When Friends’ Central’s Ryan Carter limped off the court with 3 minutes, 40 seconds left in the PAISAA girls’ basketball championship game at Hagan Arena on Friday night, it felt like history was repeating itself.
Carter, a junior guard who spent last season at Archbishop Wood, went down with an injury in the 2025 PIAA Class 5A championship. She played through the pain but was unable to lead Wood to a win.
But this time, in a different jersey and a different state championship game, Carter got back on the floor and helped upset Westtown, 62-54.
“These girls, I didn’t want to let them down,” Carter said. “This is the one team where I’ve felt like people have always had my back, no matter what. It’s a true family.”
The Friends’ Central girls celebrate after winning the PAISAA state title against Westtown on Friday.
Zya Small led the Phoenix (27-6) with 18 points as they claimed their first PAISAA state title in program history. Kayla Snyder and Carter added 14 and 12 points, respectively.
“This group of girls, they just work so hard,” Friends’ Central coach Vinny Simpson said. “And they believe. That’s the difference in this year’s group. They believe, they work hard. … That’s how we figured it out.”
Westtown (28-2) entered Friday night’s game having won four consecutive PAISAA titles. It beat Friends’ Central in the state title game in 2024 and 2025, as well as in the regular season and Friends League championship this year.
“That’s a ton [of times] to lose to a team,” said Faith Watson, a sophomore center who scored 10 points for the Phoenix. “So this feels great.”
Jordyn Palmer led Westtown with 27 points. The junior forward is ranked as the sixth best prospect by ESPN. Friends’ Central’s Carter (No. 12) and Small (No. 47) also are among the top 60 prospects in the 2027 class.
Friday night’s loss was the final game of Atlee Vanesko’s Westtown career. The senior guard, who’s No. 74 in the 2026 class and will play at Ohio State next season, scored six points and fouled out with 1 minute, 49 seconds remaining.
Westtown’s Jordyn Palmer watches the ball from the floor after taking a shot in the PAISAA girls’ basketball final on Friday.
Friends’ Central will continue its season in The Throne, a single-elimination national tournament run by the National Basketball Players Association. The seventh-seeded Phoenix will face second-seeded Princess Anne (Va.) in East Rutherford, N.J., in the tournament’s first round on March 19.
Natal, a fifth-year guard, scored 21 points , while Johnston, a senior guard who will play at Marquette next season, added 22. The pair of guards helped to lift the Hill School (24-9) to its first state title since 2018.
Johnston scored 13 of his 22 in the third quarter. The Hill School outscored Phelps, 27-9, in the third, which gave the Rams a 28-point lead entering the fourth.
The Hill School players pose for a photo after it won the PAISAA boys’ basketball final against Phelps School on Friday.
“Last year, we didn’t play a complete game,” Johnston said. “We didn’t execute late. I think this year we took more of an initiative to execute late and just stay together.”
The Hill School coach Seth Eilberg began to empty his bench with three minutes remaining. The team has eight players graduating, including Natal, Johnston, and Zane Conlon, who scored 11 on Friday.
“We’ve played a really tough schedule,” Eilberg said. “We’ve taken a couple of hits here and there. They stayed together, and we kept getting better, and we kept having fun with it.”
Jahrel Vigo led Phelps (24-12) with 19 points. The senior guard, who will play at Buffalo next season, was the only Phelps player to reach double figures in scoring.
As an incoming freshman at Drexel, Shane Blakeney showcased his potential halfway across the world.
In the summer of 2022, Drexel played a mix of professional and club teams in Italy as part of an international tournament. In one of those games, Dragons center Garfield Turner found himself under the rim to grab an easy put-back shot. Then, a lengthy freshman swooped in.
“Out of nowhere, I just see this long arm come behind me and just punch it [in],” Turner said, laughing. “We were joking about that for a little bit. It was his first time Shane dunked on somebody in college.”
Now, the 6-foot-5, 200 pound junior is leading Drexel (16-14, 10-7 CAA) with a team-high 14.5 points per game, while spearheading the Dragons defense. Drexel is allowing the fewest points per game (65.1) in the conference, and Blakeney has come away with 22 blocks and 35 steals.
Drexel guard Shane Blakeney is averaging a team-high 14.5 points this season.
When he first arrived on campus, the guard was 25 pounds lighter. He struggled to get on the court due to his slender frame and had a few lingering injuries, so he was granted a redshirt year.
“Between high school and college, I went through some injuries, which was rough and kind of put me out of touch with basketball,” Blakeney said. “I hadn’t [gone] a year without basketball ever since I started, so I think transitioning back in that redshirt freshman year was difficult.”
Coach Zach Spiker added: “He’s playing 38 minutes a night. A guy that wasn’t able to physically get on the floor. Now we can’t get him off.”
‘Committed to the work’
Growing up in Rock Hill, S.C., Blakeney’s parents introduced him to several sports. He played soccer and football — attempted baseball, though he “wasn’t a big fan” — and swam competitively.
However, basketball was the sport with which his family was most connected.
Blakeney’s uncle, Charles Kirkland, was a standout at Cheyney University and played professionally in the Netherlands for nearly a decade. His cousin is Jazian Gortman, a former five-star recruit in the Overtime Elite League who played on the Dallas Mavericks and Oklahoma City Thunder’s G League affiliates.
At 7, Blakeney started practicing with Bobby “ICE” Isom, a South Carolina-based basketball trainer, and stayed with him throughout high school. When Drexel is on a break, Blakeney will drop by to work with Isom.
“[Blakeney] was committed to the work and never complained about it either,” Isom said. “I knew he was going to be a special talent at a young age.”
Blakeney started AAU basketball in third grade, and at age 15 jumped to Upward Stars Southeast, a premier travel team on the Adidas Circuit. There, he met Dylan Williams, now a 5-11 senior guard at Penn.
Penn’s Dylan Williams and Drexel’s Shane Blakeney played AAU basketball together in South Carolina.
When Williams was looking to transfer to Penn from Triton College in 2023, his former teammate was one of the first peoplehe called.
“The Shane then is a different type of build [compared to] now,” Williams said. “He’s more cut, taller, way taller. … We were like the same height [then] because I really haven’t grown since.”
Isom added: “I think encouragement was what [Blakeney] needed most while he was a scrawny, short kid heading into high school, trying to find his way in the world of basketball.”
At Legion Collegiate Academy, Blakeney played four years on varsity and surpassed 1,000 career points.
“South Carolina [basketball] is pretty similar to Philly,” Blakeney said. “I would say probably a little bit more skilled, but toughness wise, you got a lot of athletes down south that bump and bang. They all play football. It’s physical, and if you can’t be physical, you won’t really last.”
Spiker also has the same mentality. During a high school practice that college coaches came to visit, Blakeney slugged at the back of sprint lines. The Drexel coach took notice.
“[Spiker] pulled me into the office afterward and kind of chewed me out,” Blakeney said. “A lot of the people would be like, ‘Oh, this coach is tripping.’ But our family was like, ‘Hold on, this is our values.’”
‘Never a dull moment’
Turner nicknamed Blakeney “motor mouth” because he’s always talking.
Drexel guard Kevon Vanderhorst described his teammate as a “hilarious dude,” saying there is “never a dull moment with him.” While Spiker believes Blakeney’s personality is “refreshing and genuine.”
“I think I’m more of a bubbly personality than maybe some other teammates,” Blakeney said. “I like seeing that side come out of them. Talking, having fun, laughing is kind of what life’s experiences are about. … I’ve always been kind of a silly guy, so I had to learn to tone it down in class growing up.”
“There’s two different people on the court and off the court,” said Vanderhorst. “I’d say off the court, Shane is funny, he’s very outgoing. On the court, Shane is straight business. Not a guy with a lot of jokes, and not a guy that’s going to take a lot of jokes.”
Blakeney has emerged on Drexel’s roster. He cracked the rotation in 2023, averaging 5.5 minutes. Then, he stepped into the team’s sixth man role, notching an average of 7.6 points last season.
“I had to learn to start taking a role of support and doing what you need to do to win,” Blakeney said. “And you don’t do that in high school. High school, you’re the man everybody loves. You go score points and look cool.”
Now the leader, Blakeney will be expected to carry his team in the conference tournament. Drexel will visit Hofstra on Tuesday (7 p.m., Fubo) in the final game of the regular season. The Dragons are in fourth place in the CAA, and if they can stay in the top four, they will receive a bye in the 13-team tournament.
“Just seeing the work [Blakeney’s] put in, seeing his growth since we’ve been here, little skinny Shane when we first got here to now our top scorer — it’s great,” Turner said.
After a week or so of abusing the clueless 20-somethings for serving as Donald Trump’s latest dupes, it only seems fair to credit the few USA hockey lads for their reluctant mea culpas.
Several of the players who were involved in the debauched postgame celebration with debased FBI director Kash Patel that devolved into a misogynistic phone call with President Trump have issued a range of regrets in the past few days.
Good for them, I guess.
Maybe they’ll think twice next time before laughing about women — in this instance, their Olympic gold-medal counterparts, and the best women’s team ever assembled — being treated as their inferiors.
Maybe.
In his congratulatory call after a golden goal win over Canada on Sunday (a call he did not make to the women’s team three days earlier), Trump invited the men to the White House, then said, “We’re going to have to bring the woman’s team. You do know that?” Otherwise, Trump said, “I do believe I probably would be impeached.”
I took my shots at Team USA midweek, when I noted that any random group of young, white, millionaire American males are more likely than not to agree with Trump, and might have even voted for him, and therefore they innately took little issue in serving as his pawns last Sunday morning and then again Tuesday, when 20 of the 25 players visited the White House and attended Trump’s unhinged State of the Union address. I noted, however, that they shouldn’t realistically be expected to act differently, and that their transgression was far less concerning than, say, Bryson DeChambeau, Trump’s golf mascot.
Ever eager to distract from his administration’s endless corruption, he could not leave the boys alone. Not even if it meant cannibalizing one of their own.
The White House used AI to generate a false statement from Trump supporter and Team USA star Brady Tkachuk in a postgame TikTok video:
“They booed our national anthem, so I had to come out and teach those maple syrup eating (bleepers) a lesson.”
The AI fake is part of a post that includes highlights from the game. The post indicates that AI was used in its construction, it does not specify which parts were fake.
Tkachuk specified which parts were fake on Thursday.
“Well, it’s clearly fake, because it’s not my voice, not my lips moving,” Tkachuk told reporters. “I know that those words would never come out of my mouth. So, I can’t do anything about it. … It’s not my voice. It’s not what I was saying. I would never say that. That’s not who I am, so I guess I don’t like that video because that would never come out of my mouth and never had that thought.”
Maybe. Maybe not.
Despite Tkachuk’s protestations, the White House has not deleted the post. He’s their weapon of the day.
Tkachuk also denied hollering out that Trump should “close the northern border” during Trump’s phone call. Hard to disprove that one, especially since it took him four days to do so.
It should be noted: Tkachuk not only plays for a Canadian team, the Ottawa Senators, he’s also their captain.
It’s hard to feel anything other than Schadenfreude for Tkachuk, or for any of the other players who declined to issue public apologies until public opinion swung so heavily against them. It might have been a week of pure celebration of a historic win. It was the first men’s hockey gold since the Miracle on Ice in 1980, and it was sweet revenge for the 2010 gold-medal loss that, like Sunday’s, was decided on an overtime goal.
That goal-scorer, Jack Hughes, who sacrificed his smile to a high stick in the game, almost gets it.
Jack Hughes (86), who scored the Golden Goal for Team USA, celebrates with fans and teammates.
He attested that the men’s and women’s teams commingle and support each other, which is true … and then, like the sheltered, self-unaware, entitled 24-year-old that he is, Hughes chastised critics of the men’s team thusly:
“Everything is so political. We’re athletes.”
Really, Jack? Just athletes, huh?
Later that day, Hughes and four Team USA teammates posed for a picture with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Hughes and two Team USA teammates wore MAGA hats.
You know. Trump hats. Political hats.
You can’t make it up.
The last thing anyone wanted when USA won was for it to become political. Can’t cry “don’t make it political, people just look for stuff, etc.” with this. It was all avoidable pic.twitter.com/G4w6aPs0Bq
Asked this week by reporters if he agreed with some of his teammates’ recent apologies, Hughes replied, “Yeah,” then deflected with drivel.
Jack Hughes responds to question asking if he agrees with Jeremy Swayman saying US Men’s Hockey ‘should have reacted differently’ during post-game call with Trump. pic.twitter.com/zvSd7dsxmp
“Looking back at it now, I think it was a mistake,” Senators defenseman and Team USA teammate Jake Sanderson told reporters. “But I think things got blown out of proportion a little bit. You know, we have nothing but the utmost respect for the women. I think if we were to do it again, I think we wouldn’t do that, and we made a mistake. … We love the women.”
Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman told reporters, “We should have reacted differently.”
Jeremy Swayman: “We should’ve reacted differently” to President Trump’s comment about the women’s team.
“We know that we are so excited for the women’s team. We have so much respect for the women’s team. To share that gold medal with them is something we’re forever grateful for” pic.twitter.com/YJwPmFSb1z
Significantly, none of them issued any apology unprovoked. None of them apologized on his own.
Tkachuk was even less accountable:
“Honestly, it was just a whirlwind of a moment. Can’t be in control of what somebody says. It just caught us off-guard a little bit, talking to the president.”
No remorse detected.
As for the women, they now have twice rejected invitations to visit Trump & Co., both for Tuesday’s circus and another invitation floated later in the week. Their statement:
“Players are back competing with their professional and collegiate teams and are in the midst of their season. They’re honored and grateful to be invited and any opportunity to visit the White House as a team will be based on their schedules once their seasons conclude.”
Hall of Fame goalie Dominik Hašek applauded the women’s refusal to be used as political props by a man who not only ignored them, and not only demeaned them, but has yet to apologize: “Your president is a big liar and a fraud who abuses his position to insult and bully his fellow citizens.”
Much respect to these women👍👍👍 Yes, your president is a big liar and a fraud who abuses his position to insult and bully his fellow citizens. Still, I believe you must have shown a great deal of heroism in making this decision. Thank you for that👍 https://t.co/W5IrO9zEcy
Eccentric rap star Flavor Flav even invited the women to come party with him in Las Vegas as long as a hotelier and an airline help with travel and accommodations.
If the USA Women’s Hockey team wants a real celebration and invite ,,, I’ll host them in Las Vegas. Do some nice dinners and shows and good times. I’m sure I can get a hotel and airline to help me out here and celebrate these women for real for real. pic.twitter.com/NhtRJ8UxKE
Hey, it’s more than Trump lapdog Kid Rock would ever do.
As might be expected, the women are dealing with the snub with a measure of grace and resignation that neither Trump nor most of the men’s team would ever be able to muster.
“With the phone call specifically, it’s not surprising, to be frank,” USA forward Kelly Pannek told reporters Wednesday. “So I don’t know why we expect differently.”
It’s depressing to realize that the players on arguably the best team in the history of women’s hockey find themselves the victims of Trump’s narcissism, his administration’s piggishness, and much of the country’s indifference to both.
“I think there’s a genuine level of support there and respect,” between the men’s and women’s teams, Hilary Knight, the women’s captain, told ESPN. “I think that’s being overshadowed by a quick lapse. I think the guys were in a tough spot.”
It was a spot they did not create for themselves. It was a spot in which they failed the women, their country, and themselves.
And it is a spot in which many of them have chosen to linger.
CLEARWATER, Fla. — Edmundo Sosa woke up one day in 2019 and decided to get married.
Sosa was a minor leaguer in the St. Louis Cardinals organization, playing in triple A for the Memphis Redbirds. It was just a random day in July, but he decided he couldn’t wait any longer to tie the knot with his girlfriend, Daira Vega.
And so that day, Sosa hired a photographer, found an officiant, and decided on a public park in Memphis where they could hold an impromptu ceremony.
“I just didn’t want to buy any more plane tickets,” Sosa, who is originally from Panama, said jokingly.
There was just one call left to make: to Adolis García, Sosa’s best friend and teammate on the Redbirds. García and his wife served as their witnesses for the spur-of-the-moment wedding, with García also acting as Sosa’s best man.
Now, the pair who consider themselves more like brothers than friends are teammates once again. García, 32, signed a one-year deal with the Phillies this winter to be the team’s everyday right fielder, and is sharing a clubhouse with Sosa, 29, for the first time since that 2019 season.
That December, García was traded to the Texas Rangers, where he spent the next five years. He won a World Series in 2023 and was named American League Championship Series MVP along the way. Sosa remained in the Cardinals organization until he was traded to the Phillies in 2022, and has developed into a key utility infielder and bench bat.
García said he called Sosa right away when the Phillies’ offer was on the table.
“I got very excited at that moment, because I thought and felt that we were going to be close again,” Sosa said through an interpreter. “We were going to be playing together again. So that brought a lot of fun memories that we had back in the years. We trained a lot together.
“We got better together, both as people and as players.”
Edmundo Sosa (left) and Adolis García always seem to be near each other at Phillies spring training.
Field 1
At Phillies camp, if you see one of Sosa or García, the other typically is not far behind. Their schedules most days are similar, and they have played together in all the same Grapefruit League games so far.
They remember clearly the day they met. It was at Field 1 at the Cardinals complex during 2017 spring training, and they were in the same hitting group. Sosa was turning 20 that March, and García, who had just defected from Cuba, was turning 24. (Their birthdays are four days apart.)
“We got along pretty fast,” Sosa said. “I mean, I think it was [former Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina] hitting that day, first one in the group, and another guy, and it was us, too. So we just introduced each other, chat a little bit, and then after that, we were just really close.”
That season, Sosa started the year in high A, and García had been assigned to double-A Springfield. Sosa hit .285 in 51 games, and earned a call-up to Springfield in June to join García. But it didn’t last long: In Sosa’s first game in double A, he broke his hamate bone. So instead of a grand reunion on the first day, all they did was go out to eat at Qdoba.
The next year at spring training in Jupiter, Fla., they shared a hotel room. They spent a lot of time hanging out, playing video games, and going to the beach.
Even after they were on separate clubs, they remained close. In 2021, Sosa wanted to spend the offseason training in the U.S. but didn’t have a place to stay. García welcomed him into his home, along with Sosa’s wife, Daira, who was pregnant with their daughter, Naya.
García is Naya’s godfather, and they share a birthday: March 2.
Sosa had to leave for spring training after Naya’s birth, while Daira stayed with García’s wife, Yasmarys, who helped her adjust to motherhood.
“I have never told him this,” Sosa said, “but I always was grateful for everything he did for my family during that time.”
Adolis García (right), who signed a one-year deal with the Phillies in the offseason, said Edmundo Sosa has “helped me get acquainted with the guys, and he’s helped let them embrace me too.”
Reunited
This offseason, Sosa and García trained together again in Tampa. García has been focused on plate discipline as he seeks to recapture his 2023 form, when he posted an .836 OPS and bashed 39 home runs. Phillies assistant hitting coach Edwar Gonzalez also visited García over the winter.
Already having a best friend in the clubhouse has helped García as he adapts to a new organization.
“It’s good for me, it’s good for us, too, because he’s helped me get acquainted with the guys, and he’s helped let them embrace me, too,” García said.
García has two children as well, and their families are just as close as they are. They often spend time together barbecuing, playing each other in FIFA — Sosa conceded that García is better — and listening to music.
They will briefly be separated when Sosa leaves this week to represent Panama at the World Baseball Classic. Panama will compete in Pool A in San Juan, Puerto Rico, alongside Puerto Rico, Cuba, Colombia, and Canada.
It is a big year for both of them, as García and Sosa will be free agents at the end of 2026. Before that, though, they have a goal that would be all the more special if they could achieve it together.
“We share the same goal right now,” Sosa said. “For me, it is to go back to a World Series as a player, and for him, it is to win another one. I just think of it as a beautiful process that we get to live now, and we’re going to be supporting each other, pushing each other, and trying to make each other better during the season.”
INDIANAPOLIS — In each of the past two drafts, the Eagles diverged from their typical first-round philosophy.
In 2024, general manager Howie Roseman ended the organization’s 22-year drought in selecting a defensive back in the first round when he drafted Quinyon Mitchell. Last year, Roseman and the Eagles drafted South Jersey native and linebacker Jihaad Campbell, from a position that had previously not been an early-round priority.
The Eagles roster needs retooling heading into the 2026 season, and among the potential needs are at safety and tight end. The Birds have never drafted a first-round safety and haven’t selected a tight end that early since 1988.
With tight ends Dallas Goedert, Grant Calcaterra, and Kylen Granson, and safeties Marcus Epps and Reed Blankenship all set to be free agents, could Roseman and the Eagles buck another trend?
Here is what we’ve learned about the Eagles’ interest in draft prospects so far at the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine:
Texas A&M’s Nate Boerkircher (87) could be an answer for the Eagles at tight end.
Interest in tight ends is real
The Eagles have spent a significant amount of time speaking with tight ends this week in Indianapolis. Roseman recently talked about needing “more of a diverse skill set at that position” last season.
The prized player of the group is Oregon’s Kenyon Sadiq, the consensus top tight end of this class, but he had not yet met with the Eagles when he held his podium session Thursday afternoon.
There were several other players the Eagles did meet with, informally and formally. NC State’s Justin Joly, Georgia’s Oscar Delp, Ohio State’s Max Klare, Texas’ Jack Endries, Vanderbilt’s Eli Stowers, and Ole Miss’ Dae’Quan Wright were among the players who met with the Eagles this week.
Klare, Delp, Joly, and Stowers are more like the tight ends the Eagles have drafted in the past, majoring as receivers with deficiencies as blockers, while Endries and Wright are a little more well-rounded as blockers.
Eagles running backs coach Jemal Singleton coached Texas A&M’s Nate Boerkircher at the Senior Bowl as part of Eagles D-line coach Clint Hurtt’s staff, and Boerkircher met informally with the Eagles this week at the combine. Boerkircher plays a more traditional in-line tight end role and is a physical blocker who revels in doing the dirty work that doesn’t always equate to targets and catches.
Not many true "Y" type of tight ends in this draft class, but #TAMU TE Nate Boerkircher executed a lot of those duties after transferring from Nebraska. Didn't have overwhelming production but did a nice job as a blocker in-line and flexed out, and even pass pro occasionally. pic.twitter.com/yJIQW8GgCI
“I think [NFL teams] like my toughness and my high motor,” Boerkircher said Thursday. “I don’t have, you know, crazy stats. So that limited stats thing is brought up a little bit, and we talked about that, but [my film] shows what it needs to show.”
Ohio State’s Will Kacmarek is one of the best blocking tight ends in the draft class, and while there hasn’t been any reported interest from the Eagles, he would be a welcome addition to a room that needs that type of player.
Even if the Eagles don’t draft Sadiq in the first round, there are several other players that seem to be piquing the team’s interest.
Toledo safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren could follow former secondary teammate Quinyon Mitchell to the Eagles.
Another Toledo prospect?
The Eagles struck gold by drafting Mitchell from Toledo, which continues to churn out NFL secondary talent. And there are three more players from the Rockets program in this class.
There’s one specifically, though, that the Eagles brought in for a formal interview, and that’s safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren. The 6-foot-3 player is explosive, can defend the run, and has short-area coverage ability. He has excellent ball skills to intercept the ball and force fumbles, and was teammates with Mitchell for two years at Toledo.
“[Mitchell] was a motivation for us, so he just pushed us to be great, pushed us to work hard every day and be the best person we could be,” McNeil-Warren said of his former teammate. “Just coming in [to Toledo], knowing you got a chip on your shoulder, especially for a small school … just the work ethic we put in, we just got to keep grinding.”
McNeil-Warren tested well for his size at the combine, running a 4.52-second 40-yard dash, jumping a 35.5 inch vertical, and a 10-foot, 2-inch broad jump. He is among two other safeties that could go in the first round, which includes consensus top-10 pick Caleb Downs and Oregon’s Dillon Thieneman, who had an outstanding testing session.
Even with limited reported interest in the position group, the Eagles should strongly consider drafting a safety with a deep group this year. They may be waiting to bring other top safety prospects in for pre-draft visits over the next month.
Wide receiver Deion Burks (4) is a player the Eagles have met with in Indianapolis.
Quick hitters
The Eagles like drafting edge rushers early and often, and it seems like they’re showing interest in bigger body types. They have met with Penn State’s Dani Dennis-Sutton (6-6, 256 pounds), Michigan’s Derrick Moore (6-4, 255), and Duke’s Wesley Williams (6-4, 256). They also showed continued interest in Western Michigan’s Nadame Tucker (6-2, 247), who was praised by Hurtt during the Senior Bowl, and Central Florida’s Malachi Lawrence (6-4, 253), who received interest from the Eagles at the East-West Shrine Bowl.
Could fullback be of interest for the Eagles in 2026 under new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion? If he does take elements from Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan’s offense, it could include a plan for the position. The Eagles met with Michigan fullback Max Bredeson at the Shrine Bowl. He’s a former high school quarterback and models his game after Alec Ingold, who was in Mike McDaniel’s Shanahan-inspired offense the last two years in Miami.
The Eagles have met with three receivers so far at the combine, and they’re all in the same mold: slot receivers that can win vertically and over the middle of the field. Clemson’s Antonio Williams, Mississippi State’s Brennan Thompson, and Oklahoma’s Deion Burks are among the list, and Thompson could challenge for being the fastest player at the combine. Williams is particularly interesting considering his ability to block and was a versatile weapon in Clemson’s offense last season.
When U.S. Soccer Federation sporting director Matt Crocker asked for the youth game’s help at last month’s United Soccer Coaches Convention, not a lot of people were in the room to hear it.
But that doesn’t mean his message wasn’t received.
There was significant interest, including from two of the most prominent figures in the Philadelphia region’s youth soccer scene.
“Our soccer ecosystem has needed this for a long time,” Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer CEO Chris Branscome said. “There has been a growing chorus of voices supporting more direction from the top. The current administration at U.S. Soccer, led by Cindy Cone and JT Batson, have heard us and has taken on the responsibility.”
Branscome’s counterpart across the Delaware River, New Jersey Youth Soccer CEO Evan Dabby, agreed.
“I have been in my role at New Jersey Youth Soccer for about 12 years now, and I don’t recall a time that U.S. Soccer has been more engaged with the youth soccer members,” Dabby said. “As a leader at a state association, I believe New Jersey Youth Soccer can benefit from a clear national vision and more national alignment, and those themes are present in Matt’s words.”
It’s noteworthy that state-level leaders are willing to be led from the top. That hasn’t always been the case, and it doesn’t necessarily mean that every local youth club has the same view.
But there’s a long history of youth administrators telling U.S. Soccer to stop ordering them around, and this time the tone does seem different. From the room where Crocker spoke in January to the one where he spoke at last year’s coaches’ convention, the reception has been, if not always warm, at least quite a bit warmer.
“It’s important to us that he’s not just focused on the national teams; he’s focused on all players at all levels,” said Branscome, who also serves as one of 10 commissioners on U.S. Soccer’s youth council. Its chair is U.S. Youth Soccer board of directors chair Tina Rincon, and co-chairs include veteran U.S. Club Soccer CEO Mike Cullina.
“We’re working collectively and collaboratively to define our player pathways and provide more resources,” Branscome said. “It won’t be easy, but it’s necessary. It’s a major focus for us over the next few years. We’ve seen that dollars over development doesn’t necessarily help us grow the game or make players better.”
He added that “the game inherently doesn’t require high costs, but that’s what’s happened here.”
Those words undoubtedly will get lots of agreement, even if there’s perennial disagreement on how to bring costs down. Whatever the cost to a player’s family, there’s still a bill being paid somewhere.
One obvious way to make things cheaper is to reduce travel distances for teams. More than once in Crocker’s speech last month, he noted how difficult it is for clubs to play local opponents because they’re in different leagues.
“That team can’t play that team, and they go all the way past them and jump on a plane and spend hundreds of dollars to go and play [another] team because that league fell out with that league,” he said. “Just crazy. This is about children. This is about the best opportunities for children.”
Dabby found those words “motivating,” as he did when he heard another of Crocker’s speeches to U.S. Soccer donors and sponsors in December.
He noted that New Jersey Youth Soccer recently launched an Open Cup tournament for teams from any league in the state. MLS, where Dabby used to work, gave an assist to get clubs in its MLS Next leagues into the event. But he made it clear that the competition was created with “not just the New Jersey Youth Soccer community.”
Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer makes regular use of the Union’s WSFS Bank Sportplex in Chester for its tournaments.
Branscome said Eastern Pennsylvania would like to have a similar event, but it hasn’t been able to get the entities that would be involved to agree on a schedule.
“It’s unfortunate that your neighboring club doesn’t play your rivals anymore because they are in other member organizations of the Federation,” he said. “It’s almost like the Big 5.”
‘Saying these things out loud’
The most significant point Crocker made — and the one that will be hardest to execute on — was calling on the youth game to value player development more and winning less.
He knew, as does everyone around the game, how tall a hill that is to climb. Can Crocker be the one who finally convinces a youth club coach to risk their job by winning less or convinces a parent who believes winning is the best way to a college scholarship?
“Soccer in the U.S. has entrepreneurialism and a culture of winning attached to our player development,” Branscome said. “Matt knows that’s not the right learning environment and wants to raise the standards. It’s great that someone in Matt’s position is finally saying these things out loud and providing support to the grassroots.”
Matt Crocker (left) walking with U.S. men’s national team manager Mauricio Pochettino at a game last year.
If you’re an outsider to this, it might be hard to believe there’s so much fuss. But there is, and has been for a long time.
Crocker is the latest of U.S. Soccer’s leaders to try to untangle the knot. So far, his effort has been a bit more polite than some of his predecessors. Will it work?
“What I might appreciate above all else is Matt refers to children, not players,” Branscome said, and Crocker has done that emphatically in some of his remarks. That the Wales native has come in as an outsider has led him to say things that insiders perhaps wouldn’t say aloud. One of them is that for a lot of people in youth soccer, the children playing matter less than the adult decision-makers.
“Soccer provides various opportunities for children and they learn and mature at different speeds,” Branscome said. “Matt knows coaches need to be educators and keep development at the forefront of the experience.”
Crocker has a long way to go to get to where he wants to be. But it’s always nice to have support, and he’d probably be pleased to know he has it around here.
CLEARWATER, Fla. — Aaron Nola is the first to admit that last year “wasn’t a great year.”
The typically durable Phillies right-hander was limited to just 17 starts last season due to an ankle sprain, followed by a stress fracture in his rib cage. Not counting his 12 starts in the 60-game 2020 season shortened by COVID-19, it marked his fewest since he was a rookie in 2015.
When he did pitch, his velocity wasn’t where it has been in past years. Nola’s four-seam averaged 91.9 mph in 2025, down from 92.5 mph in 2024. Accordingly, batters went from a .167 average against the pitch to .230.
So when Nola touched 92.9 mph with the pitch in his first spring start on Friday, he and Phillies manager Rob Thomson found the results encouraging.
“Normally, his velocity is not there yet. That comes later in camp. But he looks strong,” Thomson said.
Nola pitched two innings in a 10-2 win over Miami at Baycare Ballpark on Friday. The Phillies sent another group to Lakeland, Fla., and they fell, 16-8, to Detroit.
“My body feels good,” said Nola, who allowed two hits and one run, striking out two. “I feel like I’m ramping up nicely, and I’m conditioning pretty well. Hope I’m healthy all year, and to throw 32, 33 starts again like I usually do. So preparing for that.”
The Phillies’ Bryson Stott and Adolis García celebrate after Stott scored on a double during the first inning against the Marlins on Friday.
Nola added long toss to his offseason program, which Thomson thinks may have helped build up strength. When his velocity is back up in the 92-93 mph range, that can help Nola’s off-speed offerings, like his curveball and changeup, be more effective.
Nola said he felt a bit more prepared than normal for Friday’s two innings, as he had started his winter throwing program earlier after coming off an injury-shortened season. Instead of honing in on one or two pitches to work on as he might normally, he also used all five in his arsenal.
He’s preparing to represent Italy, where his great-grandparents on his father’s side are from, in the World Baseball Classic and will make one more Phillies start before then.
“Talking to the guys, [the WBC is] like a playoff game,” Nola said. “So I got two starts before pretty much a playoff game. So I wanted to focus in a little bit more.”
Injury check
Infielder Aidan Miller (sore back) played catch Friday. Orion Kerkering (hamstring strain) is set to throw a 26-pitch bullpen on Saturday.
Who stood out
Trea Turner, J.T. Realmuto, Bryson Stott, and Justin Crawford all hit doubles. Adolis García hit two singles to finish 2-for-3.
“[García] battled two strikes,” Thomson said. “His at-bats were a lot better today. Everybody, I think, looks like they’re getting their timing down and getting comfortable at the plate. And I thought we controlled the strike zone really well.”
Stott’s double came against Miami left-hander Bobby Snelling, and it comes a day after he homered to the opposite field off Nationals lefty Jake Eder. Stott hit .225 against lefties last season and was often in a platoon with Edmundo Sosa.
Phillies shortstop prospect Bryan Rincon doubled, homered, and stole a base.
Trea Turner singles during the fourth inning on Friday.
On the mound
Lou Trivino pitched the third inning and allowed one run on two hits and a walk.
Bryse Wilson allowed one hit over two innings and recorded three strikeouts. Max Lazar and Seth Johnson each pitched a scoreless inning and allowed one hit. Johnson’s fastball touched 98 mph.
“He’s had three at-bats against lefties and been on base every time,” Thomson said of Stott. “So he’s looked good. He’s really working the other side of the field, staying flat to the ball, and his plate discipline’s been excellent.”
On deck
The Phillies head to Dunedin, Fla., to face the Blue Jays on Saturday (1:07 p.m., NBCSP). Cristopher Sánchez will take the ball against Toronto’s Dylan Cease.
Many soccer fans hoping to score early World Cup tickets have been unable to do so after missing out on previous presale windows. In an effort to appease those fans, FIFA offered a 48-hour special opportunity for supporters to purchase tickets to select matches in their desired markets. But prices remained sky high, availability was severely limited, and details — like where you’d actually be sitting — were minimal.
Over the course of three separate presales, which began in September with a special draw for Visa cardholders, FIFA claims more than 500 million fans have expressed interest, with many registering in ticket lotteries. These lotteries and presales come before what’s expected to be a free-for-all in April, FIFA’s last-minute sales phase, in which tickets will be available on a first-come, first-served basis, “processed as real-time transactions.”
So the surprise that FIFA offered a special, unannounced 48-hour presale to select fans — starting at 11 a.m. on Wednesday and ending the same time on Friday — came as a welcome shock for those looking for seats before they hit the secondary market.
However, for some fans, the real shock arrived after they bypassed FIFA’s queue and gained access to the ticket portal. By Friday morning in Philadelphia, the only game left available was the Group E match between the Ivory Coast and World Cup first-timers Curaçao on June 25 (4 p.m., FS1).
It’s unknown if FIFA offered more than one match during this special presale or if it was just that one match, and requests for comment to its media team regarding the number of matches made available, as well as the number of matches in neighboring markets like New York for this presale, went unanswered at the time of this report.
Select fans looking to attend the World Cup in Philly were granted a special presale this week, but were still faced with high prices for match tickets to one game by Friday.
FIFA, which offers tickets in three categories ranging from Category 1 (the most expensive) to Category 3 (the least expensive), had seating in this special presale only for Categories 1 and 2 remaining on Friday morning. They started at $360 per ticket. For a seat in Category 1? $450.
These prices mirrored the original ticket prices for matches in Philly when they were first released in December, with Category 2 tickets in this latest special presale just $20 cheaper than the original $380 asking price.
Following global backlash in that same month, FIFA offered what they called a Supporter Entry Tier ticket, selling off a few hundred Category 3 seats across all 16 venues for just $60.
Lincoln Financial Field will host six World Cup matches, including a July 4 Round-of-16 knockout match.
However, it appears prices, fueled by FIFA’s employment of dynamic pricing for the first time in World Cup history, are back in the hundreds of dollars.
To some in this latest presale, the juice just didn’t feel worth the squeeze.
“Who can afford that for that game?” said Daniel Quinn, a Northeast Philly native who works in retail management. Quinn said he didn’t even notice the email from FIFA until Thursday night, as it hit his spam folder.
He rushed to the portal on Friday morning to see what was left.
“I just stared at my phone and laughed,” Quinn said. “Listen, I know it’s the World Cup, but I can’t justify paying $360 to watch a game where I can’t tell you a single soul playing on the field. Like, I know the Ivory Coast has good players, but for that to be the only game available and then to offer seats at those prices, just felt silly.”
One more surprise remained. The presale still only guaranteed fans what’s known as a “right to buy” ticket, meaning that seat selection, even after purchasing, remained a mystery and would only be made available as the match drew closer.
“Why are these still right to buy tickets?” Quinn continued. “This late in the game, I should know where I’ll sit so I can make an informed decision. Does a Cat 1 seat get me in the back [of the lower bowl] at the Linc, or a Cat 2, where I’m sitting up higher, but I might be in front? If you’re going to spend that type of money, I feel like you should at least know that.”
The total cost for two tickets for the June 25 game between the Ivory Coast and Curaçao inclusive of taxes and fees through a special presale FIFA offered select fans on Wednesday.
Earlier this week, a FIFA spokesperson told The Athletic that the fans chosen for its latest presale were “a defined group of applicants” selected in order to maximize fairness and acknowledge fans who have already demonstrated strong interest in the tournament.”
But the fact that, with just hours left before the Friday mid-morning deadline, the opportunity was availability for one game across the five group-stage matches coming to Philly beginning June 14, and that the cost to attend was still so high, rubbed soccer fans like Quinn the wrong way.
“Listen, shoutout to the people who can afford these [tickets],” he said. “I’m a lifelong soccer fan, and I’ve been to a lot of [soccer] games at the Linc. I went to the Club World Cup last year, and having the World Cup not just here in the States but literally where the Birds play feels like a bucket list [item]. But I think I’ll wait, man. Either these [ticket prices] drop because there are people like me who are laughing at what they’re charging, and prices will go way down, or people will snatch these up, and I’ll watch it for free on TV.
Standing in the locker room on Tuesday after his first practice with the Flyers since returning from a bronze-medal-winning twirl at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics, Rasmus Ristolainen didn’t let the question finish before agreeing.
“Your name has popped up around trade deadlines in your time here,” the reporter started.
The Flyers defenseman interjected with a smile — or maybe a smirk — and a “Yep.”
He’s still here, but like sand through an hourglass, is this the year the days of Ristolainen in Philly run out? Decisions will have to be made by 3 p.m. on March 6.
“Yeah, obviously, those are things you can’t really control,” Ristolainen said. “You obviously try to do your part, get better every day, and what happens, happens.”
What makes this year different from last year, when his name was brought up, is that the big Finn is healthy — his last two seasons were shut down in February and March — and has a more favorable contract. He has one more season left (at a relatively cheap $5.1 million) on the deal he signed with then-general manager Chuck Fletcher in 2022.
There’s also the fact that in the days leading up to the trade deadline last year, then-coach John Tortorella famously said of the 6-foot-4, 208-pound blueliner: “If you trade him Friday, then on Saturday, you say, ‘[Expletive], I need a big, right-handed defenseman.’” But now Oliver Bonk (6-2, 205) is playing well at Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League, and Spencer Gill (6-4, 213) is climbing the depth chart.
Couple that with his impressive performance at the Olympics, and teams are circling. During the almost-two-week tournament in Italy, Ristolainen showcased a physical, two-way game while posting three assists, tied a tournament-best plus-9 rating, and won a bronze medal he’s happy he didn’t lose after the game.
Ristolainen, left, won a bronze medal with Finland at the Milan Cortina Olympics earlier this month.
Does his play at the Olympics give him confidence moving forward?
“I hope so,” the 31-year-old said. “Obviously, I feel really confident about my game, so hopefully I can bring it here, and we have a good run here.”
But “here” may be changing.
There are suitors, and a source told The Inquirer that more and more teams are checking in on him every day. One team interested is the Edmonton Oilers, according to Daily Faceoff, and The Inquirer can confirm that they also were looking at the defenseman last season before he got hurt. Daily Faceoff also mentioned the Dallas Stars, who have several Finns on the roster, including Ristolainen’s roommate in the athlete village at the Olympics, Mikko Rantanen.
Dallas was one of eight teams listed as having a scout at the Flyers’ game Wednesday in Washington. However, it’s fair to note that one was with the New York Rangers, whom the Flyers beat in overtime on Thursday. There again were more than a half-dozen scouts on hand for the Rangers game, with the Chase Bridge’s scout row packed to the gills. Although the teams are not listed at Madison Square Garden, The Inquirer could identify at least six of the organizations that were there, including the Oilers.
Although several scouts are regulars in the area, when asked if they were there to see Ristolainen, one scout responded: “Isn’t everyone?”
Already an interesting piece for teams because of his size and a highly coveted right shot, the defenseman is strong in his own end and has some offensive upside — Wednesday night in the Flyers’ 3-1 loss to the Capitals, Ristolainen weaved around the defense as he came down from the point and put a good shot on goal. According to Natural Stat Trick, he had four shot attempts, three of which were from high-danger spots, three scoring chances, and one blocked shot.
On Thursday night, under the bright lights of Broadway, Ristolainen had one shot on goal — a low point shot through traffic that created a rebound for Carl Grundström, who snagged it and sent a tricky turnaround shot on goal from the slot. The Flyers had just eight shot attempts and seven shots on goal when he was on the ice, while the Rangers had 19 and 14; however, the Sam Carrick opening goal was a bad miscue by Sam Ersson, and he was on the ice for Trevor Zegras’ game-tying goal.
Ristolainen, now in his 13th NHL season, has never made the playoffs.
With the Flyers’ playoff hopes dwindling by the minute — as of Friday afternoon, they are eight points back of the last spot in the Metropolitan Division and the Eastern Conference’s second wild card — a change of scenery could help the Finn make the first postseason appearance of his career. He’s in Season 13 and is currently the longest-tenured active player without a postseason game, having played in his 797th game on Thursday.
“I feel like that’s why you play the game. You want to win, and that’s where I feel I’m at my best,” Ristolainen said Tuesday. “And in the tournament, it was nice to obviously play games that mean so much.
“That’s always what I believe, I trust in myself,” he added, “and the bigger the stage is, I feel, the better I perform.”
Like Sean Walker two seasons ago and Scott Laughton last year, could the clock be ticking on Ristolainen’s tenure in Philly?
It sounds like teams won’t start ramping up legitimate offers for a few more days — as their teams lay the groundwork for the rest of the season, desperation sets in, and options dwindle — and the Flyers are listening. But, like the return for those two players, the Flyers’ brass would like a first-round pick.
In the end, it does take two to tango. So who wants to dance in March?
CLEARWATER, Fla. — Before Zack Wheeler’s first bullpen session in over six months on Thursday, he didn’t have any expectations.
He knew he was going to throw only fastballs. That’s fairly typical for a pitcher beginning a ramp-up, because spinning the ball and throwing breaking balls requires more torque and therefore puts more pressure on the elbow. Wheeler has spun the ball during flat ground sessions and hopes to mix his offspeed offerings in more of his next few bullpens.
But other than knowing every pitch would be a sinker or four-seam, he had no expectations.
“I didn’t know how to feel [Thursday] or know what I was going to feel like [Thursday],” Wheeler said. “But I felt good. I felt smooth, natural.”
This is uncharted territory, as recovering from the venous thoracic outlet surgery Wheeler underwent on Sept. 23 is not like a typical injury. And throughout the process, Wheeler has focused on going at his own pace, rather than comparing himself to other MLB pitchers who have had the same surgery.
Wheeler, who had a blood clot near his right shoulder removed, is not viewing it as a sigh of relief, but rather another box ticked off in a long list of them.
“The first one’s throwing a baseball,” he said, “then the next one is throwing long toss; usually that feels good, and then getting off the mound, getting into a game, facing live hitters is probably the next one. You just have those checkmarks along the way.”
He added that he was at about 80-85% of max effort on Thursday. The Phillies have declined to publicize the radar gun readings of Wheeler’s bullpen.
In a typical year, Wheeler doesn’t have a set number of times he throws before arriving at camp. Sometimes he’ll arrive not having touched a mound yet, and other times he’ll have had four or five sessions already.
“It just depends. There’s been years where I came in and I’m basically at where I’m at right now. It’s a little different, but at the same time, I’m not too far behind,” Wheeler said.
Manager Rob Thomson described Wheeler’s shoulder Thursday as “stronger than it’s ever been.” Wheeler said he agreed with that.
“I’ve been strengthening it all offseason. I’ve got to give a lot of credit to Paul [Buchheit], the head trainer,” Wheeler said. “He’s been working with me all offseason, a few times a week, and he’s helped me get my arm a lot stronger. You’ve just got to help protect the area as much as possible. Concentrate a lot on the shoulder strengthening and just overall body. Hopefully, that helps out for the long run.”
Zack Wheeler (right), with Aaron Nola, has a bullpen session planned for Sunday.
Wheeler doesn’t know if he will be able to get into a game before camp ends. The Phillies are aiming to get him on a regular build-up schedule, which is two days off between bullpen sessions. His next bullpen is planned for Sunday, where he will throw 25 pitches and start mixing in his splitter with the fastballs.
If he takes things slow, does he think there could be any benefit when October rolls around?
“If I’m ready to go, I’m ready to go,” Wheeler said. “I don’t think I have any problem when October comes, usually. So I don’t think this year is any different than any other year, trying to preserve-wise.”
For his teammates, it’s been great just to have Wheeler back around them this spring.
“Just having his presence around is always good,” fellow starter Jesús Luzardo said. “Having his advice, him just being around adds that level of veteran — that we already have, obviously, with [Aaron] Nola and [Taijuan Walker], and we have other guys — but it’s just another added voice in the back of our heads that we can bounce ideas off of.”
Added Nola: “I didn’t see his bullpen, but heard it went well. I’ve just seen him throwing out on the fields, and he looks normal. Looks like Wheels.”
