The rout was on, and ESPN had a production decision to make late in Bill Belichick’s first game as North Carolina coach. 

Belichick, or a golden retriever?

The good boy won out — which isn’t necessarily a bad thing considering the North Carolina product on the field.

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At least ESPN choosing to show (and talk about) analyst Kirk Herbstreit’s emotional support dog over Belichick temporarily slowed the excuse machine for Belichick’s disastrous debut. Which, of course, is the last thing anyone should be doing for the six-time Super Bowl champion coach in his new gig.

Yet there were the ESPN personalities, and anyone else in Beli’s orbit, chanting the same mantra over and over that North Carolina has ’70 new players” — and ignoring one critical factor to the meltdown on the field. 

Belichick built the roster. 

Football at any level – high school, college, NFL – is about roster building. It’s finding the right players and putting them in position to have success. 

So North Carolina has 70 new players. So what?

Sonny Dykes, the coach on the other sideline Monday night, arrived at TCU in 2022 after a 5-7 season in 2021 got beloved Frogs coach Gary Patterson fired. Dykes added impact players from the transfer portal, and 11 months later, was playing in the national championship game. 

North Carolina will be lucky this season to not finish dead last in the ACC.   

“There’s no secret to it, no pill you can take,” Belichick said after Monday’s game. “Nobody’s going to do it for us. We’ll have to do it ourselves.”

Say it with me, those who screech about “70 new players” (and you know who you are): this is the team Belichick and general manager Mike Lombardi built, the players they chose.

Not a hand they were dealt and forced to play.

That “70 new players” crutch isn’t a get out of jail free card. It’s giant, flapping red flag.

If North Carolina is struggling to complete a pass, or string together first downs, or tackle and pursue defensively, that’s a personnel and coaching problem. 

If North Carolina has a string of seven consecutive series in the loss to TCU that included five three-and-outs, an interception and a fumble, that’s a personnel and coaching problem. 

Belichick built the roster, he’s the reason UNC has 70 new players. It wasn’t forced on him, nor was it his only option.

Let me say this one more time: Belichick built the roster.

College football, just like the NFL, is a player procurement business. Coaching, while vital, only takes programs so far.

Ask any coach from Pop Warner to the NFL, and they’ll tell you players win games. For three hours Monday night, the crew at ESPN made it sound like Belichick had no control over the roster and walked into a gutted program. Smarten up, people. 

Belichick and Lombardi nearly turned over a roster that, over the previous four years, was built primarily with the Nos. 26, 31, 11 and 14th-ranked high school recruiting classes, according to the 247Sports composite rankings.

Belichick’s first high school class was No. 36 in the nation, and he’s currently working on the No. 17 class in the nation. That 2026 class already has 36 commitments, and the No.17 ranking is based more on quantity than quality.

There isn’t one five-star recruit among the group, and there are 27 three-star commitments. I don’t think I’m breaking news by saying UNC isn’t winning a national title, much less the ACC, with 27 three-star recruits. 

When Belichick arrived at UNC, he said the program would be run like an NFL franchise. The university committed millions in NIL dollars, and Belichick brought his good friend Lombardi on board for managing player procurement and organization. 

Lombardi then said he and Belichick called UNC the “33rd team” — or the 33rd NFL team built within a college structure. Really, they said that. 

Let’s not get fooled by two drastically different player procurement processes. In the NFL, you’re selecting through a draft and scouting players who have been developed by college programs. 

In college football, you’re recruiting and selling yourself and your vision — to 18 year olds who haven’t remotely scratched the surface of their playing ability and growth.

Transfer portal players are more of a crapshoot: you’re either unloved or unwanted (for any number of on- and off-field reasons), or you’re trying to make a buck. Neither is an attractive alternative. 

But there’s hope for those who have cash on hand, and who can convince the small percentage of impact portal players to believe in what they’re selling. You just have to, you know, convince them of your product. 

A product that, after one week, doesn’t look good at North Carolina. 

Even if it eventually led to friendly banter about good boys.

Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.

The game’s outcome could serve as a tiebreaker for the College Football Playoff selection committee when comparing the SEC and Big Ten.
Both coaches, Brent Venables of Oklahoma and Sherrone Moore of Michigan, face pressure to secure a significant win.
The matchup features a quarterback battle between Oklahoma’s John Mateer and Michigan’s freshman Bryce Underwood.

The last and only meeting between Oklahoma and Michigan had a national championship on the line, though that wasn’t known until right before kickoff.

Not long before the start of the Orange Bowl on New Year’s Day 1976, Oklahoma learned that UCLA – as a two-touchdown underdog – had polished off top-ranked Ohio State in the Rose Bowl. Combined with a Texas A&M loss to Southern California at the Liberty Bowl in late December, the Sooners suddenly had a path to back-to-back championships under coach Barry Switzer.

Oklahoma beat Michigan 14-6 behind 282 rushing yards and a combined 23 tackles by brothers Lee Roy and Dewey Selmon.

Almost a half-century later, the Sooners and Wolverines meet on Saturday with lower national stakes — you can’t win a championship in September, though you can lose your shot at one. But the fallout from the game in Norman has the potential to shape the College Football Playoff, especially in determining which and how many teams the Big Ten and SEC place in the postseason field.

“It’s going to be a really cool matchup,” said Oklahoma coach Brent Venables. ‘Two incredible programs that represent all the excellence in college football.”

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With many top playoff contenders taking on Group of Five or Championship Subdivision competition, the matchup will have the nation’s attention as the only ranked pairing on Saturday’s schedule.

These are the factors at play:

An SEC and Big Ten playoff referendum

There’s no doubt the result on Saturday will eventually be used as an influential data point for the playoff when comparing the SEC and Big Ten.

The two power leagues placed seven teams in last year’s debut 12-team field and should have at least that many in this season’s bracket. After some controversy stemming from the initial model, the playoff has moved to a straight-seeding model that issues a bye to the four highest-ranked teams rather than the highest-ranked conference champions.

Should the SEC and Big Ten have multiple teams in contention for the top four spots, as expected, what happens on Saturday could be used as a tiebreaker of sorts for the playoff selection committee.

For example, consider a scenario where Michigan beats Oklahoma on the road. Should Ohio State and Georgia finish as conference champions with identical records, an Ohio State win against the Wolverines — this has actually happened before, believe it or not — could be the final piece that gives the Buckeyes the top seed and an easier matchup in the quarterfinals.

When it comes to Michigan and Oklahoma in particular, the victor could have a season-long advantage in the race for an at-large playoff berth, as long as the loser doesn’t flop in conference play.

Pressure on Brent Venables and Sherrone Moore

The pressure on Venables is obvious. After going 6-7 last year, the former Clemson defensive coordinator is one of two Oklahoma coaches in the past century to have two losing seasons.

“I’ve been incredibly disappointed that we haven’t been able to give more reason for celebrating and excitement with our end product,” Venables said. “But I’m motivated by that.”

This year’s team seems vastly improved offensively after two major offseason additions, both from Washington State: quarterback John Mateer and offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle. Mateer had over 400 yards of total offense and four touchdowns in the 35-3 win against Illinois State to open the season.

Saturday will be the first of seven matchups for Oklahoma against teams in this week’s US LBM Coaches Poll. Taking four of these games should make the Sooners a valid at-large option for the playoff; winning five would make them a virtual lock.

The Wolverines are currently slated to take on just two ranked teams in Oklahoma and Ohio State. But that could make Saturday even more important: Michigan won’t have the same opportunities to make up ground in the playoff race and would need to avoid any slipups against a series of second-tier Big Ten teams.

“It’s why you come to Michigan,” Moore said. “It’s probably why you go to Oklahoma, right? I mean, those are the type of games that you want to be a part of and games you remember. Obviously, every game is important. But yeah, playing against Oklahoma, one of the winningest programs in college football, is huge to us.”

And while his job security is more secure compared to Venables, second-year coach Sherrone Moore is still under scrutiny for his part in the sign-stealing scandal that recently drew a hefty fine and penalties from the NCAA.

He’s set to take a two-game suspension after the Oklahoma game, spanning matchups against Central Michigan and Nebraska. To lose on Saturday and then be sidelined for two weeks would open Moore to heavy criticism inside and out of Ann Arbor.

John Mateer vs. Bryce Underwood

These are two quarterbacks with dramatically different paths to Saturday night. Mateer was a lightly recruited prospect who was picked out of relative obscurity by former Washington State assistant Eric Morris, who is now the head coach at North Texas.

After serving as the backup in 2023, Mateer exploded onto the national scene last year with nearly 4,000 yards of total offense and 44 touchdowns, the most by any Bowl Subdivision quarterback.

Mateer is “a gunslinger,” said Moore.

On the other hand, Michigan freshman Bryce Underwood was the top-ranked quarterback in the past recruiting cycle. A former verbal commitment to LSU, he flipped to the Wolverines last November and then won the starting job over transfer Mikey Keene during preseason camp.

In his debut, Underwood completed 21 of 31 throws for 251 yards and a touchdown without an interception in the Wolverines’ 34-17 win against New Mexico. The Lobos probably aren’t a good barometer for what to expect against the Sooners, who gave up just 34 passing yards on 1.7 yards per attempt in the season opener.

Buy-in moment for both teams

The Sooners and Wolverines have earned plenty of off-the-radar hype as legitimate playoff contenders, though this faith is tempered by a wait-and-see approach for two teams that have yet to prove themselves against elite competition.

That makes Saturday a type of buy-in game that alters the national perception of both teams — potentially skyrocketing the winner up the rankings while knocking the loser out of the Top 25 entirely.

The hesitancy to jump on the Sooners’ bandwagon stems from the program’s thud of an SEC debut. That Michigan is currently seen as no better than the fourth-best team in the Big Ten can be attributed to Moore’s uneven first year and the lack of experience under center.

But the conversation around the Sooners and Wolverines will change after Saturday night.

The Sooners have to “focus on each other,” Mateer said. “Just stay off the phone because they’ll say a lot of good and say a lot of bad and you’ve just got to focus like it’s any week. And it’s awesome. Like, embrace how cool it is because you only get so many opportunities. But also know you’ve got to play the game.”

Luis Suárez received a hefty punishment Friday after the Leagues Cup disciplinary committee reviewed the ugly scenes that followed Sunday’s tournament final between Inter Miami and the Seattle Sounders.

Suárez was given a six-game suspension from Leagues Cup play after spitting on Sounders head of security Gene Ramirez amid a post-match scuffle that broke out after Seattle claimed a 3-0 win.

‘Following the conclusion of the match, Inter Miami CF player Luis Suárez was reported by the Match Officials for spitting at a Seattle Sounders coaching staff member,’ read a statement from the Leagues Cup disciplinary committee. ‘In accordance with Article 4.2.C of the Leagues Cup 2025 Competition Regulations, the Disciplinary Committee has issued a six-match suspension to Suárez.’

While the Leagues Cup format has changed multiple times, the 2025 format offered a given team a maximum of six matches. The Disciplinary Committee statement announcing the punishment said that Suárez’s suspension renders him ‘ineligible to participate in the next edition of Leagues Cup until the six-match suspension is fully served,’ underlining what is in effect a minimum one-year ban from the tournament.

Notably, Friday’s announcement does not apply to MLS regular season play, leaving him eligible to play for the Herons in their next game, a Sept. 13 trip north to face Charlotte FC.

Suárez was not the only player to face sanctions for the chaos that ensued after the full time whistle at Lumen Field last weekend. Two more Inter Miami players were given suspensions, with Sergio Busquets getting a two-game ban for violent conduct after striking Seattle’s Obed Vargas. Defender Tomás Avilés will be suspended for three games, while Seattle assistant coach Steven Lenhart will be barred from the Sounders’ next five Leagues Cup matches.

As is the case with Suárez, all of Friday’s punishments apply to the Leagues Cup only. However, the announcement’s final sentence noted that MLS ‘reserves the right to impose further disciplinary actions on the players and coaching staff involved.’

Suspensions in soccer generally apply only to the tournament or competition that the negative actions took place in, but there is precedent for a Leagues Cup incident to lead to an MLS suspension. In 2019, Real Salt Lake head coach Mike Petke was given three-game suspensions in both the Leagues Cup and in MLS for language directed at referees that commissioner Don Garber deemed ‘repugnant.’

Back in 2015, Clint Dempsey tore up a referee’s notebook in a fiery U.S. Open Cup match playing for Seattle, receiving a six-game ban in that tournament as well as a three-game suspension from MLS play.

On Thursday, Suárez took to social media to offer an apology for the incident, calling the incident ‘a moment of great tension and frustration,’ adding that he felt ‘bad about what happened.’ Suárez did not mention Ramirez or anyone else by name, though he did congratulate Seattle for winning.

The scenes in Seattle on Sunday were the latest chapter in Suárez’s controversial career. Despite extraordinary talent that has seen him play at world-renowned clubs like Ajax, Barcelona, and Liverpool while being one of Uruguay’s all-time best players, he is largely known for the less savory side of his play.

Most notably, Suárez has been punished for biting opponents three different times. At Ajax, he was given a seven-game suspension in the Dutch top flight for biting Otman Bakkal. In 2013, he received a 10-game ban in the Premier League for a similar offense against Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanović. During the 2014 World Cup, he bit Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini, with FIFA suspending him from all activity in the sport for four months.

U.S. women’s national team forward Alyssa Thompson is leaving Angel City FC for English club Chelsea.
The transfer fee is reportedly just under $1.5 million, nearly a world record for women’s soccer.
The move highlights a potential vulnerability for the NWSL in retaining top talent against European teams.

U.S. women’s national team forward Alyssa Thompson has made a major – and somewhat surprising – move, departing Angel City of the NWSL for English giants Chelsea.

The $1.5 million figure is the world record for a transfer fee in women’s soccer, a mark that was set just last month when the Orlando Pride acquired Lizbeth Ovalle, a winger for the Mexican national team. That said, it may have fallen late Thursday, with French outlet L’Equipe reporting that London City Lionesses had spent roughly $1.92 million to acquire midfielder Grace Geyoro from Paris Saint-Germain.

Thompson, 20, should be eligible to play for Chelsea once the relevant transfer paperwork and work visas in the United Kingdom are approved. The Women’s Super League season begins on Friday, with Chelsea hosting Manchester City in a clash of title contenders. Chelsea is hoping to win a seventh consecutive title, six of which came during current USWNT head coach’s Emma Hayes’ tenure.

Thompson, whose younger sister Gisele remains an Angel City player, has 22 USWNT caps, scoring three goals in those appearances. In 16 NWSL appearances for Angel City this season – where she was widely considered the team’s best player – the elder Thompson scored six goals and added two assists. She departs having posted 15 goals and 11 assists in 62 total regular-season appearances for the L.A.-based club.

Thompson’s departure from Angel City arrived rather abruptly, with buzz around Chelsea’s interest only coming to the surface in recent days. On Monday, the Los Angeles native was held out of Angel City’s 2-1 win over Bay FC, with the club listing her as an ‘excused absence’ on the official NWSL availability report.

Chelsea’s urgency to complete the move likely stemmed from the realities of soccer transfer rules. English women’s teams had until 6 p.m. ET Thursday to complete transfers; otherwise, a player would not be eligible to play in any competitive game until the secondary transfer window opens on Jan. 1, 2026.

Here’s what to know about USWNT attacker Alyssa Thompson joining Chelsea:

Alyssa Thompson to Chelsea: USWNT forward leaves Angel City

Alyssa Thompson’s move to Chelsea is major news on both sides of the Atlantic, and could have huge short- and long-term implications in the NWSL.

For Chelsea, the math is fairly straightforward: Thompson is one of the sport’s top young players, with her ability to beat defenders off the dribble a prized quality. Her speed in the open field will make her one of the WSL’s fastest players, and her new head coach, Sonia Bompastor, will be able to underline this transfer as evidence that the Blues are not resting on their laurels.

From Thompson’s perspective, there are also major positives at play. Back in January, the forward signed a contract extension running through 2028, but Chelsea, which – thanks to very different league rules, have fewer financial restrictions to cope with than Angel City – is expected to have given her a significant raise. With USWNT teammates Naomi Girma and Catarina Macario already playing for the Blues, Thompson will have friendly faces to guide her as she adjusts to a different environment.

The parties that might not be so happy with the situation are Angel City and the NWSL as a whole. Through her play, local roots, and some injury trouble for veteran stars, Thompson had become the face of ACFC. Her skill set and marketability (particularly in Los Angeles) will be immensely difficult to replace long-term, and virtually impossible during the 2025 season.

Why so difficult? The NWSL transfer window closed last month, and while trades are still possible until the roster freeze date on Oct. 9, the other 13 teams will know that Angel City has just had a financial windfall while also walking into a bind in terms of their roster composition. After winning two straight, ACFC sits in ninth place on 23 points, trailing NJ/NY Gotham FC for the eighth and final postseason berth by a single point with eight games to play.

For the NWSL, the news may be even worse. While speculation that the league is doomed to lose all of its stars to free-spending European sides remains unfounded, there’s no pretending that losing one of the league’s best young players mere months after she had signed a long-term contract isn’t a blow.

The problem stems less from Thompson’s departure and more from the nature of her move. It’s no disrespect to Ovalle to say that – with a long-term contract in place, Thompson’s age, and her potential to become one of the very best attacking players in the world – Chelsea should have been expected to pay a significantly higher fee to get Angel City to engage in talks.

Instead, Thompson is off to London without breaking the global transfer record, which seems like a serious undervaluation. Chelsea entered the talks with all the pressure of completing a transfer against an impending deadline, yet looked for all the world like a team that landed a player whose value will skyrocket in the very near future.

For the NWSL, that’s the problem. It’s one thing for Chelsea, Arsenal, and French giant OL Lyonnes (whose owner, Michelle Kang, also owns the Washington Spirit) to have interest in the league’s superstars. That’s going to happen, because the NWSL has such a long list of outstanding players. It’s another thing entirely to see a player in that class depart with no near-term means of replacing them, and at a price that does not make sense stacked up against the other major transfers over the last 12 months.

Whether it’s by raising the salary cap, calendar changes to align with European transfer windows, or creating new rules that allow teams more leeway to retain their most in-demand players, the NWSL will have to seriously consider major changes in response to what seems like a clear vulnerability.

Novak Djokovic may be past his prime, but he is certainly still a threat to win the U.S. Open. After his win over No. 4 Taylor Fritz, the final American left in the tournament, Djokovic was gifted a matchup with No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz.

The pair each have storied histories at Flushing Meadows, boasting five U.S. Open titles between them. Of course, only one of them will reach the championship match this year.

Despite being the higher-ranked player, Alcaraz does not have a great history against Djokovic. Djokovic has a 5-3 record against the 22-year-old Spaniard. Furthermore, Alcaraz has never beaten the Serbian on hard courts like the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center offers. That said, we could be in for a change of fortune in this one, as Alcaraz has breezed to the semifinals. He has not relinquished a set throughout the entire tournament thus far. He’s hungry for his first U.S. Open title since 2022, but a 24-time major winner stands in his way.

Here is how to watch No. 2 seed Carlos Alcaraz face off against No. 7 seed Novak Djokovic in the US Open men’s semifinals match.

Near-perfect conditions for tennis

Unlike last night for the women’s semifinal matches, because of rain and nearly 30 miles per hour winds, the roof at Arthur Ashe Stadium will be open for the Djokovic-Alcaraz match. Temperatures in Flushing Meadows are hovering around 80 degrees, and there should be no significant effect from the wind.

How to watch Novak Djokovic vs. Carlos Alcaraz

No. 2 seed Carlos Alcaraz will face off against No. 7 Novak Djokovic in the US Open men’s semifinal match.

Date: Friday, Sept. 5
Time: 3 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN

Watch the 2025 US Open on Fubo (free trial)

How to watch 2025 US Open: Dates, TV, streaming

Dates: Sunday, Aug. 24-Sunday, Sept. 7
Location: USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens, New York
TV: ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Deportes
Stream: Fubo

Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter was ejected before the first play for spitting on Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott.
Carter apologized to his teammates and the media, promising the mistake would not happen again.
Prescott explained the incident started when Carter was trying to intimidate a rookie teammate.

PHILADELPHIA – It was well past midnight when the victorious Philadelphia Eagles opened their locker room following a weather-delayed, choppy but certainly eventful 24-20 victory over the archrival Dallas Cowboys. Yet despite the late hour, it appeared like Pro Bowler Jalen Carter, perhaps the league’s next great defensive tackle – maybe even the guy who succeeds Aaron Donald as the preeminent player at the position – might have time to make one more mistake.

He didn’t.

As Carter’s locker in the bowels of Lincoln Financial Field stood empty, his linemate, little-known Moro Ojomo, stood in front of a throng of reporters answering questions about Carter’s ejection before the game’s first play of scrimmage, when he spit on Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott’s jersey. But as Ojomo was speaking, Carter materialized next to him again and quietly dressed – and then, to his credit, addressed the media himself.

“It was a mistake that happened on my side, and it just won’t happen again. I feel bad, just for my teammates and the fans out there,” said Carter.

“It won’t happen again. I made that promise.”

It wouldn’t have come as a shock if Carter had left the stadium entirely, or at least ducked postgame questions about his behavior and punted those to another day. But it seemed like he did his best to make lemonade after he started the Eagles’ night on a sour note.

After watching the first-half telecast in the locker room, he relayed his tactical observations to teammates – that after apologizing to the defensive players and many of the ones on offense, according to left tackle Jordan Mailata, who characterized Carter as ‘remorseful.’

“Jalen is a part of us. We’re never gonna push our brother down,” said Ojomo. “He did something, and we all make mistakes.”

What exactly Carter did is something of a matter of conjecture. He clearly spit toward Prescott but refused to say if he felt like he was retaliating.

“I’ve got nothing to say about it,” said Carter, refusing to assign Prescott any blame but also not necessarily absolving him.

“Just trying to make sure the team’s straight.”

The Cowboys quarterback offered his own explanation, saying Carter was trying to get inside the head of Dallas rookie guard Tyler Booker ahead of the game’s first snap.

“(H)e was trolling, I guess you could say, trying to mess with Tyler Booker. I was just looking at him,” said Prescott. “I was right here by the two linemen, and I guess I needed to spit, and I wasn’t going to spit on my lineman and I just spit ahead. … And he goes, ‘Are you trying to spit on me?’

“At that point, I mean I felt like he was insulting me. I wouldn’t spit on somebody. ‘I’m damn sure I’m not trying to spit on you.’ We’re about to play a game. … ‘What would I need to spin on you for?’ He just spit on me in that moment, it was more of a surprise than anything.”

Suboptimal judgment has been a disturbing pattern with Carter, 24, whether it’s on-field conduct or his role in a street-racing incident that resulted in the deaths of two members of the University of Georgia football team two years ago.Viewed as a potential No. 1 pick in the 2023 draft, that incident probably explains why Carter slipped to ninth, where the Eagles snatched him up and have subsequently benefited from his relentless play. Carter is a supremely effective interior disruptor who rarely misses a play … when he’s not missing all of them that is.

“(W)e need Jalen Carter on the field,” said Eagles coach Nick Sirianni.

That’s especially true following an offseason when Philadelphia lost steady defensive end Brandon Graham to retirement. The team’s front was further raided by free agency, Milton Williams and Josh Sweat both leaving for greener, as it pertains to money, pastures after serving as key components to last year’s top-ranked defense. As the Eagles demand more from relatively inexperienced players, it’s imperative Carter is available to hold the line.

Said safety Reed Blankenship: “He’s got to learn from it and move on, and we have his back.”

It seems his mistake will become a point of emphasis for the entire team.

“I think, as a whole team, it’s just a matter of taking our discipline to another level and our focus to another level and then playing together and staying banded together and being able to control the things that we can control,” quarterback Jalen Hurts said after the game.

Hurts insisted his message was not meant to single out Carter, but he admitted talking to him one-on-one.

“I know what type of player he is, everybody knows what type of player he is,” said Hurts, “and it’s something that we all can learn from.”

And maybe Carter did.

He owned up to it immediately. He admitted being “super amped” in the first game of any sort he’d played since the Eagles won Super Bowl 59 in February. And, while it’s possible he could face a suspension, this incident occurred in Week 1, not the NFC championship game.

There’s no defense for spitting, but members of both teams agreed it was also a tightly called game at a time when the league is looking for better sportsmanship from its players.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

Now it’s time for Carter to prove he won’t make a fool out of himself nor leave his teammates in a more serious lurch than he did Thursday.

“I wanted to be out there with the guys so bad, just to support and help,” he said. “I’ve made a promise to them boys that it won’t happen again.”

Let’s hope.

When the 2025 Naismith Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony commences on Sept. 6 in Springfield, Massachusetts, three names will be forever immortalized in basketball history: Maya Moore, Sue Bird and Sylvia Fowles.

The Class of 2025, which also includes NBA stars Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard and 2008 U.S. Olympics men’s basketball team, is the first to feature three women. Each has more than earned their spot in basketball history.

Moore was a six-time WNBA All-Star with the Minnesota Lynx, who won four championships and was named the 2013 WNBA Finals MVP and 2014 WNBA MVP.
Bird played 19 seasons with the Seattle Storm, racking up 13 All-Star nods and four championships. She is also the WNBA leader in minutes and games played.
Fowles, who played center with the Lynx and Chicago Sky, was an eight-time All-Star, four-time Defensive Player of the Year, 2017 MVP and won two titles while winning Finals MVP honors.

In an interview with USA TODAY Sports, Fowles said she’s happy her hard work paid off but admitted the accolades feel a bit curious.

‘I was raised to not be praised by doing your job,’ said Fowles, who holds the WNBA record for career field-goal percentage (59.9%). ‘I feel like I’ve done my job, but now people want to celebrate me. So it kind of feels weird to be getting praised for doing your job.’

If Fowles’ job was to rewrite WNBA history books, consider the mission accomplished. The impact the Hall of Fame center and her fellow enshrinees have had on the WNBA has been passed to the next generation. USA TODAY spoke to several WNBA players who shared what the trio means to them. From their dominant play on the hardwood to their off-court passions, the spirit of the Class of 2025 lives on.’I remember being a rookie, [Fowles] would always check in with me, see how I was doing, see how I was adjusting, give me some words of encouragement,’ Atlanta Dream center Brittney Griner said. ‘It meant a lot because I looked up to her. If I had to be compared to anybody, I would want it to be [her].’

‘She’s one of my GOATs,’ Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers said of Moore.

‘Definitely growing up in Minnesota, watching the Lynx, watching her play, wanting to fill her shoes at UConn, wanting to fill her shoes in the W. Then, just who she is off the court as well. How much she’s done for social justice … and just using basketball as a platform to do other great things in life.’

Moore spent eight seasons in the WNBA before walking away to become an advocate for criminal justice reform. Her work included helping Jonathan Irons, who spent more than two decades in prison following a wrongful conviction. Irons was released in July 2020 and he married Moore. The couple continues to use their platform to elevate their prison ministry and passion for social justice.

Fowles has also dedicated time to social justice efforts, including calling out systemic racism and improving relationships between communities of color and law enforcement. With the Lynx, she advocated for and encouraged open dialogue around several high-profile initiatives, such as the ‘Say Her Name’ campaign dedicated to honoring Breonna Taylor, who was killed in 2020.

‘The impact they made in the city, for the Lynx as a franchise, and standing up for what’s right, I think that was those two putting themselves in the forefront [and it] was huge for our franchise,’ Minnesota forward Bridget Carleton, who played with Fowles, said.’It’s risky to put themselves out there and stand up for what they believe is right and what is right. It goes far beyond what they did on the court.’

Like Fowles and Moore, Bird has dedicated her life toward pushing for equality and justice, especially in women’s sports. The WNBA career assists leader also keeps a pulse on the league by attending games and connecting with current players like Bueckers.

‘Her leadership is something that I’ve always admired,’ the Wings guard said of Bird. ‘How much she gets the best out of her teammates. How much she leads from example, but also by using her voice and to be able to pick her brain about that ― gain knowledge from her in all aspects of that as well ― is something that I’ve really learned from.’

The trio will receive their flowers from some of basketball’s biggest names. Bird will be presented at the Hall of Fame by Geno Auriemma (Class of 2006) and Swin Cash (’22), Fowles by former Lynx teammates Katie Smith (’18) and Lindsey Whalen (’22) and Moore by Auriemma, Cash, Whalen and Indiana Fever legend Tamika Catchings (’20).

Fowles is familiar with pouring into others. The veteran spent many years of her WNBA career paying it forward, as so many did for her. Her legacy and, ultimately, her Hall of Fame enshrinement is a direct reflection of that conscience choice.

‘From an early age, I already knew it wasn’t about me, and that it was bigger than me, the sport of basketball.’