The thing about legends? They just can’t stop proving their greatness. See Paige Bueckers and Geno Auriemma.
This UConn national championship belongs to more than just Paige Bueckers, though. Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd stepped up.
Geno Auriemma after 12th national championship: ‘These players make me want to hang in there.’

Paige Bueckers and Geno Auriemma didn’t have to prove anything to anyone on Sunday. Their talents, and their splendor at UConn, were not up for debate. These two are legendary.

The thing about these two legends, though? They just can’t stop proving their greatness.

Not even mighty South Carolina could interfere with the reality this NCAA title belonged to UConn, the last great dynasty before Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks ascended.

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UConn rules women’s basketball once again, after a dominant NCAA Tournament run throughout which the Huskies showed they possessed the game’s brightest star, wisest coach, and most complete team.

Bueckers will always be the one who brought UConn back to the summit, and she’ll always say she received so much help getting the Huskies there.

Both will be true.

“It takes a village to do what we do here,” Bueckers, in typical praise-deflecting fashion, told ABC after the buzzer sounded on the Huskies’ 12th national championship, an 82-59 rout of South Carolina.

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Paige Bueckers’ teammates rally behind UConn star in Final Four

Bueckers thrived throughout the first four legs of this six-round tournament, reminding everyone why she’s nicknamed Paige “Buckets.”

In the Final Four, her shots stopped falling at such a high rate. Seven of her 17 points in the championship game came from the free-throw line. Teammates Azzi Fudd and Sarah Strong shouldered the brunt of the scoring, and Bueckers beamed as brightly as ever throughout the entire fourth quarter. By then, it had become clear that the Huskies possessed too much firepower for South Carolina to contain, and Bueckers would culminate her career in triumph, as UConn celebrated its first national championship since 2016.

With 92 seconds remaining, Bueckers exited the court for a final time in a Huskies uniform. Auriemma stood waiting in the sideline, arms open for an embrace that was in no hurry to end. Bueckers buried her face in her coach’s shoulder, overcome with emotion.

“I love that man more than words can describe,” Bueckers said in her televised postgame interview.

Consider the feeling mutual.

“They’ve all been gratifying, don’t get me wrong,” Auriemma said during his interview with Holly Rowe, “but this one here, because of the way it came about and what’s been involved, it’s been a long time since I’ve been that emotional when a player has walked off the court.”

Geno Auriemma: ‘Never been happier.’ Make it 12 national titles

Unlike some of Auriemma’s past national championships, this result couldn’t be considered a foregone conclusion. Two months before the confetti fell on these Huskies, they listened to “Rocky Top” blare at the end of a loss on Feb. 6 at Tennessee. Bueckers struggled with her shot that night, and she lacked the necessary support to fend off the hungry Lady Vols.

UConn exited Knoxville with its third loss – all to good teams, sure, but the type of opponents the Huskies would need to beat to win the national championship.

And then the switched flipped. As Auriemma put it, his players decided after that loss to Tennessee that they didn’t just like each other. They loved each other.

Ten days after the Huskies lost to Tennessee, they smashed South Carolina, evidence that they could not only hang with the elite, they could beat them.

“I’ve just never been happier than I have been the past couple of months, coaching a team,” Auriemma told Rowe.

Bueckers quickly regained her form after that Tennessee loss. Fudd got hot, too. Strong kept ascending, bearing little resemblance to a freshman and looking much more like a polished No. 1 WNBA draft pick she’s destined to be, in time.

“All three of them complement each other so well,” Auriemma told Rowe. “They all have such unique skill sets.”

They caught fire at different times of the tournament. Bueckers, from the second round through the Elite Eight, scored more than 30 points in three straight games. Strong dazzled all tournament but managed to save her best for the finish, with 24 points and 15 rebounds to tame the Gamecocks.

Fudd got hot in the Final Four against UCLA. She stayed hot against South Carolina, tying Strong with 24 points. Best known for her 3-point shot, Fudd showed her midrange game, ability to finish at the rim, and sticky-handed defense against South Carolina.

Staley and her team had zero answers for Strong and Fudd, and the Huskies guarded the Gamecocks as if the national championship depended on their defense.

If the Gamecocks came into this with the mindset that they had to make someone other than Bueckers beat them, well, consider it done.

A complete performance, this was, a performance that left no doubt as to who had become the nation’s best team.

“These players make me want to hang in there every day,” Auriemma, 71, said.

Auriemma hung around long enough to hug Bueckers, one of his favorite players ever, in the final seconds of a championship and to celebrate his program being back on top.

Blake Toppmeyer is a columnist for the USA TODAY Network. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer. Subscribe to read all of his columns.

The Toronto Blue Jays and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. have reached an agreement on a contract extension, according to reports.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan and The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported that the deal is worth $500 million over 14 years. He was set to become a free agent following the 2025 season. Guerrero’s contract is the third-largest contract in MLB history, behind Juan Soto’s 15-year, $765 million deal with the New York Mets and Shohei Ohtani’s 10-year, $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, according to Passan. The contract also is reportedly a no-deferral deal, which means Guerrero is expected to be paid out in full during the term of the contract without any portion of the salary being pushed back for a later time.

Guerrero was considered one of the top international prospects in his class and originally signed with the team in 2015 for $3.9 million.

He’s won a Gold Glove and two Silver Slugger Awards during his career.

He’s also been named an All-Star four times, was the All-Star Game MVP in 2021 and won the Home Run Derby in 2023.

Through Sunday, Guerrero has a .288 career batting average with 478 runs, 511 RBIs and 160 home runs.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s 2025 stats

Through the first 10 games of the season, Guerrero Jr. has produced a .286 batting average and four RBIs. He has yet to hit his first home run of the season.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s 2025 AL MVP odds

Guerrero Jr. (+2000) is currently ranked sixth for American League MVP odds on BetMGM.

Toronto Blue Jays’ next game

The Blue Jays will begin a three-game series with the Boston Red Sox on Monday at Fenway Park. The game will begin at 6:45 p.m. ET.

The Blue Jays were recently swept in a three-game series against the New York Mets.

UConn’s Paige Bueckers earned her first national championship with a win over South Carolina, and she won’t have to wait long to hit the next milestone in her career.

Bueckers is widely expected to be the No. 1 overall pick of the 2025 WNBA draft, which is set to take place in New York City next week. If Bueckers is indeed the first player off the board, she will be the sixth Connecticut Husky to be selected first overall, joining Sue Bird (2002), Diana Taurasi (2004), Tina Charles (2010), Maya Moore (2011), and Breanna Stewart (2016).

Although there isn’t much surprise about the No. 1 selection, the rest of the picks aren’t as straightforward, especially after Notre Dame guard Olivia Miles opted out of the draft in favor of entering the college basketball transfer portal. UConn guard Azzi Fudd also announced that she will cash in another year of collegiate eligibility.

It’s worth noting that the Las Vegas Aces don’t have a 2025 first-round draft pick after their pick was rescinded by the WNBA for violating league rules regarding player benefits. 

Let’s take a look at how the 2025 WNBA draft shakes up one day after the 2025 NCAA women’s basketball championship:

2025 WNBA mock draft

1. Dallas Wings: G Paige Bueckers (UConn)

The 2025 WNBA draft isn’t called the Paige Bueckers sweepstakes for nothing. Bueckers is a generational talent with her shot-making and playmaking abilities and is widely expected to hear her name called first in New York. She just led UConn to its first national championship since 2016, while putting up monster numbers. She scored 30+ points in three consecutive games, including a career-high 40-point performance in the Eight Eight. Bueckers dropped a total of 105 points in three games, the most by a UConn player in that three-game span. After the Wings landed the 2025 No. 1 overall pick in the draft lottery, Dallas All-Star guard Arike Ogunbowale posted on social media, ‘I just fell to my knees. THANK YOU LORD!’ She has good reason to celebrate. 

2. Seattle Storm: G Sonia Citron (Notre Dame)

Notre Dame star Olivia Miles was expected to go second overall before her withdrawal from the draft, but the Storm will still add a Fighting Irish player to their roster. The Storm parted ways with Jewell Loyd in a three-team trade with the Las Vegas Aces and Los Angeles Sparks, but Seattle acquired the second overall pick from the Sparks to snag an efficient scorer and lockdown defender in Sonia Citron. The Fighting Irish didn’t have the best showing in the NCAA Tournament, but it won’t affect Citron’s draft stock too much. She averaged 14.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.9 steals in 32 games this season.

3. Washington Mystics: F/C Dominique Malonga (France)

The French takeover doesn’t just apply to the NBA. Dominique Malonga will follow in the footsteps of fellow countryman Victor Wembanyama and be drafted to the pros. The 6-foot-6 center is the ultimate athlete that can do it all with her speed, length and explosiveness. She’s averaging 15.4 points, 10.3 rebounds and 1.2 blocks, while shooting 53.8% from the field, for France’s Lyon ASVEL Feminin. Did we mention that she’s only 19? She turns 20 in November. The Mystics have been quiet in free agency, but new general manager Jamila Wideman and head coach Sydney Johnson will take a step toward building their future with Malonga.

4. Washington Mystics: F Aneesah Morrow (LSU)

5. Golden State Valkyries: F Kiki Iriafen (USC)

Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase told USA TODAY Sports she’s looking for an ‘ultra competitive,’ ‘high character,’ ‘never satisfied’ player that will help build the team’s culture in its inaugural season. Kiki Iriafen checks all those boxes. The 6-foot-3 forward would make an immediate impact in Golden State, not far from her playing days at Stanford before she transfered to USC. Iriafen averaged 18 points, 8.4 rebounds, 1.8 assists and shot 49% from the field for the Trojans this season. When she’s not backing up opponents in the paint or cleaning up the glass with her physicality and explosiveness, Iriafen is a midrange master. She also highlighted her leadership skills after stepping up following JuJu Watkins’ injury in the second round.

6. Washington Mystics: G Shyanne Sellers (Maryland)

The Mystics are on the board yet again. This time they will select a guard in Shyanne Sellers. She averaged 14.4 points per game, 3.8 rebounds and 4.1 assists, while shooting 46.2% from the field and a career-high 40.8% from beyond the arc this season for the Terrapins. Sellers is the first player in Maryland history to reach 1,500 points, 500 rebounds and 500 assists, highlighting her ability to do it all.

7. Connecticut Sun: F Ajša Sivka (Slovenia)

The Sun have had a rough offseason so far. Not only did Connecticut lose head coach Stephanie White, they also lost Alyssa Thomas, DeWanna Bonner, Dijonai Carrington, Tyasha Harris and Brionna Jones — their entire playoff starting lineup. It’s not clear what direction the Sun are going as they begin their rebuild under new head coach Rachid Meziane, but Slovenian forward Ajsa Sivka is a solid draft-and-stash option who could benefit the Sun in the long run. The versatile wing is averaging 7.6 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists, while shooting 47.5% from beyond the arc for Tarbes Gespe Bigorre.

8. Connecticut Sun: G Georgia Amoore (Kentucky)

Connecticut is back on the board and will pick up up point guard Georgia Amoore. Although undersized at 5-foot-6, Amoore is an elite facilitator, leading the SEC in assists per game (6.9). She’s also a certified bucket. Amoore averaged a career-high 19.6 points, shooting a career-high 42.3% from the field, and dropped 34 points in Kentucky’s tournament opener against Liberty.

9. Los Angeles Sparks: G Hailey Van Lith (TCU)

The Sparks kicked off free agency by landing two-time WNBA champion Kelsey Plum, who will join Cameron Brinks, Rickea Jackson and Dearica Hamby in Los Angeles. The Sparks will add another guard to the mix with Hailey Van Lith, who dramatically increased her draft stock in the NCAA tournament by taking the TCU Horned Frogs to the Elite Eight. Van Lith averaged 17.9 points, shooting a career-high 45.2% from the field and 33.8% from three. Van Lith also brings much experience from both the 2025 Olympics and five years in college.

10. Chicago Sky: G Te-Hina Paopao (South Carolina)

The Sky are in need of a guard after losing last season’s top scorer with the departure of Chennedy Carter. Chicago added former Sky alum Courtney Vandersloot and Kia Nurse in free agency, but the Sky will prioritize depth by drafting Te-Hina Paopao, reuniting her with former South Carolina teammate Kamilla Cardoso. Paopao averaged 9.6 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists, while shooting 47.1% from the field. Paopao’s shooting from beyond the arc slightly dipped this season, but 37.1% from three is still respectable. Paopao can not only create a shot for her teammates and herself, she’s developed as a lockdown defender and has emerged as an elite 3-and-D player.

11. Minnesota Lynx: G Serena Sundell (Kansas State)

The Lynx fell just short of the 2024 WNBA championship after losing a winner-take-all Game 5 to the New York Liberty in overtime. They will return most of their roster, but will look to add depth with guard Serena Sundell. She has excellent vision and led the nation in assists per game (7.3). She can also score and averaged 14.1 points and 4.4 rebounds.

12. Dallas Wings: G Saniya Rivers (NC State) 

With the Wings already assured of landing Paige Bueckers with the first overall pick, they go for the best player on the board with the 12th pick. Rivers can beat anyone in one-on-one and averaged 11 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.3 blocks this season. She will bring a defensive edge to the Wings, who ranked dead-last in defensive rating last year.

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TAMPA, Fla. ― The UConn Huskies are national champions … again.

Head coach Geno Auriemma earned his 12th NCAA women’s basketball championship on Sunday, after an 82-58 rout over No. 1 seed South Carolina, a tremendous feat for his legendary career – the most of any men’s or women’s program in NCAA history.

“I thank all of my former players that are here,’ Auriemma said, with all-time greats like like Breanna Stewart, Maya Moore, Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird in the building. ‘You know when you cut down the nets, and everybody gets a little piece of it? I wish we had enough nets that all of them got a piece of it because that’s how much they mean to us.’

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Auriemma’s former players watched his current players continue the UConn tradition of excellence and winning, spearheaded by generational talent Paige Bueckers, freshman superstar Sarah Strong and the ever-resilient Azzi Fudd.

Now, the women’s March Madness tournament is complete. Let’s review who was victorious and who will need a few months to recover from the sting of losing:

Winner: UConn legend Paige Bueckers

UConn guard Paige Bueckers received her storybook ending on Sunday, earning her first championship before heading to the WNBA. Fittingly, she didn’t need to be anything other than herself to do it. (Bueckers didn’t need the championship to solidify her legacy, but going home with extra hardware isn’t terrible either.) All season, Bueckers’ leadership helped lift the UConn Huskies into the history books. It was a fitting ending to her storied college career.

Her legacy is undeniable and oozes from the Huskies onto the court. On Sunday, Bueckers was one of three Huskies in double figures as UConn steamrolled South Carolina in Tampa. Her final college stat line was 17 points, six rebounds, three assists, one steal and two blocks. Bueckers will catch her breath (after some much-deserved partying) and turn to the 2025 WNBA draft, where she’s expected to be the No. 1 overall pick. She’ll get the chance to leave an impact on the WNBA like so many other stars have done. Her new legacy starts now, and it begins with quite the introduction.

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Loser: South Carolina’s dominance

Head coach Dawn Staley and South Carolina went undefeated last season and only lost four games in the previous two years, an incredible streak that shouldn’t be forgotten. What Staley achieved with such a young squad was remarkable, especially given the field of competitors. However, during the national championship, their dominance ran out.

South Carolina’s all-powerful engine ran out of steam, something that has been building throughout the NCAA tournament. (The Gamecocks had a slew of bad starts, turnovers and jaw-clenching endings.) With Bree Hall, Sania Feagin and possibly Raven Johnson all exiting after the season, it’s plausible to ask: Will South Carolina return to a national championship stage soon? The team’s core, which has been to four Final Fours, is likely gone, leaving a very young team to pick up the pieces. Staley, though more than capable of getting the Gamecocks back to the Final Four, will have an uphill battle.

Winner: UConn guard Azzi Fudd and her electric performance

A healthy Azzi Fudd is a dangerous Azzi Fudd. If fans were waiting for Fudd at her finest, she has arrived. Truthfully, the Huskies guard has been excellent this season, but her March Madness tournament run has been one for ages. Fudd’s been in double digits in nearly every game, save one, and she was the x-factor on Sunday. South Carolina had no answer for her, as she had 21 points by the third quarter and finished with 24.

It’s almost a shame that fans must wait to see Fudd play in the WNBA because she’s returning to UConn. However, a whole season of Azzi Fudd doing magical things on a college basketball court with the Huskies seems fitting. She’ll get the send-off tour she deserves. Fudd also received Most Outstanding Player and made the Final Four tournament, something she should treasure for years to come.

Loser: South Carolina adjusting to UConn’s blistering pace

On Sunday, the fast style of play that UConn unleashed against UCLA in Friday’s semifinal appeared again in the national championship game. South Carolina kept up for parts of the first quarter, but UConn cruised and left the Gamecocks out of sorts. Turnovers and a mountain of missed shots (South Carolina might cringe when it looks at the film, especially in the paint.) doomed the Gamecocks.

UConn also struggled with its own established pace, but as the game went on and the lead grew to 20 at the start of the fourth quarter, the Huskies settled right in, never looking back. They outhustled South Carolina in seemingly every area, a rare sight for a Dawn Staley coached team. It didn’t matter what the Gamecocks came up with Sunday, the Huskies were already three steps ahead.

Winner: UConn freshman phenom Sarah Strong

It’s hard to describe just how talented freshman forward Sarah Strong is. Her patience on the court and calm demeanor say savvy vet, but Strong’s playful smile shows she’s still a young girl having fun while playing basketball, casually destroying opponents along the way. By halftime during the championship game, Strong had 11 rebounds and eventually worked her way up to another double-double, her fourth of the NCAA tournament. (Again, she’s incredible ― strong even. Don’t throw tomatoes for that pun.)

With the help of Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd, the trio had 53 combined points to South Carolina’s 42 into the fourth quarter. Strong was part of the difference on Sunday, reinforcing why she was the country’s best freshman all year. She finished her day with an outstanding 24 points, 15 rebounds, five assists, two steals and three blocks.

Loser: USA TODAY’s Meghan L. Hall and her love for college basketball

USA TODAY journalist Meghan Hall watched a ridiculous amount of basketball before attending the Final Four in Tampa, Florida. There were many late nights – 10 p.m. start times should be permanently banned – and lots of rewinding to ensure she didn’t miss anything. Through it all, she only fell deeper in love with the amazing stars in college basketball, and it’s a shame it all ended on Sunday. (Still, her eardrums are very thankful after listening to a sold-out crowd of 19,777 fans scream for hours.)

That’s it. There are no more games to play. No more stats to analyze.

Please respect her privacy as she grieves that the 2024-25 season is over and the 2025-26 season is more than seven months away. Thankfully, Hall will be around for more basketball, and this won’t be the last time she writes about Paige Bueckers or any other top potential WNBA draft picks in the coming months. Through it all, she’s grateful she witnessed women’s basketball’s incredible impact on the sports world. Women’s basketball isn’t just a moment. It’s a movement. Don’t miss the wave. It’s not stopping anytime soon.

After nearly five years, what stands to be the most expensive and far-reaching legal case in college sports history on Monday reaches a potentially decisive moment. U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken is scheduled to conduct a hearing concerning final approval of the proposed multi-billion-dollar settlements of three athlete-compensation antitrust cases against the NCAA and the Power Five conferences.

The deal would include nearly $2.8 billion in damages that would go to current and former athletes — and their lawyers — over 10 years. The arrangement also would allow Division I schools to start paying athletes directly for use of their name, image and likeness (NIL) starting July 1, subject to a per-school cap that would increase over time and be based on a percentage of certain athletics revenues.

However, those elements would be just part of a comprehensive reshaping of college sports that would occur under the settlement.

Among other changes:

NCAA leaders would seek to engineer rules changes eliminating longstanding, sport-by-sport scholarship limits and replacing them with a new set of roster-size limits. In the first academic year after final approval of the settlement, the roster limit in football, for example, would be 105. Some FBS programs have had many more than that. Rosters in other sports at some schools also stand to be reduced.

While athletes would continue to have the ability to make NIL deals with entities other than their schools, the settlement would allow the NCAA and the power conferences to institute rules designed to give the power conferences — through a new entity they are creating — greater enforcement oversight of those arrangements.

What is set to happen in settlement hearing, and why is Olivia Dunne scheduled to speak?

In her courtroom in Oakland, California, Wilken is scheduled to hear from lawyers representing the plaintiffs, primarily Steve Berman and Jeff Kessler, and an attorney representing the NCAA and the conferences.

She also is set to hear from 14 parties who are objecting to the settlement. In most instances, this will be through lawyers representing objectors or groups of objectors. Four objectors are scheduled to speak themselves, including LSU gymnast and renowned social-media influencer Olivia Dunne; Ben Burr-Kirven, who was an All-America football player at Washington and played in the NFL; and a current high school athlete.

Taken together, this group of 14 is intended to speak for the hundreds of objectors — out of roughly 400,000 current and former athletes covered by the cases — who filed written complaints with the court. Nearly 300 additional athletes have opted out of participating in the settlement and are pursuing a separate lawsuit.

Several of the groups of objectors set to be heard Monday also argued against preliminary approval of settlements in September. But Wilken turned aside those oppositions and granted preliminary approval in early October after lawyers for the principals adjusted the settlement to address concerns she raised that were different from the objectors’.

Roster limits would be part of settlement; thousands of walk-ons could lose spots

An array of issues have been raised by the various objectors. One that is likely to be prominently raised Monday has to do with the roster limits that would go into effect as part of the settlement. That issue was not addressed at the preliminary-approval stage, and dozens of athletes and parents have written letters to Wilken that were put not in legalistic terms, but highly personal ones.

Thousands of current walk-on athletes stand to lose their places on Division I teams if the settlement is approved, and some of the letters to Wilken have cited instances of college athletes having already been told by coaches they will be losing their spots, or high school recruits having been told that spots they were going to receive no longer exist.

From a class-action antitrust legal standpoint, the issue here will be whether lawyers for objectors can convince Wilken that this constitutes such a level of conflict among the broad group of athletes that the plaintiffs’ lawyers are seeking to represent that the proposed deal should not be approved.

“It clearly does,” said Steve Molo, an attorney for one of the objector groups. “The roster limits have taken effect, if you will. The roster limits are an antitrust violation. … Different class members may get different relief. Here, some are getting relief at the expense of class members. (Some athletes) may lose something from the settlement. That’s tremendously unfair and should not be allowed.”

Molo’s group, and other objectors, also have argued that the settlement violates Title IX, the federal gender-equity law. They say the proposed allocation of the damages — which would give most of the money to football and men’s basketball players — is unfair and sets the stage for unfair allocations of the schools’ presumptive direct NIL payments to athletes.                   

However, in a pre-hearing order, Wilken wrote that she “cannot order changes to the agreement. Objectors should address whether they wish the Court to reject the settlement and set the case for trial.” But during the preliminary hearing, Wilken made it clear that she had problems with the settlement as it stood at that point and strongly encouraged the principals to change it — which they did.

Regarding the roster limits, the plaintiffs have argued in written filings that “such a myopic focus on available roster spots for walk-on (non-scholarship) athletes … is not a basis for disapproving the settlement.” The roster limits occurring alongside the end of sport-by-sport scholarship limits, they say, is fair.

“To be sure, losing a roster spot is no small matter for those impacted,” they wrote, “but just like the least competitive walk-on athletes may lose a roster spot under the settlement the more competitive walk-on athletes may now enjoy an athletic scholarship that was previously unavailable to them. On balance, that is an extremely reasonable compromise.”

And that’s the basic legal standard here — whether the settlement, as proposed, is fair, reasonable and adequate.

This is why Gabe Feldman, director of the Tulane Sports Law Program and Tulane University’s associate provost for NCAA compliance, said the objectors “have an uphill battle” to convince Wilken that the settlement shouldn’t be approved — although he added, “uphill doesn’t mean impossible.”

He said that the fair-reasonable-and-adequate standard means that the issue before Wilken is “not whether it’s the best settlement that ever could have been achieved … there are going to be trade-offs.”

Feldman also said that Wilken can “take into account the risk of (further) litigation and the cost of litigation. … There’s no guarantee that the House plaintiffs would win at trial. There’s no guarantee that the House plaintiffs would win on appeal. There’s no guarantee that the House plaintiffs would win at the Supreme Court. The only thing guaranteed is that it would take a lot of time and cost a lot of money.”

With all of that in mind, Berman, one of the plaintiffs’ lead lawyers said last week: “I think she’s going to approve it.”

What happens if the settlement is approved?

It is unlikely that Wilken will issue a ruling on Monday. But based on the way she has run other hearings not only in this case, but also others she has overseen over nearly 16 years of antitrust litigation against the NCAA, the parties likely will have a good idea of where she stands by the end of Monday’s hearing.

If she grants final approval, schools will be able to move forward with plans to start paying athletes for use of their NIL, and the associated changes also will go forward, including the roster limits.

The 10-year window for payment of the damages award, including what stands to be as much as $775 million in attorneys’ fees and costs for the plaintiffs, would begin. However, if objectors appeal a final-approval ruling by Wilken, those payments would be held in escrow — and not made to athletes or lawyers — until all appeals are fully played out.

While final approval — and even the resolution of any appeals — would wrap up these specific cases, there are related actions that will continue. The case brought on behalf of athletes who opted out could continue.

In addition, the South Dakota attorney general is pursuing a lawsuit on behalf of the University of South Dakota and South Dakota State University that seeks to reduce the amount of money those schools stand to lose from future NCAA distributions while the association pays its share of the presumptive damages. The NCAA attempted to have the case moved to federal court, but a federal district judge recently ruled that it should proceed in state court.

Looking further ahead, it is widely anticipated among college-sports officials that, if the settlement is approved and schools move ahead with plans to allocate their NIL payments to athletes in a manner that provides most of that money to football and men’s basketball players, a Title IX lawsuit will result.

Perhaps the San Francisco Giants’ back to the future approach really is paying off.

A new regime led by franchise legend Buster Posey intent on returning the club to its strong pitching, solid defense, timely hitting and esprit de corps of their three-championship run one decade ago is seeing immediate results this season. The Giants have won their first three series, capped by a sweep of the Seattle Mariners in their first set at Oracle Park this season, and leaped 11 spots in USA TODAY Sports’ power rankings.

At 8-1, the Giants are in a virtual tie with the – gulp – Los Angeles Dodgers atop the National League West, part of a divisional wrecking ball that’s seen West teams other than the Colorado Rockies race out to a 29-10 record. Willy Adames, whose $182 million contract broke Posey’s record as the largest in franchise history, won their home opener with a two-run walk-off single; Wilmer Flores walked the Mariners off in extra innings again on Sunday. And the club ranks atop the majors in fielding percentage and are fourth in ERA.

A familiar look in China Basin.

A look at our updated rankings:

1. Los Angeles Dodgers (-)

Blake Snell’s barking shoulder lands him on IL, leaving club with – hmm – roughly eight rotation options.

2. Philadelphia Phillies (+1)

Marquee bullpen acquisition Jordan Romano struggling (2.50 WHIP, 15.75 ERA) in first five appearances.

3. New York Yankees (-1)

Will Warren with a pair of rough starts at back of rotation.

4. San Diego Padres (-)

Despite hitting just eight home runs, they’re averaging nearly five runs a game.

5. Texas Rangers (+1)

Kumar Rocker joins Jack Leiter in the ‘completed five innings’ club.

6. New York Mets (+2)

Pete Alonso starting red-hot – three homers, 11 RBI, and ninth-inning heroics are back.

7. Arizona Diamondbacks (-)

Corbin Burnes’ cutter not as sharp, hard in first two starts.

8. San Francisco Giants (+11)

Jordan Hicks with 11 strikeouts, three walks in his first two starts.

9. Detroit Tigers (+1)

Tarik Skubal struggling early, but they still know how to punish White Sox.

10. Baltimore Orioles (-5)

Have scored two or fewer runs in five of 10 games.

11. Boston Red Sox (-)

Starters not named Garrett Crochet have a 6.42 ERA.

12. Chicago Cubs (+2)

Their new center fielder has Tucked away a few more million in his .319/.458/.745 start.

13. Kansas City Royals (+4)

They seem to have Baltimore’s number.

14. Toronto Blue Jays (+7)

We’ll see what a Vlad Guerrero Jr. extension does to kickstart this squad.

15. Houston Astros (-6)

Catcher Yainer Diaz off to a 2-for-26 (.077) start.

16. Tampa Bay Rays (+2)

Brandon Lowe, with three homers and an .898 OPS, digging Steinbrenner Field.

17. Atlanta Braves (-5)

Catcher Sean Murphy is back, but promising rookie Drake Baldwin sticks on big league roster.

18. Seattle Mariners (-3)

Offensive stat of the weak: DH Rowdy Tellez is 1-for-15 with five strikeouts and one walk.

19. Minnesota Twins (+4)

OK, so they’re not that horrible.

20. Los Angeles Angels (+5)

Only Aaron Judge has hit more home runs than Logan O’Hoppe.

21. St. Louis Cardinals (-1)

Catcher Ivan Herrera crushes four homers – and then irritates knee.

22. Milwaukee Brewers (+2)

A young man by the name of Chad Patrick collects his first major league win.

23. Cleveland Guardians (-7)

A rough 1-5 West Coast swing, but White Sox+home opener should be an elixir.

24. Cincinnati Reds (-11)

Losing series at Milwaukee kinda dampens the ‘this year will be different’ vibes.

25. Washington Nationals (-3)

Mitchell Parker sporting a 0.73 ERA after two starts.

26. Miami Marlins (+1)

A multi-homer game for former Cub prospect Matt Mervis.

27. Pittsburgh Pirates (+1)

David Bednar shipped to minor leagues, but ninth inning still an adventure.

28. Athletics (-2)

Ball already flying in Yolo County as club gives up 35 runs in first three home games.

29. Colorado Rockies (-)

Chase Dollander wins major league debut – surviving Coors Field, no less.

30. Chicago White Sox (-)

Michael Tauchman returns, but Andrew Benintendi now slowed by injury.

The Great Eight has topped The Great One.

Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin set the NHL record for career goals when he scored No. 895 Sunday afternoon against the New York Islanders to pass Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky.

He scored on the power play, ripping a shot by Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin at 7:26 of the second period, for the 325th power play goal of his career. Longtime teammate and fellow 2018 Stanley Cup winner Tom Wilson had the primary assist.

Ovechkin slid on the ice in celebration, let out a big roar and teammates mobbed him.

‘I’m probably going to need a couple more days, a couple more weeks to realize what it means to be No. 1,’ he told reporters after the game, ‘but I’m proud for myself, I’m proud for my family and for all my teammates that helped me reach that milestone and for all my coaches. It’s huge.’

Gretzky scored his final NHL goal in March 1999 against the Islanders. Ovechkin’s record-breaker happened on the 45th anniversary of Gordie Howe’s 801st and final goal, which stood as the record until Gretzky passed him in 1994. It also happened 21 years to the day that the Capitals won the draft lottery for the right to select Ovechkin.

Play was stopped as Gretzky, commissioner Gary Bettman, Capitals owner Ted Leonsis, Ovechkin’s family and others came out on the ice for a ceremony in which Ovechkin was gifted a painting. Bettman, Gretzky and Ovechkin spoke.

Gretzky’s mark of 894 goals was considered unbreakable when he retired at age 38 in 1999. Ovechkin wouldn’t be drafted until 2004 as the first overall pick and he wouldn’t make his debut until 2005 because of a season-long lockout.

He scored twice in his NHL debut and had 52 goals that year, some of them jaw-dropping, and edged Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins for rookie of the year.

Ovechkin vs. Gretzky

Gretzky, a 185-pound Canadian center, was an exceptional playmaker who also scored a lot because of his ability to anticipate plays. Ovechkin, a 240-pound Russian winger, is a physical specimen. He would dole out hits, never gave up on a puck and had a one-timer that was hard to stop.

Center Nicklas Backstrom, who assisted on 279 Ovechkin goals, said the winger has a bigger ‘sweet spot’ than other players, which allowed him to get a shot off at many different angles.

‘Sometimes it seems that the puck just finds him,’ Backstrom told reporters last month. ‘He’s got that ability to put the puck in the net like nobody else.’

Gretzky scored a record-shattering 92 goals in 1981-82 with the high-flying Edmonton Oilers, then followed with 71, 87 and 73. Ovechkin’s best season was 65 in his third season but his consistency is what put him over the top. He led the league in goals nine times, and this month he passed Howe’s record of 415 goals after turning 30.

In the beginning of last season, it looked like Ovechkin might be slipping as he scored just nine goals through the end of January. But he scored 22 goals after vacationing during the All-Star break, making this record possible.

This season, he got off to a torrid start with 15 goals in 18 games but suffered a fractured left fibula during a Nov. 18 game. It cost him 16 games. He has scored 27 times in 43 games since he returned on Dec. 28 to give him 42 goals this season, third best in the league.

Ovechkin, 39, will build on his record because he has another year left on his contract.

He showed you can never call a record unbreakable, but his goal-scoring accomplishment will be hard to eclipse.

‘They say records are made to be broken, but I’m not sure who’s going to get more goals than that,’ Gretzky said in Sunday’s on-ice ceremony.

His league debut delayed by a season-long lockout, the 2004 No. 1 overall pick put on a show in his rookie year. The Russian winger threw his body around for the Washington Capitals, bulled past defenders with speed, beat goalies with a wicked shot and celebrated enthusiastically.

He scored 52 times in 2005-06 to edge Sidney Crosby for rookie of the year. It was clear that a new goal-scoring threat had emerged.

Twenty years later, his style has changed, but his shot remains difficult to stop. He has racked up nine goal-scoring titles and passed Wayne Gretzky’s 894, a record once thought to be unbreakable.

He scored twice on Friday to tie the record and ripped a power-play goal shot past New York Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin on Sunday afternoon to stand alone as the NHL’s top goal scorer.

He scored in Game No. 1,487, the same number as Gretzky’s played. The goal was scored 21 years after the Capitals won

Here are Ovechkin’s milestone goals and other memorable ones:

First goal

Ovechkin ended up with two goals in his Oct. 5, 2005 NHL debut against the Columbus Blue Jackets. It was just what was needed with the league emerging from a canceled season.

Stunning the Coyotes

In case you didn’t think that a two-goal debut meant Ovechkin would have a special career, just check out this rookie year, highlight-reel goal on Jan. 16, 2006. Ovechkin appeared to be down and out, and he still managed to slide a no-look backhander past Phoenix Coyotes goalie Brian Boucher. Making the goal even more impressive: It was done in front of Gretzky, who was coaching the Coyotes at the time.

100th career goal

After getting 52 goals his first season and 46 his second, Ovechkin needed only two goals in his third campaign to hit the century mark. He did it in his fourth game of the season (Oct. 12, 2007), in typical Ovechkin fashion, with speed, a slick move and a quick shot.

Hitting the record books

On April 3, 2008, Ovechkin scored twice (his 64th and 65th goals of the season) to break Luc Robitaille’s season record for goals by a left wing.

200th career goal

Ovechkin took advantage on a turnover and ripped a shot past Los Angeles Kings goalie Jonathan Quick in the third period of a 5-4 loss on Feb. 5, 2009.

Passing to himself

Not only did Ovechkin bank the puck off the boards to himself to get past one defender on Feb. 18, 2009, he was pulled down and still had the presence of mind to roof a one-handed shot past Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price.

Stick is on fire

Ovechkin was on fire, but he caught some flak for his celebration after he scored his 50th goal of the season on March 29, 2009. He pretended that his stick was too hot to pick up. He jokingly repeated the move in a later All-Star Game.

300th NHL goal

Goal 100 was past Henrik Lundqvist. No. 200 was past Quick. On No. 300, on April 15, 2011, he beat James Reimer. It was typical of many of his power-play goals, a rocket shot on a one-timer from the left faceoff circle. No matter how many teams know it’s coming, it’s hard to stop.

400th goal

Pretty easy. An empty netter against the Carolina Hurricanes on Dec. 20, 2013. After all of the highlight-reel goals, it’s fine to have an occasional layup.

500th goal

Also scored from his office on Jan. 10, 2016, against the Ottawa Senators. The difference: This was a wrist shot. Just as lethal. His parents were in the stands and teammates poured onto the ice for the goal.

Seven goals in first two games

Ovechkin entered the 2017-18 season with 558 goals and got off to a swift start in the drive for 600 by getting a hat trick in Game 1 against the Senators and four goals in Game 2 against the Canadiens. He was the first player in 100 years to get hat tricks in his opening two games.

600th goal

Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck is the NHL’s best goalie nowadays, but Ovechkin has beaten him six times. This was the first time, on March 12, 2018, giving Ovechkin 600 goals in 990 career games.

700th goal

Ovechkin needed 154 games to go from 600 goals to 700, compared with Gretzky’s 169. He got No. 700 on Feb. 22, 2020 against the New Jersey Devils with a big shot from the right faceoff circle.

Moving into the top five

Ovechkin scored goal No. 732 on Oct. 13, 2021, against the New York Rangers, to pass Marcel Dionne for fifth place. Less than a month later, he scored No. 742 against the Blue Jackets to pass Brett Hull.

Power-play goal record

Ovechkin scored his 275th career power-play goal on Dec. 31, 2021 to pass Dave Andreychuk and did it in 400 fewer games.

“He’s a special player,’ Andreychuk told reporters in the leadup to the Ovechkin record. ‘We all have watched him over the years. Playing against him, he’s no different now than he was then. … For all of us now as hockey fans, he’s fun to watch.”

Passing Jaromir Jagr to move into third

Ovechkin scored his 767th career goal on March 15, 2022 to pass Jaromir Jagr for sole possession of third place on the goal list. He beat the New York Islanders’ Semyon Varlamov, who also gave up the goals on which Ovechkin passed 10th-place Mario Lemieux and sixth-place Phil Esposito.

800th goal

Ovechkin scored a hat trick on Dec. 13, 2022, to reach career goal No. 800. That left him one goal behind No. 2 overall scorer Gordie Howe.

Ties and passes Gordie Howe

Since early January 2020, Ovechkin had passed Lemieux, Steve Yzerman, Mark Messier, Mike Gartner, Esposito, Dionne, Hull and Jagr. On Dec. 23, 2022, he tied and passed Howe for second best of all time.

Ovechkin ties Gretzky

Ovechkin scored his 40th season of the season about minutes into the April 4, 2025 game. He tied Gretzky in the third period with a power-play goal from the left faceoff circle.

Ovechkin passes Gretzky

Ovechkin scored the record-breaker on April 6, 2025 in a game at the Islanders. It on the power play and from near the left faceoff circle.

Ovechkin record on-ice ceremony

The game was halted so Ovechkin could be honored for his achievement. Gretzky, Ovechkin and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman spoke.

Every goal Ovechkin ever scored

If you have plenty of time, here’s the video of every Ovechkin goal compiled by the Capitals.

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