{"id":18870,"date":"2025-06-27T10:59:10","date_gmt":"2025-06-27T10:59:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/18870\/"},"modified":"2025-06-27T10:59:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-27T10:59:10","slug":"the-most-interesting-program-in-college-sports-plus-a-baffling-nba-trade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/18870\/","title":{"rendered":"The most interesting program in college sports, plus a baffling NBA trade"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><br \/>The Pulse Newsletter <\/strong>\ud83d\udce3 | This is The Athletic\u2019s daily sports newsletter. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/newsletters\/the-pulse\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Sign up here<\/a> to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox.<\/p>\n<p>Good morning! Decline that max extension today. Believe in yourself.<\/p>\n<p><b>Sleeping Giants: All eyes on \u2026 Sacramento<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The concept of a sleeping giant in college sports is almost a cliche at this point. Let this certain school get the right coach and recruiting staff! They\u2019re gonna take off! See, currently: UNLV, Georgia Tech, Texas Tech, so on and so forth.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Normally, this is all a little overblown. Take a large metro area and\/or talent-rich state, find an athletics program that\u2019s been meh and put them on the list. Some sleeping giants wake for a few minutes. Some stay in comas.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><b>One I\u2019m <\/b><b>actually<\/b><b> interested in, though? Sacramento State.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p>You have probably heard plenty of social media fodder about the big names and big money flowing into what has been a mostly dormant athletics program at a massive school. But, as Christopher Kamrani and Stewart Mandel <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/6454456\/2025\/06\/27\/sacramento-state-college-football-fbs\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">write this morning<\/a>, there is real momentum in Sacramento \u2014 and the program has specific, lofty goals.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Three nuggets I found fascinating:\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>As with anything during this time in college sports, this is really an NIL story.<\/b> Sacramento State has a potential donor base of nearly 300,000 alumni. The football program is plotting a move to FBS. The basketball teams are getting a new arena soon.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Moreover, athletic success at Sac State is seen as a possible fiscal salve for budgetary issues at the university<\/b>, and it\u2019s easy to see the logic. A move to FBS \u2014 which has been denied for now \u2014 would bring millions in revenue. Then the media deal comes, which then brings more money and more stars, and the cycle of success churns upward.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>About those big names:<\/b> Mike Bibby is the new basketball coach, and he hired Shaquille O\u2019Neal as his general manager. Jaden Rashada \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/6310138\/2025\/04\/25\/jaden-rashada-sacramento-state-transfer\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">remember him?<\/a> \u2014 is the new quarterback on the football team, coached by former UNLV offensive coordinator Brennan Marion. Both the football and basketball teams have cajoled good talent from the transfer portal.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I find the Hornets\u2019 story super compelling, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/6454456\/2025\/06\/27\/sacramento-state-college-football-fbs\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">urge you to read the full saga<\/a> for some fascinating details. The Pulse might have an FCS rooting interest this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s keep going:<\/p>\n<p>News to Know<\/p>\n<p><b>Franco convicted<br \/><\/b>Former Rays superstar Wander Franco was convicted yesterday in the Dominican Republic on charges of sexual abuse of a minor. Franco received a suspended two-year prison sentence \u2014 though prosecutors sought a five-year penalty \u2014 meaning he\u2019ll avoid incarceration so long as he adheres to certain conditions. The 24-year-old was accused nearly two years ago of sexual exploitation of a 14-year-old girl and, subsequently, paying the girl\u2019s mother exorbitant amounts of money to continue doing so. The girl\u2019s mother was sentenced to 10 years in prison yesterday. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/6454234\/2025\/06\/26\/wander-franco-rays-trial-verdict\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">See our full report<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><b>Reaves says no \u2014 for now<br \/><\/b>Lakers guard Austin Reaves formally declined a max extension from the Lakers, sources told The Athletic, which is a major sign that Reaves intends to hit free agency next summer. The extension offer was for four years and $89.2 million, and Reaves clearly \u2014 for good reason, too \u2014 thinks he\u2019ll fetch more on the open market. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/6453010\/2025\/06\/26\/lakers-austin-reaves-contract-extension\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read all the tentacles here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><b>An NHL blockbuster<br \/><\/b>Late Wednesday, the Buffalo Sabres traded star winger JJ Peterka to the Utah Mammoth (still a cool name) for defenseman Michael Kesselring and forward Josh Doan, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/6441617\/2025\/06\/26\/sabres-peterka-mammoth-kesselring-doan\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">sources told The Athletic<\/a>, which counts as our first major trade of the NHL offseason. Though Buffalo understandably did not want to deal Peterka, it became clear the young player had no intention of signing an extension; he\u2019s already agreed to a five-year deal with Utah. He\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/6452390\/2025\/06\/26\/jj-peterka-nhl-trade-grades-sabres-mammoth\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">a fantastic fit<\/a> among the Mammoth\u2019s rising stars, too.<\/p>\n<p><strong>More news<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">Other big news out of the <b>NHL<\/b>: The league and the players\u2019 association agreed on an <b>84-game schedule<\/b> starting in 2026-27, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/6453454\/2025\/06\/26\/nhl-84-game-schedule-ltir-loophole-cba\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">sources told The Athletic<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">The <b>NFL<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/6454379\/2025\/06\/26\/justin-tucker-nfl-suspended\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">suspended<\/a> former Ravens kicker <b>Justin Tucker<\/b> 10 games after multiple allegations of sexual misconduct.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">The <b>Trump administration<\/b> threatened <b>California<\/b> with \u201cimminent enforcement action\u201d if the state did not change its <b>transgender athlete policy<\/b>. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/6454194\/2025\/06\/26\/trump-california-department-education-transgender-athlete-policy\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">More details here<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">Louisiana police <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/6455078\/2025\/06\/26\/super-bowl-halftime-sudan-gaza-protest\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">arrested the man<\/a> who held up a Sudanese flag in support of Palestine during the <b>Super Bowl halftime show<\/b> yesterday.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">The <b>Cleveland Browns<\/b> are clear to build an indoor stadium in the suburbs. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/6451878\/2025\/06\/25\/cleveland-browns-indoor-stadium-ohio-budget\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">It\u2019s been a contentious battle thus far<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Cristiano Ronaldo<\/b>, 40, will stay at Saudi side <b>Al Nassr<\/b> for two more years, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/6035296\/2025\/06\/26\/cristiano-ronaldo-al-nassr-contract-new\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the club announced yesterday<\/a>. <br \/><b\/><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Oliver Boast,<\/b> the highly touted 16-year-old <b>Leeds<\/b> striker, has chosen to continue his early career at <b>Tottenham<\/b>. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/6453541\/2025\/06\/26\/oliver-boast-tottenham-leeds-transfer\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read up on him<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\ud83d\udceb\u00a0<strong>Love The Pulse? <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/5803046\/2024\/09\/30\/the-athletic-newsletters-sign-up\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Check out our other newsletters<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><b>Wait, What? The worst non-Luka trade?<\/b><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-6455485 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/USATSI_26533251_168395998_lowres-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>      Brad Penner \/ Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p>Drafts can move quickly, which is a good thing. But sometimes we let a transaction slide past in the moment that deserves a heavily scrutinized follow-up the next day. Which brings us to the New Orleans Pelicans.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A brief recap before some context:\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">In the first splash of Joe Dumars\u2019 tenure in New Orleans, the Pels traded up 10 spots in the first round to draft Derik Queen, a capable big man out of Maryland. Queen pairs with fellow first-rounder Jeremiah Fears. <b>In a vacuum, nice picks.<br \/><\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">But Dumars gave up the Pelicans\u2019 unprotected first-rounder next year to get Queen. New Orleans was 21-61 this year, the fourth-worst record in the NBA. <b>That pick could be top-five, and even No. 1 if things go poorly<\/b> \u2014 which is extremely possible! That could mean losing out <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/6076724\/2025\/01\/21\/aj-dybantsa-2026-nba-draft-hoophall-classic\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">on AJ Dybantsa<\/a>.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>But I\u2019m just a Pelicans fan still miffed about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/6452800\/2025\/06\/26\/pelicans-jeremiah-fears-derik-queen-jordan-poole-nba-draft-2025\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">this shaky plan<\/a>. Let\u2019s excerpt two experts on the issue.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s draft guru Sam Vecenie in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/6452683\/2025\/06\/26\/winners-losers-nba-draft-first-round-2025-pelicans-hornets-spurs\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">his winners and losers column<\/a>:\u00a0<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>What are the Pelicans doing? That\u2019s a question that was asked repeatedly in text messages from other teams following their decision to trade up \u2026 \u201cThis is the worst trade, non-Luka division, that we\u2019ve seen in at least a decade,\u201d one assistant GM texted me.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>And here\u2019s Zach Harper in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/6453198\/2025\/06\/26\/nba-draft-surprises-cooper-flagg-mavericks-ace-bailey-jazz-the-bounce\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">yesterday\u2019s Bounce<\/a>:\u00a0<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>New Orleans giving up this unprotected pick is egregious.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Go Pels? Pray for me.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What to Watch<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><b>\ud83d\udcfa WNBA: Fever at Wings<\/b><b><br \/><\/b><b>7:30 p.m. ET on ION<\/b><br \/>If Caitlin Clark is healthy for this one, it\u2019ll be the league\u2019s brightest new star against the 2025 No. 1 pick in Paige Bueckers. Both teams could use a little help in the standings.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><b>\ud83d\udcfa MLB: Cardinals at Guardians<\/b><b><br \/><\/b><b>7:10 p.m. ET on Apple TV+<\/b><br \/>Both of these teams are treading water in the respective Central divisions, though I was intrigued to see Cleveland at 40-39 despite a -32 run differential. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/6444898\/2025\/06\/25\/mlb-trade-deadline-tiers-2025\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Both are theoretical sellers<\/a> at the deadline, though there\u2019s plenty of time left for things to improve or spiral.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Get tickets to games like these <a href=\"https:\/\/stubhub.prf.hn\/l\/jXBQP09\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pulse Picks<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><b>Tom Moore<\/b> is an 86-year-old coach who arrives at the <b>Buccaneers<\/b> facility before 4 a.m. <b>Bucky Irving<\/b> is a 22-year-old player who gets there by 5:30 a.m. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/6430532\/2025\/06\/26\/nfl-coach-bucky-irving-tom-moore\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The two are best friends<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>The NHL Draft is here!<\/strong>\u00a0We have the <a style=\"text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/6435381\/2025\/06\/26\/nhl-draft-2025-penguins-hagens\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">latest buzz.<\/a> The Athletic Hockey Show also has a full preview. Listen up! <a style=\"text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/6453701\/2025\/06\/27\/sacramento-state-fbs-the-pulse\/theathletic.lnk.to\/JP7VETIs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Apple<\/a> and <a style=\"text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/6453701\/2025\/06\/27\/sacramento-state-fbs-the-pulse\/theathletic.lnk.to\/gqsahuhT\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Spotify<\/a>. A ton of possible twists.<\/p>\n<p>Matt Baker tried to answer an incredible question: How many <b>college football<\/b> teams could\u2019ve won a national title with <b>Nick Saban<\/b> as head coach? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/6451165\/2025\/06\/26\/college-football-teams-nick-saban-national-championship\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Perfect offseason content<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>What is <b>Tight End University<\/b>, the NFL-centric event that featured a surprise <b>Taylor Swift <\/b>performance? Jayna Bardahl <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/6453606\/2025\/06\/26\/tight-end-university-travis-kelce-taylor-swift\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">has answers<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><b>Jeremy Pe\u00f1a<\/b> was supposed to be a superstar who filled the shoes of another superstar. He started flawlessly, then faltered. Now \u2014 still just 24 years old \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/6451401\/2025\/06\/26\/astros-jeremy-pena-superstardom\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">he is back on top of baseball<\/a>, writes Chandler Rome. Great story.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In case you missed it, the <b>USMNT drama<\/b> between Christian Pulisic, Mauricio Pochettino and some program legends is still raging. Adam Crafton\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/6448184\/2025\/06\/26\/clint-dempsey-pulisic-usmnt-podcast\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">overview of the squabble<\/a> was helpful.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><b>Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday<\/b>: Our list of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/6451016\/2025\/06\/25\/nba-draft-pick-by-pick-tracker-2025\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">every pick<\/a> in the NBA Draft.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><b>Most-read on the website yesterday<\/b>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/6452683\/2025\/06\/26\/winners-losers-nba-draft-first-round-2025-pelicans-hornets-spurs\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Winners and losers<\/a> from the first round of the NBA Draft.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">(Top photo: Courtesy of Sacramento State)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Pulse Newsletter \ud83d\udce3 | This is The Athletic\u2019s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":18871,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[1428,1318,1317,1315,1316,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-18870","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-college-football","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-ncaa","11":"tag-ncaa-football","12":"tag-ncaafootball","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-unitedstates","16":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114754981933093281","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18870"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18870\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}