BOSTON — The 2025 world figure skating championships are underway at TD Garden in Boston − and already off to a somewhat surprising start.

American Alysa Liu, who retired after the 2022 Beijing Olympics at the age of 16, is sitting atop the standings after the first half of the women’s singles competition, followed by Mone Chiba of Japan and another American, Isabeau Levito. That trio ensured that two of the favorites were left off the podium for the short program. Three-time defending world champion Kaori Sakamoto is sitting in fifth place, while reigning two-time U.S. champ Amber Glenn is ninth.

The last American woman to win a world championship was Kimmie Meissner in 2006. When asked about possibly ending the drought, Liu demurred.

‘We’ll just have to see Friday, if any of us win or not,’ she said with a laugh. ‘I didn’t know that. That’s a fun fact.’

Wednesday night also featured a tribute to the 28 members of the figure skating community who died in the mid-air collision outside Washington, D.C., on Jan. 29, followed by the first half of pairs competition. Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan lead after the short program, followed by Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii of Italy. The German team of Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin is in third.

As the last major international competition before the 2026 Winter Olympics, these world championships will not only help determine Olympic quota spots but also set the stage for Milan-Cortina. It’s a chance for athletes to see how they stack up, and it will largely determine which skaters will enter the Olympics as the favorites to land on the podium.

Here’s everything you might have missed from Day 1:

Team USA’s Alysa Liu cartwheels, then dazzles in short program

Alysa Liu made a dramatic entrance when her name was announced at TD Garden, cartwheeling in her skates before stepping onto the ice. And her short program was no less impressive.

Liu, who represented Team USA at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, was nearly flawless in her debut performance at worlds, landing all of her jumps cleanly and rocketing into first place with a score of 74.58. Liu’s score was a full 10 points better than the previous leader, Sofia Samodelkina.

‘I felt pretty good about my skate. (Though) I haven’t watched it back yet, so that answer might change,’ Liu said. ‘It felt very nice, kind of start to end − especially in my footwork.’

Much of the figure skating community was shocked when Liu retired following the 2022 world championships. She was just 16 years old, and thought to be entering the prime of her career. But she’s since said her time away from figure skating altered her perspective on the sport in a crucial way.

When Liu returned to competition last year, it was only because she wanted to. Nothing more, nothing less.

‘I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t decide to retire for a little bit,’ Liu said. ‘I just am glad that I listen to myself and just do whatever, because it just works out in the end.’

Isabeau Levito in podium contention after injury return

Isabeau Levito, the reigning world silver medalist, is not just back at the world championships but also back from injury. A bone injury in her foot kept her sidelined for roughly three months.

One wouldn’t know it, though, by watching her short program. She looked completely at ease en route to a score of 73.33, which was good for third. Along the way, she personified her simple pre-skate message to the crowd: ‘Smile!’

‘I think how I skated today was the best I could have today, with everything I went through this year,’ Levito said afterwards, still grinning. ‘So I’m very happy to have kept it together.’

Levito returned to competition for an Olympic test event last month but missed nationals. U.S. Figure Skating essentially gave her a bye to compete at worlds, based on past performance and pending her physical readiness.

“Yeah, it was frustrating to just sit at home and do nothing,” Levito said Tuesday. “But it gave me a new perspective, and I take all of this for granted less. I feel much more grateful for what I do have and being able to skate every day and being able to jump.”

Amber Glenn sitting in ninth after fall on triple axel

Amber Glenn has blossomed over the past year into one of the brightest stars in American figure skating. But she will have a bit of an uphill climb to win a world title in Boston after her short program performance Wednesday.

Glenn is sitting in ninth place after registering a score of 67.65 in her short program, hindered in part by a tough fall on her first jumping pass: The famed triple axel. While Glenn has struggled with the jump at times this year, she is one of the few American women to have landed it clean in international competition.

Since finishing 10th at last year’s world championships in Montreal, Glenn has won all five of the competitions in which she’s been entered − including U.S. nationals and the Grand Prix final late last year. She will need to put up a massive score in the long program Friday to keep her winning streak going.

A fun wrinkle: Jumbotron messages

If you’re watching tonight’s competition on Peacock, you might be missing a fun wrinkle here at TD Garden.

Before every program, the jumbotron over center ice displays not just the nationality, music and coaches of the competitor(s), but also a message from the skater(s) to the crowd in Boston. Some of them have been, well, a little boring. But others have been either fascinating or just whimsical.

‘It’s party time!’ Hungarian pairs skaters Maria Pavlova and Alexei Sviatchenko’s message read.

‘Calm beast’ is what flashed on the screen before Amber Glenn’s short program.

The Swiss pairs team of Oxana Vouillamoz and Tom Bouvart went with: ‘Let him cook.’

American pairs in fifth, ninth at halfway point

Pairs − which, unlike ice dance, features overhead lifts and throws − has not traditionally been a strong event for the Americans. U.S. teams finished 11th, 12th and 13th at the 2024 world championships.

This year, however, the Americans got off to a solid start at the first home worlds in the U.S. since 2016. Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea had a few minor errors but nailed their closing sequence of elaborate lifts to record a score of 68.61. Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, who train at the nearby Skating Club of Boston, also enjoyed a warm reception from the crowd after their score of 63.70 was announced.

‘We absolutely loved the crowd,’ Mitrofanov said. ‘They were loud, they were cheering us on. That gave us strength and support to be out there today.’

The U.S. teams are sitting fifth and ninth entering the free skate, which is Thursday.

Who are the favorites in pairs?

The three medalists from last year’s world championships in Montreal could very well be back on the podium this week in Boston. But the order of finish is anyone’s guess.

Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps of Canada are the reigning world champions in this discipline, though they’ve had some inconsistent performances this season while dealing with injuries and illness. The German team of Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin won the Grand Prix final, which is considered to be one of the most prominent events in the sport outside of worlds or the Olympics. And Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara helped Japan win team silver in Beijing and have racked up several podium finishes in the years since.

What channel is the world figure skating championships on?

USA Network and NBC are televising portions of this week’s world championships, but the entirety of all sessions will be available on NBC’s streaming service, Peacock.

World figure skating championships schedule

Here is the complete schedule for the 2025 world figure skating championships, with channel and television coverage start times in parentheses.

Thursday, 11:05 a.m. to 4:44 p.m. ET: Men’s short program (USA Network, 3 p.m.)

Thursday, 6:15 p.m. to 9:55 p.m. ET: Pairs free skate (USA Network, 8 p.m.)

Friday, 11:15 a.m. to 4:54 p.m. ET: Rhythm dance (USA Network, 3 p.m.)

Friday, 6 p.m. to 9:52 p.m. ET: Women’s free skate (NBC, 8 p.m.)

Saturday, 1:30 p.m. to 4:50 p.m. ET: Free dance (USA Network, 3 p.m.)

Saturday, 6 p.m. to 9:52 p.m. ET: Men’s free skate (NBC, 8 p.m.)

Watch the World Championships with Fubo free trial

World championships pays tribute to crash victims

The first night of the 2025 world championships featured a poignant tribute to the members of the figure skating community who died in the mid-air collision near Washington National Airport on Jan. 25. 

All told, 28 skaters, coaches and parents died in the collision − including six from the Skating Club of Boston, which is helping host the world championships at nearby TD Garden.

When does Ilia Malinin compete at the 2025 world figure skating championships?

Ilia Malinin, the 20-year-old defending world champion from Reston, Virginia, will take the ice for the first time at the 2025 world championships on Thursday afternoon. He is expected to perform his short program around 4:30 p.m. ET. That portion of the session will be televised on USA Network.

In another timeline, they’d likely be former Cy Young Award winners, MVPs and strikeout champions pining for what was. World Series champions at one time, shells of themselves in the present.

This spring, though, a handful of elite pitchers will see the radar gun light up as they once expected, a batter overmatched and returning to the dugout, and faith in modern medicine greatly reinforced.

It used to be pitchers undergoing a second repair of their elbow’s ulnar collateral ligament faced something of a professional death sentence, that multiple Tommy John surgeries meant hanging on, not dominating.

Yet evidence is increasing that the internal brace procedure, pioneered by orthopedist Jeffrey Dugas and accelerated by Keith Meister, the Dallas-based surgeon to the stars, is not simply shoring up careers but potentially returning pitchers back to their profession’s apex.

“Ultimately, I know if this were 20 years ago, I wouldn’t have had this surgery and would probably be a lot different pitcher,” Spencer Strider, the Atlanta Braves ace who had his second elbow reconstruction in April 2024, told USA TODAY Sports this spring.

“I’m grateful Dr. Meister and everyone else in the industry are doing the work they’re doing.”

Strider pitched in an exhibition game last week, just more than 11 months after Meister repaired a tear in his ulnar collateral ligament and installed an internal brace. His showing strongly suggested he remains anything but ordinary on the mound.

The man who struck out more batters – 483 – in Major League Baseball in 2022-23 cracked 98 mph on the radar gun and struck out six of the eight Boston Red Sox he faced, including five in a row, and could soon begin a rehab assignment and be back on the mound for the Braves within several weeks.

This weekend, Walker Buehler will take the mound for the Boston Red Sox, who were confident enough to pay Buehler $21 million this year in his latest step from a second reconstruction and internal brace insertion in August 2022.

Even as they expect to temper his innings as he approaches his 37th birthday, the Texas Rangers are thrilled two-time Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom will make his first turn through their rotation, two years after his procedure with Meister ensured their $180 million investment in him may not be for naught.

And sometime after Strider pitches in a real game, the Dodgers should be welcoming back to the mound Shohei Ohtani, the two-way player who underwent his second elbow reconstruction in five years in 2023.

Make no mistake: Results aren’t guaranteed, no outcome preordained, as we learned Saturday when Shane McClanahan, the Tampa Bay Rays’ opening day starter and a two-time Tommy John patient, suffered a triceps injury just days before he was to throw their first pitch of 2025.

So it goes for pitchers, who must sidestep dozens of potential maladies even as the constant monster under the bed – a failure of their elbow’s ulnar collateral ligament, and the likely reconstructive surgery to follow – lurks.

Yet it’s been seven years since Meister deployed the hybrid reconstruction on a patient, creating a personal sample size that now numbers around 500. In that group, nearly 150 underwent their second or even third Tommy John surgery or repair.

The results are still preliminary, but also highly encouraging.

“Of the revisions – meaning second and potentially third Tommy Johns where we put a tendon graft in and a brace – we actually have not had a single ligament re-tear. Which is incredible,” Meister tells USA TODAY Sports. “They failed in other ways – a couple flexor tendon tears, other things that have broken down. But the weak link in the chain, and I don’t think it is any longer, is the ligament itself. I think we’ve moved the needle.

“Now, time is going to make fools of all of us, as we all know. I don’t want to oversell this and say we have a perfect solution to anything. But it’s moved the needle in a positive direction with our second – and in some cases third –Tommy John recipients.”

And any positive step forward comes at a time elbow failures, in an era where pitchers thirst for unprecedented pitch velocity and movement, remain the game’s greatest scourge.

A second chance – and then a second surgery

Throughout organized baseball, from the travel ball circuits to the stadiums with three decks, there are thousands of athletes, almost all pitchers, whose first Tommy John surgery gave them another shot. In 2023, 35.3% of major league pitchers had undergone Tommy John surgery, a 29% increase from 2016.

 With a success rate of around 90%, and roughly 80% of pitchers reaching their prior performance level, the surgery could reliably ensure roughly a decade of elbow health.

Not any longer.

“In 13 years as a GM,” says Braves executive vice president Alex Anthopoulos, “this is just anecdotal. But they don’t seem to last as long.”

He’s not wrong. Anthopoulos’ club drafted Strider in 2020, when he was still on the way back from 2019 surgery as a Clemson sophomore. Five years later, he was back for another repair.

Ohtani underwent his first Tommy John on Oct. 1, 2018. His second came almost exactly five years later. Buehler went under the knife in August 2015, shortly after the Dodgers drafted him out of Vanderbilt. It lasted him until June 2022.

When New York Mets pitcher Drew Smith first had the procedure in 2019, he was told it should be good for seven to 10 years.

Last July, he was back in the operating room.

“It was shocking for it to only last five years,” says Smith, whom the Mets re-signed to a two-year minor league contract, with hopes he can pitch for them in 2026.

For Meister, that shock has long worn off when he sees old patients back for another round.

The connection between hard throwers and elbow trouble is relatively well-established, even if UCLs can fail for innumerable reasons. Yet in an era where pitchers are able to manipulate baseballs in manners previously unimaginable, it is the stuff – the turbo sinkers that near 100 mph and the power changeups and beguiling sweepers with a foot and a half of horizontal run – that makes Meister shake his head.

“There’s absolutely zero question in my mind this is a consequence of velocity and probably even moreso for me now, spin,’ says Meister. “What they have to do is squeeze the ball so hard to be able to create that type of spin and ball movement that it puts this undue load on the medial side, the inner side of the elbow, that I think is contributing in a great way to this spike in injuries.

“We have to make changes. Unfortunately, there’s been no real motivation in Major League Baseball to make these changes.”

Meister needs no peer-reviewed study on that point.

“As easily fixable you can make (elbow injuries), the better,” says Buehler, who played key roles in the Dodgers’ World Series championships in 2020 and 2024.

“But at the end of the day we’re all trying to throw hard and get people out and there’s risks that come with that. And if you’re not willing to take that risk, you probably won’t get here the way you want.”

Says Strider: “Now we’ve got to start looking into our daily behavior. Not philosophy, not velocity – that’s not going away, nor should we want it to.

“But how do we manage workload, how can we be smarter, how can we utilize feedback, both visual and data-driven, to be healthier. That takes time to conduct those experiments and feel good about that process.”

For now, the operating room is the safety net.

‘Turning point’

Buehler, 21 at the time of his first Tommy John recovery, called the recovery “easy breezy’ and came back throwing harder than before. He says his second rehab was “a little more of a struggle,” in part because other injuries – including a mild shoulder malady that upended his chances to return in 2023 – set him back.

He’s also a prime example of the pre-surgery uncertainty before doctors get an internal view of the elbow.

Buehler, whose surgery was performed by Los Angeles orthopedist Neal ElAttrache, required both an additional ligament replacement and a flexor tendon repair. ElAttrache also installed the internal brace.

That verdict – be it a new UCL, a repair or revision of the old one, and any other unforeseen damage – will frame how long second-time Tommy John patients must sit out.

Strider may make it back within just more than 12 months, since he required only a revision. Preserving a compromised ligament, rather than replacing it, is a game-changer for pitcher recovery.

“They told me my graft was coming out of the anchor in a very similar spot to my first reconstruction,” says Baltimore Orioles right-hander Tyler Wells, who underwent a revision of his original Tommy John surgery in June and hopes for a midseason return this year. “My UCL, in a sense, was torn, but it was creating some laxity because it was starting to pull out of the graft.

“They needed to go in there and reattach everything to it, but in that process decided they were going to add the internal brace for additional support. I don’t have to go through the same process of ligamentization, where they’re putting in the new graft and get it all stretched out. Mine’s already like that. That, in turn, makes this kind of rehab a little bit easier than doing the second, full reconstruction.”

And now, Wells’ UCL has a brace, which Meister says acts “as a seat belt, so to speak, on the inner side of the elbow. But I also think there’s probably a biologic component to it. I think it’s, maybe, enhancing the healing response.”

McClanahan hadn’t yet begun his collegiate career at South Florida when he underwent Tommy John surgery. Now, a decade and two All-Star appearances later, he’s startled at the advancements in surgery and rehab.

“I was 17 when I had my first one. I’m 27 now,’ he says. “I was a kid when it happened. It felt like a different lifetime ago. I feel good, and that’s what matters to me.”

Wells, whose mother is a doctor, agrees. He’s had enough conversations with Meister, physical therapists and other medical personnel to recognize the evolution has reached a key stage.

“It seems like this is a really big turning point in Tommy John reconstructions or revisions,” he says. “There’s definitely huge progress. That will stabilize a little bit. And eventually you see that next go-round where you take another turn for the better.”

Until then, there will be frustrating steps backward between the progress. McClanahan provided a scare Saturday, when he threw a pitch, hopped in pain and walked off the mound in his final Grapefruit League start.

Turns out it was a triceps, not an elbow injury.

So it goes for pitchers who might throw up to 3,000 pitches this coming season – along with the orthopedists who mend them when their most important ligament fails.

Meister is often joined by other surgeons in his operating room, from as far away as South Korea and Japan, as the industry collaborates to produce something resembling a permanent fix. And after surgery, rehab and the athlete’s climb back to active duty, his lab becomes the thousands of mounds across the sport.

For all the advancements that help patients light up a radar gun no matter how many times their elbow has blown, progress, for him, will look like a lunch break uninterrupted by a phone call with another arm needing an MRI, or a waiting room not bursting with return clients.

“Let’s get through a season and I can start to feel better about it,” he says. “Look, it’s exciting stuff. On the one hand, I am excited to watch it.

“On the other hand, I’m on pins and needles.”

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Nearly three weeks after confronting Stephen A. Smith during the Los Angeles Lakers’ 113-109 win over the New York Knicks, LeBron James took to ‘The Pat McAfee Show’ on Wednesday morning to break his silence on the incident, referring to the fallout as a ‘Taylor Swift tour run’ for the ESPN broadcaster.

The beef between James and Smith all started over comments Smith made regarding James’ son, Bronny. Smith originally said that Bronny should be in the G League his rookie year, claiming that he was not ready for NBA action. Specifically, on a Jan. 29 episode of Smith’s show ‘First Take,’ Smith insinuated that Bronny was only in the NBA because of his father. LeBron did not take those comments lightly, approaching Smith in the middle of a game during a timeout just a week later.

On Wednesday’s show, LeBron did not mention exactly what he said to Smith during that conversation, but he did note that he hasn’t been too fond of how Smith has reacted to the situation.

‘He’s like on a Taylor Swift tour run right now,’ James said. ‘It started off with, ‘I didn’t want to address it … but since the video came out I feel the need to address it.’ ‘

James didn’t believe that sentiment for one moment though. James said, ‘[Smith] couldn’t wait till the video comes out so [he] can address it.’

In James’ defense, Smith has been very open about the argument. During a recent interview on the ‘Gil’s Arena’ podcast, Smith called James ‘weak’ for the confrontation. He said, ‘I turn around and [LeBron]’s right here in my face and says, ‘Yo, you gotta stop talking (expletive) about my son [Bronny]. You gotta stop (expletive) with my son. That’s my son, that’s my son!”

Smith also claimed that he suggested he and James talk about it after the game but that James refused.

What was LeBron’s response?

LeBron claims that Smith misunderstood his reasoning for the confrontation.

‘He completely missed the whole point. The whole point,’ James said. ‘Never would I ever not allow people to talk about the sport and criticize players about what they do. That is your job to criticize, or to be in a position where if a guy’s not performing, you know? That’s all part of the game. But when you take it and you get personal with it, it’s my job to not only protect my damn household, but protect the players.’

James also noted that he believes this beef between him and Smith has been very beneficial to Smith. ‘[Smith]’s gonna be smiling from ear to ear when he hears me talking about him,’ James said. ‘I know he’s gonna be happy as hell.’

Has Stephen A. Smith apologized for his statements?

In a way, yes.

On Thursday, March 20, Bronny James was forced to step up for the Lakers in the absence of several of their key players, including Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, Dorian Finney-Smith, Rui Hachimura, and Jarred Vanderbilt. Although the Lakers lost by a hefty 29-point margin, Bronny James played well, finishing tied for the most points on the Lakers with 17, a career-high for the rookie. Bronny also set a career-high with five assists and matched his career-best with three rebounds.

Smith was impressed with Bronny’s play and took to ESPN the following day to offer him congratulations.

Smith did not flat out apologize but admitted he may have jumped the gun with his opinions on Bronny. ‘I saw an elevation in his poise and confidence,’ Smith said. ‘He didn’t look as nervous as he did in previous contests.’

He continued, ‘And if that kind of stuff continues, then indeed he’ll be in the league as a bona fide player sooner than later. One game doesn’t make that determination. You need to do more than that. But I wanted to make sure I emphasized that point.’

Stephen A. Smith’s latest response

Smith did not care for LeBron’s comments on ‘The Pat McAfee Show.’ He spent an entire hour of ‘The Stephen A. Smith Show’ not only defending himself from LeBron’s comments, but adding more context to the story.

You can watch the full video here, which may contain some strong language:

The most notable part of this entire show was Smith claiming he would’ve ‘immediately swung’ on LeBron if James had touched him. That likely wouldn’t have gone well for Smith. Smith himself even notes ‘I would have gotten my ass kicked.’ However, it does render the point that Smith is not backing down from his original sentiments.

Since the beginning, Smith has claimed that he never ‘disrespected’ Bronny with his statements, merely claiming that the rookie needed more time to develop in the G League. However, after LeBron’s statements on ESPN Wednesday morning, it was clear to Smith that LeBron did not see it the same way.

‘LeBron James is full of it,’ said Smith. ‘He is a liar. And he went on national television today and he lied again.’

Smith wasn’t just upset at LeBron for the statements, though. He also called out NBA pundits who have covered this entire beef, asking them ‘When are you going to hold (LeBron) accountable for the truth?’

Smith made it clear that his original statements regarding Bronny’s readiness for the NBA have not even really been about Bronny, but rather about LeBron. Smith claims that LeBron’s insistence on playing with his son and that his son was ready for NBA action have propelled Bronny into the crosshairs of media personalities ready to tell it like it is — that Bronny is ‘not ready for the NBA yet.’ Smith added that ‘based on what we’ve seen recently, (Bronny) could be (ready) soon,’ but that there’s nothing wrong with a second-round pick like Bronny having to work his way up through the ranks before reaching the top.

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CBS Sports’ announcing lineup is undergoing some massive shifts.

The network announced Wednesday that lead college football analyst Gary Danielson will retire following the 2025 season, and he’ll be replaced by Charles Davis, who called the CBS’ No. 2 NFL package alongside Ian Eagle. Stepping into Davis’ former role is JJ Watt, who was an analyst on the studio show ‘NFL Today’ and will now be stepping into the broadcast booth full-time starting this upcoming season.

CBS said Davis will remain a part of the NFL game-calling crew in 2025 but did not specify his role.

Watt and Eagle worked together on Netflix (produced by CBS Sports) during the Christmas Day game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Kansas City Chiefs. Watt was part of a revamped ‘NFL Today’ that includes Nate Burleson, Matt Ryan, Bill Cowher and is hosted by James Brown.

Shortly after the news was first reported by The Athletic on Wednesday, Watt began hyping his new role on social media. In a statement, he said ‘there is nothing better than the energy and excitement of being in the stadium on game day in the NFL.’

‘I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to return to that atmosphere each week, working with one of the best in Ian,’ the former Houston Texan and Arizona Cardinal said in the statement. ‘While I certainly miss delivering hits on the field, it will be nice to leave the stadium without taking any, unless Ian decides to try something crazy.’

The 2025 season will be Danielson’s 20th at CBS and his 36th as a college football color commentator. In a statement, he said the ‘timing just feels right’ for him to move on, as the network enters its second season of airing the Big Ten conference’s premier game each Saturday. Previously, CBS’ mid-afternoon slot was dedicated to the Southeastern Conference and now airs on ESPN platforms.

For many Saturdays in the fall, it was Verne Lundquist and Danielson who had the best seat in the house for that weekend’s most intriguing matchup. Lundquist retired from calling college football in 2016 and Brad Nessler has since worked with Danielson on the assignment.

“Gary Danielson is simply one of the greatest college football analysts ever. And an even better teammate,” CBS Sports president and CEO David Berson said in a statement. “Gary cares more about uplifting others and ensuring the team receives all the accolades. During his 20 years here, he helped propel CBS Sports to the gold standard in college football coverage. We can’t thank him enough; he will always be part of the CBS Sports family and wish him the best in retirement.”

In the face of injury, USC’s JuJu Watkins is still adding to her trophy case this season.

As the No. 1 Trojans gear up to play the No. 5 Kansas State Wildcats without Watkins — who went down against Mississippi State with a reported ACL tear, per Shams Charania — Watkins was named National Player of the Year by the U.S. Basketball Writer’s Association (USBWA).

Watkins averaged 26.1 points per game in 35 minutes per game this year, alongside 7.3 rebounds per game and 3.7 assists. Defensively she also averaged 2.6 steals per game and 2.2 blocks.

While USC had a strong team this year, Watkins was a key component in both USC victories over No. 1 overall seed UCLA. She scored 38 points in the first win and 30 in the second.

The Trojans are now looking to advance to their second Elite Eight in as many seasons after snapping a 29-year drought last year. To do so, they’ll be without their best player and, now, the player recognized as the best in the country.

Watkins, 20, still has two more seasons ahead of her before she is eligible for the WNBA Draft. WNBA rules state players must graduate within three months of the draft, be four years removed from high school, or 22 years of age the year of the draft to enter.

That means Watkins still has some time at USC after her personal disappointing finish this year. She is undoubtedly hoping her teammates, led by Kiki Iriafen, will be able to finish the job she has been so instrumental in starting.

The 2025 women’s NCAA Tournament is currently underway, and the No. 2 seed TCU Horned Frogs have advanced to the Sweet 16 after a convincing 85-70 victory over the No. 7 seed Louisville. Following the win, Hailey Van Lith openly discussed her struggles with mental health, which she has dealt with since a young age.

Van Lith shared her experience with media and social media exposure at a young age, revealing that it significantly impacted her mental health. ‘When I was younger and in college, I struggled with suicidal thoughts and was heavily medicated,’ she said. ‘I felt trapped, and you would never have guessed it because I was thriving on the court. But internally, in my life overall, I was ready to give up.’

Van Lith won the Big 12 Conference Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year awards after transferring to TCU for her fifth and final year of college. She transferred from LSU after spending three seasons at Louisville, where she made appearances in both the Elite Eight and the Final Four. With the Horned Frogs, Van Lith has averaged 17.7 points and 5.5 assists per game.

‘Coming from that place to where I am now is incredible. I’ve been praying all year, believing that God wants me to share my testimony and light with the world. He has taken me from despair to a place where I truly love life. Even if I lost basketball today, I would still cherish these people,’ Van Lith said.

When does TCU play next?

The No. 2 TCU Horned Frogs will compete against the No. 3 Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the Sweet 16 round of the women’s NCAA Tournament.

Date: Saturday, March 29
Time: 1 p.m. ET
TV: ABC, ESPN
Stream: Fubo
Location: Legacy Arena at BJCC (Birmingham, AL)

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