Texas women’s basketball assistant coach Blair Schaefer is the daughter of head coach Vic Schaefer.
The father-daughter duo previously coached together at Mississippi State, where Blair played and Vic was head coach.
Blair joined her father’s staff at Texas in 2020 and has been instrumental in the Longhorns’ success.
Texas will face South Carolina in the Final Four on Friday at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – After his team’s Elite Eight win over TCU on Monday, Texas women’s basketball coach Vic Schaefer celebrated with his family on the court. His wife, Holly, and son, Logan, came from the stands.

His daughter, Blair, was already on the court.

Because she was coaching on the sideline with him.

“It’s a full-circle moment whenever we can just embrace that moment together,” she said, “because (basketball doesn’t have) a lot of father-daughter duos.”

Watch Texas vs. South Carolina in Final Four on Fubo (free trial)

They’ve celebrated reaching the Final Four before – with him as a coach and her as a player at Mississippi State. This weekend, they’ll share more moments on the sport’s brightest stage, with the No. 1 Longhorns set to play No. 1 South Carolina in the semifinals Friday.

“Her impact on our team is quite remarkable,” said Vic Schaefer, whose daughter has been on the Longhorns staff since 2020, the last three years as an assistant coach. “I knew she would be great with the kids. I knew she’d be great with X’s and O’s, but she’s really embraced the recruiting piece and what it takes to do that as well.”

She first picked up a basketball when she was 8, and after scoring 60 points in one game, she knew that she had found her forever sport.

“I never really played another sport. It’s always been basketball for me,” Blair Schaefer said.

Blair Schaefer’s college career shaped by dad

Prior to her time at Mississippi State, her dad was always a coach to her. But when the time came for the recruiting process to start, the idea of him becoming her coach was a dream she knew would be a reality. 

“It’s not that I didn’t talk to other schools,” she said. “I knew that other people were interested, but I just knew where my heart was.”

Schaefer was a part of one of the winningest recruiting classes in Mississippi State women’s basketball history. She made it to the NCAA Tournament all four years of her college tenure, including the program’s first trip to the Final Four and first national championship game in 2017. 

Schaefer made 175 career 3-pointers, which ranks sixth in Mississippi State history. 

Even though the man on the Mississippi State sidelines was “Dad” at home, he was always “Coach” on the court. 

“We would sit at family dinner and I’d ask, ‘How was Coach today?’” her dad said. “She’d say, ‘Ah, he was a little grumpy.’ Never once did she bring anything home.”

How Blair Schaefer got into coaching

Once Schaefer left home, she moved to Los Angeles to work for Entertainment Tonight before returning to Mississippi to work for WCBI-TV in Columbus. She found her way back to basketball as an analyst for SEC Network, but she knew that being courtside – next to her dad – was where she belonged.

“I came to the realization that being behind a camera and telling the audience what’s going on in front of me didn’t feel like I was helping anybody,” she said. “I called my dad after a bad day at work and said, ‘I need to get into coaching.’”

At that moment, Schaefer’s father took off the coach’s hat and threw on the dad one.

He was still coaching at Mississippi State. He advised his daughter to finish out her TV contract before they would begin to discuss the possibility of her joining the Bulldog coaching staff. 

The following year, Schaefer became Mississippi State’s coordinator of player development. In 2020, she and her father made the move back to his hometown of Austin to join the Longhorns. 

Her dad had full confidence that she would make an immediate impact on the program.

“Sometimes your kids surprise you,” he said. “She hasn’t surprised me very much in her life.”

Texas women’s basketball embraces Blair and Vic Schaefer dynamic

The Schaefers’ family dynamic has made Austin feel like a safe place for players, especially for those living away from home for the first time.

“It’s my home away from home,” freshman guard Bryanna Preston said. “They’ve just welcomed us with open arms.”

Schaefer started off as the Texas director of basketball operations before taking on her current role. While she’s sitting courtside with her dad during games, players watch the father-daughter dynamic and notice the similarities between the two.

“They both have the same competitive spirit and they both want to win,” sophomore forward Madison Booker said. “You can tell that they’re definitely kin.”

The full Schaefer family joined in Monday’s celebration, with mom joining dad on the ladder to cut a piece of the net, and Logan, who is Schaefer’s twin brother, looking forward to another family trip to the Final Four. 

“It’s really cool seeing her be so successful,” he said of his sister, “especially with dad, and doing what they love to do.”

Texas vs. South Carolina: Date, time, TV channel, where to watch

Date: Friday, April 4
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Location: Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida
TV Channel: ESPN
Live Stream: Fubo

Abby Halpin and Ansley Gavlak are students in the University of Georgia’s Sports Media Certificate program.

PALM BEACH, Florida – Conventional wisdom, it was suggested to Arthur Blank, would be to clear the deck for Michael Penix, Jr. and not have the presence of former starter Kirk Cousins as part of the atmosphere in the Atlanta Falcons quarterback room.

Best for Penix to have a clean slate?

“Well, I think Michael does have a clean slate. He’s the starting quarterback,” the Falcons owner replied. “And everybody in the room understands that.”

Blank clearly gets the predicament. Cousins, demoted in December, didn’t come to the Falcons last year on a four-year, $180 million contract – with $100 million guaranteed — to ride the bench. Blank heard such a sentiment directly from Cousins during an hour-long conversation recently, when the owner said he took five pages of notes.

If Cousins stays, it’s fair to wonder how synergy will flow behind the scenes.

Sure, Cousins, 36, has always been a class act. But the 14th-year vet hasn’t been a backup since the early days of his NFL career in Washington.

“Kirk is a consummate professional as a football player and as a human being,” Blank said during a session with a small group of media, including USA TODAY Sports, at the NFL league meetings this week. “I think Kirk will do what he needs to do. He’ll show up when he needs to show up. I think he’ll do what his heart and spirit allows him to do. I never see him as being a divisive individual. I don’t think it’s in him to be that way.

“With certain personalities, you might worry a little bit. I’m not really worried about that.”

Conventional what?

Blank doesn’t rule out the possibility of a trade – a reunion between Cousins and Kevin Stefanski with the quarterback-needy Cleveland Browns has fueled much speculation – but also concurs with coach Raheem Morris in maintaining that he is comfortable having the veteran as a pricey backup. Never mind if Cousins wouldn’t be comfortable in that role.

As Blank put it, “We’ve already paid him.”

Forget “conventional” wisdom. There’s also the thinking that having invested $100 million into Cousins, the Falcons have secured some expensive insurance.

After all, it’s the NFL. Even if Penix flourishes as the starter, there’s always risk. Unless there’s a trade offer that they can’t refuse, it will be best for the Falcons to hang on to Cousins for an emergency as the NFL’s best backup. After all, they’ve paid for that right.

“I’ve had that conversation,” Blank said. “And I see it, significantly, through that lens. In this league…the quarterback position is right in the center of everything. When you have a starting quarterback, God forbid, even with all the protection the league affords with rules and equipment, etcetera, players get hurt on occasion. And it could be the quarterback.”

In other words, whether or not they keep Cousins (at least for another season), isn’t about the quarterback’s feelings or desires to start again. There’s some NFL business wisdom involved here.

“We’ve got $275 million in the salary cap, plus benefits,” Blank said. “We owe it to the franchise to make sure that we have the backup quarterback who can step in and play. Obviously, if we thought that person was better than the starting quarterback, that person would play. But you want a backup quarterback who, maybe with some modification and game plan, can give you a chance to win.”

It probably isn’t easy for Blank to consider that he committed $100 million to Cousins and the quarterback didn’t survive a full season as the starter. The Falcons started 6-3 and had a two-game lead in the NFC South in early November. Then it went sideways. After Cousins was benched, Penix started the final three games and the Falcons finished 8-9 to mark their seventh consecutive season without a winning record.

Blank, the co-founder of The Home Depot, insists that he’s never been a “risk-averse person” when it comes to investments. Against that context, and given the ability of NFL owners to essentially print money, he sees Cousins as an investment in the franchise that just hasn’t panned out.

Although Blank maintains that signing Cousins was an “excellent plan,” that’s a debatable decision tracing to GM Terry Fontenot. The Falcons overpaid for an aging pocket passer coming off a torn Achilles tendon, in a league that is increasingly dominated by mobile quarterbacks. Maybe the decision to stun the NFL universe and draft a quarterback eighth overall last April will ultimately ease the sting if Penix blossoms into a star.

Then again, Blank said of Cousins, “If we played Tampa Bay every week last year, he’d be in the Hall of Fame now.”

Cousins earned NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors after both of his outings in October against the eventual NFC South champion Buccaneers, passing for 509 yards in the first contest and combining eight touchdown passes in the games.

Blank also maintained that while he felt the Falcons made a wise investment in the quarterback, “I think from Kirk’s standpoint, he made the wise financial investment in a good franchise.”

That point can certainly be made of another big contract for Cousins, with another huge guarantee. You can’t knock Cousins’ ability to work the NFL market over the years.

No shortage of drama (or disses) in Jerry Jones, Micah Parsons contract talks

Yet the guarantees work both ways. Even though Cousins has a no-trade clause in his deal, he gave up leverage in getting the guaranteed money.

No, the Falcons don’t expect to see Cousins during the offseason workout that begin later this month.

“If he is, we’ll welcome him with open arms,” Morris said this week. “But I’m not going to be fool enough to make myself get worked up and angry about Kirk Cousins missing voluntary workouts.”

At least that’s some type of conventional wisdom.

Follow Jarrett Bell on social media: @JarrettBell

Johni Broome on verge of becoming greatest Auburn basketball player ever. Just listen to Charles Barkley.
Guards win in March Madness. That’s the saying. Johni Broome is good enough to upend a cliché.
Auburn vs. Florida will pit Johni Broome against Gators’ cast of elite guards.

This Final Four must captivate Charles Barkley.

No. 1 Auburn, Barkley’s alma mater, enjoys a shot at its first national championship, and Tigers big man Johni Broome has a path toward becoming the greatest player in program history.

That’s straight from Chuck’s mouth.

“If he’s able to win a championship, I’d say he’s the greatest player in Auburn history. … He’s better than me in college,” Barkley, widely viewed as the current designee for best Auburn hoopster ever, said on CBS before Auburn’s first-round game.

I’m not so sure Broome shouldn’t already hold Auburn basketball’s GOAT distinction, regardless of what happens in San Antonio.

Charles Barkley or Johni Broome in greatest Auburn basketball player debate

Barkley is Auburn royalty. Nothing will change that. He became the SEC’s player of the year in 1984 while leading Auburn to its first NCAA Tournament appearance. The tournament included 48 teams then. Richmond upset Auburn in the first round, despite Barkley’s 23 points and 17 rebounds.

Great as Barkley was at Auburn, legendary though he became in the NBA and beloved though he is on the Plains – a statue honoring Barkley greets fans outside Neville Arena – Broome became Auburn’s first consensus All-America selection in program history. He’s rivaling Duke’s Cooper Flagg for national player of the year honors. Sporting News tapped Broome for the designation.

Broome polished his place in Auburn history in the Elite Eight, after he headed to the locker room in the second half with an elbow injury.

Was Broome done for the game? Done for the tournament? Nope. He returned to provide Auburn with an emotional lift and drilled a 3-pointer to help finish off Michigan State.

Twenty-five points. Fourteen rebounds. Clutch 24-footer while nursing an injured elbow.

That’s GOAT-like. Broome’s teammates won’t argue.

“It’s No. 4,” teammate Denver Jones told the Opelika-Auburn News, referencing Broome’s jersey number, when asked his opinion on Auburn’s GOAT debate. “You ain’t see him hurt his elbow, come back, hit his first 3?”

Debates like this one that compare players from different eras lack a definitive answer, and Chuck Person deserves a place in this conversation, too, but here’s what should be undeniable: Broome’s season, his Elite Eight performance and Auburn’s Final Four run cement him as an Auburn basketball legend.

To win a national championship, Auburn will call on Broome to combat a basketball cliché.

Guards rule March Madness. Does cliché apply to Auburn and Johni Broome?

Guards win in March. That’s the saying, formed on the backs of March Madness performances by championship-winning guards like Baylor’s Jared Butler, Villanova’s Jalen Brunson and UConn’s Shabazz Napier. Cinderella guards such as Butler’s Shelvin Mack and Davidson’s Steph Curry influenced the narrative of the modern NCAA Tournament, too. It’s a guard’s game in March.

Yeah, and what about April? Well, guards tend to thrive, too.

The Tigers don’t lack for good guards. Chad Baker-Mazara, Tahaad Pettiford, Miles Kelly and Jones provide Broome with a nice supporting cast. Pettiford and Kelly shouldered the scoring load in the tournament’s first two rounds, while Broome experienced quiet scoring outputs, by his lofty standards.

But Broome remains the team’s catalyst. If there were doubts about whether he was wearing down, his monster performances against Michigan and Michigan State silenced them.

“Just keep doubting him,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said after the Michigan State win, “and keep thinking that he’s not going to be able to get to another gear.”

Big men have influenced national championships in this era, but you must look back a bit to find a champion that started its engine with a big man.

Purdue tried to pull it off last season with Zach Edey. The Boilermakers were so geared around Edey, their system could be described as: Feed Edey and everyone else stand around the perimeter in case of kick-out 3-pointers.

That worked until UConn’s ensemble proved too much for Purdue in the national championship, despite Edey’s 37 points.

Auburn’s cast of guards outclasses what Purdue assembled around Edey, but the best guards are found elsewhere in this Final Four. Florida and Houston ooze premier guards. Florida’s clutch dynamo, Walter Clayton Jr., has become one of the tournament’s top stories.

As for big men, Duke’s freshman frontcourt of Flagg and Kon Knueppel powers the Blue Devils, but the do-it-all, score-from-anywhere Flagg is not a prototypical big man in Broome’s mold.

North Carolina won the national championship in 2017 with a frontcourt-fueled roster featuring Justin Jackson, Kennedy Meeks and Isaiah Hicks, three starting forwards who stood 6-foot-8 or taller and averaged in double-figures scoring. Two years before that, Duke won the national title with 6-foot-11 center Jahlil Okafar and power forward Justise Winslow forming the head of the snake.

Kentucky’s 6-foot-10 center Anthony Davis stood tall not only for big men, but for the diaper-dandy trend that ruled college basketball when the Wildcats won the national championship in 2012. Davis shot 1 for 10 from the field in the title win against Kansas, but he influenced the outcome with 16 rebounds and six blocks.

Broome stands the same height as Davis, but around Auburn, his game triggers Barkley comparisons.

“He just affects winning so much,” Pearl said.

He’s a big man good enough to challenge a March Madness cliché, while vying for the crown and scepter of Auburn basketball’s royal class.

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 city council in St. Petersburg, Florida, voted Thursday to replace the roof of Tropicana Field, which was destroyed in October by Hurricane Milton.

St. Petersburg owns the ballpark and is contractually obligated to provide the Tampa Bay Rays with a playable home. The new Teflon-coated fiberglass roof will cost the city $22.5 million.

The council voted 7-1 in favor of the project.

‘I’d much rather be spending that money on hurricane recovery and helping residents in our most affected neighborhoods,’ council member Brandi Gabbard told the Tampa Bay Times, ‘but this is our obligation.’

The Rays are expected to return to the indoor facility for the 2026 season.

The damages to Tropicana Field came amid a longstanding tussle between Rays ownership and local government over the future of the club in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays wanted to build a new ballpark that would cost $1.3 billion, and local officials had approved the sale of bonds to pay for their share, but the Rays could not move forward because of the project’s shifted timeline and cost overruns.

The Rays are playing the 2025 season in George M. Steinbrenner Field, the spring training home of the AL East division rival New York Yankees.

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.

A recent filing in connection with the upcoming court 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 expressed concerns about what name-image-and-likeness (NIL) agreements among schools and athletes will look like if the settlement is approved.

It also provided a window on what those agreements generally may look like: lengthy, granting the schools wide-ranging use of athletes’ NIL and placing some significant limitations on the athletes.   

Technically, the filing asks U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken for permission to submit for her consideration a friend-of-the-court (or, amicus) brief — a commentary on the case by an interested third party. It came from lawyers for Athletes.org, Inc., an organization that described itself in the filing as an entity that “exists to educate, organize and represent college athletes as their chosen players association to ensure that their interests are protected as college athletics continues to evolve.”

But in addition to seeking permission to file the amicus brief, the organization filed the brief and supporting exhibits that included documents described as templates of NIL agreements written by the Big Ten and Southeastern conferences and from the universities of Arizona, Kansas and Minnesota. The document attributed to Arizona does not include any specific school or conference name.

The SEC confirmed to USA TODAY Sports the authenticity of the submitted template, although spokesman Herb Vincent said in a statement: ‘After discussion several months ago about whether we should consider adopting a conference-wide NIL agreement template, this document was submitted to our schools as a draft for review but no action was taken to adopt it.’

It is unclear whether any SEC schools have used any parts of the template as a basis for their agreements, and, in any case, the template includes a footnote on its first page that reads: “This agreement includes various sample provisions, almost all of which are negotiable, and this sample agreement should be carefully reviewed and revised to fit the specific needs and terms of the applicable parties.”

The Big Ten said in a statement it “does not verify documents submitted to a court by other parties.” In response to an open-records request from USA TODAY Sports after the filing, Minnesota provided the current version of its document — and it tracks, but does not fully replicate, the document the filing attributed to the Big Ten.

Kansas and Arizona did not respond to inquiries about the documents respectively attributed to them.

NIL deals said to already exist

The presumptive amicus brief says — and the supporting exhibits indicate — that schools already have been putting agreements in place with athletes, with a proviso that they would become void if the proposed settlement does not receive final approval.

The presumptive brief says that Athletes.org, Inc., “supports this proposed settlement as an initial step in the right direction of addressing long-standing injustices that have existed within college athletics … but that does not mean, from AO’s perspective, that the proposed settlement should be approved” because the group has “grave concerns,” including about NIL contract provisions that it says “prevent athletes from objecting to this settlement.” The document that the group’s lawyers said is from Arizona is specific on this point, stating: “To the extent Student Athlete objects to the Settlement, the Agreement shall become null and void.”

The organization called these agreements “contracts … drafted by those with superior bargaining strength, that relegates to college athletes only the opportunity to adhere to these contracts, or reject them.”

It is unclear from the filing whether an athlete with sufficient negotiating leverage could bargain for changes to any of the terms.

In addition, while the filing asks Wilken to “clarify several key points so as to ensure that this settlement is not misconstrued as a comprehensive and final solution for college athletics,” Wilken wrote in an order March 4 that she “cannot order changes to the agreement” and “objectors should address whether they wish the Court to reject the settlement and set the case for trial.”      

Wilken granted preliminary approval to the proposed settlements in October. She is set to hold a final-approval hearing on April 7 concerning the agreements, which would include nearly $2.8 billion in damages that would go to current and former athletes over 10 years. They also would allow Division I schools to start paying athletes directly for use of their name, image and likeness (NIL) during the 2025-26 school year, subject to a per-school cap that would increase over time and be based on a percentage of certain athletics revenues.

Some of the specific terms in NIL agreements

Those payments would be made under contracts that seem certain to be extensive. The SEC’s “license agreement” template included 12 pages of terms. Those attributed to the Big Ten and Arizona were 10 pages apiece. The two-page draft “letter of intent and term sheet” attributed to Kansas referenced “a Long-Form Agreement” that was not included in Athletes.org, Inc.’s filing.

Confidentiality

The agreements have some common elements, including detailed confidentiality requirements for the athletes. Minnesota’s “Memorandum of Understanding,” as provided by the school to USA TODAY Sports says that without the school’s prior written approval, the athlete cannot disclose any details except to parents, guardians, attorneys or “other competent representatives.” The requirements would remain in place for five years after the agreement’s termination.

Broad NIL use

An “Annex” to the Minnesota MOU says the athlete “grants the Institution the right to use and sublicense Athlete’s NIL to promote the Institution, the Conference, and/or the NCAA and/or such entities’ respective third party partners, sponsors, affiliates and sublicensees in any way … ’’

Athletes’ outside NIL deals cannot conflict with schools

The term sheet represented to have come from Kansas, in a condition that exists similarly in other documents, states that athletes cannot have an NIL deal with an entity that competes with its sponsors and that when engaging in activities on KU’s behalf, they agree “to wear adidas clothing unless specific attire is required.”

Pay can be changed

The Minnesota MOU says athletes’ pay “may be subject to regular review and assessment at Institution’s discretion.”

This differs in specificity from what was represented as the Big Ten MOU template, which, in two places, offers the following language: “The Consideration is a projected amount based on the current promotional value of using the Athlete’s NIL. The Institution in its discretion may, at any time, adjust the Consideration to reflect an increase or decrease in the Athlete’s NIL value (e.g., a Heisman Trophy win may increase the NIL value and reduced playing time may decrease the NIL value).’

Addressing pay for play

The Minnesota document does follow what was represented as the Big Ten template in saying that the parties agree that the pay “is not provided in exchange for the Athlete’s commitment to attend the Institution or participate in the Institution’s program (i.e., not ‘Pay-for-Play’).” Elsewhere the Minnesota document states, also in alignment with what was represented as the Big Ten template, that “if the Athlete enters the NCAA’s transfer portal or transfers, the Institution will have no further obligation to pay the Athlete …” and that “notwithstanding any other provision of law or agreement to the contrary,” the athlete agrees that he or she “is not, and shall not claim to be, an employee of the Institution.”

Buyout option

The document attributed to Arizona includes as “optional” language the terms for a buyout that could be required of an athlete who transfers during the term of the agreement. If included in a deal, it would prevent the athlete from making an NIL deal from another school unless the athlete – or the subsequent school, on the athlete’s behalf – pays “a buyout amount equal to fifty percent … of the remaining NIL Payments that would have otherwise been due” to the athlete during the remainder of the agreement’s scheduled term.

This is similar to language that is included in most contracts that schools have with coaches.

President Donald Trump is officially en route to Florida for the LIV Golf event taking place at the Trump National Dora course in Miami. This event is LIV’s first domestic event of 2025, giving Trump the opportunity to host a particularly special occasion for the sport.

Trump has spent a lot of his time since becoming president in Florida. In fact, this will be his ninth weekend in the Sunshine State, having spent only two in Washington D.C. since taking office.

As it stands, Trump is expected to attend a LIV Golf dinner at his golf club in Doral before spending another part of his weekend 30 minutes north of Mar-a-Lago at the Trump National Golf Club. Anybody interested in witnessing the president’s motorcade will be able to do so. It has become somewhat of a tradition as Trump supporters will often line Southern Boulevard in anticipation of his arrival and waiting to see Trump’s vehicle drive by.

According to The Palm Beach Daily News and FAA temporary flight restrictions ‘for VIP movements’ issued this week, Trump is expected to arrive in Miami, Florida, on Thursday, April 3, and leave Palm Beach on Sunday, April 6.

It is unclear what Trump’s involvement with the LIV Golf event will be aside from the dinner.

Who is playing LIV in Doral this weekend?

13 teams of four, or 52 golfers, will be playing in the event this weekend. Esteemed golfers such as Phil Mickelson, Ian Poulter, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka and Jon Rahm will be participating for their respective teams. In fact, each of the aforementioned golfers are team captains.

Mickelson: Hyflyers GC
Poulter: Majesticks GC
DeChambeau: Crushers GC
Koepka: Smash GC
Rahm: Legion XIII

What is Trump’s relationship with LIV?

LIV Golf, a Saudi sports business, has expressed an ‘eagerness to pay’ Trump to host some LIV Golf events at some of his resorts in the past, according to the New York Times. According to the report, attracting professional golf to his courses had long been a goal for the president. Trump had previously been snubbed by other golf organizations, particularly the PGA Tour. Given that LIV Golf played three events at Trump’s courses in 2023, it appears the president and LIV Golf have a mutually beneficial relationship. That said, LIV Golf did not play a single event at a Trump course in 2024.

The presence of professional golfers has reportedly boosted revenue for Trump’s courses, and LIV Golf gets the name recognition of Trump attached to many of their events.

The NBA will not penalize Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant and Golden State Warriors guard Buddy Hield for hand gestures that can be construed as shooting a gun, a person with knowledge of the league’s decision told USA TODAY Sports.

The person requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the league’s decision.

Both teams and players were warned that the gesture is inappropriate and urged not to make those gestures moving forward. The Grizzlies have been doing that gesture as a celebration all season, and other players make similar gestures, especially after making a 3-point shot.

Golden State’s Jimmy Butler had just made the second of two free throws giving the Warriors a 132-125 lead with 20.8 seconds left, and Memphis called timeout. As both teams headed to their respective benches, Morant made the gesture at Golden State’s bench.

Hield made a similar gesture from the bench just before Butler made the second free throw. Hield and Morant were both given technical fouls, and NBA executive vice president and head of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars and his staff reviewed and talked to the teams and players Wednesday.

The players and teams involved said they were not making violent gestures.

Atlanta’s Dyson Daniels does a similar gesture after making 3-pointers and was not fined for making the gesture toward New Orleans’ bench during a game earlier this season. Other players have been fined for mimicking gun gestures, including Gerald Green and Josh Jackson.

Morant’s involvement draws closer scrutiny because he has been suspended twice by the league for showing a handgun on social media.

Morant was suspended 25 games without pay for conduct detrimental to the league in 2023. ‘Morant posed with a firearm in a car during a live-streamed video on May 13, less than two months after he was suspended eight games without pay for the live streaming of a video on March 4 in which he displayed a firearm while in an intoxicated state at a Denver area nightclub,’ the league said in a statement on June 16, 2023.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver said at the time: ‘Ja Morant’s decision to once again wield a firearm on social media is alarming and disconcerting given his similar conduct in March for which he was already suspended eight games. The potential for other young people to emulate Ja’s conduct is particularly concerning.  Under these circumstances, we believe a suspension of 25 games is appropriate and makes clear that engaging in reckless and irresponsible behavior with guns will not be tolerated.’

Eleven women filed a class action lawsuit against the University of Michigan and former offensive coordinator Matthew Weiss, who authorities say hacked into computers at more than 100 universities and stole the identity of more than 3,000 students.

According to the lawsuit filed in the Eastern District of Michigan and obtained by USA TODAY Sports, the 11 women are identified as Jane Does, including seven soccer players, two gymnasts and a cheerleader.

The Regents of the University of Michigan and Keffer Development Services are also named as defendants in the lawsuit.

‘This case marks yet another disturbing failure by the University of Michigan to protect its students – particularly student-athletes – from serious breaches of privacy and trust. For nearly a decade, individuals connected to the University have suffered the unauthorized access and misuse of their personal information, allegedly by former football co-offensive coordinator Matthew Weiss and enabled by institutional negligence,’ attorneys Megan Bonanni and Lisa Esser-Weidenfeller said in a statement.

The women say they have suffered significant and severe damages and seek compensation, which the lawsuit says could exceed $50 million.

Last month, Weiss was charged with 14 counts of unauthorized access to computers and 10 counts of aggravated identity theft, and faces a maximum of five years imprisonment on each count of unauthorized access to computers and two years on each count of aggravated identity theft. Weiss’s alleged crimes spanned from 2015-2023, and authorities say he is accused of downloading confidential information of more than 150,000 student-athletes, targeting mostly female college athletes.

‘Through this scheme, unknown to account holders, Weiss downloaded personal, intimate digital photographs and videos,’ the indictment said. ‘His goal was to obtain private photographs and videos never intended to be shared beyond intimate partners’ and ‘kept notes on individuals whose photographs and videos that he viewed, including notes commenting on their bodies and sexual preferences.’

A total of five federal lawsuits have been filed against Michigan and Weiss, who worked for the Baltimore Ravens before becoming Michigan’s quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator.

(This story was updated with new information.)