Sports
Five 2026 NBA Draft Prospects Surging Up Boards During the College Season
Feb 4, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Cougars guard Kingston Flemings (4) dribbles against the UCF Knights in the first half at Fertitta Center. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Shea-Imagn Images The 2026 NBA Draft rankings outside of the consensus at the top are topsy-turvy and won’t settle for months.
Amidst the cold spells, hot streaks and endless speculation game-to-game, a handful of prospects have vaulted themselves into a new echelon as the season progresses.
Stars may be born in March, draft stock oftentimes is a slow burn. New skills, thriving in an expanded role or simply an unforgettable scoring performance, we identified five prospects that have turned heads throughout the college basketball season thus far.
Kingston Flemings (Guard, Freshman, Houston)
Draft Stock: Top 5–10
Flemings arrived in Houston a five-star recruit, but has taken the bull by the horns his freshman season and rocketed his way to legitimate Top-5 consideration in recent weeks.
Fresh off a 42-point outburst against Texas Tech on January 24th, Kingston is a dual-wield guard that blends three-level scoring with heads-up playmaking as a north-to-south attacker. He changes speed at a moment’s notice, and the body control and ambidexterity he flashes around the rim stands out.
Flirting with a 50-40-80 shooting season, his shooting form is robotic with ample elevation. Defensively, Flemings is fleet of foot on-the-ball and around screens and, after turning 19 years old a month ago, should fill out his frame in due time to quell any strength concerns.
Keaton Wagler (Guard, Freshman, Illinois)
Draft Stock: Top 10
Jan 24, 2026; West Lafayette, Indiana, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini guard Keaton Wagler (23) dribbles past Purdue Boilermakers center Daniel Jacobsen (12) during the first half at Mackey Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jacob Musselman-Imagn Images A 6-6 combo guard, Wagler has been lights-out from distance — converting 43.8 percent of his 5.8 3-point attempts per game.
He erupted for 46 points and 9 made threes on January 24th in the midst of an 11-game win streak for the Fighting Illini. Despite a low release point, Keaton’s jump shot is snappy and high-arcing. He is comfortable using reset dribbles to free up space against shifting defenders or around handoffs.
Wagler does not possess extraordinary A-to-B quickness and, consequently, he tends to drive the ball with his back turned to defenders or leads with his shoulder. But he is excellent at playing off two feet inside the arc.
He lacks the short-area mobility and lateral shiftiness to keep pace with some opposing guards on defense, but his positional size and plus-wingspan provide a decent floor.
Cameron Carr (Guard, Junior, Baylor)
Draft Stock: Top 20
Nov 24, 2025; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Baylor Bears guard Cameron Carr (43) follows through in a dunk as Creighton Bluejays forward Jasen Green (0) looks on during the second half in a 2025 Players Era Festival group play game at Michelob Ultra Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images Carr transferred to Baylor mid-season in 2024–25 after a thumb injury limited him to just four games. He was barely on the draft radar six months ago, but he has flipped the script as a Junior.
From minimal playing time at Tennessee to season averages of 19.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, 52.1 percent from the field, and 40 percent from deep, Carr is a can’t-miss prospect.
He has svelte dimensions, a staggering 7-foot-2 wingspan, eye-popping athleticism, and deep shooting range. Carr is attuned to using screens to his advantage and is decisive in a straight-line when run off the 3-point line.
Cameron is limited as a primary ball carrier and distributor, but he fits the 3-and-D mould nicely with the added bonus of being a lob threat when slashing to the basket.
Hannes Steinbach (Forward, Freshman, Washington)
Draft Stock: Lottery
Jan 21, 2026; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Washington Huskies forward Hannes Steinbach (6) shoots the ball against Nebraska Cornhuskers forward Pryce Sandfort (21) and guard Cale Jacobsen (31) during the second half at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dylan Widger-Imagn Images A 6-11, 220-pound hybrid big from Germany, Steinbach shifted from fringe draft prospect to lottery-bound in a matter of months.
He has recorded a double-double in 15 of his 19 college games thus far and converted 37 percent of his 35 3-point attempts. Hannes boasts a floor game that is hard to come by for a guy his size, courtesy of fluid movement and agility.
What he lacks in low-post craft, he makes up for by dominating with a head of steam as a roller and while coasting down floor as a serial transition threat. A smart screener and intuitive cutter, Steinbach’s attention-to-detail and court sense is readily apparent on both sides of the ball.
Labaron Philon (Guard, Sophomore, Alabama)
Draft Stock: Lottery
Dec 3, 2025; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Alabama guard Labaron Philon Jr. (0) drives against Clemson guard Ace Buckner (21) and Clemson guard Zac Foster (5) at Coleman Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Gary Cosby Jr.-Tuscaloosa News Philon was a late scratch from the 2025 NBA Draft, opting to return to Alabama for his sophomore season despite late first-round to early second-round buzz. A wise decision as it turned out.
Labaron has almost double his scoring output as a Sophomore (an SEC-leading 21.6 points per game) while upping his 2-point and 3-point efficiency on sky-high 31.4 percent usage.
A 6-4 point guard, Labaron is devious with a live dribble with nothing overly flashy or daring. His unpredictable tempo and atypical compass to kite defenders off the dribble, get to spots, and make plays for himself or others.
Despite a wiry frame, Philon is a dogged defender when guarding the ball in a stance.
Sports
Five Early 2026 MLB Takes That Might Already Be True
Mar 24, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers two-way player Shohei Ohtani (17) on deck in the fourth against the Los Angeles Angels at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images A week of games is never enough time to evaluate anything in Major League Baseball.
Unless, of course, it is enough time.
The Los Angeles Dodgers will win the N.L. West by 25 games.
This is more of a first impression of the rest of the division, and not even a “if everything goes perfectly” projection. But if the Dodgers win 110 games, which seems not far-fetched, second place needs to go 85-77 for a 25-game margin. That seems about right for the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks, and don’t even bother worrying about the San Francisco Giants or Colorado Rockies winning more than 85. (Seventy-five? Sixty-five?)
The record margin for winning a division is 23.5 games by the 1995 Cleveland Indians in the AL Central, which came in a strike-shortened season. The top mark for a full season is the 2001 Seattle Mariners, who won the AL West by 20 games, finishing with a 116-46 record. If the Dodgers win that many, they’ll take the West by 30.
Or more.
The San Francisco Giants will lose 95 games.
It’s going to take new manager Tony Vitello a moment to adjust to the big leagues after serving his apprenticeship in college.
But the Giants have had a questionable roster composition all along, which should make everyone also question how long it’s going to take team president Buster Posey to transition from team legend as a catcher to credible as a major league executive.
Brian Cashman will win Executive of the Year for running it back with the New York Yankees.
source: Getty Images The Yanks are 6-1 having played the Giants (oof), Seattle Mariners (middling start) and Miami Marlins (OK, but still meh) so far, not exactly a Murderer’s Row schedule. But they look pret-ty, pre-ty good, especially with Aaron Judge not having to carry them. And without having pitchers Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón and Clarke Schmidt on the active roster yet because of injury rehab.
New players include only left-hander Ryan Weathers, backup outfielder Randal Grichuk and Rule 5 reliever Cade Winquest. Well done, Cash! It’s not a World Series champion yet, of course…
You might have heard about rookie catcher Carter Jensen oversleeping and being scratched from the lineup Thursday afternoon. Jensen has a bright future if he’d just literally wake up.
Well, back in Spring Training, KC social media produced a TikTok video asking their players how many alarms and snoozes it takes for them to wake up. The answers varied, but the best one (and also the worst) came from Jensen.
“This is embarrassing,” Jensen began. “I need at least, like, six-to-eight alarms. It’s not good.”
It was all right there in the TikTok scouting report. When people tell you who they are, believe them!
The ABS system will be good for all parties, as long as umpires keep their cool.
Hawk-Eye tracking cameras are positioned around the stadium. Five cameras are used to track pitches. Additional cameras around the stadium are used to track player position and ball location. Major League Baseball is testing an Automated Ball-Stike (ABS) challenge system at select spring training parks. The system allows players to challenge a limited number of ball/stike calls during a game. Calls can be overturned if the pitch tracking technology shows an umpire got a call wrong. On a cold and wet night Wednesday, a hot mic caught umpire Andy Fletcher complaining about the Minnesota Twins challenging his strike zone.
“For God’s sake,” Fletcher whined after one of 11 challenges went up, including nine by the Twins — who were right about eight of them.
As they challenged, the Twins chipped away at an 11-run deficit, losing 13-9 to the Royals but bringing the tying run to the on-deck circle in the ninth. It would have been a less competitive game without ABS.
“There will be some umpires that have an ego behind it,” Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers told reporters. “But at the end of the day, I think most of them understand that it’s part of the game now.”
Sports
LeBron James, depleted Lakers face Mavericks
Feb 12, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) pleads his case to referee Che Flores (91) in the second half against the Dallas Mavericks at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images The Los Angeles Lakers head into the final week of the regular season with an opportunity to sew up home-court advantage for the first round of the NBA Playoffs, but they begin the final push Sunday at Dallas with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves sidelined.
Doncic, a 2026 Most Valuable Player candidate and former Maverick, sustained a hamstring injury in Thursday’s 139-96 blowout loss at reigning NBA champion Oklahoma City.
Reaves will be sidelined for the remainder of the regular season with a Grade 2 left oblique muscle injury, according to ESPN.
Doncic went into the matchup with the league-leading Thunder on a run scoring 41-plus points in the previous three contests, boosting his NBA-best scoring output to 33.5 points per game. Doncic is also averaging 7.7 rebounds and 8.3 assists per game, the latter a team-high for Los Angeles (50-27).
“We’re not going to put a player at risk,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said of Doncic being in the game in the third quarter, despite Oklahoma City holding a 31-point lead at halftime. “(The coaching staff) thought we’d give (the Lakers starters) about six minutes, and if we didn’t cut into the lead, we were gonna pull them.”
Doncic’s injury came shortly before that six-minute mark in the third period.
Meanwhile, Reaves was enjoying a breakout season, averaging 23.3 points, 5.5 assists, and 4.7 rebounds across 51 games.
Their absence now looms with Los Angeles playing five games in the final eight days of the regular season and holding a half-game lead over fourth-place Denver.
After West-leading Oklahoma City and San Antonio, which are vying for home-court advantage throughout the Playoffs, the conference is a logjam. The third-place Lakers are separated from sixth-place Minnesota by just four games, with Denver and Houston between.
With Doncic and Reaves out, LeBron James is expected to shoulder a large workload. The 41-year-old, who posted a triple-double last Monday vs. Washington, is averaging 20.6 points, 6.9 assists, and 6.0 rebounds per game.
James leads the Lakers against a Dallas team that has dropped eight of its last nine, including the last three.
In their most recent outing, the Mavericks (24-53) fell to Orlando, 138-127, despite rookie Cooper Flagg’s career-high 51 points.
The 19-year-old Flagg became the youngest player in NBA history to score 50-plus points, shooting 19-of-30 from the floor and 6-of-9 from 3-point range on his way to the milestone. Flagg is averaging a team-high 20.8 points per game, as he makes his case for 2025-26 Rookie of the Year.
“He should be Rookie of the Year,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said. “It’s unbelievable, the country is not watching the same thing that we get to watch on a daily basis.”
Flagg is jockeying with his former Duke teammate Kon Knueppel for the award. Knueppel is averaging 18.8 points per game for the surprising Eastern Conference playoff contenders Charlotte.
Flagg has five games remaining to finish his case for Rookie of the Year, four of which pit Dallas against teams bound for the postseason, including the Lakers. Flagg missed the Mavericks’ most recent matchup with Los Angeles, a 124-104 loss on Feb. 12.
The Lakers moved to 3-0 against Dallas on the season with that win and can complete the season sweep on Sunday. Los Angeles has won the past five meetings.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Robert MacIntyre maintains lead at weather-shortened Valero Texas Open third round
Apr 4, 2026; San Antonio, Texas, USA; Robert MacIntyre reacts to his shot from the second tee during the third round of the Valero Texas Open golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre maintained the lead during the storm-interrupted Valero Texas Open’s third round Saturday in San Antonio.
MacIntyre was 1 under through six holes, putting him at 15 under for the tournament and holding a two-stroke edge on Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg at TPC San Antonio’s Oaks Course. Aberg was 3 under for the round through six holes.
No golfers completed the third round, which will resume Sunday morning.
The third round was suspended late Saturday morning because of storms. There were multiple announced restart times, but the weather prevented those from taking place before the decision to not return to the course Saturday.
A pair of Englishmen made the biggest moves before the weather interfered. Matt Wallace was 7 under through 14 holes, moving to 11 under for the tournament. Marco Penge also completed 14 holes, doing so in 6 under to move to a tie for fifth place at 10 under.
Japan’s Ryo Hisatune is tied with Wallace in third place after finishing eight holes at 3 under Saturday.
Chris Kirk, Chandler Phillips, Michael Kim and Tony Finau — all only completing holes on the front side — were all at 10 under.
MacIntyre carried a four-shot lead into the weekend.
At 14 through two rounds, MacIntrye held the lowest opening 36-hole total since the tournament moved to TPC San Antonio.
MacIntrye is bidding to become the third consecutive left-hander to win the tournament following Akshay Bhatia in 2024 and Brian Harman in 2025.
Aberg had top-five finishes in his last two PGA Tour outings.
Defending champion Brian Harman shot 3 under through 11 holes Saturday to move to 6 under.
Play also was suspended Friday in the second round. Luke Clanton had to play his final hole Saturday morning before the third round began, and he made the cut. The third round was pushed up a couple of hours in hopes of avoiding weather problems, but those weren’t averted.
–Field Level Media
Five Early 2026 MLB Takes That Might Already Be True
LeBron James, depleted Lakers face Mavericks
