When examining how succesful a college football program has been under any head coach, the amount of NFL draft picks the following season is a solid indicator, noting development of talent at every position. During the 2025 NFL draft, Ohio State (14), Georgia (13), Texas (12) and Oregon (10) all produced double-digit draft selections, while Texas A&M’s three picks were all in the first two rounds.

However, this was only due to the youth of the 2024 Texas A&M roster, while left tackle Trey Zuhn, right guard Ar’Maj Reed-Adams, and cornerback Will Lee III all opted to return for the 2025 season. Also, if senior running back Le’Veon Moss had not been injured against South Carolina, missing the rest of the year, he likely would have declared this offseason.

During Wednesday’s Brazos Country Coach’s Night, Texas A&M coach Mike Elko discussed a variety of topics, included his expectations regarding the amount of players on the 2025 roster who he believes will be selected in the 2026 NFL draft.

“When you look at the current roster, we project to have more NFL Draft picks on this 2025 roster than we’ve had in a long time. We project anywhere from 10 to 12 players to hear their name called in the 2026 draft.”

Including all the names I mentioned above, former NC State wide receiver KC Concepcion is another name that could hear his name called, while several new edge rushers, led by Cashius Howell, could end up being first, second, or third round selections.

If this is the case, that means Texas A&M would be coming off its best finish during the Mike Elko era, marking the start of what is hopefully a very successful tenure.

Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes and opinions. Follow Cameron on X: @CameronOhnysty.

This article originally appeared on Aggies Wire: Texas A&M HC Mike Elko believes he’ll produce double-digit draft picks

The Golden State Warriors have had over 600 players don the more than 60 jersey numbers used by their players over the more than 75 years of existence the team has enjoyed in its rich and storied history.

Founded in 1946 during the Basketball Association of America (BAA — a precursor league of the NBA) era, the team has called home the cities of Philadelphia, San Francisco, Oakland, and even San Diego.

 To commemorate the players who wore those numbers, Warriors Wire is covering the entire history of jersey numbers and the players who sported them since the founding of the team. For this article, we begin with the 16th of 28 players who wore the No. 12 jersey for the Warriors.

That player would be Golden State guard alum Winston Garland. After ending his college career at Missouri State, Garland (yes, father to Darius) was picked up with the 40th overall selection of the 1987 NBA draft by the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Gary, Indiana native would play parts of the first three seasons of his pro career with the Dubs however, after being cut by the Bucks. His stay with the team would end when he was dealt to the Los Angeles Clippers in 1990.

During his time suiting up for the Warriors, Garland wore only jersey No. 12 and put up 11.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and 1.7 steals per game.

All stats and data courtesy of Basketball Reference.

This article originally appeared on Warriors Wire: Warriors jersey history – No. 12 – Winston Garland (1987-90)

The Brooklyn Nets have 52 jersey numbers worn by over 600 different players over the course of their history since the franchise was founded in 1967 as a charter member of the American Basketball Association (ABA), when the team was known as the “New Jersey Americans”.

Since then, that league has been absorbed by the NBA with the team that would later become the New York Nets and New Jersey Nets before settling on the name by which they are known today, bringing their rich player and jersey history with them to the league of today.

To commemorate the players who played for the Nets over the decades wearing those 52 different jersey numbers, Nets Wire is covering the entire history of the franchise’s jersey numbers and the players who sported them since the founding of the team. The 16th of those 52 different numbers is jersey No. 14 which has has had a total of 29 players wear the number in the history of the team.

The 27th of those players wearing No. 14 played in the Brooklyn Nets era, forward alum Kessler Edwards. After ending his college career at Pepperdine, Edwards was picked up with the 44th overall selection of the 2021 NBA draft by the Nets.

The Glendale, California native would play parts of the first two seasons of his pro career with `the Brooklyn Nets before he was dealt to the Sacramento Kings in 2023.

During his time suiting up for the Nets, Edwards wore only jersey No. 14 and put up 4.8 points and 3.0 rebounds per game.

All stats and data courtesy of Basketball Reference.

This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Nets jersey history No. 14 – Kessler Edwards (2021-23)

American Ben Griffin and Germany’s Matti Schmid shared the lead at 11 under par after Friday’s second round of the PGA Tour’s Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas.

Griffin and Schmid hold a two-stroke lead over American John Pak but world number one Scottie Scheffler, chasing a third straight win on tour, was 10 strokes off the leaders after shooting one over-par.

The leading pair both shot 7-under rounds of 63.

Griffin started on fire, making birdies on his first two holes, the 10th and 11th.

The only blemish in an otherwise perfect round for the 29-year-old came with a bogey on the par-4 5th hole where he had to pay up after driving left into the rough.

After two runners-up spots on the PGA Tour, Griffin finally earned his first win at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans team event where he played with Andrew Novak.

He finished tied for eighth at the PGA Championship last week, his best performance in a major, and said he felt the victory had liberated his game.

“I feel like I’ve kind of made good steps the last couple of years just kind of building to get to that first win. Now that I’ve got that first win, I feel like it’s really freeing me up,” he said.

“I feel like I’m trying to win more. Not that I wasn’t trying to win in the past, but just the monkey off the back where I’ve got nothing to lose mentality. We’re trying to attack pins and get up there with the boys at the top of the leaderboard,” he said.

“It’s definitely been a breakthrough year, but I think there’s more to come.”

Schmid made an identical start with birdies on the 10th and 11th and was bogey-free on the tight fairways of Colonial Country Club.

“I would say it was just a very solid round of golf. Started off hot. Had a couple of good breaks on the rough. I gauged the distance right and I just played quality golf from there on,” he said.

Rickie Fowler, with just one win in the last six years, put himself in the chasing pack, moving to within five strokes after a 6-under-par 64.

Fowler had promised an even better round after making six birdies by the turn, after starting on the back nine, but he managed only a birdie and bogey on the front nine.

“It’s definitely coming around,” he said. “It’s a fine line out here. Nice to see things starting to come together a bit.”

“It would have been nice to continue on from our front nine, but a solid day on a Friday. We’ll see if we can get after it this weekend,” he added.

Scheffler made the even-par cut at 140 by a single shot while another three-time major winner, Jordan Spieth, made it on the number.

sev/sst

DENVER (AP) — For DJ LeMahieu, it doesn’t seem all that long ago when he was leading the Colorado Rockies to back-to-back postseason appearances. Those, he recounted, were some of his fondest memories as a member of the squad.

For the Rockies faithful, though, it feels like forever. The franchise hasn’t been back to the playoffs since LeMahieu left to join the New York Yankees through free agency after the 2018 season.

Sure, LeMahieu misses hitting at Coors Field as he returns this weekend for the second time as a member of the Yankees. And indeed, he feels for the Rockies this season as they’ve fallen to 8-42, the worst start through 50 games since 1901. But he can’t argue with the success he’s found in New York, either.

“I feel like I made a pretty good choice,” said LeMahieu, who’s working his way back from a calf injury that kept him on the injured list until May 13. “I’m happy to be here (with the Yankees).”

Being back in town, LeMahieu couldn’t help but stroll down memory lane. He’s been texting back and forth with former teammates and friends now in the front office (Charlie Blackmon is the special assistant to the general manager for Colorado).

“There’s a lot of people here still, from when I played here,” LeMahieu said.

When he was with the Rockies, the team had a nucleus that included him, Blackmon, Nolan Arenado, Trevor Story and Carlos González. The Rockies lost in the NL Wild Card Game in 2017 and won in the same round a year later over the Chicago Cubs, before losing to the Milwaukee Brewers in the Division Series.

“It’s a special place for me,” LeMahieu said. “Just the city, the stadium. Grew up as a player, played around a lot of great players that really helped me.”

That’s what makes seeing their struggles now so difficult to watch.

“I still root for them. Not this weekend, but from afar, I always root for them,” said LeMahieu, who spent seven seasons with Colorado after being acquired in a trade with the Chicago Cubs before the 2012 season. “A lot of good people around here still since I was here. It’s been a tough go for them, though.”

He’s always enjoyed batting at Coors Field, where he’s hit .330 with 21 homers and 197 RBIs in 473 career games in the Mile High City. He won the 2016 NL batting title with the Rockies when he hit .348.

“I mean, yeah, I miss hitting here every day,” he said. “Not as easy on the body, but good place to hit, for sure.”

He’s thrived in New York — when healthy — and captured the 2020 AL batting title by hitting .364. The three-time All-Star hasn’t had a fully healthy season since that season.

“I feel like I’m hitting the ball hard and feel like I’m seeing the ball pretty well,” said LeMahieu, who’s hitting .211 this season. “Just going to keep it rolling.”

Slugger Aaron Judge gets his first taste of hitting in Denver’s elevation — outside of the 2021 All-Star Game at Coors Field, when he was 0 for 2 with a walk.

“I don’t think it really matters where he hits, though,” LeMahieu said. “He can launch them with the best of anybody.”

Notes: Infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. (oblique strain) and outfielder Giancarlo Stanton (elbow issues) are in New York this weekend getting in some work. Chisholm could potentially get some live at-bats soon in Tampa. “That’s potentially in the cards,” manager Aaron Boone said. … Boone wasn’t sure when righty Marcus Stroman (left knee) would have his next side session. “Hopefully get to a point to where we get him back to live and see how the knee responds to that,” Boone explained.

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

GALION — When the public address announcer at Galion’s Heise Park called for Lexington softball’s senior captains to come up and accept the 2025 Division IV district championship trophy, he could have left off the ‘s’.

Lady Lex’s lone senior, Makaree Chapman, stepped forward, embraced a second consecutive district title and hoisted it high above her head after Lexington defeated the Clear Fork Colts 6-0 on Friday for its third district title in four years. Chapman tossed a one-hit, complete-game shutout and also picked up two hits, two RBIs and a home run at the plate to pace her team to victory.

ALL-OCC: Lex’s Chapman, Madison’s Clapper lead All-Ohio Cardinal Conference softball, baseball honorees

“It is surreal, for sure,” Chapman said. “Being the only senior, I am just taking it all in right now. I love playing beside these girls because they are like my sisters. I can’t wait to keep winning with them.”

Clear Fork threatened in the top of the first inning when Mel Blubaugh drew a leadoff walk, stole second and third but never crossed the plate as Chapman proceeded to strike out the next three batters as part of a seven-K game.

Lexington stopped Clear Fork’s momentum and took it right back in the home half of the first with three runs highlighted by Chapman’s one-out double to plate a run before she scored on an error a batter later. Camryn McGuire had an RBI single to cap off the big inning.

“We started the game exactly how we wanted,” Clear Fork coach Adam Brokaw said. “We got Mel (Blubaugh) on; she stole second and third, but we just couldn’t produce a run. If we score there, I think it’s a different game. They came up, got a bloop hit, reached on an error and then Chapman had a good hit and the next thing you know, it’s 3-0. Trying to play catch up against a good team is tough to do.”

And despite an early 3-0 lead, Lady Lex never relaxed.

“The game plan never changes because I have seen Clear Fork come back from an 11-2 deficit before,” Lexington coach Todd Galownia said. “So, I knew we had to keep making plays when they had opportunities to have a big inning. The first inning changed the tone because we stopped them from scoring with our defense and put up runs in our half.”

And Chapman never changed her style in the circle with the comfortable lead.

“It’s always good to have that insurance, but the plan is always to go pedal to the metal no matter what,” Chapman said. “We never want to lighten it up, especially against a team like Clear Fork and its ability to come back. That is a great team that is never going to shut down, so my plan was to always stick to my plan no matter the score because it could flip at any moment.”

It never did. The two teams went scoreless over the next four innings before Lady Lex broke through with three insurance runs in the sixth when Chapman belted a solo home run before freshman Addy Williams added a two-run homer. She and Chapman finished with two hits and two RBIs apiece while McGuire added a hit and an RBI and Quinn Patrick, who celebrated her 16th birthday with a district championship, and Kylie Thornton had one hit apiece.

Chapman then slammed the door in the seventh with a pair of strikeouts and a groundout to cap off a 119-pitch outing with one of the biggest wins of her career.

“It is definitely not old because we knew these are never just given,” Chapman said. “It is always special, especially with this year being a completely different team than last season. It feels so great to celebrate with my teammates.”

As the only senior, Chapman entered the year with a lot of pressure to carry on the standard set before her. In 2022, Lexington won its first district title since 2011 and advanced to its first regional championship since 2006. In the last four seasons, Lex has three district titles and two trips to the Elite 8. But Chapman didn’t do it alone.

“She knows her teammates have her back,” Galownia said. “Every day we are together, we talk about having each other’s backs when we are going through hard times. These 15 kids are the only ones out there doing this. No one is going to help them out. They had to do it for each other and they believed they could.”

It helped to have a 240-strikeout pitcher, though.

“She is a great left-handed pitcher who attacks the outside corner and her ball ends up moving back in to catch the outside part of the plate,” Brokaw said. “She is so good because she gets ahead in the count and then makes you chase the pitches she wants you to swing at. She is special.”

Addy Schlosser had the lone hit for Clear Fork (16-11). The Colts saw Blubaugh and Katrina Rogers play their final game in a Clear Fork uniform. Blubaugh is a three-sport All-Ohioan, earning honors as a sophomore in softball. Rogers is a four-year letterwinner.

“Katrina came on strong in the second half of the year, and Mel has been a stud in this lineup for a very long time,” Brokaw said. “It is good that we are only losing two seniors, but those two seniors are crucial for our success and are leaving huge shoes to fill. It won’t be easy.”

Lexington (22-3) moves on to the regional semifinals on Wednesday at a site yet to be determined against the winner of Milbury Lake and Clyde.

But, before they get there, they will enjoy the district title.

“Every team is different,” Galownia said. “Before the season started, everyone was telling me how much we lost from last year’s team, and we weren’t going to be any good, even though we were the defending district champions. Everyone wrote us off from the get-go. We decided to battle every single day to prove we were better than what everyone things. We proved it tonight.”

jfurr@gannett.com

740-244-9934

X: @JakeFurr11

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Lexington Lady Lex beats Clear Fork Colts in Division IV district softball championship

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.

The restructuring at Tigres continues, and the time has come to say goodbye to a club icon. Rafa Carioca bids farewell to the team from Monterrey after more than 7 years of defending the yellow and blue colors.

💛 𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗜𝗔5 𝗥𝗔𝗙𝗔 pic.twitter.com/p3DYzCI9nv

— Club Tigres 🐯 (@TigresOficial) May 23, 2025

“Rafa arrived in August 2017, and on December 10 of that same year, he became a league champion for the first time by winning the iconic Final Regia, leading the team from midfield.

From that moment on, the Brazilian contributed to winning eight titles with Tigres: three league championships, two Campeón de Campeones, two Campeones Cup, and one Concacaf Champions League. Over nearly eight years, he played 336 matches wearing the feline jersey, competed in 16 Liga MX tournaments to become the brain of the midfield, and today he leaves as a true emblem of this team, with a guaranteed place in the Volcán’s Ring of Legends.”

Se va del futbol mexicano el centrocampista que, desde su debut (2017), cuenta con más pases recibidos y más pases precisos en la Liga MX.

Un estilo definido de centrocampista, Tigres lo extrañará y también nosotros.

Hasta pronto, Rafa Carioca. pic.twitter.com/BNPGGk2yZD

— STATISKICKS (@statiskicks) May 23, 2025

Without a doubt, a Tigres legend is saying goodbye.

📸 KARIM JAAFAR