Sports
No. 19 Louisville faces final road test at Virginia Tech
Feb 16, 2025; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Louisville Cardinals head coach Pat Kelsey reacts in the first half against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at the Purcell Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-Imagn Images No. 19 Louisville has a lot to play for as it wraps up the road portion of its regular season on Tuesday night against Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va.
For starters, a win would guarantee the Cardinals (21-6, 14-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) a double bye in next month’s ACC Tournament in Charlotte, N.C.
A victory also would allow coach Pat Kelsey to tie Hall of Famer Denny Crum for the most regular season wins during a debut season at Louisville. Crum’s first team in 1971-72 went 26-5 overall and reached the Final Four.
Those were not the expectations for Kelsey, who needed to overhaul the vaunted program after it won just 12 games the previous two seasons. Thanks to the arrival of several seasoned players, the Cardinals have the conference’s longest current winning streak at five games, and they’ve won 15 of their last 16.
The run helped Louisville move up six spots in this week’s Associated Press Top 25 poll.
All of that has led to Kelsey being considered for national coach of the year awards, a topic he deflected Saturday after Louisville beat Florida State 89-81, saying the entire program deserves to be honored.
The credit is due to “my staff and the belief by having them and the trust I put in them and the job that they do and the excellence with which they go about every day,” he said.
“I believe if everybody in the organization is that way, and I’ve said this many times, the results take care of themselves, and for the better part of this year they have.”
On the floor, Chucky Hepburn leads Louisville with 15.6 points and 6.0 assists per game. His 2.5 steals per game lead the ACC. The senior guard, who transferred from Wisconsin, set a team record with 17 made free throws as part of a 29-point performance in Saturday’s win.
Reyne Smith, a transfer from the College of Charleston, entered Monday leading the nation with 103 3-pointers. The senior has hit 39.1 percent from beyond the arc (18 of 46) in Louisville’s last four games.
The visit from Louisville starts a three-game homestand for the Hokies (12-15, 7-9). Coach Mike Young’s team ended a two-game losing streak Saturday with an 81-68 win at Miami.
The bench stood out for the Hokies in that win. Jaydon Young’s career-high 27 points nearly doubled his previous best of 14. The sophomore guard went 9-for-15 from the field, including 5-for-11 from the 3-point arc.
Scoring has been an issue for the Hokies, whose 67.6 points per game average in ACC games is next-to-last in the 18-team league. They lost 54-36 on Feb. 18 at Boston College, the program’s lowest output in 58 years.
“Nobody was happy with how we played at Boston College,” reserve center Patrick Wessler said Saturday, per Roanoke.com. “It doesn’t take a genius to figure that out. So I think we all had the mentality of, ‘That’s over with, move on.'”
Wessler, a 7-footer who averages 3.6 points and 9.5 minutes a game, scored 10 points in 17 minutes Saturday. He may see more time on Tuesday if starting center Mylyjael Poteat cannot play. The 6-foot-9 senior injured his right knee in the first half against the Hurricanes and did not return. Young told reporters after the game that Poteat might miss a couple days at worst.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Robert Kraft: Patriots offered CB Christian Gonzalez record-setting deal
Jun 9, 2026; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez (0) takes questions from the media at minicamp at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft said the team offered Christian Gonzalez a contract extension that would make him the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL.
Kraft did not reveal the specific terms of the deal on Saturday, the first day of training camp.
“We love Christian Gonzalez,” Kraft said during the team’s Pawtriots pet adoption event, per the Boston Herald. “We love him as a player, as a person. That’s why we’ve made an offer to him that makes him the highest-paid player ever to play that position in the NFL, and coincidentally, it’s the highest contract in the Patriots franchise history.
“So we’re glad we drafted him and we developed here, and we hope he’ll be with us for a long time.”
Gonzalez is eligible for a contract extension for the first time after being selected by the Patriots with the 17th overall pick of the 2023 NFL Draft.
The Los Angeles Rams’ Trent McDuffie is currently the NFL’s highest-paid cornerback, pocketing $31 million per season on his four-year, $131 million contract that he signed this offseason.
Gonzalez, 24, made the Pro Bowl last season after posting 69 tackles and 10 passes defensed in 14 starts. He has three interceptions, 24 passes defensed, one fumble recovery, one sack and 145 tackles in 34 career games (all starts).
–Field Level Media
Sports
49ers' Kyle Shanahan to be limited in camp after serious car crash
San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan talks to the media during the NFL League Meetings on March 30, 2026, at Arizona Biltmore Resort in Phoenix. San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan broke his nose, three ribs and his hand, needed over 40 stitches to his face and sustained a severe concussion after he was involved in a car accident last week, ESPN reported Saturday.
Per the network, the accident occurred on July 14 after Shanahan collided with an SUV near his northern California home.
The other driver was not injured, per Palo Alto lieutenant Nicholas Martinez. Martinez added that drugs and alcohol were not involved.
The 49ers said Shanahan will participate in team activities on a limited basis at the start of training camp, with ESPN reporting doctors will not clear Shanahan for all activities until concussion symptoms clear.
The team said assistant head coach Chris Foerster along with team coordinators will handle the head-coaching responsibilities during this time.
49ers general manager John Lynch is scheduled to hold a news conference at 4 p.m. ET on Saturday.
The Niners are scheduled to hold their first practice of training camp Sunday morning and are set to open the season on Sept. 10 against the Los Angeles Rams in Melbourne, Australia.
Shanahan, 46, will begin his 10th season as head coach in San Francisco. He owns an 82-67 record in the regular season. He has a 9-5 postseason record, guiding the 49ers to a pair of Super Bowl appearances — losing to the Kansas City Chiefs both times (2020, 2024).
–Field Level Media
Sports
Jenny Shin inches closer to first LPGA Tour win in 10 years
Jun 19, 2025; Frisco, Texas, USA; Jenny Shin plays her shot from the 18th tee during the first round of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images Jenny Shin carded a 1-under-par 71 on Saturday to maintain her five-stroke lead heading into the final round of the Women’s Scottish Open in North Ayrshire.
Shin recorded two birdies and a bogey at Dundonald Links on Saturday to ascend to 12-under 204 for the tournament.
The 33-year-old South Korean is bidding for her first LPGA Tour win since capturing the now-defunct Volunteers of America Texas Shootout 10 years ago. The last LPGA Tour player to go 10 or more years between official victories was Vicki Fergon, who went 12 years and three months between wins at the 1984 S&H Golf Classic and the 1996 Michelob Light Heartland Classic.
“I’ve never been in this position (a five-shot lead), so I don’t know how to feel (on Sunday),” Shin said. “I’m going to go and practice for a little bit and get a good feel for tomorrow so I’m not such a mess in the morning.”
Shin made a birdie on the sixth hole and answered a bogey on the 10th hole by making another birdie on No. 11.
“That was a very tough round. I was quite nervous for the first five holes, so I’m really glad that I was able to finish the day in red numbers,” she said. “It was a pretty boring and nerve-wracking day at the same time.”
“That was a bit of a hiccup on No. 10. I changed my setup this week because of all the wind and out of habit, I lined up the putt and went back to my old setup. I shut the face. I knew what I was doing, so I was able to get back pretty easily.”
Shin holds a five-stroke lead over Thailand’s Pajaree Anannarukarn, who had three birdies during her bogey-free round of 69.
“I would say almost everything went well,” Anannarukarn said. “I was driving the ball well and hitting it good out there. The putter was very hot today, so that was the key. It was a challenging day, and also, at the same time, I had good fun battling with the wind. It was a great day out there.”
Japan’s Erika Hara (71 on Saturday) and Germany’s Esther Henseleit (73) sit at 5 under for the tournament.
Despite her troubles, Henseleit said she wasn’t going to press as she attempts to record her first win since joining the LPGA Tour in 2020.
“It’s really hard to press on this golf course, to be honest. Just no matter like if you want to take birdie or par, you kind of have to hit the same shots because they are the only possible shots,” Henseleit said.
“So I don’t think my game plan really changed, and yeah, I’m just trying to do my thing out there and hopefully tomorrow I can hit a few close and make some putts.”
–Field Level Media
Robert Kraft: Patriots offered CB Christian Gonzalez record-setting deal
49ers' Kyle Shanahan to be limited in camp after serious car crash
