Sports
No. 20 Clemson takes its depth out west to face Stanford
Jan 31, 2026; Tallahassee, Florida, USA; Stanford Cardinal forward Oskar Giltay (15) reaches for a loose ball during the second half against the Florida State Seminoles at Donald L. Tucker Center. Mandatory Credit: Melina Myers-Imagn Images Unranked to begin the season, No. 20 Clemson has relied on its depth to become one of the most consistent teams in the country.
The Tigers (18-4, 8-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) could turn to their deep bench again when they begin a West Coast trip against Stanford on Wednesday night.
Clemson is riding a 12-game ACC road win streak heading into the matchup against Stanford (14-8, 3-6), which has lost four straight.
Carter Welling and Nick Davidson scored 12 points apiece to lead Clemson to a 63-52 home win over Pittsburgh on Saturday. The Tigers led by 17 at the half before holding on to win for the 11th time in their last 12 games.
Clemson held Pittsburgh to 37.7% shooting from the field and a season-low 19.2% (5 of 26) from 3-point range.
Butta Johnson scored eight points off the bench for the Tigers, who won despite being outrebounded 33-25.
“Kind of a workman-like win for us,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said. “Rusty a little bit at times, but I thought we did some good things in the first half on both ends. Then in the second half, we didn’t handle a 17-point lead very well.”
Clemson sits in second place in the ACC behind Duke with a challenging few weeks ahead. The Tigers’ second half of conference play includes games against ranked teams such as No. 4 Duke, No. 14 North Carolina and No. 24 Louisville.
Before heading into that challenging stretch, Clemson needs to be careful not to overlook Stanford, which recorded home wins over Louisville and North Carolina last month.
The Cardinal lost 88-80 to host Florida State on Saturday despite another strong effort from freshman point guard Ebuka Okorie, who had 26 points and four assists.
Okorie, who ranks 10th in the country in scoring at 21.8 points per game, was held to three points in the first half against Florida State before finding his rhythm after halftime.
“We’ve talked about his next step as a playmaker and a leader is to let the game come to him a little bit,” Stanford coach Kyle Smith said. “They’re denying him everywhere. He’s getting used to that. … He made some good decisions and gave us an opportunity. We just couldn’t get any stops.”
Brownell raved about Okorie during Monday’s ACC media session.
“Their freshman guard, he’s incredible, just watching him on film,” said Brownell. “It’s been impressive to see his speed and change of direction. His poise for a freshman is uncanny. And obviously, they’ve got shooters around him, guys that can make shots. They’re big and strong.”
Stanford has struggled without senior forward Chisom Okpara, who is out for the rest of the season after absorbing a lower extremity injury in a loss to Virginia on Jan. 10.
Okpara has been replaced in the starting lineup by sophomore forward Donavin Young, who had 10 points and five rebounds against Florida State.
Stanford is returning home following a pair of losses, including one at Miami. Benny Gealer made nine total 3-pointers in the two defeats, while AJ Rohosy averaged 10.5 points.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Argentina club looking to lure Lionel Messi home in 2027
Dec 6, 2025; Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA; Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi (10) looks on with the Philip F. Anschutz trophy after winning the 2025 MLS Cup against the Vancouver Whitecaps FC at Chase Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images Argentina club Newell’s Old Boys is working on a plan to bring two-time MLS MVP Lionel Messi home next year.
A team executive confirmed that it’s trying to entice Messi to return to his boyhood club for the first half of 2027.
“It’s a project that goes beyond Newell’s. It involves the city of Rosario, the province, and Argentine football,” first vice president Juan Manuel Medina said, according to an ESPN story published Wednesday.
Messi, the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner as the world’s best player, signed an extension with defending MLS Cup champion Inter Miami in October that runs through the end of the 2028.
Messi, 38, played for Newell’s youth teams from 1995-2000 before moving to the FC Barcelona academy.
Inter Miami will open the 2026 MLS season on Feb. 21 at Los Angeles FC. Messi also is preparing to defend Argentina’s World Cup championship this summer in North America.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Lindsey Vonn's coach, Stefon Diggs confident she can ski with ACL injury
[US, Mexico & Canada customers only] Feb 3, 2026; Cortina d’Ampezzo, ITALY; Lindsey Vonn attends a press conference at a press conference at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium in preparation for the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games. Mandatory Credit: Leonhard Foeger/Reuters via Imagn Images Lindsey Vonn’s coach and New England Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs are confident that the American skiing great can compete at the Milano Cortina Olympics with a ruptured ACL in her left knee.
Vonn, 41, is set to try her luck in the women’s downhill race on Sunday
“I’m pretty confident that she can still pull off this dream,” Vonn’s head coach Chris Knight told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “I’ve got no doubts in my mind that this is going to be OK.”
Knight’s comments came one day after Vonn said that she’s not interested in discussing surgery at the moment.
“It’s not really on my radar screen right now. The Olympics are the only thing that I’m thinking about,” she said. “Every day my knee’s gotten better. And every day we’re discussing with a full medical team, doctors, physios, everyone, to make sure we’re doing everything to make sure I am making smart and safe decisions.”
Diggs knows a thing or two about a torn ACL. His lone season with the Houston Texans in 2024 was cut short by the same injury.
“Prayers to her. I hope the surgery does go well when she does have it,” Diggs said Wednesday of Vonn. “Anybody who has torn an ACL, it’s kind of a weird injury. You can run after about two weeks when the swelling goes down. … As long as she doesn’t have to (decelerate), she should be fine.”
Like Vonn, Diggs has a big day ahead on Sunday. Diggs and the Patriots will face the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl LX in Santa Clara, Calif.
As for Vonn, she must complete at least one official training run to take part in the Sunday downhill. Vonn is no stranger to the mountain. She collected 12 of her 84 World Cup victories there, the most of any skier.
Vonn earned gold (downhill) and bronze (Super-G) medals at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and a bronze medal in the downhill at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games.
Vonn retired after the 2019 world championships due to injuries. She subsequently received a partial replacement of her right knee and launched a comeback late in 2024 with the Olympics in her sights.
She has won the downhill twice this winter and leads the World Cup standings in the discipline and was considered a favorite to win the gold medal in the event in Italy.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Washington Post shutters sports department
Sep 15, 2022; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Amazon executive chairman Jeff Bezos in attendance before the Kansas City Chiefs play against the Los Angeles Chargers at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images The Washington Post shuttered its venerable sports department on Wednesday, part of a larger layoff involving one-third of the newspaper’s staff.
“The Washington Post is taking a number of difficult but decisive actions today for our future, in what amounts to a significant restructuring across the company,” a Post spokesperson said in a statement. “These steps are designed to strengthen our footing and sharpen our focus on delivering the distinctive journalism that sets The Post apart and, most importantly, engages our customers.”
Executive editor Matt Murray announced the changes in a video conference with employees.
The move comes with Post reporters already on site covering Super Bowl LX and the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.
“It’s like somebody taking a hammer to my heart,” Sally Jenkins, who wrote a Post sports column until she left the paper last summer, told The Ringer. “It’s not just broken. It’s broken into about 20 pieces, one for every single one of my close friends there.”
Some sports reporters are expected to move into other roles, but the exact number was not reported.
A skeleton crew will continue to produce what Murray described as features about sports as a “cultural and societal phenomenon.”
The Post has undergone repeated changes, downsizings and reinventions since Amazon chief Jeff Bezos purchased the paper in 2013.
In addition to cutting the sports pages, the Post is reducing its international footprint, making the Metro section more “nimble and focused” and eliminating the Books section.
–Field Level Media
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