#10: Illinois State “no longer expects to see any of the $3M that former Reditus Labs CEO Aaron Rossi pledged” to the athletics department, according to WGLT’s Ryan Denham, who cites recently released documents obtained via a FOIA request. “The newly released records…show ISU’s top fundraising officials conceding Rossi’s pledge would not be fulfilled. ISU [VP for University Advancement] Pat Vickerman wrote to one of his top deputies Jan. 16, 2023, that Rossi’s gift should be ‘closed out’ and that the Rossis should not be invited to any events for a high-dollar donor-recognition group known as the 1857 Society. In response, fundraising staff said they would ‘write this pledge off,’ the email records show.” (link)
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#9: The American Airlines Center, home of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks and NHL’s Dallas Stars, has a new $10M, 360-degree video board that is 30% larger than its predecessor. Take a peek. (link)
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#8: The Grand Sierra Resort announced plans to build a $1B entertainment district that would include a state-of-the-art home arena for the Nevada men's basketball team. The 300K-sq-ft arena capacity will exceed 10K seats and feature suites and premium hospitality clubs. According to Nevada SportsNet’s Chris Murray, the “private-capital investment would not include any public money and is the largest in the city’s history for a single project.” Wolf Pack AD Stephanie Rempe: “We are beyond thrilled for this proposed plan which will help continue to elevate our basketball programs. From providing a state-of-the-art home for Nevada Men's Basketball, to hosting top-level women's multi-team events involving Nevada Women's Basketball, this partnership will further solidify Nevada Athletics as a cornerstone of the Northern Nevada community." The new arena is slated to open in the fall of 2026. (link, link); Some initial renderings of the district. (link)
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#7: Miami (FL) announces it is the first college athletics program to integrate links for NIL opportunities directly into student-athletes’ bio page rosters. “You can now support student-athletes through their offerings on Opendorse and Fanatics directly from our WMT official athletics site.” (link)
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#6: USC Football HC Lincoln Riley released the following statement concerning the suspended credentials of Orange County Register reporter Luca Evans: “Last night, I received a call from Luca Evans, and we had a very candid and productive conversation. We agreed that we both could have handled the situation differently. I appreciate Luca recognizing the policies we have in place to protect our student-athletes and acknowledging to adhere to those in the future. We welcome Luca back to practice and look forward to his continuing coverage of the Trojans.” (link)
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#5: “An Illinois federal judge won’t let Northwestern University escape the forced labor and sex trafficking claims lodged by a former cheerleader, ruling that she successfully pled that she was required to act in a sexual way to secure donations and that she would have suffered financial harm if she had refused to participate.” More from behind the Law360 paywall. (link)
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#4: College football coaches have been talking a lot of trash recently, Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde observes, citing Ohio State HC Ryan Day firing back at former Notre Dame HC Lou Holtz, Washington State HC Jake Dickert taking aim at ESPN College GameDay analyst Lee Corso without fully understanding the context of Corso’s comments, Oregon HC Dan Lanning’s remarks about Colorado and more. Forde: “What coaches love to say: We block out the outside noise. We don’t concern ourselves with what’s said in the media—we don’t read any of that stuff. We only worry about ourselves and control what we can control. What they’re actually doing: listening with rabbit ears to everything that’s being said about them, or about their opponents. And they’re getting legitimately mad about it.” More from Forde. (link)
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#3: Princeton once again tops U.S. News & World Report’s college rankings. Harvard and Stanford are next among DI schools in a tie for third followed by Yale (5), Penn (6), Duke (7), Brown, Johns Hopkins & Northwestern (9), Columbia & Cornell (12), Cal and UCLA (15), Rice (17), Dartmouth and Vanderbilt (18), Notre Dame (20), Michigan (21), Georgetown and North Carolina (22), and Virginia (24) in the top 25. Full list. (link)
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#2: The Sun Belt issued public reprimands of James Madison and Marshall due to violations of NCAA rules during their respective football games last Saturday. From the SBC: “The violations resulted from the in-game use of communication equipment in the team area for James Madison and a drone flying over the field when squad members were present during team introductions for Marshall. The Sun Belt Conference considers this matter concluded.” (link); That being said, it’s a pretty cool video as the Marshall drone flew over the sellout crowd at Joan C. Edwards Stadium before the Herd’s victory over Virginia Tech. (link)
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#1: Freshman members of the Boston College men’s and women’s swim and dive program were allegedly forced to binge drink until they vomited and then consume their own vomit, according to new details reported by SwimSwam. BC initially said the team had been indefinitely suspended after administrators determined that hazing had occurred; however, a letter from the Office of the Dean of Students sent later last week indicated that in no way had any determination yet been made yet regarding violations of university policy. On Thursday, BC released a revised statement referring to the hazing as “credible reports.” (link)
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