basketball
Another company has joined Cooper Flagg’s growing list of sponsors, as Gatorade becomes the latest big name to team up with the basketball phenomenon.
Gatorade announced the partnership on Tuesday, making him the first men’s college basketball player to sign with the sports drink giant, according to ESPN.
Flagg was named the Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year in March. The deal is just the latest endorsement for the Newport native. New Balance was the first to sign him in August, and New Era joined him in early September.
Flagg plays his first official college game on Monday, when Duke hosts UMaine.
He averaged 15.5 points, 4.5 assists, and 2 blocks over two preseason games.
Flagg told ESPN that he tried to remain humble in the wake of the endorsements and hype surrounding his high school career and the Duke signing.
“It’s just about trying to stay grounded and stay where my feet are and focus on the present and where I’m at,” he said. “Whether it’s focusing on a day we have training or a class…whatever I’m doing, I just try to stay present and just focus on the present moment.”
Since leaving Nokomis Regional High School after leading the Warriors to the 2022 Class A championship as a freshman, Flagg has seen his profile skyrocket. He flourished at Montverde Academy in Florida on his way to becoming the No. 1 high school student in the country, and was also named USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year after leading Team USA to victory at the 2022 FIBA U17 World Cup.
He is currently projected to be the top pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, which takes place in June.
NBA: Joel Embiid and Paul George are 0-for-4 for the 76ers season.
Embiid and George’s season debuts are still up in the air for the Philadelphia 76ers, and both players will miss Wednesday’s game against Detroit with knee injuries.
Embiid and George participated in portions of Tuesday’s practice and their playing status will be re-evaluated later in the week.
Sixers coach Nick Nurse declined to provide details about their health and potential timeline for returning to the lineup.
Hockey
PWHL: The six-team Professional Women’s Hockey League is beginning the expansion process with plans to add up to two franchises to begin the 2025-2026 season, a league executive announced.
Speaking at the ESPNW Summit in New York, senior vice president of business operations Amy Scheer said the association will begin sending out requests for proposals to several markets starting next week, while also accepting applications.
Among the candidates for expansion into the United States are Detroit and Pittsburgh, where the PWHL hosted neutral site games during its inaugural season last year. Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia will also be considered candidates after being considered before the league created teams in Boston, New York and Minnesota. Denver and Seattle are also considered potential candidates.
In Canada, where the league has teams in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal, Quebec City has already announced its intention to be a candidate for an expansion franchise. Calgary would be a potential option as the city was previously home to the Hells from 2011 to 2019, before the Canadian Women’s Hockey League folded.
Colleges
Football: Michigan quarterback Jack Tuttle retires from football after suffering his fifth concussion.
Tuttle made the announcement on social media Monday night, citing a series of injuries that have plagued his college career. He said he has not fully recovered from his elbow ligament injury.
• West Virginia fired defensive coordinator Jordan Leslie. Inside linebackers coach Jeff Koons will replace Leslie for the rest of the season, coach Neil Brown said.
West Virginia’s injury-riddled secondary has struggled all season. The Mountaineers are giving up 9.3 yards per pass, worst in the Big 12, and the 17 touchdown passes allowed are second-worst.
Men’s Basketball: South Florida introduced Ben Fletcher as interim basketball coach, saying he is the right man to lead the Bulls following the death of Amir Abdur-Rahim.
Fletcher, a close friend of Abdur-Rahim who helped the late coach turn around struggling programs at Kennesaw State and the University of South Florida, promised to help grieving players deal with the loss and uphold a new standard of success at the American Athletic Conference school.
Abdel-Rahim, 43, died Thursday from complications that arose while undergoing surgery at a Tampa-area hospital.
Tennis
Paris Masters: Sixth seed Andrey Rublev lost two tiebreaks and his nerves took a toll as his hopes of qualifying for the ATP Finals suffered.
Facing Francisco Cerundolo in the second round, Rublev lost 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5) after a match that lasted more than two hours. Rublev became so frustrated at one point in the second set that he smashed his racket into his left knee at least seven times in a row. Video footage showed the explosion, which led to bleeding in his knee.
The Russian player ranked eighth and last in the qualifying rounds for the final season, and his competitors may overtake him this week.
Top seed Jannik Sinner withdrew due to a virus.
The Italian player, who guaranteed to finish the year in first place, said in a message conveyed by the organizers that he would not be able to play this week.
soccer
MLS: Atlanta United lost midfielder Edwin Mosquera for the remainder of the team’s Eastern Conference first-round series against Inter Miami after having meniscus surgery in his left knee.
Atlanta United faces a must-win game at home on Saturday night after losing 2-1 to Inter Miami on Friday night in the opener of their best-of-three series.
Inter Miami also lost one of its players due to a knee injury in the first match. The team announced on Saturday that defender Ian Fry will undergo surgery to repair his meniscus.
• Felipe Carballo scored his first goal for New York in the 25th minute and the visiting Red Bulls beat the Columbus Crew 1-0 in the opening match of the best-of-three series.
New York won a road game during the MLS Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2017. It was also the Red Bulls’ first postseason win in Columbus after four straight losses.
The Red Bulls will host Columbus on Sunday.
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