwide toast to Harry Caray will be March 29, at the Harry Caray Tavern at the Navy Pier in Chicago, with former Cubs pitcher Ryan Dempster leading a campaign to elect Caray the Mayor of Rush Street, and Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg toasting Caray. 

– The Diamondbacks plan to take advantage of the enlarged bases and rule changes with their athleticism and speed, believing they may benefit more than any team in the big leagues.  

The D-backs stole the most bases after the All-Star break last season, 68, with a success rate of 80.9%. Their young outfield trio of Corbin Carroll, Alek Thomas and Jake McCarthy are three of the 30 fastest players in baseball. 

“We’re a very fast team, we’re a very athletic team,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo says. “I can assure you that we’re going to try to maximize our potential to get to the next base.” 

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The Big 12 might be the deepest conference in men’s college basketball this season but on Saturday, the Big Ten and Pac-12 stole the show with two ‘how did that just happen?’ victories by Iowa and Arizona State. 

First, in a stunning comeback, Iowa rallied from a 13-point deficit to force overtime against Michigan State, eventually winning 112-106. How they did it was crazy, to say the least. 

Trailing 91-78 with 1:30 left to play, the Hawkeyes reeled off a 23-10 run — including hitting 6-of-9 from 3 — over the final 90 seconds to force the extra period. Iowa didn’t need any treys in overtime, holding MSU to just five points in the extra five minutes. Kris Murray scored 26 for Iowa, chipping in eight rebounds, four assists and three steals.

As we creep closer to March, the selection committee is scrutinizing every game and this is sure to make a good impression for the Hawkeyes, projected as a No. 8 seed in the East Region in USA TODAY Sports latest bracketology. 

A couple hours later and 1,500 miles away in Tucson, unranked Arizona State likely caught the committee’s eye when the Sun Devils stunned No. 7 Arizona on a 55-foot buzzer beater. 

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After Oumar Ballo hit one of two free throws with 2.9 seconds to play to give Arizona an 85-83 lead, ASU inbounded to Desmond Cambridge Jr. Cambridge took one dribble and launched a prayer from behind half court that swished cleanly through the net. The win keeps ASU’s tournament hopes alive. 

Arizona, meanwhile, suffered its fifth conference loss — on senior day, no less — putting even more distance between itself and first-place UCLA. 

Elsewhere, there were other impressive — and puzzling — performances. Here are Saturday’s winners and losers. 

WINNERS

Unranked ACC teams

North Carolina and Florida State pulled off upsets over ranked conference foes Virginia and Miami, respectively, reminding us that the madness of March is just around the corner. 

The Tar Heels never trailed against Virginia, hitting 10 threes on their way to a 71-63 win over the No. 6 Cavaliers. The victory couldn’t have come at a better time for UNC, a bubble team trying to solidify its resume for an at-large NCAA Tournament bid. 

Farther south, in Miami, Florida State stunned No. 11 Miami 85-84 despite trailing by 25 early in the second half (seriously). A buzzer-beating three from Matthew Cleveland gave FSU the surprise win, dealing the Hurricanes their first home loss of the season. Miami had been 15-0 at the Watsco Center before Saturday. 

Marquette

Behind 22 points apiece from Kam Jones and Tyler Kolek, the Golden Eagles clinched at least a share of the Big East regular season title with a 90-84 win over DePaul. 

It’s No. 9 Marquette’s first regular season title since 2012-13, when it shared with Georgetown and Louisville. The Golden Eagles have never won a regular season championship outright but if they beat either Butler or St. John’s next week, the title will belong to them alone. 

Gonzaga

The No. 12 Zags clinched a share of their 22 regular season WCC title under Mark Few, beating St. Mary’s 77-68 in Spokane. The win also got the Zags some revenge over the No. 14 Gaels, who beat GU earlier this season. 

Five Zags scored nine points or more, led by 19 points from Drew Timme and 17 from Anton Watson. 

This is one of the best rivalries in college hoops so the biggest winners might be hoops fans — because these two teams are likely to meet again in the WCC Tournament championship. 

Baylor

One week after getting blitzed by Kansas on the road, No. 10 Baylor came back in impressive fashion Saturday at Texas, overcoming a 14-point first-half deficit and earning an 81-72 win over the No. 8 Longhorns. 

Basketball is a game of runs, as the saying goes, and that was especially true in this contest. Texas went on a 16-0 run at one point to build its double-digit lead, only to let Baylor go on an 18-0 run of its own as it pulled in front. Five Bears scored in double figures in the win, led by Jalen Bridges’ 17 points and eight rebounds. 

One caveat in this win for Baylor though: superstar freshman Keyonte George played just six minutes after turning his right ankle and leaving the game in obvious pain. It’ll be interesting to see if George, who came in averaging almost 17 points, plays at Oklahoma State on Monday. 

TCU

The Horned Frogs hadn’t won in Lubbock since 2015, but escaped with an 83-82 win over Texas Tech thanks to two made free throws from JaKobe Coles with 4.3 seconds left.

Coles’ clutch points at the charity stripe were the difference after TCU blew an 12-point lead in the final eight minutes. Coles finished with 15 points, and Mike Miles Jr. led all scorers with 24. But there’s little time to celebrate because there are no off days in the Big 12: TCU is 2-5 in February, and next week doesn’t get any easier when it hosts No. 8 Texas Wednesday. 

San Jose State

With a 74-68 overtime surprise over Boise State, San Jose State clinched its 17th win of the season, the first time since 2010-11 that the Spartans have won 17 games. Omari Moore led SJSU with 24 points, also dishing out four assists, but the most impressive stat came from non-starters. Two Spartans, Robert Vaihola and Garrett Anderson, came off the bench to score 15 and 13 points, respectively. Vaihola also grabbed 11 rebounds. 

Tuesday, the Spartans go for another major milestone when they host Colorado State: SJSU hasn’t won more than 17 games since 1980-81. Can they do it against the Rams? 

LOSERS

Alabama

Never mind that the Tide, a likely No. 1 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament, held on to beat Arkansas 86-83 at home. The team and standout freshman Brandon Miller have been in hot water the last few days after news came out earlier this week about Miller’s alleged involvement in a murder — police say he brought the weapon to the scene — that took place on Jan. 15. 

Despite the microscope on him, Miller continued his tasteless and tone deaf introduction ritual of pretending to be pat down by a teammate after being announced as a starter. 

Coach Nate Oats said afterward that while he didn’t see it, “I can assure you it definitely will not happen again the remainder of this year.” 

Miami

Miami’s 85-84 loss at the final horn to unranked Florida State ruined the Hurricanes’ perfect home record, but that was only the beginning of the problems. 

Most importantly, the loss knocked Miami out of first place in the ACC, putting them  half a game behind Pittsburgh. Additionally it’ll go down in the record books as flat out embarrassing: FSU’s 25-point comeback is the biggest in Division-I this season, and the largest comeback win in ACC history. The Seminoles shot 68% in the second half, which doesn’t say much — or at least, nothing nice — about Miami’s defense. 

Purdue

Losing in conference isn’t the end of the world by any means, but losing at home and giving up 35 points to an opponent, well, that’s not great. But that’s exactly what happened with No. 5 Purdue, as the Boilermakers lost 79-71 to visiting Indiana. 

The No. 17 Hoosiers trailed 38-34 at halftime but came back behind 35 points and seven rebounds from Jalen Hood-Schifino, who was one of four Hoosiers to score in double figures. For the game, Purdue shot just 35% from the floor and 22% from three, while allowing Indiana to shoot 51% and 47%, respectively. 

Purdue, previously the top-ranked team in the country, has now lost four of its last six, including two to Indiana. 

Creighton

It’s been a rough stretch days for the No. 19 Blue Jays, who recorded their third loss in four games Saturday at Villanova, falling to the unranked Wildcats 79-67. The Blue Jays are one of the best teams in the country but haven’t looked like it lately, especially after letting Villanova shoot 50% from the field and 41% from 3. 

Creighton isn’t in danger of missing the postseason by any means, but needs a strong finish to the regular season and a good Big East Tournament to solidify a decent seed in the NCAA Tournament. 

In February for Black History Month, USA TODAY Sports is publishing the series “28 Black Stories in 28 Days.” We examine the issues, challenges and opportunities Black athletes and sports officials continue to face after the nation’s reckoning on race following the murder of George Floyd in 2020. This is the third installment of the series.

It’s been four decades since the Big East Conference, this radical newcomer and a vanguard in made-for-TV sports programming, made basketball history. When Georgetown University claimed a men’s national championship just five seasons into the league’s existence, John Thompson became the first Black coach to win an NCAA title, a potential harbinger for a day the coach’s office more closely resembled the players on the floor.

Yet not much has changed since 1984 – a positive for the Big East but a curious indictment for the rest of major college hoops.

See, the Big East remains a leader in coaching equity: Seven of its 11 men’s basketball programs are led by Black men, the only power conference where the African American player majority is reflected in the coaches guiding them.

It is a stark contrast to its rivals.

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At the start of this season, just two coaches in the 14-team Southeastern Conference were Black, along with two in the 10-team Big 12 and four in the 14-team Big Ten. Perhaps most startlingly, the Pac-12 Conference has zero Black men’s basketball head coaches.

The 50 teams among those four conferences hired just one more Black coach – eight – than the 11-team Big East employs. It’s a point that engenders both pride and consternation for the conference’s coaches.

“Say that out loud,” says Providence coach Ed Cooley of the Pac-12’s all-white coaching contingent. “And again, that’s (expletive). Those schools are hiring who they want and who they think can help them win. But come on, man.

“We’re not saying Black coaches are the be-all, end-all. We’re saying we are now getting opportunities that were not presented in the past for whatever reason. That’s what I’m grateful about. We’ve come a long way. But we still have a way to go, with the Big East being the leaders.”

Cooley, 53, is the dean of Big East coaches, vying for consecutive conference titles one year after going 27-6 and reaching the Sweet 16 for the first time. At the other end of the spectrum is Kyle Neptune, a longtime Villanova assistant hired to replace the venerated Jay Wright, even though Neptune had just one season as a head coach, at Fordham.

But Villanova did not hesitate to bring Neptune, 38, back to the Main Line and take over a program that reached the Final Four in 2022. That show of faith comes in an industry where coaching progress is a paradox: Excluding HBCUs, Blacks comprise just 24.3% of Division I coaches, according to The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport’s most recent report card.

That’s actually a drop from nearly two decades ago, when TIDES’ research indicated 25.2% of coaches were Black. The mixed messages are everywhere: The NBA doubled its number of Black head coaches, from seven in 2021-22 to 15, yet the NFL brushed off sideline-ready Black coaches like Steve Wilks and Eric Bieniemy. Major League Baseball has just two Black managers, one of them 73 years old.

College hoops should be different: With 350 head jobs available to fit any experience level, and a potentially more progressive mindset in a campus than a corporate environment, opportunity should abound, particularly with a former player pool that’s majority Black. While the aftermath of George Floyd’s 2020 murder by a Minneapolis police officer inspired numerous equity initiatives in the sports industry, the momentum, three years later, has not been uniform.

“The Big East is a good example of what it could be,” says Neptune, joined by Seton Hall’s Shaheen Holloway in the ranks of rookie Big East coaches. “Our society’s not perfect right now, but I like the fact that the Big East is on the forefront and the cutting edge of what’s going on right now.”

Those who have benefited from its best practices are more than willing to devise a road map.

‘Overwhelmingly white’

Any head coaching success story will involve some degree of timing, luck – and a hand up. For Marquette coach Shaka Smart, it was the good fortune of attending a career development seminar at Virginia Commonwealth – and a recommendation from an old colleague, outgoing VCU coach Anthony Grant – that allowed him the chance to replace Grant and reach a Final Four in Richmond.

DePaul coach Tony Stubblefield credits coaching legend and longtime Nike employee George Raveling, along with Oregon’s Dana Altman and UCLA’s Mick Cronin – who hired him at Cincinnati – for putting faith in him. Neptune says Wright and former Niagara coach Joe Mihalich were instrumental getting him on the fast track.

Even Patrick Ewing – the star of Georgetown’s ’84 title team under Thompson and one of the NBA’s top 50 players of all time – credits Thompson, high school coach Mike Jarvis and NBA coaches Jeff and Stan Van Gundy, Steve Clifford and Tom Thibodaux for setting him on a path to coach his alma mater.

Yet the references and solids called in can only go so far.

Eventually, a coaching candidate will interview with an athletic director or university president, hoping for an open mind.  According to TIDES, its most recent survey of the “power five” Football Bowl Subdivision conferences (SEC, Pac-12, Big Ten, Big 12, Atlantic Coast) revealed 84% of presidents and chancellors are white, along with 81.5% of athletic directors.

“I always fall back to when I was coaching and interviewing for jobs, I did not run into people I knew,” says Craig Robinson, the former Oregon State coach and now the executive director of the National Association of Basketball Coaches. “I believe, rightly or wrongly, people tend to hire people they are more comfortable with.

“And it gets back to higher levels of leadership. When there are more presidents of color, and more ADs of color, and more commissioners of color, there will be more coaches of color. I just don’t think there’s enough at the top of that hiring pyramid.”

In this regard, the Big East has been proactive: Three of its 11 athletic directors, or 27%, are Black, including DePaul (DeWayne Peevy) and Creighton (Marcus Blossom) hiring the first Black ADs in their history.

“When there’s seven out of 11 coaches who are African-American,” says Smart, “the biggest positive with that is there were people in leadership positions who said, ‘We’re going to give these guys a shot.’”

Yet certain hiring practices aren’t in Black coaches’ favor. Universities have increasingly relied on search firms to identify incoming athletic directors, which tends to skew the hires away from an individual hailing from the coaching community in favor of the corporate community.

The result can be an almost incestuous new boys’ network, identifying chief athletic executives more skilled at extending a brand than extending a good coach’s contract.

“The former ADs used to be coaches and players,” says Cooley. “Now they’re businessmen, ex-CEOs. They don’t have the feel of coaching. They have the feel of running a business. They have a feel of managing corporate America. Of which we’re in, in our position, but it’s still not in that hot seat of athletics.

“It’s Search Firm Central, and a lot of the search firms who hired the AD, then the AD hires the search firm, and that’s the cycle.”

Even a favorable administration is no guarantee. Coaching comings and goings are often funded and ostensibly controlled by big-bucks boosters and donors, whose backgrounds tend to skew a certain direction.

“There are people who have influence over who gets hired or who gets fired whose names will never show up in the newspaper or on the Internet,” says Smart, who coached at VCU and Texas for six years each before leaving Austin for Milwaukee.

“Right now, in our world, those people are overwhelmingly white.”

How, then, does an institution convert well-meaning working papers and committees and coalitions and alliances into action?

Big men on campus

Today’s Big East – and the collegiate landscape – looks eons, not generations, removed from the league Ewing and Thompson dominated. The conference has undergone multiple makeovers following charter members’ defections, almost all of them driven by football.

Now, the Big East is virtually out of the pigskin game.

Seven of 11 member schools do not field a football team. Georgetown, Villanova and Butler play at the lower-key Football Championship Subdivision, while Connecticut is the lone club to field an FBS team – as an independent.

It always was a basketball conference and, after the Miamis and Virginia Techs have come and gone, so it is again. No. 9 Marquette leads four Big East teams in the top 20, and the Golden Eagles and Providence are both projected to receive a No. 4 seed in the NCAA men’s tournament.

The tradeoff is the conference and its schools miss out on the hundreds of millions of television dollars available through Big Football. Yet the league has found financial viability through a 12-year deal with Fox Sports that runs through 2025, and a concurrent agreement with CBS ensures every conference game will be televised.

Without a 100,000-fan distraction most Saturdays in the fall, Big East programs catch more scrutiny – but also more attention.

“When you have this FBS mega-elephant in the room, you figure that’s at least 120 people a day that have to be supported,” says Cooley. “When you don’t have that monster to deal with and the primary sport is basketball, it’s special. And in doing so, it allows you to have those conversations that center around the welfare of the student athletes without having to worry about football.”

Says Smart: “I’m not saying basketball isn’t important to SEC schools or Big Ten schools, but when you’re at a Marquette or Providence or Villanova that does not have big-time football, there’s just something about basketball that connects people who are part of that campus community in the way football does at some of those Power 5 schools. I’ve been a head coach at a couple places that we’re ‘basketball schools’ and at one place where certainly football was the most dominant sport.

“It is pretty neat to be at a place where the biggest priority is basketball.”

‘All we need is the opportunity’

That support is felt from the top down. Coaches were effusive in their praise for conference commissioner Val Ackerman and executive associate commissioner Stu Jackson for their commitment to diversity, be it in daily actions or initiatives such as this year’s alliance with the Black Fives Foundation, which teaches the pre-NBA history of African Americans in basketball, or the awarding of the John Thompson Jr. Award, which recognizes a conference member for efforts to fight prejudice and discrimination.

“I would say they’re ahead of not just most schools, but industries, in the number of people of color they have in leadership positions,” says the NABC’s Robinson.

For now, it does look anomalous; among power leagues, only the Atlantic Coast Conference and its six Black coaches among 15 schools comes anywhere near the Big East’s ability to reflect playing population among coaches.

“And that’s a shame,” says Ewing. “If you look at all these schools, the majority of the people playing are Black, or people who look like me. I think it’s a shame you don’t have more minorities or people of color to coach them.

“I know all we need is the opportunity, to either fail or succeed.”

Ewing’s Hoyas have struggled, as he’s posted a 75-106 record in six seasons, with a Big East Tournament title and NCAA bid in 2021 possibly extending him more leeway. St. John’s Mike Anderson has received fan and media criticism for struggles against the conference elite, although his 17-12 record is not atypical for the program this century. The offseason coaching carousel almost certainly won’t miss the conference, one way or another.

Yet even if one of the seven Black coaches moves on, they’re effusive about others down the bench getting their own shot. Cooley says his own assistants, Ivan Thomas and Jeff Battle, are head coach-ready. UConn’s Kimani Young, Butler’s Mike Pegues, former Pitt star Brandin Knight, Marquette’s DeAndre Haynes, St. John’s TJ Cleveland, Northwestern’s Chris Haynes – Black coaches say their pipeline is full, and they are prepared to pay it forward.

Will the rest of the industry be ready?

“They’re out there deserving of the chance to run their own program,” says DePaul’s Stubblefield. “Hopefully, I can play a part in helping these guys get an opportunity like I got an opportunity.”

OK, maybe baseball front offices are realizing that experience does matter, with the Texas Rangers turning to three-time World Series champion manager Bruce Bochy. 

Bochy, 67, is one of seven managers older than 60, entering the season: 

Dusty Baker, Houston Astros, 73 Brian Snitker, Atlanta, 67. Buck Showalter, New York Mets, 66 Bud Black, Colorado Rockies, 65 Terry Francona, Cleveland Guardians, 63 Bob Melvin, San Diego Padres, 61

The common denominator behind their success is that they all have created tremendous clubhouse chemistry, which is one of the reasons Rangers GM Chris Young hired Bochy. 

‘I want to create the best environment to get the best out of our employees,’ Young told USA TODAY Sports, ‘whether it’s a coach, a player, a staff member, or in the front office. I believe we are all products of our environment, and clubhouse culture is a huge part of all winning teams. For Boch, that’s one of his areas of expertise. 

‘I feel like clubhouse culture is huge. It’s not talked about enough because it’s not perfectly quantifiable, and makes it hard to really identify. I’m not sure I can fully articulate what all goes into that, but you know it when you see it, both good and bad.’ 

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Chicago Cubs manager David Ross, 45, says he learned invaluable lessons playing for Hall of Fame manager Bobby Cox, Baker and Bochy, with Snitker as his third-base coach. 

‘The stuff I base my decisions on,’ Ross says, ‘is the stuff I base my clubhouse culture on. I was in Bochy’s locker room. I was in Bobby Cox’s locker room. I’m a product of their example. 

‘Think of what they’ve seen, the situations they’ve seen. They’ve seen so much more than I’ve seen, being in the bigger moments, being on that stage. I can’t imagine their heart rate gets too high. I base a lot of the things I do from managers I had. 

‘Looking back, good leadership puts those guys in position to succeed. They make sure they’re enjoying each other. When adversity hits, or good things hit, they know how to address the team, ride the wave, and stay consistent. 

‘All of the good managers I’ve had are pretty consistent on a daily basis.’

Prepare to get a little nostalgic.

Sunday marks the last NASCAR race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, until at least 2025. And when (or if) the series does return, the facility will look dramatically different.

Plans had been in place to transform the 2-mile oval located in California’s Inland Empire into a short track though the timetable has been delayed. New reports surfaced this week that NASCAR has closed on a major real-estate sale of dozens of acres of land on the site.

The only certainty is that next year there will be no race at the track formerly known as California Speedway for the first time since it opened in 1997. So, enjoy the last hurrah at a track that has become a favorite of drivers in recent years.

Here is all the information you need to get ready for Sunday’s Pala Casino 400:

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What time does the Cup race at Fontana start?

The Pala Casino 400 starts at 3:30 p.m. ET (12:30 p.m. local) at Auto Club Speedway. 

What TV channel is the Cup race at Fontana on?

Fox is broadcasting the Pala Casino 400 and has a pre-race show beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET (11:30 a.m. local).

Fox Sports 1 will also have an earlier pre-race show beginning at 2 p.m. ET (11 a.m. local).

Will there be a live stream of the Cup race at Fontana?

The Pala Casino 400 can be live streamed on the FoxSports website and on the FoxSports app.

How many laps is the Cup race at Fontana?

The Pala Casino 400 is 200 laps around the 2-mile Auto Club Speedway track for a total of 400 miles. The race will feature three segments (laps per stage) — Stage 1: 65 laps, Stage 2: 65 laps, Stage 3: 70 laps.

Who won the race at Fontana last year?

Kyle Larson led 28 laps, including the final seven, for his second career win at Auto Club Speedway, following his win in 2017. Larson edged Austin Dillon by 0.195 seconds.

What is the lineup for the Pala Casino 400 at Auto Club Speedway?

With Saturday’s qualifying rained out, the lineup was set by performance metrics based on last week’s season opener at Daytona. 

(Car number in parentheses):

1. (20) Christopher Bell, Toyota

2. (47) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Chevrolet

3. (22) Joey Logano, Ford

4. (48) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet

5. (17) Chris Buescher, Ford

6. (16) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet

7. (99) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet

8. (1) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet

9. (12) Ryan Blaney, Ford

10. (4) Kevin Harvick, Ford

11. (51) Cody Ware, Ford

12. (7) Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet

13. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota

14. (19) Martin Truex Jr, Toyota

15. (5) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet

16. (6) Brad Keselowski, Ford

17. (10) Aric Almirola, Ford

18. (23) Bubba Wallace, Toyota

19. (2) Austin Cindric, Ford

20. (42) Noah Gragson, Chevrolet

21. (8) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet

22. (15) JJ Yeley, Ford

23. (54) Ty Gibbs, Toyota

24. (21) Harrison Burton, Ford

25. (38) Todd Gilliland, Ford

26. (34) Michael McDowell, Ford

27. (41) Ryan Preece, Ford

28. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet

29. (31) Justin Haley, Chevrolet

30. (78) BJ McLeod, Chevrolet

31. (14) Chase Briscoe, Ford

32. (24) William Byron, Chevrolet

33. (9) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet

34. (43) Erik Jones, Chevrolet

35. (45) Tyler Reddick, Toyota

36. (77) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet

The NFL’s Instagram account, sometime on Saturday, posted a video of a player who was once a Scouting Combine star. His name is Byron Jones and the NFL’s post read in part that his “record-setting broad jump in 2015 was CRAZY.”

Yeah, craaaazy. Now? Not so much. How far Jones jumped, or what else he did in that combine, is irrelevant for the moment because what the NFL did with that post, almost certainly unwittingly, was emphasize a point Jones would make on the same day, in his own social media post. Jones’ message, however, was dramatically different from the NFL’s.

What Jones did was caution younger players, men about to get poked and prodded and measured at the combine just like he was, about the realities—hell, the nightmares—of NFL life and how playing the sport can destroy the body. No matter how far a player can jump, run and bench press, it’s not immune to the physical stressors the NFL causes. Strength doesn’t stop ligaments from tearing or muscles from snapping or brains from concussing.

This isn’t a new message, but it remains an important one, particularly since the combine starts this coming week, and there will be hundreds of players hoping to do what Jones did, which is get drafted and start their NFL lives.

Jones is reminding these young men of the cruelty of the NFL life they seek, and how participating in it can possibly leave you debilitated.

Jones isn’t asking anyone to feel sorry for him or the players. He’s only making sure players, and to some degree the public, know what is happening.

What did Jones, a cornerback on the Miami Dolphins, say exactly? Jones explained that he can’t run or jump because of the injuries he incurred playing seven years in the NFL. 

Jones is just 30.

After the Instagram post by the NFL, Jones, on Twitter, took a separate NFL post, this one the league posted on Twitter in 2015 about his jump, and offered an important cautionary note.

“Much has changed in 8 years. Today I can’t run or jump because of my injuries sustained playing this game,’ Jones wrote. ‘DO NOT take the pills they give you. DO NOT take the injections they give you. If you absolutely must, consult an outside doctor to learn the long-term implications.”

‘It was an honor and privilege to play in the NFL but it came at a regrettable cost I did not foresee,’ Jones wrote. ‘In my opinion, no amount of professional success or financial gain is worth avoidable chronic pain and disabilities. Godspeed to the draft class of 2023.’

Godspeed, indeed.

We don’t know exactly what injuries Jones is talking about. What we do know is he’s had surgery to fix a damaged Achilles, and he also had ankle injuries. Jones was on the physically unable to perform list for the entire 2022 season.

We also don’t know exactly what “pills” or “injections” he’s referring to. Though it seems likely he’s talking about pain-killing medication.

Jones isn’t soft (as I’m sure some players and fans will call him) or whining (expect that, too). He’s doing something we need more of. He’s telling the truth about life in the league.

We need more people like Jones, not fewer; we need more transparency in the NFL, not less.

Many of us will be watching the combine and seeing who “rises up draft boards” (though that remains the most overrated phrase in the history of the NFL). You’ll see mock drafts. You’ll see guys running and jumping.

This is what we saw Jones do. For now, at least, he says he can’t do those things. Eight years ago, he could. Just eight. That’s all.

“Godspeed to the draft class of 2023.”

From one former combine star to a future one.

Lost in all the madness Saturday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena was Fran McCaffery’s bizarre staredown with referee Kelly Pfeifer.

It came with 1:29 left in regulation and Iowa facing a 10-point deficit. Frustrated with the officiating as he often is, the Hawkeye basketball coach exited his team’s timeout and locked eyes with Pfeifer along the baseline. McCaffery had received a technical foul just moments earlier after Iowa was whistled for a foul while trying to trap the Spartans and force a jump ball.  

Both men inched closer to each other, amid multiple attempts from the Iowa bench to get McCaffery’s attention, before the staredown ultimately subsided. No words were exchanged.

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From there, the Hawkeyes took off en route to an improbable 112-106 overtime win over Michigan State. Iowa trailed by 11 points with a minute remaining before hitting five treys in the final 40 seconds to force overtime.  

Follow every game: Latest NCAA Men’s College Basketball Scores and Schedules

Did McCaffery’s staredown spark the Hawkeyes’ comeback?

‘I have no idea what you’re talking about,’ McCaffery deadpanned in the postgame presser.

What ensued after the staredown was nothing short of absurd. We’ll pick up the action with Iowa down 96-86 with 48 seconds left.

Connor McCaffery 3-pointer: Michigan State 96, Iowa 89 (0:39)

Still a ways away from a comeback, Iowa kept its pulse alive with a downtown connection from McCaffery’s eldest son.

Kris Murray 3-pointer: Michigan State 96, Iowa 92 (0:32)

Plenty of fortunate breaks are needed to pull something like this off, and Iowa got a big one on a Spartans travel leading to a Murray trey. From down 10 to down 4 in 16 seconds.

Patrick McCaffery 3-pointer: Michigan State 98, Iowa 95 (0:21)

The craziest thing about Iowa’s comeback is the Spartans didn’t really struggle at the line the way most late collapses start. After A.J. Hoggard hit his first two of five free throws in the final 30 seconds, the younger McCaffery heaved one in from the top of the key. Still breathing, but barely.

Connor McCaffery 3-pointer: Michigan State 100, Iowa 98 (0:10)

This is where the magic truly started. McCaffery, falling away while heavily guarded opposite the Iowa bench, splashed home a miracle heave that answered two more Hoggard free throws. Still, the Hawkeyes needed at least one more sequence of breaks.

Payton Sandfort 3-pointer: Michigan State 101, Iowa 101 (0:03)

Once Hoggard’s final regulation free-throw attempt fell off the rim and kept Iowa within one possession, you knew what was coming next. Michigan State opted not to foul in transition — and Sandfort made the Spartans pay, draining the game-tying shot off a Connor McCaffery assist.

Madness ensued.   

Overtime: Iowa 112, Michigan State 106

The Spartans were stunned. The Hawkeyes were rolling. And Iowa finally broke free for good with five straight points to grab a 108-103 lead with 1:06 left.

Tony Perkins, who was the first to try to coax Fran McCaffery back to the Iowa huddle during his late staredown, accounted for Iowa’s final six points to cement the win.

A wacky and wild day at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, to say the least.  

Dargan Southard is a sports trending reporter and covers Iowa athletics for the Des Moines Register and HawkCentral.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Dargan_Southard.

It’s that time of year for crazy buzzer beaters – and not just in college basketball.

A high school boys’ basketball semifinal Friday night in Portland, Maine, saw the lead change four times in the final 19 seconds, including a buzzer beater that should not have counted that gave Thornton Academy a 52-51 win over Bonny Eagle at Cross Insurance Arena.

Thornton’s Will Davies took a long inbounds pass and shot from near the foul line as the final buzzer sounded. Officials ruled the shot counted, allowing Thornton (17-3) to advance to the Class AA South final Saturday.

Davies scored a game-high 23 points, including 11 in the fourth quarter.

Bonny Eagle coach John Trull insisted the shot was too late, and replays appeared to show the ball was still in Davies’ hand as the clock reads 0.0.

‘It obviously ripped our heart out,’ Trull told the Portland Press Herald.

The final 19 seconds were … wild.

The back-and-forth began when Hayden Campbell caught an inbounds pass and nailed a 3-pointer from near the sideline to give Bonny Eagle a 48-47 lead with 19 seconds remaining.

Ten seconds later, Davies drove to the basket for a layup and was fouled. His free throw with 8.8 seconds remaining gave Thornton a 50-48 lead.

With 1.3 seconds left, Elliot Bouchard was fouled on a put-back and he made the free throw to give Bonny Eagle a 51-50 lead before Davies’ game-winner. 

Check out the sequence:

But Thornton wasn’t able to continue it’s run Saturday as South Portland knocked off Thornton 55-44 in the regional final.