Sports
Former Hornets player Amari Bailey seeks college eligibility
Apr 14, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Charlotte Hornets guard Amari Bailey (10) dunks in the fourth quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images The NCAA’s eligibility rules might face another challenge after former NBA player Amari Bailey told ESPN on Friday that he plans to play college ball again.
He is working with an agent and a lawyer in an attempt to play another year in college, per the report.
Bailey, 21, played for UCLA in 2022-23, averaging 11.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 30 games (28 starts).
The Hornets selected him in the second round of the 2023 draft, and he played 10 games for Charlotte in the ensuing season. He managed 2.3 points, 0.9 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game in 10 appearances, all off the bench. He subsequently spent parts of two seasons in the NBA’s developmental G League.
Bailey said to ESPN, “Right now I’d be a senior in college. I’m not trying to be 27 years old playing college athletics. No shade to the guys that do; that’s their journey. But I went to go play professionally and learned a lot, went through a lot. So, like, why not me?”
The NCAA issued a quick response to the latter question.
NCAA senior vice president of external affairs Tim Buckley tweeted on Friday in the wake of Bailey’s announcement, “The NCAA has not and will not grant eligibility to any players who have signed an NBA contract. Congress can strengthen NCAA rules so professional athletes cannot sue their way back to competing against college students.”
Bailey’s plan follows the recent reinstatement of Charles Bediako to the Alabama squad thanks to a court order. Bediako never played in the NBA, but he signed a two-way contract with the San Antonio Spurs. He previously played for the Crimson Tide in 2021-22 and 2022-23.
Earlier this season, James Nnaji began playing for Baylor even though he was drafted by the Detroit Pistons in 2023. He didn’t get into an NBA game.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Women's Top 25 roundup: No. 3 South Carolina holds off No. 6 LSU
Marquette Golden Eagles guard Jordan Meulemans (20) and guard Bridget Utberg (7) fights for position against UConn Huskies forward Sarah Strong (21) and guard Ashlynn Shade (12) during the fourth quarter of the game on Saturday February 14, 2026 at the Al McGuire Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Tessa Johnson scored a season-high 21 points as No. 3 South Carolina beat No. 6 LSU 79-72 on Saturday night in Baton Rouge, La.
Johnson shot 4-of-5 from 3-point land to power the Gamecocks (25-2, 11-1 Southeastern Conference) to their sixth straight win overall and 18th in a row over the Tigers (22-4, 8-4).
Raven Johnson scored a career-best 19 points for South Carolina and also tallied seven rebounds, six assists and four steals. Madina Okot added a double-double of 12 points and 17 boards, while Joyce Edwards chipped in 10 points. With the win, head coach Dawn Staley became just the fourth coach in SEC history win 500 games.
LSU (22-4, 8-4) was paced by Flau’jae Johnson’s 21 points and eight rebounds, while Mikaylah Williams added 11 points. LSU guard MiLaysia Fulwiley — who won a national championship with South Carolina two years ago — finished with just six points on 1-of-8 shooting.
No. 1 UConn 71, Marquette 56
Azzi Fudd scored 25 points and Sarah Strong had 22 as the Huskies continued their undefeated season with a win over the Golden Eagles in Milwaukee.
Fudd knocked down five 3-pointers, while Strong had three steals and three blocks to lead the Huskies (27-0, 16-0 Big East). KK Arnold added 10 points, six rebounds and a career-best nine assists.
Lee Volker scored 15 points and Skylar Forbes chipped in 14 to pace the Golden Eagles (16-10, 10-7). Marquette jumped out to briefly lead by five, but the Huskies outscored the Golden Eagles 36-19 for the remainder of the first half and held their double-digit advantage through the final buzzer.
Oklahoma State 75, No. 16 Texas Tech 65
Jadyn Wooten scored 16 points off the bench to guide the Cowgirls to an upset victory over the Red Raiders at home in Stillwater, Okla.
Wooten also had seven assists and was one of five players to score in double figures for Oklahoma State (20-7, 9-5 Big 12). Amari Whiting collected 13 points and 11 rebounds, Achol Akot also scored 13 points and Stailee Heard and Haleigh Timmer each had 12 apiece.
Bailey Maupin scored 19 points for Texas Tech (23-4, 10-4) and Snudda Collins added 18.
After trailing by a point at the end of the first quarter, the Cowgirls outscored the Red Raiders 22-9 in the second frame and led for the rest of the game. Oklahoma State — which led by 17 at one point — won the rebounding battle by 10 and shot 8 of 16 from 3-point land.
No. 24 Princeton 59, Cornell 38
Madison St. Rose scored 15 points to help the visiting Tigers defeat the Big Red in Ithaca, N.Y.
Skye Belker scored 12 points and Fadima Tall added 11 for Princeton (20-3, 8-2 Ivy League). It was a bounce-back win for the Tigers, who lost on the road at Columbia on Friday night. Princeton has now won at least 20 games in 15 of its last 16 seasons.
Clarke Jackson and Paige Engels each scored eight points for Cornell (8-15, 3-7).
The Big Red led by as much as 10 points in the second half, but the Tigers blitzed Cornell with a 23-5 third quarter to overcome that deficit and take the lead. Princeton scored 13 points off 20 Cornell turnovers.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Texas rides strong second half to road win over Missouri
Feb 14, 2026; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers forward Trent Pierce (11) dribbles the ball as Texas Longhorns forward Cole Bott (1) defends during the first half of the game at Mizzou Arena. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images Dailyn Swain poured in 25 points as Texas pulled away from Missouri 85-68 on Saturday night in Columbia, Mo., for its fourth straight victory.
Matas Vokietaitis scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Longhorns (16-9, 6-5 Southeastern Conference), who outscored the Tigers 52-37 in the second half. Jordan Pope added a total of 15 points as Texas improved its NCAA Tournament credentials.
Mark Mitchell and Jayden Stone each scored 16 points and Anthony Robinson II added 11 for the Tigers (17-8, 7-5), who suffered just their second loss in 15 games at home.
The foul-plagued game was played at a ponderous pace. While Texas made 21 of 23 free throws, Missouri missed 12 of 38 from the line.
The Tigers moved out to an early 12-7 lead spurred by Stone, who hit a 3-point jumper and drove for a dunk, and Mitchell, who scored twice inside.
Simeon Wilcher stopped that run with a 3-pointer for the Longhorns, who eventually pulled ahead 19-18 with 7 minutes left in the first half on Nic Codie’s three-point play in the lane.
The teams exchanged leads for the rest of the half. With 1.9 seconds left, Tramon Mark converted a three-point play in the lane to put Texas up 33-31 at the break.
With Missouri starting center Shawn Phillips Jr. limited to seven minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, Texas grabbed eight offensive rebounds and outscored the Tigers 22-14 in the paint in the first 20 minutes.
Swain hit a short jumper to put Texas up 41-37 with 15:44 left to play, then Nicholas Randall pulled the Tigers even with a pair of dunks.
The Longhorns responded with a 16-6 run, triggered by Mark’s three-point play, to move ahead 57-47 with 10:11 left to play.
Missouri cut its deficit to seven points, but Texas pushed its lead to 67-55 with 7:05 left with Pope and Swain hitting 3-point jumpers on consecutive possessions.
The Tigers got no closer than eight points during the rest of the game. Swain’s 3-point jumper with 2:26 left extended the lead to 80-66 and iced the game.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Reports: Sacramento State joining MAC this year as football-only member
Sep 16, 2023; Stanford, California, USA; Sacramento State Hornets running back Elijah Tau-Tolliver (25) celebrates after a touchdown during the fourth quarter against the Stanford Cardinal at Stanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images The Mid-American Conference is going far west to add Sacramento State as a football-only member starting with the 2026 season, according to multiple reports on Saturday night.
The MAC presidents, per reports, approved the addition of the California-based Hornets, a Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) program from 1993-2025. Sacramento State will pay an $18 million entry fee to the MAC and a $5 million fee to the NCAA to move to the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level, according to reports.
With this addition, the conference will retain 13 football programs with the exit of Northern Illinois on July 1, which is leaving for the Mountain West Conference and paid a $2 million entry fee.
North Dakota State, an FCS power over the last 15 years with 10 national titles in that span, also is joining the Mountain West, per reports earlier this week.
According to ESPN, North Dakota State will pay roughly a $12 million entrance fee to its new league, as well as $5 million to the NCAA in order to move up to the FBS level. Per standard NCAA arrangement, the NDSU football team will not be eligible for a bowl or College Football Playoff berth until 2028.
Sacramento State is a geographic outlier for the MAC as its first program in the Pacific Time Zone. The other programs — not including Northern Illinois — are in the Eastern Time Zone.
The Hornets went 7-5 in 2025, 5-3 in the Big Sky Conference. They will be the first university on the West Coast to go from FCS to FBS in 57 years, following Fresno and San Diego State in 1969, Yahoo Sports reported.
During the 2026-27 academic season, all Sacramento State teams except football will move to the Big West Conference.
Last June, an NCAA Division I council denied a waiver for Sacramento State to move to FBS in 2026, a goal for the program since 2024. The original hope was to join a reconfigured Pac-12 Conference that was set to return to action in 2026 with five Mountain West Conference programs.
But the Hornets program did not receive an invitation for its football program to join an existing conference. Instead, the Hornets launched a plan to leave the Big Sky Conference for the Big West Conference in all sports but football and have its football team play as an FBS independent in 2026.
When the NCAA nixed that possibility last summer, the school planned on moving forward anyway.
“We still plan to be playing FBS football in 2026,” Sacramento State president Luke Wood posted on X after the NCAA denied the school’s waiver request.
“Sacramento State has met every meaningful benchmark for FBS membership, and we believe our university, our students, and the entire Sacramento region deserve major college football.”
–Field Level Media
