He glided toward the mic, sat down, then prepared for the grilling about how much money he makes, why he left Tennessee, who betrayed who when he departed, and what it all means for the college football world that his story now defines.

Bottom line: If quarterback Nico Iamaleava handles the rest of the season as well as he did with his half hour of Q&A at Big Ten media days Thursday, chances are, UCLA will be good — maybe even very good — in 2025.

“I think, it’s just, keep my head down and be humble,” the 20-year-old lightning rod of a quarterback said. “And try not to let the outside noise affect you.”

If he succeeds at that, he will have more discipline than a great majority of college football fans, experts and journalists who have filled the internet and air waves with timelines and tick-tock analysis of a decision that shook the sport and seemed to say everything about the burgeoning power players wield in a world of name, image, likeness deals and a rapidly rotating transfer portal.

The thumbnail of the story is that Iamaleava was a successful quarterback who led Tennessee to the College Football Playoff last season, then abruptly picked up stakes to head closer to home and play for UCLA.

Money seemed to be the most obvious motive.

Reports circulated that he was looking for a raise — maybe a doubling to nearly $4 million a year — to come back to the Vols. Then, one day last spring, Iamaleava missed practice. Just as abruptly, he was gone.

Tennessee coach Josh Heupel handled it diplomatically.

“Today’s landscape of college football is different than it has been,” he said. “It’s unfortunate, the situation, and where we’re at with Nico.”

Before he’d even enrolled at Tennessee, Iamaleava was causing his share of turmoil. It was his NIL deal with the Vols that triggered an NCAA investigation and a lawsuit by the attorneys general of Tennessee and Virginia in January 2024.

The NCAA settled that lawsuit, and though there aren’t as many questions about who makes the payments to the players (the colleges can do it themselves now), recriminations that flowed when Iamaleava enrolled at Tennessee kept flowing after he made his move to UCLA.

Asked about what triggered his move and exactly when it happened, Iamaleava said it came around the time “false stuff about whether it was a financial thing or not” started coming out that made him “not feel comfortable in the position I was in.”

Then, in a revelation that not everyone appears quite ready to accept, he said moving closer to where he grew up, in Long Beach, California, about 30 miles from the UCLA campus, was the biggest piece of the puzzle.

“My driving factor to come back home was my family, and I hope every Tennessee fan understands that,” he said. “It was really one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make.”

He will not delve into finances, though most of the reporting has shown that Iamaleava will make about as much, or just barely more, with UCLA than he was making at Tennessee.

“All that stuff is for my business team and my agents to handle,” he said. “I just focus on football.”

Among the other questions consuming college football, and that Iamaleava’s saga reflects as well as anyone’s, is how a player who makes more money and generates more hype than anyone else in the locker room can possibly fit on a team that is still, at its core, filled with teenagers whose football lives will end in college.

UCLA’s second-year coach, DeShaun Foster, said he scouted that part when the prospect of Iamaleava coming to Westwood became real.

“He’s a team guy and a family guy,” Foster said. “It just felt good that we were getting the right kind of quarterback.”

From a pure talent standpoint, hardly anyone argues that. Iamaleava was considered one of the country’s top prospects coming out of high school. He threw for 2,616 yards and 19 TDs last year in leading the Vols to the playoffs.

But, as one of the theories about his departure goes, he and his family were less than thrilled about Tennessee’s ability to protect him.

None other than ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit dove into the mix when he said he’d heard Iamaleava’s dad had gone to Heupel in December and said “like, hey, listen, you’ve got to get better at offensive line, better at receiver.”

Speaking not so much about that specific story, but to the realities of football, Foster said he knows keeping things clean in the pocket for Iamaleava will be key to his success.

“If he stays upright, things are going to go the right way,” Foster said.

And if they do, there’s at least a chance Iamaleava could be a one-and-doner at UCLA. He is widely thought to have NFL talent if he improves his mechanics and accuracy — two areas that will be helped by better protection.

During his back-and-forth with reporters, the quarterback brushed aside questions about pro football.

He also said he pays no mind to the billion-dollar questions swirling around the college game every day — all revolving around money, freedom to transfer and other issues that have turned UCLA’s quarterback into a villian in some places, a hero in others, and a player to watch everyhwere.

“I love college football,” he said. “Everything that goes on with my name, that’s not going to change my love for the game. Obviously, everyone has to move on. I’m excited about what’s next for me. But I’m where my feet (are), and right now, I’m a UCLA football player and I’m excited to go to camp.”

At this time a year ago, Navy was picked 11th in the American Conference preseason poll. That was the result of the Midshipmen suffering four straight losing seasons.

Now Navy is considered one of the top contenders in the recently rebranded American Conference by most national publications. Lindy’s College Football Magazine predicts that Navy will capture the conference championship. Meanwhile, Athlon Sports has the Midshipmen placing second behind Tulane in its preseason publication.

Navy changed the perception of its program by posting a 10-3 record, capturing the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy and upsetting Oklahoma in the Armed Forces Bowl during the 2024 season.

“There has been a little bit of a paradigm shift in our program as far as what our expectations are. There is a different level of confidence based off what we did last year,” coach Brian Newberry said. “There is a different level of confidence with our team right now. It’s not arrogance or overconfidence, but it’s a little bit of a different feeling. There is a higher expectation within our program right now.”

For the first time in its history, the American Conference did not release its own preseason poll during the annual football media event, which this year was held Thursday and Friday in Charlotte, North Carolina.

During remarks to kick off the American Conference “media day,” commissioner Tim Pernetti said tat it has become increasingly difficult to produce accurate preseason polls amid the current landscape of college football. Pernetti pointed out that in the transfer portal era, most programs undergo significant roster turnover from one season to the next.

Nonetheless, recognition that Navy is among the preseason favorites came when Newberry sat for an interview with the ESPN broadcasting crew. Host Maria Trivelpiece asked the third-year coach about the “hype” surrounding the program.

When Navy was picked to place 11th in the conference last year, Newberry used that perceived slight as a way to motivate the players. With the Mids now rated at the top of the American, Newberry wants his troops to not pay attention to such praise.

“We talk about drowning out the noise all the time — whether good, bad or indifferent,” said Newberry, adding that he has never put much stock in preseason polls. “Obviously, I’m excited about what we did last season and how we finished. That was great momentum going into the offseason. At the same time, our guys understand that last year’s team has very little to do with this year’s team.”

Quarterback Blake Horvath and nose guard Landon Robinson, the team captains, represented Navy at the American Conference football media event. While welcoming the higher expectations placed on the Midshipmen, they said players don’t care what outsiders think of the program.

“The only opinions that matter are the ones that are in the room, the people that are making it happen. The noise is just distracting. It can create turmoil, create egos. We just have to block all that out,” Horvath said.

Robinson said the Navy players have adopted Newberry’s mantra to not “choke on the sugar” and are “making sure to stay humble and hungry.”

Navy returns seven starters on offense, including every one of the skill positions. That total does not include right guard Hoke Smith II, who started the last three games a year ago. The Midshipmen bring back five starters on defense along with several experienced backups.

Newberry believes the four straight losing seasons from 2020 to 2023 left a psychological impact on the program. Based on that recent history, there was uncertainty about whether the Midshipmen could turn things around.

“Last year at this time we were a wishful and hopeful football team that did all the right things, but wasn’t sure who we were going to be,” Newberry said. “Now we’re a team that expects to win and it’s not based on hope, but on concrete accomplishments. After having success last season, we are hungry to keep it going.”

Newberry based that assessment on what he saw during offseason strength and conditioning workouts. He liked the way the Midshipmen attacked the winter workouts known as “fourth quarters” and how they got after it during spring camp. Navy football players spent most of the summer on campus working hard with the strength and conditioning staff.

During remarks delivered from the podium during Friday’s media event, Newberry said that he felt good about this 2025 Navy football team, and not just because there is so much returning production.

“It’s because of the identity of this football team and the chemistry we have developed. Our guys genuinely love and care about each other. Close teams are powerful teams,” Newberry said. “I’m excited about the work that’s been put in since January. We talk about deserving success and our guys have shown up every day and worked at a very high level on a consistent basis.”

Navy opened the 2024 campaign on a roll by winning six straight games and was ranked 24th in the Associated Press Top 25 poll entering a late October showdown with Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish routed the Midshipmen, 51-14, at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Navy was upset by Rice (24-10) the following Saturday and routed by Tulane (35-0) two weeks later, but rebounded for three straight wins to close out the season. That stretch was highlighted by a 31-13 beatdown of archrival Army and a 21-20 come-from-behind victory over Oklahoma.

“You always want to finish the season on a high note like we did. When you look at last season, we got off to a really good start then there was a little bit of a lull,” Newberry said. “To bounce back and finish the way we did against a really good Army football team then put an exclamation point by beating Oklahoma at the end was awesome.”

Have a news tip? Contact Bill Wagner at bwagner@capgaznews.com, 443-534-0102 and x.com/@BWagner_CapGaz.

Ra-El left Memphis in the middle of last season and has transferred to Purdue, where coach Barry Odom is in his first season. Ra-El began his college career at Old Dominion in 2021.

“Our coaching staff sees this scenario as being mischaracterized and does not have any concerns moving forward,” the Purdue athletic department said in a statement to The Associated Press on Friday.

The controversy erupted last week when On3 published screenshots of an alleged conversation between the former high school teammates from Charlotte, N.C.

“Far left is coverages. i’ll send you better list showing you the call,” the screenshot showed Ra-El wrote. “But they run qtrs none of they safeties can cover btw.”

Ra-El also reportedly told McCown that starting safety Kourtlan Marsh had an injured hamstring. Marsh didn’t play in the game, which UTSA won 44-36 after scoring 30 consecutive points to erase a 24-14 halftime deficit.

During the American Conference media days, UTSA coach Jeff Traylor said the information had “no bearing whatsoever” on the outcome of that game, even though he said he had not heard about the allegations until last week.

“The stuff he sent him didn’t make any sense, so he didn’t tell me,” Traylor said. “He was just being nice to his buddy. It got blown out of context in my opinion.”

McCown, the son of former NFL quarterback and current Minnesota Vikings quarterbacks coach Josh McCown, threw for 3,424 yards and 25 touchdowns with 10 interceptions in 13 games last season, his first as the Roadrunners starter. They finished 7-6 and beat Coastal Carolina in the Myrtle Beach Bowl.

Memphis coach Ryan Silverfield said Friday he spoke with Traylor earlier in the week over the phone and again at the coaches dinner Thursday night.

“Look, it’s the nature of it,” Silverfield said. “(We) have had open dialogue. We both said it’s in our best interest, regardless of what happened, that we should move on and focus on our 2025 season.”

American Conference Commissioner Tim Pernetti addressed the situation Friday, saying he spoke to both coaches and was allowing them to handle the situation.

He downplayed the story, saying: “What I can tell you is there’s really not much to this story. I think a lot of it has been, you know, sensationalized, and some of it I think quite frankly is clickbait.”

While Pernetti said protecting the integrity of the conference is vitally important to him, he added: “Anything that flirts with the line we are going to take seriously, but I think in this case it is much ado about nothing.”

AP’s Steve Reed contributed from Charlotte, N.C.

Williams joked that of the “712 boxes” that are still packed, one contains his baseball glove and ball. He said that he asked Terps baseball coach Matt Swope for some practice time to warm up his arm.

“I’m predicting I won’t throw it in the dirt,” he quipped before adding that the players are supposed to join him on the mound. “I want them to experience it, too.”

It has been a whirlwind three months since Williams — who turns 53 on Sept. 1 — was hired April 1 to succeed Kevin Willard after the latter turned the team’s run to the Sweet 16 in March into an almost-daily speculation of his tenure at Maryland until he left for Villanova two days after the Terps’ loss to eventual national champion Florida.

In a 25-minute interview with The Baltimore Sun inside the players’ lounge inside Xfinity Center, Williams touched on topics such as his decision to leave Texas A&M despite leading that program to three NCAA Tournament appearances in six seasons, the challenges of replenishing a depleted roster and his thoughts on the NCAA’s House settlement that is expected to give universities up to $20.5 million to distribute among its athletes.

Editor’s note: Questions and answers have been edited for clarity and brevity.

Considering the turmoil surrounding the Terps after Willard’s departure, why did you agree to take the job?

I think the history of the job, I think the location relative to really good players and really good coaches, I think the history of the program speaks for itself — not just to me, but to all coaches, to all fans. I haven’t been in a game at Xfinity, but I haven’t found one person that hasn’t said it’s an unbelievable homecourt advantage. So on the turmoil [front], honestly, I didn’t know any of it because we were playing, too. And [as a] typical coach, you’re so into your own team and how can you try to win the next game? Some of the things that were going on, I never heard about them until [university president] Dr. [Darryll J.] Pines introduced himself and began to explain some of it, and I was like, ‘Oh, I didn’t know.’

Did the absence of full-time athletic director before Jim Smith was hired in May give you pause?

I think anything that’s unsettling in college athletics gives everyone pause, and I don’t even say that in a negative way. I really respected Dr. Pines’ transparency. He was telling me things about the turmoil — as you called it — and I didn’t know. For someone who I just met, I had great confidence in who he was as a person by his willingness to be so upfront professionally. To your point, who’s the AD? Is Colleen [Sorem, the interim athletic director who eventually followed previous Maryland athletic director Damon Evans to SMU] going to be the AD? Obviously, Colleen was involved every step of the way with me. She was tremendous. I didn’t know her either, and I loved her energy, I loved how competitive she was. But again, how did the search go and who’s going to be the AD — I stayed out of all of it.

How difficult was the position knowing every returning pIayer on Iast year’s roster had entered the transfer portaI?

At that time, the legislation hadn’t passed. So you don’t even know what the rules are going to be. And everybody was thinking that at any day the litigation was going to be solved. I don’t know. Are we good? I don’t know. Are we bad? I think you just try to do the best you can that late in the cycle relative to the character of the people that you want to be on your team, the work ethic of those individuals. I didn’t want to sign a team full of seniors. You probably can’t sign a team full of freshmen. And you can’t sign all point guards, but you can’t sign all centers. So who’s left? Who can we get involved with? What makes sense for today? What potentially gives us some foundational pieces going forward? So I think the staff did a really good job in regards to who has eligibility remaining for more than a year, who has versatility to do more than one thing. I think we’ll adapt our style of play relative to who’s on our team. I think we’ve always done that. And we’re trying to figure some of that out, literally, when you leave.

How much of the $20.5 million from the NCAA’s House settlement will go to basketball?

I don’t know how it’ll end up shaking out. This is my opinion. … I think that’s probably why there seems to be, even 20 days in, such concern. How does this work? The wording of the ruling, what’s it going to be? So what I think probably doesn’t matter in the big scheme of things, but I feel very confident. I’ve had a couple of interactions with Mr. Smith. I think he started officially last week after the [MLB] All-Star Game, but we’ve been on the road recruiting. Our recruiting period just ended, so I’m meeting with him. My first meeting with him officially, I guess, is Thursday morning. He’s been tremendous.

How would you describe your relationship with Smith? 

I didn’t know him. And as I mentioned to you, I wasn’t involved in any of the [interviews]. I like his energy though. I like that in my interactions, he has the personality to find a way to be successful instead of having a predetermined list on why it won’t work. I think in what this has become, there is no easy answer, and if you’re the person that’s going to bail out when it becomes complex … This state of college athletics is much more complex than I think people realize, and that’s why you see so many opinions. Is it the commissioners? Is it the government? Is it Congress? What’s this going to become? I don’t think anybody knows. And so I think that Mr. Smith’s energy on, ‘We’re going to figure it out, we’re going to keep trying to figure it out,’ I personally think that’s probably what you’re going to need over the next five to 10 years on whatever this is going to become.

Have a news tip? Contact Edward Lee at eklee@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/EdwardLeeSun.

On the occasion, there is a longstanding tradition of the father presenting the prestigious blazer to his son.

The Stubbs family has the routine down pat.

When 2024 Boys’ Latin graduate John Stubbs recently earned a roster spot on Australia’s Under-20 National Team — which is set to play in the 2025 World Lacrosse Men’s U-20 Championship in August — it made three generations of Aussie national lacrosse players in the family.

John’s grandfather, Bill, who resides in Australia, won a silver medal playing for the senior team at the 1974 World Cup. John’s father, Aaron, who grew up in Australia before moving to Baltimore County in 1998, claimed a bronze medal for the U-19 national team in 1988 and then a silver for the senior team in 1994.

And now there’s John, 18, who spent December in Australia participating in two tryout sessions that led to the good news in January.

With his parents by his side, John received a Zoom call from Australia’s U-20 coach Robert Lawson that awarded his spot.

“Coach let us know I was getting a spot and it was going to be a big job for me, a starting spot in the midfield. It was an incredible feeling,” John said.

The 20-nation tournament runs from Aug. 15 to 24 in Jeju Island, South Korea. Australia will compete in Pool A alongside the United States, Canada and Haudenosaunee.

For John, the decision to make the journey to Australia to try out for the team came with sacrifices, pressure and a family blessing.

After spending two varsity years at Boys’ Latin, he earned a scholarship to Monmouth, but opted to delay his college career to focus on making the team. He’s set to attend and play at Howard Community College this school year before transferring to a four-year school.

His monthlong stay in Australia included bookend tryouts in Adelaide and Queensland, with the rest of his time spent with his extended family in Perth, where he last visited when he was 6 years old.

Lawson, who played alongside Aaron for the national team, saw familiar traits in the father-son pair. John followed his father and grandfather by playing the midfield position, and he’s brought the same athleticism, grit and game sense.

“[John’s] a strong athletic player that has fit in very well to the Australian style on and off the field,” Lawson wrote via e-mail. “Australian Lacrosse is full of family tradition and we’re pleased he is able to share in this story. I played with John’s dad, Aaron, on the 1994 Australian team that competed in world championships in Manchester, England.  A proud Western Australian, Aaron was a great character and bustling two-way midfielder.”

Father and grandfather couldn’t be prouder.

“It’s exciting. The young fella worked hard, did a lot of extra work and effort, so it was a good reward for him,” Aaron said.

Plans are in the works to find a time and place for Aaron to carry on the tradition of presenting the green jacket to John, likely somewhere in Catonsville, where the family resides.

For Aaron, this special time brought back his own special memories of when he got the chance to follow his father’s lead.

“To actually make the Australian team, follow in his footsteps, it was pretty amazing,” Aaron said. “We both played the same position, so we almost mirrored each other. It was just rewarding knowing you put in all the time and effort.”

During tryouts, John heard inspiring stories about his father and grandfather. The Stubbs family has long made its mark in Australian lacrosse, and John is excited to add to it.

Pressure? Sure. But for John, just watching his father’s reaction to the news that he made the team already makes it well worth it.

“He cried, and I was just really happy to see him that happy,” he said. “I’m just glad I was good enough to make the team and have the opportunity to play. It’s incredible.”

In early August, the family will be leaving for Japan, where the team will play tuneup games against Canada and Japan before heading to South Korea. A GoFundMe page has also been posted to help raise money for John’s travel and accommodation expenses.

“It’s an honor, really an honor, and I see it as a privilege more than anything,” John said. “Between my grandfather, me, dad, it’s going back so far. So many decades, and maybe someday, I’ll have a son to make it four generations.”

Have a news tip? Contact Glenn Graham at ggraham@baltsun.com, 410-332-6636 and x.com/GlennGrahamSun.

Florida basketball player Olivier Rioux, a 7-foot-9 center who played for the Under-19 Canadian national team this summer, recently worked out for the Gators’ football team.

Rioux, 19, donned an orange helmet and took snaps on special teams, with Florida assistant coaches hoping his massive wingspan might be a difference maker when it comes to blocking field goals and extra points.

“I like the idea,” Gators basketball coach Todd Golden said during a booster event Thursday evening. “I give them credit for trying it.”

There was one issue: The 305-pound Rioux has an 11-inch vertical, so even with his extra-long reach, he was unable to block any kicks during the workout.

“They were a little disappointed,” Golden said.

No worries. Rioux can simply stick to his full-time gig with the basketball team.

After redshirting as a true freshman last season, he’s expected to get on the court in limited capacity this fall. He’s unlikely to play much considering the defending national champions return their entire frontcourt, but he should at least get on the court in garbage time.

Golden already has considered using him to guard inbound passes, something Rioux did to perfection just before halftime against the United States in the FIBA U19 World Cup in Switzerland earlier this month. Rioux forced an errant pass that led to a turnover and a 3-pointer just before halftime.

Rioux’s unusual height landed him in the Guinness World Records a few years ago and he has become a walking viral video at Florida. While coaches and teammates climbed a ladder to cut pieces of the nets after the Gators won the Southeastern Conference Tournament, Rioux was able to do it while standing flat-footed.

The contract for a rivalry that dates to 1926 expires after their game in 2026.

Both schools have expressed a willingness to lock down more games, but differences over how many appear to be holding up the negotiations.

USC’s move to the Big Ten gave the Trojans less flexibility in their nonconference schedule. Big Ten teams have nine conference games and only three open slots.

Speaking at Big Ten media days Thursday, Trojans coach Lincoln Riley said he was, of course, hopeful the series will continue. But not at any cost.

“I want to play the game. Absolutely. It’s one of the reasons I came here,” Riley said. “But also my allegiance and my loyalty is not to Notre Dame and it’s not to anybody else. I’m the head football coach at USC, and I’m going to back USC.”

Some of the uncertainty revolves around the College Football Playoff.

The Trojans have lost six of the last seven against Notre Dame. If CFP leaders decide to award four automatic bids to the Big Ten, which is the conference’s preference, a long-term deal to play the Irish might be more palatable to USC.

A system with more at-large bids, however, would make it more difficult, from a CFP standpoint, to absorb a nonconference loss.

Northwestern video vibes

Preston Stone is a good ol’ Texas boy who starred in high school for Parish Episcopal in Dallas and then spent four years at SMU. After entering the transfer portal following last season, however, he finally got to visit a team he once admired from afar — behind a video-game controller when he was 11 years old.

“For absolutely no reason whatsoever, when I was a little kid playing NCAA 14, I would always be Northwestern,” Stone said. “They had really cool black uniforms and they had a fast quarterback in Kain Colter, who I used to love playing with in the game.”

So after touring the campus and meeting Wildcats coach David Braun and offensive coordinator Zach Lujan, Stone was sold on transferring from the Lone Star State to Evanston.

“Facilities are incredible. I think we have the best indoor in the whole country,” Stone said. “You could feel a level of sincerity from Coach Braun. That was just different.

“And first meeting Coach Lujan, you could tell from the first couple minutes with him how incredibly smart of an offensive mind he is. I knew that if I came here, they were going to set me up for success.”

An encore for UCLA’s Foster

If UCLA improves on the field as much as coach DeShaun Foster did behind the mic at Big Ten media days, this could be a good year for the Bruins.

Foster spoke Thursday and made fun of his 2024 appearance, which included a cringeworthy 72-second opening statement highlighted by this observation about the program he was taking over: “I’m sure you guys don’t know much about UCLA, our football program, but we’re in LA.”

In heading to the lectern Thursday, Foster didn’t shy from that moment. He acknowledged he took some ribbing from players and others after last year’s effort.

“Last year I stood up here and reminded everyone that UCLA is in LA, which, looking back, might have been the most obvious geography lesson in Big Ten history,” Foster said. “But you know what? Important things are worth stating clearly. We are in LA, and we’re proud to be in LA.”

Underneath all those laughs, though, was a serious message. Foster, embarking on his second season in Westwood, said the moment “taught me a valuable lesson: Authenticity resonates more deeply than perfection.”

He faces a big challenge. The Bruins haven’t won a conference title since 1998 and haven’t played on Jan. 1 since that season’s Rose Bowl.

Bolstering UCLA’s hopes is the arrival of quarterback Nico Iamaleava from Tennessee. Iamaleava helped the Volunteers make the College Football Playoff last season.

Son of ‘Chocolate Thunder’ returns to Penn State

Penn State’s Nick Dawkins, the son of the late NBA star Darryl Dawkins, is one of four returning starters on the offensive line this season. That might not have been the case had the Nittany Lions not lost to Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff.

“After that game specifically, I was pretty dead set after that for sure,” Dawkins said of his decision to return. “I had some thoughts prior to the season ending, from a personal standpoint for my NFL draft stock, if it would be the best decision to come back. But when something like that happens, it kind of trumps all the individual stuff.”

Dawkins said it became more about the legacy of Penn State football and what he wanted to leave behind for the program’s history.

“My whole life, I’ve been representing my last name, and my last name has had so much legacy and worth attached to it before,” said Dawkins, who received All-Big Ten honorable mention last season. “I’ve always been a part of something bigger than myself and that’s how I view my life, and Penn State falls right into that category.”

“The procedure went very well, and he is expected to make a full recovery,” the Kansas athletic department said in a statement. “He is in good spirits and expects to be released from the hospital soon.”

Self, 62, directed the final practice of the summer session Thursday morning as he prepares for his 23rd seasons as Jayhawks coach. He missed the 2023 Big 12 and NCAA tournaments because of a heart condition, getting a standard catheterization and having two stents inserted to help treat blocked arteries.

Self has led Kansas to national titles in 2008 and 2022 and is the school’s career victory leader with a 609-156 record. Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017, the former Oklahoma State player also coached at Oral Roberts, Tulsa and Illinois.

Shell Shock, coached by former Terps standout Juan Dixon, defeated NXT ERA Elite in the James Madison regional final of The Basketball Tournament, a 64-team event with a $1 million prize awarded to the winning team. Shell Shock won, 68-62, despite trailing by 11 points in the opening moments of the nine-minute fourth quarter.

The team looked to be on its way out of the tournament before catching fire from the field and stringing defensive stops together. Shell Shock leaned on a pair of non-Terps with Maryland ties to complete the comeback, ending the game on a 21-4 run.

Of the team’s final 21 points, former Maryland Eastern Shore guard Kevon Voyles scored six and former Coppin State wing Anthony Tarke added eight. Tarke, who played under Dixon at Coppin State in 2020-21, finished the game with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

TBT features a unique finish, known as the Elam Ending. Once there’s a stoppage at or under four minutes left in the final quarter, the clock shuts off. There then becomes a target score for winning, which is eight points above the leading team’s score. In this case, the game paused with Shell Shock leading 59-58, meaning the first team to reach 67 would win.

Tarke scored Shell Shock’s first six points of the Elam Ending before ex-Houston Christian standout Ronald March drilled an NBA-range 3-pointer to send Shell Shock into the next round. His teammates rushed the floor to celebrate as the shot went through the hoop. March led the team with 21 points.

WOW, RONALD MARCH PULLS UP FROM THE LOGO FOR THE WIN! @TBTTerps win the JMU Region. pic.twitter.com/IHcXCCxf4g

— TBT (@thetournament) July 23, 2025

The team is now just three wins away from capturing the TBT title, despite not having guards Melo Trimble or Eric Ayala available through the opening three games. The two former Maryland guards are nursing knee injuries but could potentially become available in the later rounds.

Former Terps standout Darryl Morsell handled facilitating duties Tuesday with Trimble and Ayala injured, finishing with 11 points, four rebounds and four assists. The 2021 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year also played a key role defensively, pressuring NXT ERA Elite guards.

Former San Jose State guard Sage Tolbert led NXT ERA Elite with 13 points. Chol Marial, a 7-footer who began his college career at Maryland, went scoreless on 0-for-6 shooting, but he did add six rebounds and two assists for NXT ERA Elite.

Diamond Stone, a former five-star recruit and Terps standout in 2015, was a nonfactor. The center scored just two points on 1-for-5 shooting in 12 minutes, as he spent most of the second half on the bench as both teams went with smaller lineups. He could play a bigger role in Shell Shock’s next game, as he averaged 19 points per game in the team’s first two wins.

Even without a meaningful second-half role, Stone was among the first players off the bench to greet his teammates during their second-half surge. He added four rebounds in the victory.

Shell Shock advances to face Best Virginia, a West Virginia alumni team, in the TBT quarterfinals on Monday at 6 p.m. The two college programs have played 39 times and met most recently in 2023, with Maryland winning an NCAA Tournament game, 67-65. Monday’s TBT game will be played at the Charleston Coliseum in West Virginia.

Have a news tip? Contact sports editor Bennett Conlin at bconlin@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/BennettConlin.

ROUND OF 16: Watch the Game Highlights from Shell Shock vs. NXT ERA Elite, 07/22/2025 pic.twitter.com/kJma0GzqsN

— TBT (@thetournament) July 23, 2025

“I lost my locker room,” Locksley said in March.

The Terps’ coach reiterated those thoughts Tuesday at Big Ten media days in Las Vegas, as he looked back on Maryland’s dreadful 4-8 campaign in 2024. The team won just one conference game, dropping five consecutive contests to end the season, including an ugly 44-7 loss to Penn State to end the year. The Terps missed out on a bowl game for the first time in three seasons.

“We had haves and have nots for the first time in our locker room,” said Locksley, referring to NIL deals for some of the players on his roster. “The landscape of college football taught me a valuable lesson. And that valuable lesson is, it’s important for me, even in the midst of this change, to continue to educate our players on the importance of playing for something bigger than yourself.”

Locksley set up a unique sign outside the team’s locker room ahead of the 2025 season to combat selfishness.

"When you enter those doors, we'll all pay the same price for success or failure."

Michael Locksley shares the message posted outside the @TerpsFootball locker room this season #B1GFootball pic.twitter.com/6aFNYemEdf

— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) July 22, 2025

“That sign reads, ‘You can leave your Louis [Vuitton] belts, your car keys and your financial statement outside this locker room. Because when you enter those doors, we’ll all pay the same price for success or failure,’” Locksley said.

Locksley says revenue sharing — colleges can pay athletes directly as of July 1 — should reduce some of the financial gaps between players that led to trouble this past season. He shared optimism that a more even playing field will lead to a better locker room dynamic.

Don’t tell that to prognosticators.

USA Today’s Big Ten preseason poll — the league no longer releases a preseason poll — picks the Terps to finish 17th out of 18 teams. ESPN’s Football Power Index ranks Maryland 61st nationally, which is 16th among Big Ten teams. ESPN’s SP+ has the Terps 70th as of late May. For comparison, Navy ranks 68th in SP+.

The expectations are low in Locksley’s seventh season guiding the Terps. He’s yet to post a winning record in league play, although he led the Terps to bowl wins in 2021, 2022 and 2023. After a four-win season, reaching a bowl game would be a welcomed return. That’s possible, with the Terps avoiding Big Ten powers Oregon, Penn State and Ohio State this fall, but FanDuel lists the Terps over/under for wins at just 4 1/2.

Regardless of how outside outlets view the Terps entering 2025, Locksley is intent on focusing internally.

“If I’ve got to put my desk in the locker room this year, I will,” he said.

Locksley doesn’t want to repeat last year.

Have a news tip? Contact sports editor Bennett Conlin at bconlin@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/BennettConlin.