#10: The NCAA has announced the creation of the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT). The 32-team postseason event, which will be fully owned and funded by the NCAA, will begin in 2024. Details regarding the formation of a selection committee, the selection process, seeding principles and host sites will be released at a later date. The NCAA also released branding for the tournament, which continues to highlight orange in alignment with other NCAA women's basketball branding, including the March Madness logo. (link)
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#9: Georgia has released an updated statement on the lawsuit filed by football recruiting analyst Bowles: “We are continuing to review the complaint, as plaintiff’s counsel elected to share it with the media before sharing it with us. Based on our preliminary review, we dispute its claims and will vigorously defend the Athletic Association’s interests in court. We stand by our prior statements regarding this matter. The complaint does not allege that Ms. LeCroy and Ms. Bowles were on duty or acting within the scope of their employment in the hours leading up to the accident. It claims that on some previous occasions, recruiting staff were permitted to take rental vehicles home and return them the next morning. This does not mean, however, that they were allowed to use the car for any purpose. … While we have patiently supported Ms. Bowles during her long and difficult recovery, we will strongly defend our position in this lawsuit.” (link)
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#8: Former Utah State football student-athlete Maddox, who, according to the Salt Lake Tribune’s Tanner: “blew the whistle with his damning footage of the teams’ head coach and the campus police chief smearing sex assault victims,” will get $150K from the school in a settlement. Maddox said once his teammates and the staff discovered he was the one who released the audio, he faced retaliation so intenses he felt forced to quit the team. With the settlement of his lawsuit, he is ready to move on and “put this chapter behind me.” (link)
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#7: ACC Commissioner/former Northwestern AD Jim Phillips has released a statement on the situation in Evanston. In closing: “Any allegation that I ever condoned or tolerated inappropriate conduct against student-athletes is absolutely false. I will vigorously defend myself against any suggestion to the contrary.” Here’s the full statement. (link)
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#6: Play Extra Points purveyor Matt Brown's Athletic Director Simulator 3000, an Oregon Trail-style computer game that allows users to navigate realistic scenarios a DI AD might encounter, here for free through July 22. (link)
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#5: Sporting News headliner Trocchi asks why no other Northwestern football coaches have been disciplined in connection to the hazing investigation in Evanston: “The entire staff of assistants, several of whom have worked at Northwestern for at least five years, will all keep their jobs and no punishments have been announced. There have been no punishments announced for the 17 members of the Northwestern football support staff listed on the Northwestern athletics website. [...] The players who participated in the hazing, which according to Schill was confirmed by 11 players, have not been identified, suspended or expelled. [...] So why has only one person been punished?” (link)
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#4: The Jacksonville Jaguars have moved into the Miller Electric Center, the team’s new $120M, 125K-square-foot practice facility and team headquarters next to TIAA Bank Field. The facility houses two full-sized, grass fields, locker rooms, training and medical facilities, office space, a draft room, shaded public viewing stands, concession areas, and a team store. Take a look. (link)
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#3: Northwestern Baseball HC Jim Foster has been dismissed after allegations of creating a toxic culture around the program. Wildcats AD Gragg: “Nothing will ever be more important to Northwestern than providing its students a place that allows them to develop in the classroom, in the community, and in competition at the absolute highest level.” (link)
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#2: Mississippi State AD Zac Selmon details the thinking behind refreshing the Bulldogs’ football helmets and uniforms for the coming season, explaining the department gathered feedback from stakeholders before making any decisions. “We never wanted to change the primary mark of the institution. It’s strong, and the heritage we have. We also want to be innovative and use the script ‘State’ a little bit more. … We’ll still do some other things. And the focus is continuing to celebrate our history. So we will have some additional helmets for those games.” Branding, Selmon continues, matters for several reasons, the impressions of recruits chief among them. “Young kids now, they want to feel good, they want to play good, they want to look good. So we’re doing everything we can at State to make sure we’ve got a recognizable brand.” (link)
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#1: MAC Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher continues to not take himself too seriously, dons a Phantom of the Opera mask to announce the start of the MAC Football Kickoff at the Fox Theatre in Detroit. Gotta love it. (link)
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