Nate Tice & Charles McDonald dive into the 2026 NFL Draft with 6 prospects who are flying up draft boards so far. Nate highlights OT Max Iheanachor, OT Monroe Freeling and CB D’Angelo Pool, while Charles breaks down EDGE Rueben Bain Jr, DL Caleb Banks and QB Garrett Nussmeier. Nate also touches on a fascinating wide receiver class that stands to make big moves in Indianapolis at the Combine.
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Later, Nate & Charles break down a few players with shakier draft stock, including OT Kadyn Proctor, QB Ty Simpson, EDGE Akheem Mesidor and DL Peter Woods.
(6:50) – Stock Up: Rueben Bain Jr.
(15:00) – Stock Up: Max Iheanachor
(19:45) – Stock Up: Garrett Nussmeier
(24:20) – Stock Up: Monroe Freeling
(30:00) – Stock Up: Caleb Banks
(37:10) – Stock Up: D’Angelo Pool
(43:20) – Shaky Stock players
BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA – OCTOBER 11: Garrett Nussmeier #18 of the LSU Tigers looks on prior to kickoff of a game against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Tiger Stadium on October 11, 2025 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Derick E. Hingle/Getty Images)
The North Carolina Tar Heels lost more than a game in Tuesday’s 75-66 loss to the Miami Hurricanes. North Carolina freshman forward Caleb Wilson will be out with a fracture in his left hand, according to the team. The Tar Heels do not have a timetable for Wilson’s return.
He suffered the injury in the first half of Tuesday’s loss to the Hurricanes. The 19-year-old returned to the game in the second half after initial X-rays were negative, but X-rays after the game revealed the fracture.
Wilson leads the team in points, rebounds, steals and blocks, averaging 19.8 points, 9.4 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.4 blocks. Wilson set the UNC freshman record by scoring in double figures in each of his 24 games. He has also posted 17 20-point games this season. Wilson has also been projected to be a lottery pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.
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The loss of Wilson comes at a pivotal stretch in conference play. North Carolina has seven regular-season games remaining before the ACC tournament. The Tar Heels are 19-5 overall and 7-4 in conference, good for seventh in the ACC.
Without Wilson, expect the team to rely on Henri Veesaar and Jarin Stevenson in the frontcourt. Veesaar has averaged 16.4 points and 9 rebounds, while Stevenson has added 7.2 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. Tar Heels guard Seth Trimble is also expected to have an increased role.
LIVIGNO, Italy — At the top of the halfpipe, seconds away from destiny or disappointment, Chloe Kim took a long pause and a deep breath.
For an hour, it seemed like Kim was cruising toward a third straight gold medal and Olympic history for any snowboarder, man or woman. And then, out of nowhere, a metaphorical thunderbolt pierced through the snowy night sky.
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It was 17-year-old Gaon Choi, whose body had been twisted and bruised by two gnarly falls, standing up and stomping a run that had taken the lead and put Kim in a position she hadn’t experienced very often in her forever career.
This time, the coronation was off. The pressure was on.
Kim couldn’t help but think about the symmetry of her first Olympics eight years ago, a 17-year-old about to introduce herself to the world.
“I was in very similar shoes once upon a time,” she said. “It’s such a full circle moment.”
Not that Kim expected or wanted to lose. But she’s 25 now; a grown woman who’s seen and been through a lot. One of Team USA’s greatest Winter Olympians. A marketing machine who can spend the rest of her life doing whatever she wants.
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In other words, as she stared down the barrel, she was free to make a choice: She could try to add some juice to the run that initially gave her the lead or she could try to win the gold medal by bashing down the door.
“I wanted to make history, and in that way,” Kim said. “I wanted to go for it because that’s what I do.”
At the bottom of the hill, the crescendo of expectation started to build. Some fans started chanting, “USA! USA!” but not many others joined in. The moment felt heavy, almost surreal.
Choi, despite a pedigree that included an X Games gold medal as a 14-year old, had on this night come out of nowhere. Her first two runs had looked so scary, so painful, nobody would have blamed her for packing up and heading home.
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Just a few moments earlier, as a bevy of riders slid and crashed into a halfpipe that had been rendered sticky by the steady snowfall, it seemed there was little chance of anyone putting down a run that would threaten Kim’s crown.
It was not immediately obvious, as Choi crossed the flat bottom, that she had taken the lead. It was a good run, to be sure. But a winning one? After a quiet minute, the score flashed on the scoreboard: 90.25, bettering Kim’s 88.00 that had held up for 18 straight runs.
“I was a bit shocked then,” Choi said. “And my knees hurt so badly I was kind of out of it.”
The crowd was equally shocked: A gasp, then a pall. The party would have to wait.
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And then, it never came.
Kim committed to go for it, but we never saw what might have been. Her second hit turned out to be her last. Kim’s cab double cork 1080 — a standard trick — never landed. In the blink of an eye, a grab for gold turned into a skid for silver.
In that moment, Kim’s mind turned to history. She has become an icon like the riders who inspired her greatness, and in a way, it was only right that another mega-talent who once idolized her grabbed the baton.
Kim knew that’s the outcome Choi’s run deserved.
“She took a heavy slam, got back up and won the damn thing,” Kim said. “That’s badass.”
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Only in the aftermath of it all, as Kim beamed on the podium with her silver medal, did it sink in that she was merely the co-protagonist of the story Thursday. The toughness of Choi to come back from those falls, those bruises, and find power in legs that could barely stand, had proven worthy of standing not just beside Kim but one step above her.
That’s the way it should be, from one all-time great to the next.
“Chloe said she’s retiring now and seemed really happy about it,” Choi said.
If that’s true, it’s no surprise. Kim had been drifting away from the sport since 2022. This always felt like a last hurrah.
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In a career like hers, there aren’t many what-ifs. But perhaps one will be what might have happened if she had been fully prepared for this event, if she hadn’t banged her shoulder last month in Switzerland. Kim and her team managed it as best they could, but she revealed it’s going to require surgery.
Maybe as much as the gold medal, Kim wanted to land a 1440 — a four-rotation trick she had pulled off in practice but never in competition. She had planned to try it on the second run Thursday, but never made it that far.
“There was a lot of conversation happening about the three-peat and whatnot,” Kim said. “And I think I was thinking about it, for sure. But the minute I injured myself, I was like, ‘That doesn’t matter anymore.’ Let’s just get there and see how far we can go. So this feels like a win for me because a month ago, it didn’t seem too possible.”
Still, she was agonizingly close to something special, something only Shaun White had done winning the halfpipe in 2006, 2010 and 2018. Her family, including her NFL star boyfriend Myles Garrett and her father Jong Jin Kim, who sacrificed so much to launch her into this career, were there at the bottom waiting to celebrate.
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And in the end, they did. But they didn’t celebrate the color of the medal. They celebrated her — an end to 12 years of snowboarding greatness and a beginning of whatever’s next. Just as it should be.
“I’m here walking away with my third medal!” she said, her voice rising with pride. “What the hell? This is so sick!”
Our offseason grades continue with the AL Central, a division rarely associated with the kind of high-dollar signings or splashy transactions that seize headlines during baseball’s down months.
For the most part, this winter was no different. Until Detroit’s recent pitching payroll surge — some voluntary, some via Tarik Skubal’s historic victory in arbitration — no division had spent less combined in free agency than the AL Central, with the last-place White Sox surprisingly spending the most. On the trade market, the White Sox and Royals swung a few interesting deals, but most of the offseason’s biggest swaps occurred elsewhere around the league.
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Before we fully turn the page on hot stove season, let’s evaluate what these five Midwestern clubs have accomplished since last season concluded.
Significant outgoing free agents: RP Jakob Junis, OF Lane Thomas, SP Ben Lively
Major moves:
Extended 3B José Ramírez on a 7-year deal
Re-signed C Austin Hedges to a 1-year deal
Signed RP Shawn Armstrong to a 1-year deal
Signed RP Connor Brogdon to a 1-year deal
Signed RP Colin Holderman to a 1-year deal
Selected RP Peyton Pallette from White Sox in Rule 5 Draft
Offseason grade: D+
Division champs in three of the past four seasons and postseason participants in seven of the past 10 campaigns, the Guardians have proven to be one of the most reliably competitive teams in baseball. But the offseason is decidedly not when this franchise shines, and this winter was another glaring example of Cleveland’s unwillingness to raise its payroll beyond the absolute basement of the league — the Guardians’ current payroll ranks 29th ahead of only the Marlins — or be aggressive on the trade market in search of more cost-efficient upgrades.
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While the club’s decision to extend the face of the franchise, José Ramírez, was a commendable effort to ensure their best player will be a Guardian for life, paying someone who was already under contract for three more seasons did not make the 2026 club any better. It’s a move that can and should be celebrated in the context of Ramírez’s commitment to the organization and the team’s investment in Ramírez in return. But it did little to advance the club’s stated goals of returning to the World Series and ending the longest active championship drought in MLB.
Cleveland’s list of external additions consists primarily of new bullpen pieces on one-year deals, with veteran righty Shawn Armstrong’s $5.5 million pact the most prominent of the bunch. Adding relief depth makes sense as the organization continues to ponder life without closer Emmanuel Clase, but none of the newcomers jump off the page. As for meaningful upgrades to an offense that ranked 28th in wRC+ last season, there weren’t any, with respect to the minor-league deals to Stuart Fairchild and Carter Kieboom. Given an overflow of young position players either at or nearing the major-league level, the Guardians decided not to block any of them with more proven pieces and are instead banking on internal steps forward to fuel an improved offensive unit.
Of course, pessimism surrounding Cleveland’s offseason inactivity does not preclude optimism that the Guardians can once again be relevant characters in the AL Central race; counting them out prematurely would be foolish. But Ramírez will be an MVP candidate for only so long, and with limited reinforcements joining from the outside, there’s substantial pressure on the inexperienced in-house personnel to form a worthwhile supporting cast around Ramírez sooner rather than later.
Detroit Tigers
Significant outgoing free agents: SP Chris Paddack, INF Andy Ibanez, RP Jason Foley, RP Tommy Kahnle, RP Alex Lange
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Major moves:
Signed SP Framber Valdez to a 3-year deal
Retained 2B Gleyber Torres via qualifying offer
Signed RP Kenley Jansen to a 1-year deal
Signed RP Kyle Finnegan to a 2-year deal
Signed RP/SP Drew Anderson to a 1-year deal
Signed SP Justin Verlander to a 1-year deal
Offseason grade: B-
For the first three months of the offseason, the Tigers were awfully quiet. A major bit of business was taken care of quickly when second baseman Gleyber Torres accepted the qualifying offer in November, and Detroit bolstered its pitching staff with some modest moves in early December, re-signing Kyle Finnegan, adding veteran closer Kenley Jansen and bringing in rotation candidate Drew Anderson after a stellar stint overseas.
Suddenly, the Tigers boast an outstanding rotation and a payroll well above $200 million, leaps and bounds above their AL Central peers. Both are undeniably encouraging for a franchise that hasn’t claimed a division title since 2014. But without any upgrades whatsoever to a lineup that was roughly average in the 2025 regular season and sputtered badly in October, it’s tough to give Detroit too favorable a grade for its winter activity. Like the rival Guardians, Detroit is counting on the hitters already on the roster — and the ultra-talented prospects on the way — to take the necessary steps forward to enable a more productive offense in 2026. Whether such a strategy will work remains to be seen, but completely neglecting the opportunity to add better bats this winter deserves a demerit on an otherwise solid grade.
Can the Royals or White Sox surprise in the low-spending AL Central?
(Grant Thomas/Yahoo Sports)
Kansas City Royals
Significant outgoing free agents: OF Mike Yastrzemski, RP/SP Michael Lorenzen, INF Adam Frazier, RP Hunter Harvey, OF MJ Melendez, OF Randal Grichuk
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Major moves:
Extended 3B Maikel Garcia on a 5-year deal
Extended C Salvador Perez on a 2-year deal
Acquired OF Isaac Collins, RP Nick Mears from Brewers for RP Angel Zerpa
Acquired RP Matt Strahm from Phillies for RP Jonathan Bowlan
Signed OF Lane Thomas to a 1-year deal
Signed RP Alex Lange to a 1-year deal
Offseason grade: B-
Are you sensing an AL Central theme? Here’s another club with some contender-like qualities, but an offensive unit that severely lacks the depth to warrant a bullish forecast. The Royals’ outfield in particular has been problematically awful in recent seasons, even as Kansas City has returned to relevance in the AL. It’s no surprise then that the team made multiple moves this winter to try to address that shortcoming, signing bounce-back candidate Lane Thomas and acquiring unlikely rookie breakout Isaac Collins in a swap with Milwaukee.
Thomas is coming off a completely lost season due to injury but has a solid track record of offensive output. Conversely, Milwaukee’s trade of Collins could be interpreted as a sell-high maneuver, suggesting some regression could be in store for him as a sophomore. Perhaps Thomas and Collins can solidify the Royals’ outfield in supporting roles behind the stars at the top of the lineup, but there are questions with both.
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Otherwise, the Royals didn’t do much. Extensions for breakout third baseman Maikel Garcia and franchise anchor Salvador Perez were both nice to see, but they don’t overshadow the complete lack of free-agent spending. Only the Nationals gave out less guaranteed money to major-league free agents this winter than Kansas City’s $6.15 million to Thomas and reliever Alex Lange. That’s disappointing considering the Royals’ recent willingness to occasionally splurge in the middle tier of free agency for guys such as Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha.
But the Royals did get better this winter. The outfield additions, plus a reliable lefty reliever in Strahm to backfill the loss of Zerpa, put this roster in position to compete in this mediocre division. It was an uninspiring but respectable winter for Kansas City.
Minnesota Twins
Significant outgoing free agents: C Christian Vazquez, RP Genesis Cabrera
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Major moves:
Hired Derek Shelton as manager
Signed 1B Josh Bell to a 1-year deal
Signed C Victor Caratini to a 1-year deal
Signed RP Taylor Rogers to a 1-year deal
Acquired C Alex Jackson from Orioles
Acquired 1B Eric Wagaman from Marlins
Acquired OF Tristan Gray from Red Sox
Offseason grade: D
Yikes. Despite heavy rumors that the dramatic deadline teardown would continue this winter with the offloading of star veterans such as Joe Ryan, Pablo López or perhaps even Byron Buxton, Minnesota held on to all of its main pieces. That would be fine if the team had decided that July’s roster overhaul was a temporary measure and that this winter would be spent reinforcing the parts of the roster that were diminished with those trades. Instead, the Twins did next to nothing to backfill the depleted bullpen and failed to make other additions that would inspire confidence while payroll sank to troubling lows. To top it off, the club parted ways with longtime front office head Derek Falvey at the end of January, extremely unusual timing for a transition of power to take place in baseball operations.
The lack of cohesion or direction appears to be the result of what’s going on at the ownership level. The Pohlad family’s decision not to sell the franchise after initially announcing their intention to do so has led to a change in leadership structure involving Tom taking the reins from his younger brother, Joe. That turbulence at the top has left the roster and the fan base in a state of unease entering 2026, as there’s just enough talent in place to squint and see a competitive team but such an unstable infrastructure that it’s difficult to feel certain this team will be good enough to avoid another painful sell-off in July. There are some really good players on this roster, but few teams, if any, had a more concerning winter than the Twins.
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Chicago White Sox
Significant outgoing free agents: OF Mike Tauchman, RP Tyler Alexander, SP Martin Perez, SP/RP Bryse Wilson
Major moves:
Signed 1B Munetaka Murakami to a 2-year deal
Signed RP Anthony Kay to a 2-year deal
Signed SP/RP Sean Newcomb to a 1-year deal
Signed RP Seranthony Dominguez to a 2-year deal
Signed OF Austin Hays to a 1-year deal
Signed SP Erick Fedde to a 1-year deal
Acquired SP Jordan Hicks, SP/RP David Sandlin from Red Sox for SP Gage Ziehl
Acquired UTL Luisangel Acuña, RP Truman Pauley from Mets for OF Luis Robert Jr.
Selected SP Jedixson Paez, RP Alexander Alberto in Rule 5 Draft
Offseason grade: B+
We conclude this AL Central offseason wrap-up with some shockingly good vibes on the South Side. While the rest of the division largely lay dormant this winter, the White Sox were busy making a series of moves focused on building for the future but also raising the floor of the present-day club. By surrounding its promising position-player core with reliable veterans on both sides of the ball, Chicago has put itself in position to put a far more respectable product on the field in 2026 than the abysmal displays of the past two seasons.
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Let’s be real, though: this winter was all about landing Munetaka Murakami. That his market collapsed to such a degree that the White Sox were involved is obviously a red flag, but the monumental upside remains for the 26-year-old slugger. His arrival will single-handedly bring to spring training a level of anticipation that few other camps will feature, and his transition to the majors will be one of the biggest stories of the season. He has enormous questions to answer at the plate, but credit to Chicago for jumping at the unexpected opportunity to add a rare talent capable of energizing a fan base, even with the concerns attached.
That said, let’s not celebrate this winter of wheeling and dealing too much. This team still projects to be one of the worst in baseball, and no team playing in Chicago should have a payroll that ranks 28th in the sport, no matter where the club is in its competitive window. Still, for the first time in a while, there are things to look forward to with this team, and this offseason featured a more cogent and intentional roster-building strategy. The squad on the South Side is noticeably more compelling because of it.
Nick Castellanos’ time with the Philadelphia Phillies has come to an end. Less than 24 hours after it was revealed the team told Castellanos not to report to spring training, the outfielder was released by the club.
On his way out the door, Castellanos decided to post two handwritten notes, the first of which thanked Phillies staff members and players who supported him during his four years with the team.
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The second note focused on something Castellanos deemed “The Miami Incident.” That incident led to a one-game benching for Castellanos, who was in the midst of a streak in which he started 236 consecutive games.
At the time, the team said Castellanos’ benching was the result of an “inappropriate comment.” Castellanos revealed the real reason for his benching, and it involved alcohol.
“OK, apparently I need to address The Miami Incident. As one of my friends on the team has informed me, there is an article waiting to come out without my consent or comments about this situation. So I’m going to just share myself.
“As a veteran of the game of baseball there are rules and I broke one in Miami. After being taken out of a close ball game in front of my friends and family, I brought a Presidente into the dugout. I then sat right next to [Phillies manager Rob Thomson] and let him know that too much slack in some areas and too tight of restrictions in others are not conducive to us winning. Shoutout to my teammates and [Phillies special assistant to the general manager Howie Kendrick] for taking the beer out of my hands before I could take a sip. (I appreciate you guys). After the game, I went into the office with Dave & Rob. We aired out our differences and the conversation ended with me apologizing for letting my emotions get the best of me. I would like to note, that I was ready to share the details of the incident in its entirety to the media the next day, but was instructed not to by management. The punishment I received for my actions was the benching the following game.
“I love this game, I love being a teammate and I am addicted to winning. I will learn from this.”
Presidente is a brand of Dominican beer.
The game in question was June 16 vs. the Marlins. With the Phillies ahead 3-1 in the bottom of the eighth, Castellanos — who has posted poor defensive metrics throughout his career — was removed from the game in favor of Johan Rojas, a superior defensive player. Castellanos took issue with the move, particularly because he grew up in Florida and had friends and family at the game.
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The following day, Castellanos was absent from the Phillies’ lineup, ending his consecutive games started streak.
Despite that incident, Castellanos remained with the Phillies the rest of the season. His numbers declined, as the veteran slashed just .250/.294/.400 with 17 home runs in 589 plate appearances. In late August — after again being removed from a game in favor of a defensive replacement — Castellanos admitted it was frustrating to deal with reduced playing time.
The team signaled it was ready to move on from Castellanos in the offseason, signing veteran Adolis García to a one-year, $10 million contract. García is expected to open the season as the Phillies’ starter in right field, Castellanos’ primary position.
Despite being out of a starting job, Castellanos remained on the Phillies’ roster for the rest of the offseason. Things came to a head Wednesday, when it was reported that the team told Castellanos not to report for spring training. With the Phillies seemingly out of options, they decided to release Castellanos on Thursday.
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While the veteran has some limitations at this point in his career, he posted an OPS better than league-average as recently as 2024. That could result in Castellanos signing with another team during spring training.
But given how his tenure with the Phillies ended, Castellanos will have to prove himself with a new franchise.
Former Nebraska AD, Bill Moos, has released a 697 page memoir titled Crab Creek Chronicles: From the Wheat Fields to the Ball Fields and Beyond. In it are some very interesting takeaways about his time at Nebraska. Andy Staples, Ross Dellenger and Steven Godfrey discuss some of the more notable stories he shares. The most notable, and surprising, story is about Moos’ regret of Nebraska joining the Big Ten conference and his interest in leaving the Big Ten to return to the Big 12. That, of course, did not end up happening. Moos also shares how he was forced into hiring Scott Frost even though he did not think he was right for the job. The guys share their opinions and takeaways from these, and other, stories from the book.
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Then, Andy, Ross and Godfrey go from looking at the past to looking into the future. The Pac-12 Conference is back and they have released their 2026 schedule. The most notable part is the unique approach to their Week 13 games. The conference currently only has eight football teams. That means there are only seven games to be held during an eight-game conference schedule. The Pac-12’s unique approach for the eighth game, in Week 13, is the creation of a flex week. There are currently four games scheduled, with home teams being already designated, but the conference is reserving the right to swap opponents up to six days before the matchup. They are saying they will choose the matchups based off of what is best for the conference. Presumably this means creating the most advantageous schedule for a potential CFP bid. The guys discuss the impact of this and what the ripple effects could be. What would this look like in other conferences, and could this potentially change the landscape of college football scheduling?
Later, Ross shares the latest update in the world of revenue sharing. He discusses his most recent article about how programs are far exceeding the revenue share cap and what the “real” rev-share cap is for the top programs. Andy and Godfrey join in as they react to the new world of revenue sharing, that may be far more expensive than people realize, and they all discuss how this is going to continue to evolve going forward.
Get caught up on all things college football with College Football Enquirer.
Former Nebraska AD Bill Moos. Photo by John Peterson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
(Photo by John Peterson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
0:00:00 – Former Nebraska AD tells all
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28:29 – Pac-12’s unique flex-week schedule
42:48 – How schools are far exceeding the rev-share cap
Igor Medved, Finland’s ski jumping coach for the 2026 Winter Olympics, was sent home Thursday due to an alleged alcohol-related issue.
Medved’s behavior was described by Finland’s Olympic committee as a violation of team conduct.
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“Medved traveled home today,” said Janne Hanninen, head of the Finnish team. “The matter concerns issues related to alcohol use. We take violations of the team’s rules very seriously and reacted to the situation quickly.”
Following his dismissal from the Olympic team, Medved issued an apology.
“I made a mistake and I am very sorry,” Medved said in a statement. “I want to apologize to the entire Finnish team, the athletes and also the fans.”
No further details were given by Finland’s Olympic committee regarding their now former ski jumping coach’s early departure.
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Executive director of the Finnish Ski Federation Marleena Valtasola said Medved’s future with the program would be decided following the Winter Games.
“An unpleasant situation has arisen: alcohol was consumed in violation of team rules,” Valtasola said. “We have decided that Medved will not participate in the Olympics. The other issues will be discussed with him after the Games. Now it is essential to safeguard the athletes’ concentration and restore serenity to the team and for Igor.”
MILAN — Rubbin’ is racin’, as a wise old philosopher once said, but when rubbin’ turns to wreckin’, bad things happen.
Four years after her heartbreak in Beijing, short track speedskater Kristen Santos-Griswold again struggled in the Olympics, falling — or getting knocked to the ice — multiple times in an ultimately frustrating night that left her locked out of the medal final race.
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“It wasn’t the ice, it wasn’t anything,” Santos-Griswold insisted afterward. “it was blades hitting blades, or stubbing off a block.”
In the quarterfinals, Santos-Griswold’s race required four separate restarts after the five racers — later trimmed to four after China’s Chutong Zhang was disqualified for collisions — struggled again and again to get through the opening turns. Still, she recovered enough to finish second and advance to the semifinals.
Kristen Santos-Griswold of the United States crashes during the short track speed skating women’s 500m.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
But she faced troubles getting through a fast pack, and when her skate hit an inside block, she lost so much time on the leaders that she was unable to close the gap.
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“I know I’m fast, I know I can make moves,” she said after her final race. “I was confident in getting off the [starting] line. I was like, I can fight for this, but then immediately we had some contact and it was just too big to recover from. That was really disappointing, that I didn’t even get a shot, but that’s part of sport.”
Relegated to the B Final, without a hope of a medal, Santos-Griswold again ran into trouble, getting tangled up in a three-skater crash that ended her night once and for all.
“We’re all out there fighting to make it out of the rounds, fighting to get on the podium, to get on top of the podium, and I think that that’s something that’s a little bit different about the Olympics,” Santos-Griswold said. “It’s not like an accumulation of points, you’ve got one shot, and we’re all going to go out there and take it.”
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Santos-Griswold will next race in the 1000m on Saturday, the same event that bedeviled her in Beijing. In that race, she was leading in the final lap when a collision with Italy’s Arianna Fontana ended her night and her Olympic dreams.
“Last time I was so nervous leading up to races. I’m still nervous leading up to races, so that’s a lie if I say I’m not,” she said. “But I’m trying to take it day by day and enjoy the experience.”
When Darryn Peterson sat out Monday’s game against top-ranked and then-undefeated Arizona due to flu-like symptoms, speculation swirled. It’s continued in the wake of No. 9 Kansas beating the Wildcats despite the standout freshman guard’s latest absence from a marquee matchup.
Peterson is a former five-star recruit and a current projected top-two NBA Draft pick, but his durability is under the microscope now that he’s missed 11 of the Jayhawks’ 24 games for a variety of reasons.
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Critics havealsobeen questioning the legitimacy of Peterson’s ailments, particularly his recent illness, given that he was on the floor for the start of pregame warmups before leaving the court and then missing the game versus Arizona, one of the most highly anticipated matchups on the sport’s calendar.
His head coach, two-time national champion Bill Self, addressed that skepticism on Thursday, notably dispelling a load-management narrative that he described as “BS.”
“I’m not a social media guy, but I have gotten on X and read some of the things and narratives that are out there about him, and it’s really not remotely true,” Self said, via The Field of 68.
Peterson has missed significant time because of a hamstring strain, a sprained ankle, a quad issue, cramping problems and now an illness, as reported by The Kansas City Star.
“When you’re honest, people don’t believe you,” Self continued in a nearly four-minute remark during his midweek news conference. “And when you don’t comment on it, people create their own narratives.
“And you know what? I do the same thing about things I don’t know about. Well, it must be this. Geez, it has to be that if they’re not going to talk about it.
“But here’s the bottom line: Was his hamstring legit? Hell yes. Would you have risked injuring it more in November? No. Was his cramping legit? Yes, positively, it was. Did he turn his ankle bad to the point where he couldn’t practice for nine days and then practice one day and play BYU? Yes. And that was adrenaline kicking in, in the BYU game.”
While he played just three minutes in the second half in that matchup with Dybantsa, Peterson still finished with 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting. He made three 3s, stacked three steals and delivered the highlight of the night, thanks to a seismic dunk over BYU’s Mihai Boskovic and Keba Keita.
That’s the thing. When Peterson’s been on the court, he’s often been as good as advertised.
In fact, he’s scored at least 14 points in every game he’s played, eclipsing the 20-point mark six times in 13 chances. The 6-foot-6, 205-pound Canton, Ohio, native is averaging 20.5 points and shooting 48.9% from the field, including 41.9% from deep.
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As for the illness that kept Peterson from playing against Arizona, he’s still recovering from it, according to Self. The longtime Jayhawks head coach noted that Peterson being sick was only a big deal because it was lumped together with his other absences, which Self chalked up to a “string of bad luck.”
“Was he sick? Yeah, he was sick enough he couldn’t practice,” Self said. “But he said he was still going to give it a run. And he came to shootaround, and he gave it a run, and he went out before, and he gets lightheaded, and I walk in and the doctor says, ‘Bill, he not going to be able to go.’
“The negative is that people saw him out there: ‘What could have happened between being out there and not playing?’ He was just trying to see if he could go. I mean, if he wanted to run from it or hide from it, he wouldn’t have gone out there. So the narrative is BS in many ways.”
Self then added: “Load management? This kid hasn’t talked about that one time. Load management? Geez, that’s when you play four games in seven days. That’s not when you play one half a week or anything like that.”
Self said that Peterson is doing better but isn’t full speed yet. He’s hoping the first-year guard will be closer to 100% on Friday and reach that status in time for Saturday’s road game against No. 5 Iowa State.
“It’s a lot, I would think, when you’re 19 years old, and you’re dealing with everybody having a narrative about everything that’s going on,” Self said.
“Or you’re sitting on the bench, and you got heat warmers on your legs or whatever, and now everybody’s got a narrative about a heat warmer. That’s what he’s dealing with, and that’s the world he’s getting ready to enter. But the narratives haven’t been accurate.”
Tottenham have parted ways with Thomas Frank, and the big question is: was he really the problem? The boys dig into what’s actually happening at Spurs, whether the issues run deeper than the head coach, and which managers could realistically step in to fix things. Is this about tactics, recruitment, ownership — or something bigger?
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Then Austin FC striker Brandon Vazquez joins the show for an honest and revealing conversation. He opens up about recovering from his ACL injury, doing “quick maths” in his head about the World Cup timeline the moment he got hurt, and what it will take to fight his way back into the U.S. Men’s National Team picture. Vazquez also shares what it was really like playing in Liga MX — from nonstop media attention to the intensity of fan culture — and how it compares to MLS. Plus, we get the full origin story of his “Superman” goal celebration (yes, including the capes).
To close it out, the boys react to the 2026 MLS kit reveal and give their unfiltered best and worst picks. Which clubs nailed it? Which designs should’ve stayed in the concept phase? We’re handing out praise, roasting questionable choices, and ranking the fits you’ll be seeing all season long.
Timestamps:
(11:00) – Thomas Frank sacked! What is the issue at Tottenham?
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(20:00) – Discussing possible replacement for Tottenham
