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Tesla reports 336,000 vehicle deliveries in first quarter, 13% drop from a year ago

Tesla reported 336,000 vehicle deliveries in the first quarter of 2025, a 13% decline from a year ago, two days after the electric vehicle company’s stock wrapped up its worst quarter since 2022.

Here are the key numbers:

Investors were expecting Tesla to report deliveries of between 360,000 and 370,000 vehicles, according to StreetAccount. Tesla’s investor relations team sends a company-compiled consensus to select analysts, and said the average estimate was for around 377,590 deliveries. Prediction market company Kalshi on Tuesday released a forecast for Tesla deliveries of 352,000.

In the first quarter of 2024, Tesla reported 386,810 deliveries, and production of 433,371 vehicles.

Deliveries are the closest approximation of vehicle sales reported by Tesla but are not precisely defined in the company’s shareholder communications.

Tesla doesn’t break out sales and production by model or region. However, the company said that it produced 345,454 of its most popular Model 3 and Model Y cars and delivered 323,800 of them in the three months ending March 31.

The company reported 12,881 deliveries of its other models, including its angular steel Cybertruck.

During the quarter, Tesla faced planned, partial shutdowns in some of its factories that allowed the company to upgrade manufacturing lines to start producing a redesigned version of its popular Model Y SUV.

CEO Elon Musk recently said during an all-hands session with Tesla employees that he expects the Model Y to be the “best-selling car on Earth again this year.” 

But Tesla has to contend with an onslaught of EV competition and reputational damage. In the first quarter, the company was hit with waves of protests, boycotts and some criminal activity that targeted Tesla vehicles and facilities in response to Musk’s political rhetoric and his work as part of President Donald Trump’s second administration.

After spending $290 million to help return President Donald Trump to the White House, Musk is leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), where he’s slashing costs, eliminating regulations and cutting tens of thousands of federal jobs.

Musk, the world’s wealthiest person, has also involved himself in European politics, promoting the anti-immigrant AfD party in Germany in February’s elections. Tesla’s business on the continent is struggling.

Across 15 European countries, Tesla’s market share declined to 9.3% in the first quarter from 17.9% in the same period a year earlier, according to data tracked by EU-EVs.com. In Germany, Tesla’s market share in battery electric vehicles plummeted to 4% from about 16% over that stretch.

Sales of Tesla’s electric vehicles made in China came in at 78,828 in March, slumping 11.5% year-on-year, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association released Wednesday. The company is facing rising competition in the region from EV makers such as BYD.

Tesla shares sank 36% in the first quarter, their steepest drop since the fourth quarter of 2022 and third-biggest decline in the company’s 15 years on the public market. The drop wiped out $460 billion in market cap.

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Drawings by ESPN analyst’s son featured on World Autism Awareness Day

During the show, all of the monitors viewers at home can see of the Bristol, Connecticut studio are filled with graphics – specific to show or teams and topics being discussed. On Wednesday, every monitor will be filled by collages of Madden’s drawings.

“No matter what you’re seeing on the air, his drawings will be in the background,” “NFL Live” director Tim Farrell told USA TODAY Sports.

A topic of discussion will obviously be the upcoming draft. A New York Giants logo will be imposed over Madden’s work, for example.

“There won’t be one graphic in the entire studio that is what we would normally use on our show,” Farrell said.

The idea came about last year after Farrell saw Orlovsky post one of Madden’s creations based on a “Toy Story” scene featuring Woody and Buzz Lightyear, a comic-strip-esque series of drawings. Orlovsky remembers Madden showing it to him while he was playing catch with his two other sons, Hunter and Noah, whom along with Madden form 13-year-old triplets of Orlovsky boys.

In Orlovsky’s social media post, he overlayed it with the audio from the scene Madden recreated.

“I was like ‘Holy smokes, Madden, this is sick,’” Orlovsky told USA TODAY Sports.

Madden, 13, was diagnosed with autism more than a decade ago. It wasn’t long after Orlovsky and his wife Tiffany realized Madden’s passion for drawing. Art is an outlet for him, Tiffany said, because although he is verbal, he’s not overly talkative.

“He expresses himself that way,” Tiffany told USA TODAY Sports. “Also, we get to see some more interests that we might not have known he had and that will spark conversations. Sometimes, even his emotions are shown in it. He’s very creative with his characters’ facial expressions, so that’s neat to see, how intuitive he is with emotions and other people’s emotions. Honestly, it just creates a conversation or a starter for us to kind of relate to him.” 

Farrell approached Orlovsky with the idea in the second half of the 2024 NFL season with the goal of doing it sometime in April, which is Autism Awareness Month.

“I lost it,” Orlovsky recalled. “I looked at him – I didn’t even know him that well – and I looked at him like ‘You have no concept of what you just did’ in an unbelievably kind way.”

Characters from Disney movies or Nickelodeon shows are Madden’s favorite subject to draw. And he’s always working on something. The boxes of drawings in the Orlovsky family’s basement are the Madden archives.

“Probably every day, there’s at least three new drawings or cartoons,” Tiffany said.

Farrell sent Orlovsky home with a drawing pad from Staples. Madden opted for his own canvas – sheets of printer paper – but judging by the amount of drawings Farrell received, he took the assignment seriously. Some drawings unfortunately couldn’t make the air because of intellectual property rights, Farrell said.

“My office at home is filled with all of these papers,” said Farrell, who picked out ones for use on the show.

Madden began drawing his father a lot. Tiffany requested drawings of “Uncle Swagu” (Marcus Spears) or “Miss Laura” (Laura Rutledge), Orlovksy’s “NFL Live” teammates. Mina Kimes, another fellow analyst, sent him a watercolor paint set and pad along with a drawing of her own.

Orlovsky brought Madden – not named after John Madden or the video game, even though he loves video games and is an elite Mario Kart player – to work Wednesday and Madden left school early. (The Orlovskys chose to live in Westport, Connecticut for the school district’s services and approach; Madden excels in school.)

“The way I tell people, if you spend 15 minutes with him, you’re like ‘Oh he’s a goofball,’” Orlovsky said. “He’s got, like, the sweetest heart in the world.”

That doesn’t make having a child with autism easy or any less frustrating.

“He can’t control it. It’s part of that lifestyle,” said Orlovsky, who was a backup NFL quarterback for 12 years before becoming one of the sport’s most celebrated analysts. “I always say to him, ‘Dude, when you’re happy, everyone’s happy.’

“When he’s on, there’s nothing better, because he just has these special powers to make people feel good.”

The Orlovskys don’t always broadcast Madden’s diagnosis because they want to see it as a “superpower” rather than a disability. His brothers and sister, Lennon, 9, are supportive.

Aging has also made him see differences between himself and his brothers and peers.

“That’s hard for him because he’ll ask questions ‘Am I weird?’ ‘Why am I so weird?’ And that’s tough,” Tiffany said.  

But Madden’s parents remind him that he’s special and different and that there’s nothing wrong with the way he is.

Tiffany wants parents of children with autism to know not to give up and every child is different. Giving kids the freedom to be who they are and not putting them in a box – exhibiting patience – is important.

“You’re not alone,” Tiffany said. “There are so many people out there that will support your child and support you. And don’t be ashamed. Because they really are so special and cool.”

And come Wednesday, Madden’s passion will receive the ESPN treatment.

“It’s going to be an awesome day. It’ll be an emotional day,” Orlovsky said. “I’m an emotional person, so at some point I’ll lose it on TV like a complete idiot.”

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9 WNBA prospects with stock jumps after Notre Dame’s Olivia Miles exits

There was always a chance Miles would return to school. WNBA front offices have a cornucopia of information available to them. So, it’s very likely Miles’ seemingly stunning decision to forgo the draft and continue playing college basketball wasn’t as head-turning as it appeared.

MARCH MADNESS: Women’s March Madness Final Four bracket breakdown: Best players

Perhaps it was timing ― the news broke in the middle of a March Madness UConn vs. USC matchup ― that added to the gravity of the decision. Or maybe it was one mind-boggling detail: Miles intends to enter the transfer portal. Either way, her decision sent reverberations through the women’s basketball landscape.

Among the many questions that inevitably arise, is one that more people should consider with the WNBA draft less than two weeks away: Which draft prospects will receive a boost in stock with no Miles in the 2025 class?

Here are nine players whose WNBA draft stock increases without Olivia Miles on the board:

1. LSU Tigers forward Aneesah Morrow

LSU forward Aneesah Morrow had a spectacular season with the Tigers. She led the country in rebounds, averaged a double-double and ended her career by rewriting the NCAA history books. Morrow also had standout performances during March Madness, including 30 points and 19 rebounds against NC State, that potentially helped elevate her stock and ability to reset the 2025 WNBA Draft board.

With Olivia Miles no longer an option and ESPN‘s Kevin Pelton reporting the Seattle Storm are ‘extremely high’ on France’s Dominique Malonga, there is a real possibility that the Mystics could draft Morrow at No. 3. That’s a massive win for the LSU forward, and something to keep an eye on.

2. Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard Sonia Citron

Perhaps no other guard in the draft benefits more from Olivia Miles not being an option than Miles’ teammate Sonia Citron. Citron had a criminally underrated season, and without her on-court partner in the mix, Citron’s stock likely goes up on league draft boards.

While she isn’t a true point guard, she is a reliable wing player who can light up the hardwood on both ends of the floor. Citron has a knack for finding the basketball, cutting lanes and getting deflections, which creates transition points.

3. USC Trojans forward Kiki Iriafen

USC Trojans forward Kiki Iriafen has been making an excellent case to be drafted within the Top 5 since the Big Ten tournament. Iriafen is a dominant force in the paint and one of the draft’s top rim protectors. As the tournament went on, the production of the senior forward rose, and that momentum carried into March Madness.

Once teammate JuJu Watkins exited the NCAA tournament with an unfortunate ACL injury, Irifafen stepped up with several dynamic performances, including a 36-points, nine-rebounds outing against the Mississippi State Bulldogs. Without Miles on the board, Iriafen’s stock also goes up, and she could be locked in as a Top-5 pick.

4. Five other WNBA draft prospects, including TCU’s Hailey Van Lith

With one of the top guards in the class of 2025 now off the board, several other players could benefit from the opening. Maryland’s Shyanne Sellers, NC State’s Saniya Rivers and Aziaha James, Te-Hina Paopao of South Carolina, Kansas State guard Serena Sundell and Hailey Van Lith of TCU are names to watch.

In particular, Van Lith has played very well throughout the season and the Horned Frogs’ NCAA tournament run. It wouldn’t be shocking to see a team like the Los Angeles Sparks or Chicago Sky pick up the TCU star.

2025 WNBA Draft order

Dallas Wings
Seattle Storm (from Los Angele Sparks)
Washington Mystics (from Chicago Sky)
Washington Mystics
Golden State Valkyries
Washington Mystics (from Atlanta Dream)
Connecticut Sun (from NY Liberty)
Connecticut Sun (from Indiana Fever)
Los Angeles Sparks (from Seattle Storm)
Chicago Sky (from Connecticut Sun)
Minnesota Lynx
Dallas Wings (from NY Liberty)

This post appeared first on USA TODAY
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Trump touts return of the ‘American Dream’ in historic tariff announcement

President Donald Trump announced reciprocal tariffs during a highly anticipated ‘Make America Wealthy Again’ event which he said will restore the American dream and bolster jobs for U.S. workers. 

‘American steel workers, auto workers, farmers and skilled craftsmen,’ Trump said from the White House Rose Garden Wednesday afternoon. ‘We have a lot of them here with us today. They really suffered, gravely. They watched in anguish as foreign leaders have stolen our jobs, foreign cheaters have ransacked our factories, and foreign scavengers have torn apart our once beautiful American dream. We had an American dream that you don’t hear so much about. You did four years ago, and you are now. But you don’t too often.’ 

‘Now it’s our turn to prosper, and in so doing, use trillions and trillions of dollars to reduce our taxes and pay down our national debt,’ he said. ‘And it will all happen very quickly. With today’s action, we are finally going to be able to make America great again, greater than ever before or. Jobs and factories will come roaring back into our country and you see it happening already. We will supercharge our domestic industrial base.’

Trump was joined by members of his Cabinet for the highly anticipated announcement, which marked the first official presidential event held in the Rose Garden since Trump’s January inauguration. 

‘For nations that treat us badly, we will calculate the combined rate of all their tariffs, nonmonetary barriers and other forms of cheating. And because we are being very kind,’ he said. ‘We will charge them approximately half of what they are and have been charging us. So the tariffs will be not a full reciprocal. I could have done that. Yes. But it would have been tough for a lot of countries.’ 

Trump pointed to the European Union, and explained the U.S. will charge its nations a 20% tariff, compared to its 39% tariffs on the U.S. Japan will see 24% tariffs compared to the 46% the country charges the U.S., while China will be hit with a 34% tariff compared to the 67% it charges the U.S.

Trump rattled off the countries that will face the reciprocal tariffs, which also included nations such as Chile, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and others. 

Other nations will face 10% baseline tariffs, Trump said. 

Trump also railed against ‘non-tariff barriers’ imposed on the U.S. Non-tariff barriers are understood as trade restrictions that limit international trade through means other than tariffs, such as quotas or regulations. Non-tariff barriers imposed by other countries on the U.S. commonly focus on agricultural goods, such as limits on meats and fresh produce the nation can export abroad. 

‘For decades, the United States slashed trade barriers on other countries, while those nations placed massive tariffs on our products and created outrageous non-monetary barriers to decimate our industries,’ Trump said. ‘And in many cases, the non-monetary barriers were worse than the monetary ones. They manipulated their currencies, subsidized their exports, stole our intellectual property, imposed exorbitant taxes to disadvantage our products, adopted unfair rules and technical standards, and created filthy pollution havens.’  

Trump said that for more than 100 years, the U.S. was a tariff-backed nation, which provided a surge of wealth. 

‘From 1789 to 1913, we were a tariff-backed nation. And the United States was proportionately the wealthiest it has ever been,’ he said. ‘So wealthy, in fact, that in the 1880s they established a commission to decide what they were going to do with the vast sums of money they were collecting. We were collecting so much money so fast, we didn’t know what to do with it. Isn’t that a nice problem to have?’ 

Trump and his administration have for weeks touted April 2 as ‘Liberation Day,’ arguing that reciprocal tariffs will even the playing field for the U.S. after decades of unfair trading practices. 

‘April 2nd, 2025, will go down as one of the most important days in modern American history,’ White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said during Tuesday’s White House press briefing. ‘Our country has been one of the most open economies in the world, and we have the consumer base, hands down — the best consumer base. But too many foreign countries have their markets closed to our exports. This is fundamentally unfair.’ 

Trump and his administration have touted that the tariff plan will encourage business in the U.S. as industries set up shop on American soil to avoid tariffs, opening up job opportunities for U.S. workers. 

White House trade advisor Peter Navarro previewed during a ‘Fox News Sunday’ interview over the weekend that the new tariffs will generate $600 billion annually for the U.S. — or $6 trillion during the next decade.

Details on Trump’s tariff plan remained hazy until his Wednesday announcement. The Liberation Day tariffs follow other tariffs Trump has leveled against foreign nations, including a 25% tariff on all aluminum and steel imports and a 20% tariff on goods from China that were leveraged to help curb the flow of deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl from China into the U.S.

Trump’s previously announced 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada also are slated to take effect Wednesday after Trump granted temporary exemptions that expire on ‘Liberation Day.’ 

Trump also announced a 25% tariff on all imported cars that will take effect Thursday, and another 25% tariff on all car parts will take effect no later than May 3, as well as a 25% tariff on nations that purchase oil from Venezuela that took effect Wednesday. 

The trade announcements have sparked uncertainty about the cost of goods to Americans, which Leavitt brushed aside Tuesday during a press briefing, arguing the tariff plan ‘is going to work.’

Trump’s tariff advisors are ‘not going to be wrong,’ Leavitt told Fox News’ Peter Doocy Tuesday when asked about concerns over the plan. ‘It is going to work. And the president has a brilliant team of advisors who have been studying these issues for decades. And we are focused on restoring the Golden Age of America and making America a manufacturing superpower.’

Trump also rolled out tariff trade policies during his first administration, including 25% tariffs on steel imports and 10% tariffs on aluminum imports, which the second administration championed as proof tariffs are an ‘effective tool for achieving economic and strategic objectives,’ the White House said in a Wednesday press release ahead of the tariff announcement. 

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Senate Dems foreshadow more forced votes to block Trump’s emergency orders

Senate Democrats signaled more challenges to President Donald Trump’s emergency declarations at a press conference ahead of a forced floor vote to undo his tariffs against Canada. 

‘One at a time,’ Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., told reporters on Wednesday when asked if we would also be introducing a privileged resolution canceling Trump’s emergency declaration in Mexico. 

‘Let’s get this one done. And if we can get this one done and succeed, then we also have to see what President Trump does this afternoon,’ he explained, referencing the president’s planned remarks on tariffs at 4 p.m. in the White House’s Rose Garden. 

‘There may be a whole new series of trade or tariff-related motions coming your way soon,’ the Virginia Democrat said. 

Kaine did note that ‘Canada and Mexico are not completely the same because of some of the issues with respect to fentanyl,’ so it’s unclear whether he would seek to challenge the Mexico emergency specifically. 

The Wednesday press conference was led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to rail against Trump’s Canadian tariffs. 

‘So we’re going to fight these tariffs tooth and nail,’ he said. ‘Trump’s done a lot of bad things. This is way up there.’ 

The White House did not immediately provide comment to Fox News Digital. 

Kaine’s challenge to Trump’s Canadian tariffs will get a vote on Wednesday evening, and it runs the risk of being agreed to and sent to the White House, as some Republicans have expressed concerns. 

‘Mr. President, the price hikes that will happen for Maine families, every time they go to the grocery store, they fill their gas tank, they fill their heating oil tank, if these tariffs go into effect, will be so harmful. And as price hikes always do, they will hurt those the most who can afford them the least. Therefore, I will support this resolution, and I urge my colleagues to do so likewise,’ Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said in floor remarks on Wednesday. 

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who has been a longtime critic of tariffs, even under Trump, will also be voting in favor of the resolution and is a co-sponsor. 

Trump took to social media to call out those he suspected might vote against him. ‘Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Rand Paul, also of Kentucky, will hopefully get on the Republican bandwagon, for a change, and fight the Democrats wild and flagrant push to not penalize Canada for the sale, into our Country, of large amounts of Fentanyl, by Tariffing the value of this horrible and deadly drug in order to make it more costly to distribute and buy,’ he wrote on Truth Social. 

Last month, Kaine similarly forced a vote to end Trump’s emergency declaration to ‘unleash American energy’ and increase oil drilling and production of natural gas. 

The resolution was voted down, and the White House claimed Kaine wanted ‘to impoverish Americans.’

‘President Donald Trump’s executive order brings America into the future and unleashes prosperity. Senator [Tim] Kaine wants to cost the economy trillions and risk losing nearly a million jobs,’ deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said at the time. 

The White House has also warned of a likely veto if the Canadian tariff resolution is agreed to in the Senate. 

A White House official told Fox News Digital in an exclusive statement on Tuesday, ‘President Trump promised to secure our borders and stop the scourge of fentanyl that’s poisoning our communities, and he’s delivering. Democrat Senator Tim Kaine is trying to undermine the President’s Emergency Declaration at our Northern Borders – a measure that prioritizes our national security – for reasons that defy logic.’

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These are the ‘Dirty 15’ countries Trump might target with Liberation Day tariffs

President Donald Trump is poised to unveil a massive series of reciprocal tariffs on Wednesday, when he will likely impose duties on multiple countries as part of what his administration has labeled ‘Liberation Day.’ 

Trump and his administration have long decried that other countries are engaging in unfair trade practices against the U.S., and have advocated for employing tariffs to rectify the nation’s 2024 record $1.2 trillion trade deficit. 

Despite previewing this massive round of tariffs forthcoming on Wednesday, the White House has remained reticent regarding the specifics of the potential tariffs and which countries it plans to target.

Even so, speculation has emerged about a list of countries, known as the ‘Dirty 15,’ that might face new duties.

The term ‘Dirty 15’ stems from an interview Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent conducted on March 18 with FOX Business, where he referenced the 15% of countries that make up the largest trade deficits with the U.S. However, Bessent did not cite specific countries. 

Even so, the Trump administration has given some clues and has pointed to specific countries in certain official documents. 

For example, countries that were singled out in a notice the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative posted in March for a review of ‘unfair’ trade practices included Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, the U.K. and Vietnam.

Additionally, the 2024 Commerce Department trade deficit report cited the following countries as those with the highest trading deficit with the U.S.: China, European Union, Mexico, Vietnam, Ireland, Germany, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Canada, India, Thailand, Italy, Switzerland, Malaysia and Indonesia. 

The Treasury Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. 

The White House did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital requesting specifics on which countries would face new tariffs and which were on the ‘Dirty 15’ list. 

Trump has signaled that the tariffs would go beyond just 15 countries. He suggested to reporters on Air Force One on Sunday that tariffs wouldn’t just affect 15 countries, claiming that ‘you’d start with all countries.’ 

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday told reporters that Trump was conducting meetings with his trade team that day, and the tariffs would take effect immediately following a Wednesday Rose Garden ceremony. 

Liberation Day will ‘go down as one of the most important days in modern American history,’ Leavitt said Tuesday, and shared that Trump has talked with various countries about the potential tariffs they may face. 

‘I can tell you there have been quite a few countries that have called the president and have called his team in discussion about these tariffs,’ Leavitt told reporters. 

Leavitt also shut down concerns that the tariffs wouldn’t prove effective and would raise prices for consumers. 

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have voiced concerns about how tariffs would impact their constituents, including former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. McConnell said in February that broad tariffs would drive up ‘costs for consumers across the board.’ 

But Leavitt said the tariffs would bolster the U.S. economy. 

‘It is going to work, and the president has a brilliant team of advisors who have been studying these issues for decades, and we are focused on restoring the Golden Age of America and making America a manufacturing superpower,’ Leavitt said Tuesday. 

While details on the specifics are sparse, the new reciprocal tariffs are expected to match other countries’ tariff rates, and also tackle issues like regulations, government subsidies and exchange rate policies to mitigate trade barriers. 

‘For DECADES we have been ripped off and abused by every nation in the World, both friend and foe. Now it is finally time for the Good Ol’ USA to get some of that MONEY, and RESPECT, BACK. GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!’ Trump wrote in a March post on Truth Social about Liberation Day. 

The Trump administration has already imposed a 20% tariff on shipments from China, 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, and up to 25% tariffs on certain goods from Mexico and Canada, as well as a 25% tariff on imported auto vehicles. 

Fox News’ Emma Colton contributed to this report. 

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Geno Auriemma, laugh it up, because UConn as an ‘underdog’ is a joke

Hearing UConn Huskies described as ‘underdogs’ in this women’s Final Four nearly left Geno Auriemma speechless – for good reason.
Paige Bueckers and Sarah Strong played lights out against USC, but, hey, the Huskies are a mere 2-seed, right?
Paige Bueckers shows ‘flair for the moment’ during March Madness, but this ‘pesky underdog’ lacks a 6-foot-7 center.

Geno Auriemma detected the sarcasm. He understood the joke. And still, hearing his UConn Huskies described as the “pesky underdogs” of this women’s Final Four nearly left him speechless.

“I’m still shocked over the words ‘underdogs,’ and ‘UConn’ coming out of your mouth at the same time,” Auriemma said with a chuckle, in response to ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt’s ‘underdog’ quip about second-seeded UConn, the only non-No. 1 seed in either the men’s or women’s Final Four.

“I know you are (joking),’ Auriemma added. ‘I just don’t hear that. It’s funny.”

Downright hilarious, this idea of a pesky, plucky UConn sneaking its way into the NCAA Tournament semifinals.

Ever the outsider, this UConn program with 11 national championships and 24 Final Four appearances, coached by a legend.

OPINION: UConn will steamroll Final Four teams. No one is beating Paige Bueckers this March Madness

FOLLOW THE MADNESS: NCAA women’s basketball scores, schedules, teams and more.

And never mind that oddsmakers favored UConn to win the championship since before the tournament tipped off, because only four No. 2 seeds won the national title in the previous 30 installments of a 64-team bracket.

However will UConn manage in the Final Four against UCLA, the No. 1 overall seed armed with a 6-foot-7 center who rules the paint? UConn must counter with a 6-5 center, and, good gosh, she’s a freshman! As Auriemma (perhaps warming to this underdog idea) put it, the Huskies have been “undersized all year.” They start two teenagers in their frontcourt.

UConn’s star is a wisp of a guard. Gal by the name of Paige Bueckers. Ever heard of her? Maybe not, UConn being an underdog and all.

All she does is drive past defenders, facilitate buckets for her teammates, or score at a high percentage from 2 feet, 15 feet or 23 feet. She averaged a mere 35 points the past three tournament games. Not bad for an underdog, I guess. As Auriemma tells it, Bueckers “has a flair for the moment.’ I suppose you could say the same of her coach, the self-proclaimed “past my prime” fella with too many rings to fit on 10 fingers.

Bueckers’ sidekick, Sarah Strong, has scored only 611 career points. That’s not all that much, right? Heck, that’s not even halfway to the 1,286 career tally of UCLA junior Lauren Betts. OK, sure, Strong is just a freshman – the best freshman in the country – and she’s on pace to be one of the top scorers in UConn history, and she’d be swiftly snapped up in the WNBA draft if she were eligible, and she’s a former No. 1-ranked recruit, but she’s never experienced the pressures of a Final Four!

Strong had never experienced an Elite Eight game, either, before she diced up Southern California for 22 points and 17 rebounds during Monday’s romp, but, I digress.

I’ve neglected to mention Azzi Fudd, who mixes 3-point barrages with back-cut layups. She scored 34 points in a win against St. John’s earlier this season. Pretty nice piece of the attack – for an underdog, anyway. And then there’s Kaitlyn Chen, the Princeton transfer who hit her stride this past month.

Add it up, and you’ll get this pesky, persistent, perseverant squad that’s won 14 straight games, stomping South Carolina along the way. Couldn’t fool the selection committee. They stuck a “2” next to UConn’s name and a “1” beside South Carolina’s, because the Gamecocks triumphed over the robust SEC. And they stuck a “1” next to Texas’ name, too, and beside that of UCLA and USC. Those teams proved themselves within the two toughest conferences, and so what if UConn possesses the nation’s best player, best freshman, best coach, best collection of shooters and the nation’s best-ranked defense?

That’s an impressive list, but the Huskies haven’t won a national championship in nine years. This is little ol’ UConn we’re talking about! Not a mighty No. 1 seed, but a nothing-to-see-here No. 2 seed.

And if that sounds funny to you, well, you’re not the only one.

If I were Auriemma, I’d be chuckling, too.

UConn, an underdog? Yeah, that’s a joke.

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.

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Padres agree to $135 million extension with All-Star outfielder

After a standout rookie season, the San Diego Padres have decided to make sure Jackson Merrill is part of their long-term future.

On Wednesday, the Padres announced they have signed Merrill to a nine-year, $135 million contract extension. Robert Murray of FanSided was the first to report details of the agreement, which he says can be worth up to $204 million and includes a $30 million club option for a tenth season. Heading into the season, the Padres current payroll ranks ninth in the majors at $208.9 million, according to figures compiled by USA TODAY.

Merrill, 21, was a first-round draft pick by the Padres in 2021 as a shortstop, but was moved to center field last spring because the club already had a pair of veteran middle infielders in Xander Bogaerts and Ha-Seong Kim. Learning a new position on the fly (so to speak), Merrill excelled in the field — ranking sixth among all center fielders last season in Statcast’s Outs Above Average metric (+11).

He also had an excellent season at the plate, winning a Silver Slugger award after hitting .292 with 24 home runs and 90 RBI.

Merrill was named to the National League All-Star team and finished second in the rookie of the year balloting to the Pirates’ Paul Skenes. 

The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.

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Ranking the men’s college basketball coaching hires this offseason

Unsurprisingly, this year’s coaching-change cycle has schools in the Power Five basketball conferences dipping into the men’s NCAA tournament bracket to locate new hires with a recent track record of regular-season and postseason success.

Of the nine major-conference hires with previous college experience as a head coach, eight led teams into this year’s tournament. That led to some awkwardness involving new North Carolina State coach Will Wade and new Villanova coach Kevin Willard.

But the hiring approach is solid. Of the head coaches in this year’s Elite Eight, six had previously led a different school into tournament; the exceptions were Michigan State’s Tom Izzo and Duke’s Jon Scheyer, who were promoted as assistants.

Time will tell if this year’s new hires will repeat this success in a new environment. With two open positions remaining in Texas A&M and West Virginia, here’s our ranking of the major-conference coaching changes:

1. Will Wade, North Carolina State

Wade comes with serious baggage, as he readily admitted during the McNeese State’s tournament run. He was given a two-year, show-cause order and suspended for the first 10 games of his tenure there after the NCAA found him guilty of rules violations at LSU. But he also wins: McNeese went 58-11 in his two seasons, losing just twice in Southland Conference play, and previously led Virginia Commonwealth and LSU into tournament play. The road back to the Final Four won’t be easy even in an ACC that took a step back this year, but Wade will recruit at a high level and implement a style of play that should provide North Carolina State with an immediate boost next season.

2. Kevin Willard, Villanova

The way he handled the departure from Maryland has overshadowed Willard’s impressive résumé. Iona went 2-28 in the year before his arrival but won 21 games in his third season. That earned Willard the job at Seton Hall, which went 49-48 in his first three years but reached the tournament in five of his final seven seasons — accounting for over a third of the tournament appearances in program history. Maryland was floundering when he was hired in 2022. Willard is back in more familiar territory at Villanova and will have a healthier amount of NIL at his disposal to rebuild the Wildcats.

3. Sean Miller, Texas

After being fired after a dozen years at Arizona amid a widespread NCAA investigation, Miller returned to Xavier and made a pair of tournament appearances in three seasons. While his second run with the Musketeers didn’t quite meet expectations, Miller’s extensive experience overall and three Elite Eight berths with the Arizona makes him a strong fit for a Texas program fighting for a toehold in the deep SEC.

4. Buzz Williams, Maryland

The now former Texas A&M coach has led each of his three power-conference stops to the tournament, including an Elite Eight trip with Marquette in 2013. While his Aggies never advanced out of the opening weekend, Williams is one of two coaches in program history to win 20 or more games in four seasons in a row. He has a coaching method that has yielded consistent results and brings to Maryland a sense of stability in the wake of Willard’s departure. It will be interesting to see how Williams will fare at a program with a strong history and a firm commitment to basketball success and whether his style can produce the deep tournament success Terrapins fans crave.

5. Ben McCollum, Iowa

After winning four Division II national championships at Northwest Missouri State, McCollum had a terrific single season at Drake, leading the Bulldogs to a Missouri Valley championship and 31 wins, including an upset of Missouri in the tournament’s opening round. His potent offensive style, familiarity with the area and extended history of high-level success makes McCollum a strong hire for the Hawkeyes.

6. Ryan Odom, Virginia

In 2018, Odom famously led No. 16 Maryland-Baltimore County past No. 1 Virginia in the first such upset in tournament history. Seven years later, he’s the Cavaliers’ permanent replacement for Tony Bennett. Odom has expanded his résumé by leading another two programs to the tournament in the meantime, landing Utah State an at-large berth in 2023 and leading VCU to the Atlantic 10 championship this season.

7. Richard Pitino, Xavier

Not every successful coaching career follows a straight line. Pitino got started with a bang, leading a depleted Florida International team in 2013 to the finals of the Sun Belt tournament. That earned him a quick promotion to Minnesota, where he went just 54-96 in the Big Ten in eight seasons. But Pitino did very good work during four years at New Mexico, making a pair of tournaments culminating in this year’s 27-win finish and trip to the second round.

8. Niko Medved, Minnesota

Medved is a Minnesota native who kickstarted Drake’s current run in 2018 before spending the past seven seasons at Colorado State, making three tournament appearances in the past four years and winning this season’s Mountain West tournament. Before that, he took over a Furman program in 2013 with one winning finish in the previous six years and won a combined 42 games in his final two seasons. While Minnesota is one of the tougher jobs in the Big Ten, Medved has the coaching chops and rebuilding experience to steadily build the Golden Gophers into a winner.

9. Darian DeVries, Indiana

The longtime Creighton assistant went 150-55 over six seasons at Drake, taking the foundation poured by Medved to put together maybe the best stretch in program history. DeVries then spent this past season at West Virginia, which finished 19-13 and was somewhat controversially left out of the tournament. Will the pressure and expectations at Indiana be too much for a head coach with just one year of major-conference experience? Maybe, but going with a lower-profile hire might be just what the Hoosiers need, too.

10. Alex Jensen, Utah

As at rival Brigham Young, where first-year coach Kevin Young had a terrific debut, Utah sees Jensen’s background as an NBA assistant coach as an asset during this era of free agency-like roster turnover. Another positive is his knowledge of the program: Jensen was a standout forward for the Utes, playing for the 1998 team that reached the national championship game and earning WAC player of the year honors in 2000. He also was an assistant to his former Utah coach Rick Majerus for four seasons at Saint Louis.

11. Luke Loucks, Florida State

Loucks is another former NBA assistant, most recently with the Sacramento Kings, who logged major minutes across multiple season as a Florida State point guard under his predecessor, longtime Seminoles coach Leonard Hamilton. Loucks and Jensen brings similar strengths to the table but will have to prove themselves as first-time head coaches.

12. Jai Lucas, Miami

The former Texas guard has established himself as one of the top recruiters in the country since entering into coaching nine years ago. Lucas has also worked under some of the biggest names in the sport: Rick Barnes, Shaka Smart, John Calipari and Jon Scheyer. Miami has quickly disappeared from the national picture after making the Elite Eight in 2022 and the Final Four a year later. Whether Lucas can install his vision, rebuild the roster and bring the Hurricanes back to relevance is one of the biggest questions of the offseason in the ACC.

This post appeared first on USA TODAY
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Yankees slugger won’t blame elbow injuries on torpedo bat

NEW YORK – Giancarlo Stanton was ahead of the curve, barreling big-league pitching in 2024 – notably last October – with a “torpedo’’ style bat.

It’s all the rage now, “but when there’s a narrative, that’s how it goes,’’ Stanton said Tuesday at Yankee Stadium, the epicenter of MLB’s infatuation with torpedo bats.

By hitting 15 homers and scoring 36 runs in their first three games, certain Yankees drew nationwide attention for swinging MLB-legal bats with “torpedo’’ barrels extending toward the label.

Stanton slugged seven homers in 14 Yankees’ postseason games last year with a torpedo bat, then arrived at spring training with a severe version of tennis elbow in both elbows.

In mid-February, Stanton suggested that subtle changes to his swing might have caused his condition, which he managed most of last season – only to have it flare up worse during January workouts.

Did torpedo bat contribute to Giancarlo Stanton’s condition?

“You’re not going to get the story you’re looking for,’’ said Stanton, MVP of last year’s AL Championship Series.

Despite that cryptic reply, Stanton said he planned to use the torpedo bat upon his return, which is still without a specific timeline.

Giancarlo Stanton injury update, road back to Yankees lineup

Speaking before the Yanks’ three-game series opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Stanton reported improvement in both elbows, though he’s still dealing with pain.

Stanton has begun hitting off the Trajekt pitch simulator, mimicking MLB pitchers, but he’s not exactly close to going out on a minor league rehab assignment.

Essentially, the slugging designated hitter said he’s in “kind of an expedited spring training,’’ but his “grip strength is getting better.’’

It’s about “how fast I can feel comfortable in the box,’’ said Stanton. “Getting as many at-bats as I can off the Trajekt to catch up.’’

Through the Yankees’ first three games of the season, Paul Goldschmidt, Cody Bellinger, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Anhtony Volpe and Austin Wells have comprised their “torpedo’’ bat group.

That pinstriped quintet combined to hit nine homers during the Yankees’ season-opening sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers, with Stanton watching from the sidelines.

“I used my same bat and changed the barrel’’ in 2024, Stanton said of an innovation credited to former Yankees analysis supervisor and MIT physicist Aaron Leanhardt, now with the Miami Marlins.

“It makes a lot a sense, and why hasn’t anyone thought of it in 100-plus years?

‘We want to create an environment where we’re not missing anything… to optimize a player,” manager Aaron Boone said of the Yankees’ winning-on-the-margins theory.

“You wonder why no one has thought of it before, for sure,’’ said Stanton, who tried different model bats in 2024, experimenting by batting against the high-speed pitching machine.

“We’re creatures of habit,’’ said Stanton, seeking similar balance points in transitioning to the torpedo. “The bat’s got to (feel like) an extension of your arm.’’

Torpedo-bat mania in the Bronx

Seventy-two hours after Torpedo Madness struck, Boone sees some humor in it.

“It’s taken on a life of its own… I really just look at it as the evolution of equipment,” said Boone, likening it to the technology in golf clubs.

‘It’s all within (MLB) regulations. It’s a lot more than just, ‘I’ll take the torpedo bat off the shelf over there,” said Boone. ‘Our guys are a lot more invested in it than that.

‘I don’t think this is some revelation,’’ said Boone. “Maybe in some cases for some players, it may help them incrementally. That’s how I view it.’’

This post appeared first on USA TODAY
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