Yahoo Sports AM: Stall ball in high school hoops

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🚨 Headlines

🏀 Back to school: Stephen Curry has accepted the position of assistant GM at his alma mater, Davidson College, making him the first active professional athlete to take on an administrative role in the NCAA.

🏈 NFL offseason: The “legal tampering” period started with a bang on Monday. Sam Darnold is a Seahawk, Justin Fields is a Jet, Chris Godwin is staying in Tampa, Laremy Tunsil was traded to the Commanders and the Patriots went on a spending spree.

⚾️ Tommy John for Cole: Yankees ace Gerrit Cole will undergo Tommy John surgery today, ending his season before it starts. “I have a lot left to give, and I’m fully committed to the work ahead,” said the 34-year-old.

🏀 Blue Devils on top: Duke sits atop the final men’s AP poll of the regular season, ending Auburn’s eight-week reign and earning the program’s first No. 1 ranking since 2021.

🏒 NHL PED suspension: Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad has been suspended 20 games after failing what he said was a random drug test. He’s the first player in nearly seven years to be suspended under the NHL’s performance enhancing drugs policy.

🏀 The high school shot clock can’t come soon enough

The shot clock was a brilliant invention that transformed the NBA in 1954 and the college game in 1985. But in roughly half the country, high school basketball is still stuck in the stone age.

Stall ball: Eastland High (Illinois) held the ball the entire first quarter en route to an upset win over top-ranked Pecatonica in last week’s sectional title game, sparking national outrage. This game last month in New Mexico wasn’t much better.

And who can forget the sad excuse for a basketball game two years ago in Oklahoma? Final score: 4-2.
Something’s gotta give. And in 23 states, something already has.

State(s) of play: 23 states (plus D.C.) have implemented a 35-second shot clock in high school hoops since 2021, when the National Federation of State High School Associations began allowing state-level adoption.

Another three states are currently running trials (Kansas, Nevada, South Carolina), and four more have voted to adopt a shot clock by the 2026-27 school year (Alaska, Wyoming, Colorado, Illinois).
But that still means high school basketball in 20 states will remain stuck in the past for the foreseeable future.

What they’re saying: Playing without a shot clock can lead to sinfully boring basketball, while also hindering player development, especially for those who plan to play at the next level. But you can’t blame the coaches for doing whatever it takes to win.

“I don’t do it often but … I would not hesitate to hold the ball if I genuinely felt like it was the right thing to do. I just don’t want the rules to give me that option.”

— Mark Gray-Mendes, Thomas Jefferson High School (Virginia) head coach (via The Washington Post)

So why is this even a debate? Money. The up-front cost to install a shot clock can range anywhere from $3,000-$10,000, and unless you want some JV kid at the scorer’s table who’s only half paying attention, you’re going to need to pay someone to (properly) operate it, too. That’s a prohibitive cost for many counties across the country.

Bottom line: The 3-point line came to high school hoops just one year after it arrived in the NCAA, while the shot clock has taken many decades. Turns out painting the floor is a lot easier (and cheaper) than adding a timer.

🏈 The NFL’s highest-paid non-QBs

Myles Garrett had been trying to leave the Browns for weeks after requesting a trade from the team that drafted him first overall in 2017. Instead, Cleveland made the four-time All-Pro edge rusher the highest-paid non-QB in NFL history.

$40 million per year: The Browns signed Garrett to a four-year, $160 million extension on Sunday that includes $123.5 million guaranteed. It’s the highest average annual salary ever for a non-QB, and tied for the 15th-highest in the league among all players.

Garrett broke the record set four days earlier by Raiders edge rusher Maxx Crosby ($35.5 million annually), who in turn broke the record set last summer by Vikings WR Justin Jefferson ($35 million).
For reference: The NFL’s highest-paid players by average annual value are Cowboys QB Dak Prescott ($60 million), Bills QB Josh Allen, Bengals QB Joe Burrow, Packers QB Jordan Love and Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence (all tied at $55 million).

Who’s next? As you can see above, nearly the entire top 10 comprises WRs and DEs. While none of the current top free agents at those positions will break Garrett’s record, Bengals wideout Ja’Marr Chase almost certainly will. He won the Triple Crown last season at age 25 and is a prime candidate to ink a historic extension before reaching free agency next year.

📸 In photos: The future of halfpipe

Shaun White spent his career dominating the halfpipe like no snowboarder ever has. Now, the five-time Olympian is working to improve the sport’s framework for the next generation by creating The Snow League.

The Snow League, which debuted on Friday in Aspen, Colorado, is the first professional league dedicated to snowboarding and freeskiing — specifically the halfpipe. The inaugural season will include three more stops in China (this December), Aspen (next February) and Switzerland (next March).

The men's and women's winners from the inaugural event pose together on the podium. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images) — The men’s and women’s winners from the inaugural event pose together on the podium. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

Athletes will be rewarded handsomely, not just with Olympic qualifying points (a significant incentive), but also a $1.6 million prize pool. Riders are also paid $5,000 appearance fees, which isn’t the norm.

The goal of the Snow League, much like the Grand Slam Track league (launching in April), is to get the best athletes together more regularly and bring consistency to a disjointed sport. “I want to make it so you can have a decent season on the tour and make a great living,” said White. “This is something that I wish that I had when I was competing.”

🏀 Wooden Award: 15 finalists

Duke’s Cooper Flagg and Auburn’s Johni Broome headline the Wooden Award men’s top 15, the national ballot from which the eventual winner will be determined.

The finalists: Broome is one of 11 seniors and Flagg is one of two freshmen, alongside just one junior and one sophomore. Tennessee is the only school with multiple finalists.

Flagg (Duke, Fr.): 19.4 pts, 7.6 reb, 4.2 ast, 1.5 stl
Broome (Auburn, Sr.): 18.6 pts, 10.6 reb, 3.3 ast, 2.4 blk
Walter Clayton Jr. (Florida, Sr.): 17.2 pts, 3.8 reb, 4.3 ast, 1.2 stl
L.J. Cryer (Houston, Sr.): 15.3 pts, 2.2 reb, 1.9 ast, 43.1% 3PT
Hunter Dickinson (Kansas, Sr.): 17.4 pts, 9.9 reb, 2.0 ast, 1.3 blk
Eric Dixon (Villanova, Sr.): 23.6 pts, 5.4 reb, 2.1 ast, 42.9% 3PT
Kam Jones (Marquette, Sr.): 18.9 pts, 4.5 reb, 6.1 ast, 1.5 stl
Ryan Kalkbrenner (Creighton, Sr.): 19.4 pts, 9.0 reb, 1.6 ast, 2.7 blk
Chaz Lanier (Tennessee, Sr.): 17.9 pts, 3.9 reb, 1.0 ast, 40.5% 3PT
Mark Sears (Alabama, Sr.): 19.2 pts, 3.1 reb, 5.0 ast, 0.9 stl
John Tonje (Wisconsin, Sr.): 18.9 pts, 5.1 reb, 1.7 ast, 0.7 stl
Zakai Zeigler (Tennessee, Sr.): 13.1 pts, 3.0 reb, 7.5 ast, 1.9 stl
Braden Smith (Purdue, Jr.): 16.3 pts, 4.7 reb, 8.8 ast, 2.3 stl
PJ Haggerty (Memphis, So.): 21.2 pts, 5.5 reb, 3.8 ast, 1.8 stl
Dylan Harper (Rutgers, Fr.): 19.2 pts, 4.5 reb, 3.9 ast, 1.4 stl

What’s at stake: With all due respect to the other finalists, this is a two-man race between Flagg and Broome. Flagg is vying to become the fourth freshman to win the award (Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis, Zion Williamson), while Broome would be Auburn’s first winner.

USC’s JuJu Watkins, Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo and UConn’s Paige Bueckers headline the women’s Wooden Award finalists.

The finalists: Bueckers is one of seven seniors and Watkins and Hidalgo are among the four sophomores on the list, which also features three juniors and one freshman. UConn, Notre Dame, LSU and TCU all have two finalists.

Watkins (USC, So.): 24.6 pts, 6.9 reb, 3.5 ast, 2.2 stl
Hidalgo (Notre Dame, So.): 24.2 pts, 5.1 reb, 3.7 ast, 3.7 stl
Bueckers (UConn, Sr.): 18.8 pts, 4.4 reb, 4.9 ast, 2.0 stl
Georgia Amoore (Kentucky, Sr.): 19.1 pts, 2.2 reb, 6.9 ast, 1.0 stl
Aziaha James (NC State, Sr.): 17.9 pts, 4.9 reb, 2.7 ast, 1.1 stl
Olivia Miles (Notre Dame, Sr.): 16.2 pts, 5.9 reb, 5.8 ast, 40.9% 3PT
Aneesah Morrow (LSU, Sr.): 18.5 pts, 13.6 reb, 1.4 ast, 2.6 stl
Sedona Prince (TCU, Sr.): 17.5 pts, 9.6 reb, 2.4 ast, 3.0 blk
Hailey Van Lith (TCU, Sr.): 17.9 pts, 4.4 reb, 5.3 ast, 1.2 stl
Lauren Betts (UCLA, Jr.): 19.6 pts, 9.7 reb, 2.8 ast, 2.9 blk
Flau’Jae Johnson (LSU, Jr.): 18.9 pts, 5.8 reb, 2.4 ast, 1.6 stl
Ta’Niya Latson (FSU, Jr.): 24.9 pts, 4.5 reb, 4.7 ast, 2.2 stl
Madison Booker (Texas, So.): 16.2 pts, 6.6 reb, 2.8 ast, 43.9% 3PT
Audi Crooks (Iowa State, So.): 23.2 pts, 7.6 reb, 1.5 ast, 60.2% FG
Sarah Strong (UConn, Fr.): 16.1 pts, 8.3 reb, 3.4 ast, 57.9% FG

What to watch: Bueckers can become the eighth two-time winner since this award debuted in 2004, while Watkins and Hidalgo can join Maya Moore (2009) as the only sophomores to win.

📺 Watchlist: 40 minutes from history

The Blue Hens celebrate after knocking off top-seeded Towson on Monday. (Delaware Athletics)

Delaware entered the CAA tournament with 12 wins on the year. Four days and four wins later, the 12-seed enters tonight’s title game against UNC Wilmington (7pm ET, CBSSN) on the precipice of history.

40 minutes away: The Blue Hens, who lost 11 of 12 games to end the regular season, are vying to become just the third team in D-I men’s basketball history to win five games in five days en route to winning a conference title, joining 2011 UConn and 2024 NC State.

More to watch:

⚽️ Champions League: Round of 16, second leg* (1:45-4pm, Paramount+) … Quarterfinal spots are on the line.
🏀 NCAAM: St. Francis PA at Central Connecticut (7pm, ESPN+) Youngstown State vs. Robert Morris (7pm, ESPN+); Gonzaga vs. No. 19 Saint Mary’s (9pm, ESPN) … NEC, Horizon and WCC title games.
🏀 NCAAW: Purdue Fort Wayne vs. Green Bay (12pm, ESPN2); Oregon State vs. Portland (4pm, ESPN2) … Horizon and WCC title games.
🏀 NBA: Bucks at Pacers (7:30pm, TNT) … Indiana (35-28) is one game behind Milwaukee (36-27) for the East’s 4-seed.
🎾 Tennis: Indian Wells, Round of 16 (2pm, Tennis) … No. 5 Daniil Medvedev vs. No. 10 Tommy Paul headlines today’s action.
🏒 NHL: Lightning at Hurricanes (7pm, ESPN+); Avalanche at Wild (8pm, ESPN+) … Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon (102), Cale Makar (75) and Martin Necas (72) all rank in the top 12 in points.

*Where it stands: Barcelona (1-0) vs. Benfica, Liverpool (1-0) vs. PSG, Inter Milan (2-0) vs. Feyenoord, Bayer Leverkusen (0-3) vs. Bayern Munich.

⚾️ MLB trivia

Dodgers skipper Dave Roberts is now the highest-paid manager in MLB history after signing a four-year extension worth a record $8.1 million annually.

Question: Whose record did Roberts break?

Hint: Active NL manager.

Answer at the bottom.

🏀 NBA MVP: Who ya got?

The race for NBA MVP is awfully close between Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokić, who split their back-to-back matchups on Sunday and Monday.

The case for SGA: The best player on arguably the best team.

He’s averaging a league-leading 32.7 points, 5.1 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 1.8 steals per game, shooting 52.5% from the field, 37.3% from 3-point range and 90% from the free-throw line — good for a true shooting percentage of 64.3%. The only other players to put up numbers like that? Michael Jordan and James Harden.

The case for Jokić: One of the best statistical seasons ever.

Jokić is on pace to be the third player ever to average a triple-double for a full season, scoring a career-high 28.9 points per game to go with 13.0 rebounds, 10.5 assists and 1.8 steals a night. He’s doing it on dramatically higher efficiency than either Oscar Robertson or Russell Westbrook: 57.7% from the field, a career-high 43% from 3-point land and 80.9% at the foul line, tallying up to a 66.2% true shooting percentage.

Go deeper: Full breakdown of both candidates from Yahoo Sports’ Dan Devine

Trivia answer: Craig Counsell, Cubs ($8 million per year)

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