Sports
Judge grants extra year of NCAA eligibility to high school Class of '22
May 17, 2026; Gainesville, FL, USA; A general view of the NCAA logo on a Florida Gators jersey before the game against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images College athletes from the high school Class of 2022 were granted an additional year of NCAA eligibility on Friday thanks to a court ruling in Denver.
Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney of the U.S. District Court in Colorado issued a class-wide preliminary injunction affecting those athletes whose standard four years of college eligibility recently ended.
Sweeney wrote that the affected athletes are entitled to a fifth year, putting them on par with the prior class that got an extra year due to the COVID pandemic, and subsequent classes, which will get another year under the NCAA’s new regulations.
The “5-for-5 rule” gives student-athletes incoming for the 2026-27 school year five years of eligibility over a five-year span. Athletes from the high school Class of 2022 filed suit, asking that the change apply to them, too.
The judge agreed with the plaintiffs.
“They will suffer irreparable harm without issuance of an injunction,” Sweeney wrote in her decision. “And the balance of equities, as well as the public interest, favor them. They are entitled to the injunctive relief they seek.”
The ruling covers those “who began to play in collegiate sports in the 2022-2023 season, competed in NCAA Division I sports, and completed four years of eligibility as defined by the NCAA’s prior rules by the conclusion of the 2025-2026 season.”
NCAA president Charlie Baker reacted to Sweeney’s ruling by urging Congress to approve the Protect College Sports Act.
“Without targeted intervention from Congress, college sports cannot set nationwide rules everyone can play by and without Congress, failed professionals will continue to use college sports as a fallback option — robbing the next class of young athletes of college scholarships,” Baker wrote in a statement. “… Today’s rulings and the chaos they bring to college sports are exactly why it’s time to pass this bill.”
Also on Friday, a separate injunction was approved in Tennessee for college athletes including men’s basketball players Jalen Washington of Vanderbilt and AJ Storr of Ole Miss, giving them one more year of eligibility and permitting them to transfer.
A similar suit in Ohio earlier in July resulted in an injunction aiding 15 men’s basketball players.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Davis Riley moves into lead at Rocket Classic, Rasmus Hojgaard has record day
May 28, 2026; Fort Worth, Texas, USA; Davis Riley lines up a putt on the seventh green during the first round of the Charles Schwab Challenge golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images Davis Riley birdied the final two holes in a bogey-free round of 7-under-par 63 to move into the lead through the third round of the Rocket Classic on Saturday in Detroit.
Riley is at 15-under 195, meaning he’ll go into Sunday’s final round at Detroit Golf Club with a one-shot advantage on Michael Brennan.
Riley has two PGA Tour victories, with the most-recent one coming in the 2024 Charles Schwab Challenge. His only top-10 finish this year came in the season-opening tournament.
Riley has gone back-to-back rounds without a bogey since carding three bogeys during Thursday’s first round.
Brennan (64 on Saturday), also with one top-10 result this year, registered birdies on four of the first five holes Saturday. His only bogey came on the final hole, costing him the position as co-leader.
Denmark’s Rasmus Hojgaard shot 9-under-par 61 without a bogey to rise to a tie for third place at 12 under. His score tied the course record that also was matched a day earlier by second-round co-leader Cameron Young.
Young (68), Chris Kirk (66) and Rickie Fowler (67) also are at 12 under. Xander Schauffele (67), Michael Thorbjornsen (66), Michael Kim (67) and Norway’s Kristoffer Ventura (65) are clustered at 11 under.
Young missed a 9-foot birdie attempt on the last hole, but he stayed in contention.
Other co-leaders from the beginning of the day didn’t fare as well. Patrick Cantlay shot 70 and dipped into a tie for 11th place, while Patrick Fishburn (74) carded only one birdie and dropped all the way to a tie for 48th at 6 under.
Hojgaard burst into the lead in the morning by playing the first 16 holes in 9 under. He was in 62nd place entering the round, making the cut by one stroke. He had birdies on both par-5 layouts.
Ventura posted a pair of eagles. He drove the green on No. 8 and sank the putt and then putted in from off the green on the par-5 14th.
There will be adjusted tee times for Sunday’s final round based on a forecast that involves rain and storms. Golfers will be slotted into threesomes and going off on the first and 10th tees.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Drew Rasmussen strikes out 10, Rays shut out White Sox
Aug 1, 2026; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Drew Rasmussen (57) reacts after pitching against the Chicago White Sox in the fifth inning at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images Tampa Bay starter Drew Rasmussen dominated over six shutout innings, Nick Fortes singled in the only run, and the Rays opened August by blanking the Chicago White Sox 1-0 on Saturday afternoon in St. Petersburg, Fla.
In reaching double figures in victories for the third time in his career, Rasmussen (10-5) allowed just four singles. He walked one and reached double-digits in strikeouts for the second time with 10.
The right-hander and four relievers combined for 16 strikeouts. Bryan Baker notched his 31st save in 34 chances with a perfect ninth.
Yandy Diaz went 2-for-4 as the Rays managed just five singles in squaring the three-game series. Jonny DeLuca had a hit, scored and stole a base.
For the White Sox, Jordan Hicks pitched as the opener for the first time and fired a perfect inning before giving way to Noah Schultz, who was sharp but allowed one run.
Schultz (3-8) yielded three hits in five innings, struck out four and hit a batter.
Edgar Quero had two hits, but the White Sox produced only five singles and had just one at-bat with a runner in scoring position.
With Friday night’s fireworks of four homers in the first four innings behind the two first-place clubs, pitching took center stage early in the series’ middle game as Rasmussen, using mostly fastballs, fanned five of the first six batters he faced and retired the first eight batters before Quero singled in a 10-pitch at-bat.
White Sox pitching went 9-up, 9-down before Diaz led off the fourth with a single and was advanced to second on Chandler Simpson’s sacrifice bunt for the first scoring chance. Yet Schultz whiffed Junior Caminero and got a long flyout from Victor Mesa Jr.
The Rays took a 1-0 lead in the fifth after DeLuca singled, moved to second on his 12th stolen base and soon scored on a two-out single that Fortes fought off and looped over shortstop.
After Rasmussen departed, pinch hitter Randal Grichuk led off the seventh with a single off Cam Booser, but the lefty reliever responded with two strikeouts before Kevin Kelly came in and fanned Chase Meidroth with a changeup.
With two outs in the eighth, lefty Garrett Cleavinger whiffed Chicago slugger Munetaka Murakami to finish the frame.
Baker retired Miguel Vargas, Colson Montgomery and Grichuk to preserve the Rays’ fourth shutout in seven games.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Rays LHP Shane McClanahan (back) placed on 15-day IL
Jul 30, 2026; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Shane McClanahan (18) throws a pitch against the Texas Rangers in the second inning at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images The Tampa Bay Rays placed left-hander Shane McClanahan on the 15-day injured list Friday with tightness in his left-mid back area.
McClanahan was removed from Thursday’s game against the visiting Texas Rangers after facing two batters in the fourth inning.
The two-time All-Star hit Ezequiel Duran to open the inning and walked Brandon Nimmo before bending over on the mound. Manager Kevin Cash and head athletic trainer Joe Benge walked to the mound and immediately removed McClanahan from the game.
“I didn’t want it to snowball into something major,” McClanahan said after the game. “Tightness is one thing; you can work with that, but being a little unsure of if this could develop into a pulled muscle or something. … It’s not worth losing yourself for a long run.”
McClanahan, 29, is 9-6 with a 3.09 ERA in 20 appearances (all starts) this season.
He is 42-22 with a 3.04 ERA in 94 career appearances (all starts) with Tampa Bay.
The Rays also recalled right-hander Alex Cook from Triple-A Durham in a corresponding move.
Cook, 25, is 1-2 with one save and a 3.78 ERA in 29 appearances (five starts) with the Bulls. It will be his major league debut if he gets into a game.
–Field Level Media
Davis Riley moves into lead at Rocket Classic, Rasmus Hojgaard has record day
Drew Rasmussen strikes out 10, Rays shut out White Sox
