After Temple football signed the top-ranked high school class in the American Conference last month, coach K.C. Keeler said the program was just beginning its recruiting process.
The Owls started their second phase on Jan. 2 when the transfer portal opened. Temple landed 22 transfers while also retaining most of its core pieces from this season.
“There’s really three phases to this whole recruiting process,” Keeler said. “The first phase is recruiting your locker room. I thought we did a phenomenal job. We’re probably one of the only [non-Power Four] schools in the country that didn’t lose a single starter. … Then the third phase is the portal. The portal’s unique in that it’s not just like who you get in terms of what their ratings are and those things. It’s a lot [of] what your needs are and are you meeting your needs. We graduated a bunch of starters, especially on defense. I thought we did a great job of filling those needs.”
The priority for Keeler was finding a quarterback for next season. Owls starter Evan Simon and backup Gevani McCoy will graduate this spring, and third-stringer Tyler Douglas entered the transfer portal.
Temple landed two quarterbacks from the transfer portal in Jaxon Smolik from Penn State and Ajani Sheppard from Washington State. They will compete for the starting role. Sheppard spent two seasons at Rutgers before transferring to the Cougars last year and was recruited by the Owls when he was in the portal last season.
Temple general manager Clayton Barnes says former quarterback Jaxon Smolik didn’t get his opportunity at Penn State but has the skill set to be an elite quarterback.
Smolik visited Temple in early January and became friends with tight end Peter Clarke, who hosted him. General manager Clayton Barnes said Smolik has a similar personality to Simon.
“So [Smolik is] a guy that things didn’t time up. He was behind a three-year starter the whole time he was there” at Penn State, Barnes said. “[He] really just needed that opportunity. So when we checked the box from a skill set, personality, all that kind of stuff, he’s a guy that we felt would be a great fit for us and was one of those first few guys we got on campus. And by the time he was there, it was like, ‘Hey, this is our guy.’”
Smolik was one of four players to join Temple from Penn State during the offseason. Since the programs have the same recruiting pool, Temple often uses Penn State coaches to source intel on prospective transfers. Two former Nittany Lions, defensive tackle Kaleb Artis and safety Kolin Dinkins, are among 11 defensive players the Owls brought in.
Artis is among six brought in to bolster the defensive line after Temple lost Sekou Kromah, K.J. Miles, Cam’Ron Stewart, and Charles Calhoun to graduation or the portal.
“So you look at what we graduated from the rush spot this past year,” Barnes said. “We had two seniors that played and another guy that sought other opportunities. We knew we needed to bring in guys to play that position.”
Keeler also wanted continuity along the offensive line after losing starting right tackle Diego Barajas to graduation. Left tackle Giakoby Hills and left guard Eric King stayed with the program on multiyear deals.
The Owls also brought in offensive linemen to add depth. Former Rutgers lineman John Stone will compete for the starting center role with Grayson Mains.
“How do we bring in guys to compete for that right tackle spot? We don’t want to just rest on our laurels,” Barnes said. “We want to get better. So we brought in a couple other guys that have multiple years that not only can push those current starters, but also give us guys that can play for us next year if they don’t end up being the guy.”
There will be times when passionate teammates have heated exchanges.
One of those occasions happened Friday night between the 76ers’ backcourt mates, Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe, during a loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The two were spotted arguing near the bench during a break in action after Edgecombe left Cavs standout Donovan Mitchell wide-open for a three-pointer. Maxey yelled something to Edgecombe after the made basket, and the discussion continued on the sideline during a timeout. The two-time All-Star point guard even rose from the bench to further explain his point to Edgecombe, leading to a spirited discussion in front of teammates, coaches, fans, and cameras.
A video of the exchange, which circulated on social media, has gone viral.
“I was not aware until my dad called me and was like, ‘Hey, you and VJ good?’” Maxey said. “I was like, ‘Uh, yeah. Why?’ A couple of people sent [the video] to me, and I kind of just laughed at it. We want to win so, so bad. And we talked about the scenario of, like, not leaving Donovan Mitchell. … I didn’t want him to leave Donovan Mitchell.”
With Mitchell running down the court, Maxey wanted Edgecombe to switch off Craig Porter Jr., the ball handler. Instead, both players followed Porter, who passed to a wide-open Mitchell.
After catching the pass, the six-time All-Star stepped into a 27-foot three-pointer to knot the score at 16 with 6 minutes, 52 seconds remaining in the first quarter. The Sixers held Mitchell to 13 points on 4-for-13 shooting that night after he tormented them for 35 points two nights before.
Aside from the miscommunication, the Sixers guards did a solid job defending him. However, they struggled offensively. Maxey had 22 points on 9-for-23 shooting. Edgecombe scored 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting. He didn’t attempt a shot in the third quarter and scored three points on 1-for-2 shooting in the fourth.
But a lot of attention went to their exchange in the video.
“I just told him, like, man, in certain scenarios, certain principles go out the window,” Maxey said of wanting Edgecombe to switch on to Mitchell. “Like, this dude is really good, and he had 35 on us last night. I say all that to say, we just want to win. Like, we laughed about it after the game. I was the first person to tell him, like, ‘Dude, you shooting five times in a basketball game is not going to cut it for us. Like, we need you. You’ve got to be up to 10, 12. Like, you’ve got to be aggressive.’
“So, man, that’s fine. That’s my dog. That’s my little brother.”
McConnell’s milestone
On Friday, T.J. McConnell joined another former Sixer, Lou Williams, as the only players in NBA history to record 3,000 assists off the bench.
McConnell, who’s in his seventh season with the Indiana Pacers, reached the milestone with two assists in the first quarter of the Pacers’ 129-117 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans.
Williams, who played a combined 17 seasons with the Sixers, Atlanta Hawks, Toronto Raptors, Los Angeles Lakers, Houston Rockets, and Los Angeles Clippers, recorded 3,262 assists as a reserve and added 527 as a starter.
Former Sixers guard T.J. McConnell (9), now with the Indiana Pacers, posted a stat that is unique to only two players who spent time in Philly.
After adding three assists in Monday’s 114-103 loss to the Sixers, McConnell has 3,010 assists off the bench. The 11th-year veteran is just one of five players to reach career marks of 3,000-plus points, 2,000-plus assists, 1,500-plus rebounds, and 500-plus steals as a reserve.
“I feel like my playing here established the player I was going to be throughout my career,” McConnell said of spending his first four NBA seasons with the Sixers. “It established a mindset on how I’m going to play, how I’m going to go about it, and how I’m going to be a pro.
“Obviously, I’m very thankful for my time here, because I wouldn’t have been put in a position to play as many years as I did. For them to take a chance on me and establish the type of player I want to be, I’m thankful.”
Undrafted out of Arizona, McConnell began his NBA journey as the Sixers’ fifth-string point guard during training camp in 2015. At the time, the 6-foot-1, 190-pounder didn’t even have a locker.
The former Sixers fan favorite averaged 6.4 points and 4.7 assists in 314 games with 72 starts before signing a free-agent deal with the Pacers on July 29, 2019.
LAS VEGAS ― On Saturday, captain Sean Couturier stood in front of reporters in the Flyers locker room at Xfinity Mobile Arena after a 6-3 loss to the Rangers and said, “We [stunk]. Plain and simple. We can’t show up.”
Fast forward to Monday night at T-Mobile Arena after a 2-1 win against the Vegas Golden Knights, and Couturier said, “Yeah, it was a gutsy win.”
It wasn’t always pretty, but it was a win. Finally, after losing six straight, the Flyers were able to hold off the red-hot Golden Knights.
Here are four stars.
4. The penalty kill
The Flyers’ penalty kill has been dreadful. Since Jan. 1, it entered the game as the league’s second-worst unit at 57.7%. That led to assistant coach Todd Reirden, who is in charge of the penalty kill, calling a meeting on Monday morning. According to Travis Konecny, it was a detailed, long meeting focused on reminding the players what made them so successful early in the season.
“We had a really good meeting this morning, and had a game plan going into their power play,” defenseman Nick Seeler said. “Obviously, they’re a top-10 power play in the league. I thought our pressure was a smart, pressure, right? So, try to take away time and space for [Jack] Eichel, he’s a heck of a player, obviously. We did a good job, obviously. We need to stay out of the box, but, you know, PK was good tonight so that’s a positive.”
Eichel did help Vegas get its lone goal when he sent a shot-pass to Tomáš Hertl as he glided in front and deflected the puck past goalie Sam Ersson.
Flyers defenseman Emil Andrae and left wing Noah Cates sandwich Golden Knights center Jack Eichel during the second period.
But when you’re facing the fourth-best power play in the NHL, and you allow just one goal on seven power plays, that’s pretty darn good. And one of those penalty kills was in the last 1 minute, 33 seconds of the game when Owen Tippett sent the puck over the glass — in a one-goal game. The Flyers made two big blocks during that kill, one by Seeler and one by Cam York.
The structure was better as they didn’t collapse or shift into the box too often; coach Rick Tocchet likes to employ the diamond on the penalty kill. According to Natural Stat Trick, Vegas had 12 shot attempts, five shots on goal, seven scoring chances, and five high-danger chances. But in the end, the Flyers and Golden Knights each got a goal while the home team was on the man advantage.
“Obviously, on the PK you’re going to have to give up some shots. So just knowing which ones we want to kind of give up and the ones we need help to take away,” Ersson said. “Like a lot of our penalty kill, I think we build on like our urgency and our willingness to block shots. I think that’s huge for us to have success.
“And we did that tonight, and it kind of leads the way and gives so much momentum to the team when guys put their body on the line like that.”
3. Nick Seeler
Speaking of guys who like to lay their body on the line, Seeler came up big in several ways Monday.
Although Tocchet had shown different defensive pairings during recent practices and morning skates, he stuck to his pairings. Seeler was paired with Noah Juulsen and was on the ice during the final 1:33 of the game. Seeler slid and made a massive block with 44 seconds left on a Shea Theodore shot to preserve the win.
But it was earlier in the game when he made the biggest play.
In the second period, he faced a two-on-one when Juulsen pinched down the right boards. Seeler was the lone man back facing two of Vegas’ best in Ivan Barbashev and Mark Stone. He stayed on his feet and blocked the Stone pass intended for Barbashev across the crease.
It was a big moment in the game but also a big moment considering what Tocchet said Saturday after the loss to the Rangers.
“We’re just doing things,” an exacerbated Tocchet said. “Even on two-on-one, the guys on the outside site, why are you leaving your feet and letting them pass [across]? Just hold them; that’s something we’ve really worked on this year and have done a good job.
“But now we’re sliding again, and we’re trying to block a shot now. How many weakside goals have we been giving up lately? That’s something that I’ve been preaching since the start of the year: You cannot give weakside goals up.”
The play was huge as it kept it a one-goal game.
“Yeah, [Tocchet] likes the D to try not to leave their feet,” Seeler said. “Obviously, there’s situations where you need to desperation-wise, but, yeah, it’s good. It’s nice to break those up and get going the other way.”
Flyers right wing Travis Konecny (11) celebrates his first goal against Vegas during the first period.
2. Travis Konecny
From the onset, it looked like the alternate captain was determined and focused on ending the losing streak. In the end, he led the way with a pair of goals, each scored off turnovers by the Golden Knights.
His first goal came off a Hertl turnover just inside the Flyers blue line as the Czech center tried to pass to Vegas defenseman Kaedan Korczak. Konecny poked the puck away from Korczak and took off. He skated in one-on-one with goalie Adin Hill and beat him glove side to open the scoring 3:46 into the game.
“I wanted to make sure I had a good start, our line had a good start, because that had been something that was creeping into our game that we were struggling with,” Konecny said.
In the third period, he picked off an errant pass by Eichel during a Vegas power play and took off again. This time he went blocker side because he was “just trying to mess with [Hill’s] head a little bit.” Konecny knows Hill, who was also his teammate at 4 Nations, and his father, as the Flyers forward spends his summers in Calgary, where the Golden Knights goalie grew up.
“Yeah, he’s a great player,” Couturier said. “That’s what he does, he scores goals, uses his speed well. And what I love about it is, his two breakaway goals he’s in the right spot defensively and jumps on loose pucks and reads and reacts the right way and gets rewarded.”
1. Sam Ersson
Nine days ago, after allowing seven goals on 23 shots to the Tampa Bay Lightning, Ersson spoke to The Inquirer. He called his season tough and the loss to Tampa Bay embarrassing. Nineteen games into the season, he was 6-8-4 with a bloated 3.43 goals-against average and an NHL-worst .855 save percentage among goalies who played in at least 15 games.
With Dan Vladař on injured reserve with an undisclosed injury, Ersson got a chance to right the ship on Monday. And it was evident from the jump that this night would be different.
Vegas defenseman Jeremy Lauzon skates with the puck ahead of the Flyers’ Matvei Michkov.
In the first minute of play, he made a confident save on defenseman Noah Hanifin before stopping a Stone tip-in from seven feet out.
“It’s a nice way to get in the game, get in a groove and a flow of the game, getting some shots early, and obviously nice to come up with some big stops,” Ersson said. “So it definitely helps [with confidence].”
The Swedish netminder moved well, tracking the puck and positioning his body well in advance of shots. According to Natural Stat Trick, he stopped 12 of 13 high-danger shots. He finished with 24 saves.
“Awesome. Again, we know it. He just proved us all right,” Konecny said. “He’s an unbelievable guy, unbelievable goalie, and, guys that work hard like him, who are just like the most likable guys, you really want to push for those guys, and I’m just really happy for him. Awesome teammate and stud goalie.”
Ersson earned a lot of praise from his coach postgame.
“Nobody’s going to feel sorry for Sam. He doesn’t have that attitude,” Tocchet said. “It’s almost like he’s got that closer mentality. I’ve given up a bunch of home runs, but I want the ball again. And he took the ball and closed the game for us.”
Ryan Ogle, the PGA of America’s tournament director for the 2026 PGA Championship, announced his resignation via LinkedIn on Friday, four months before the Aronimink Golf Club outside of Philadelphia is set to hold the championship.
The historic golf course last hosted the PGA Championship in 1962.
“For the last year and a half,” Ogle wrote, “I’ve had the incredible privilege of leading the 2026 PGA Championship. We’ve been building momentum, telling the story of the event, and I’ve been sharing the journey with all of you right here on LinkedIn. That’s why this is a difficult message to write … in a few days, I will be stepping away from the PGA of America.”
Ogle, who cited the need to settle down and plant roots, is the third PGA of America executive to step away in recent months, following the departures of chief commercial and philanthropy officer Jeff Price in December and CEO Derek Sprague in January.
“I’ve reached a point where planting roots has become more important than planning the next move. I’ve decided to accept a new opportunity that allows me to finally settle my family in a permanent home while taking a significant step forward in my career,” he wrote.
Ogle moved to Newton Square in September 2024 to prepare for the championship — marking his family’s eighth relocation in 13 years. Ogle previously directed the PGA Championship in 2024 and in 2021.
The PGA of America has not announced replacements for any of the three vacancies.
“We would like to congratulate Ryan Ogle and wish him the best with his new opportunity,” the association said in a statement obtained by The Inquirer. “We’re grateful for his leadership and contributions to numerous PGA Championships, including the 2026 PGA Championship at Aronimink.
“Championship planning remains fully on track, supported by an experienced leadership team. We’ll share more about next steps at the appropriate time.”
The championship is set for May 14-17, marking the first major championship in the area since the 2013 U.S. Open was held at Merion Golf Club. Last spring, the PGA Tour hosted one of its signature events, the Truist Championship, at Philadelphia Cricket Club in Flourtown.
This year’s event joins a busy 2026 as one of many major sporting events coming to Philadelphia during America’s 250th celebration.
Late Thursday, within the hallways of One Citizens Bank Way, Phillies officials believed they were close to signing Bo Bichette.
How close?
“We were very close to having a deal done,” president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said Tuesday without divulging details. “We thought it was going to happen.”
Bichette, through his agent, informed the Phillies that he would sign if they met his seven-year, $200 million asking price, two major league sources confirmed. The team agreed. All that was left, according to a source with knowledge of the situation, was “crossing the T’s and dotting the I’s” on the Phillies’ offer to the star infielder.
That process was underway Friday when Bichette changed course, agreeing shortly before noon to a shorter-term (three years), higher-salary ($42 million per year) contract with two opt-outs from the Mets, who lost in their attempt to sign free-agent outfielder Kyle Tucker.
Most Phillies officials found out about it like the public did — through reports in the media.
“It’s a gut punch,” Dombrowski said. “I mean, you feel it.”
Bichette didn’t give the Phillies the chance to outbid New York. Even so, they wouldn’t have sprung for the fourth-highest annual salary in the sport or included opt-out provisions.
And that’s how the Phillies and J.T. Realmuto found their way back to each other.
Because the Phillies “almost certainly” were going to sign Bichette or Realmuto, not both, a major league source said. And if things had gone as they anticipated Thursday night, their longtime iron-man catcher would be meeting the media from a different city this week.
Yet here were Realmuto and Dombrowski, narrowly spared from divorce, trying to avoid sounding like staying together was more than a consolation prize for either side.
“Things got a little hairy there at the end, but I’m glad we’re back here,” Realmuto said. “This is where we wanted to be the whole time.”
Said Dombrowski: “We always wanted to bring J.T. back. That was always a priority for us. They knew it. We also knew that he wanted to come back. Just there was a disagreement as far as dollars were concerned.”
Indeed, Realmuto made a catcher-record $23.1 million per year since 2021. At age 35, amid a three-year decline at the plate, he conceded he would have to take a pay cut.
But Realmuto also believed a team should pay a premium for his strengths behind the plate, notably game-calling and handling a pitching staff, among the last intangibles that can’t be measured by metrics. The Phillies appreciate his skills in those areas, but valued it differently.
“We couldn’t bridge that gap,” Dombrowski said.
It led the Phillies to Bichette, with whom they met over a Zoom call on Jan. 12. The positional fit didn’t seem obvious earlier in the offseason. Bichette has only ever played shortstop. But as talks with Realmuto stalled, the Phillies began thinking about improving the roster in other ways.
A shortstop with the Blue Jays, Bo Bichette would have played third base with the Phillies.
The Phillies would have played Bichette at third base and displaced Alec Bohm, who likely would’ve been traded. And Bichette was open to switching positions. The Zoom meeting went well enough that Dombrowski called Realmuto’s agent to inform him the Phillies might be going in another direction. Things began to get more serious.
Or did they? Given how it all turned out, did Bichette use the Phillies as a stalking horse to get the deal he wanted from the Mets?
“I can’t [say that] because you never know 100% what’s going on from their perspective,” Dombrowski said. “I do think he was sincere about thinking about coming to Philadelphia. Yes, I do. I think he was. We were at the numbers that they really asked us to match. [The Mets] jumped in at the last minute and made him a short-term offer that was very appealing to him.”
Some within the Phillies’ front office were furious. But Dombrowski said Bichette’s camp didn’t renege on a deal or negotiate out of bounds because the sides never reached the point of signing a “memo of understanding,” a document that would have preceded a completed deal.
“It wasn’t that we weren’t moving toward that direction,” Dombrowski said. “I did think that we were going to get there based upon our conversations. But we did not get to that point, so I can’t say that I ever thought we had it done.”
The Phillies thought their willingness to stretch the term of the contract to seven years with more guaranteed money would be an advantage over the Mets (or potentially the Dodgers if they hadn’t signed Tucker). It’s a tactic they used to help land other marquee free agents: Bryce Harper (13 years), Trea Turner (11 years), and Aaron Nola (seven years).
Instead, the Phillies missed out on a coveted free agent, a rarity since they signed Harper in 2019. They pivoted back to Realmuto within an hour of Bichette’s agreement with the Mets — “It was very quickly,” Dombrowski said — and bumped up their offer. They aren’t considering a run at any other big-ticket free agents, including Cody Bellinger.
Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said he was “upset” after finding out Bo Bichette picked the Mets, “but you have to pick yourself up and shake it off.”
They might actually be better off with Realmuto at the controls of the pitching staff than with Bichette’s right-handed bat in the lineup. Pitching, after all, remains the strength of the roster, and Zack Wheeler, Cristopher Sánchez, and others swear by Realmuto’s guidance.
Still, four days after Bichette slipped through the Phillies’ fingers, it was impossible to not hear the disappointment in Dombrowski’s voice.
“That day you are very … upset, I guess is the way to say it,” he said. “But you have to pick yourself up and shake it off. Because you can’t just wallow in what took place. So, after a day of feeling that way, or a time period, you need to move forward. That’s how you handle it.
“We did rebound in the sense that we signed J.T. right away. We’re very fortunate he didn’t sign somewhere else.”
In time, maybe it will start to feel more like it.
Two months ago, 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey joined Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton in a live group chat during a Thunder-Lakers game. When the 25-year-old was asked about the possibility of getting his own signature shoe, Maxey responded: “One can only hope and pray.”
Those prayers have been answered.
Maxey will be getting his own signature shoe, set to debut later in 2026, New Balance confirmed. ESPN was the first to report Maxey’s new shoe.
“We’re so excited that Tyrese was named an All-Star starter and to get to share this moment with him,” said Naveen Lokesh, head of global sports marketing for basketball at New Balance. “He represents everything we value at New Balance — hard work, authenticity, and confidence — so working together to bring his first signature shoe to life is a natural step in celebrating who he is and where his journey is headed.”
Maxey first signed a shoe deal with New Balance in 2023, joining Kawhi Leonard, Jamal Murray, and Zach LaVine. During the 2023-24 season, which saw him earn the NBA Most Improved Player Award and his first All-Star nod, Maxey appeared on a New Balance billboard in Indianapolis during All-Star Weekend. As the brand’s roster of athletes expands, Maxey has also been involved in New Balance’s “We Got Now” ad campaign alongside stars from other sports including Shohei Ohtani and Coco Gauff.
Two years after signing with the brand, it took another step forward in its partnership. New Balance presented the Tyrese Maxey Hero Pack — a collection that included a basketball shoe (New Balance Hesi Low v2) and a lifestyle shoe (New Balance 1906R) inspired by Maxey’s love of comic books.
There hasn’t yet been any information made available on when Maxey’s shoe will release and what it will look like, so stay tuned.
Online speculation about whether Maxey and Edgecombe liked each other started after a defensive miscommunication in the first quarter of Friday’s loss to Cleveland led to an open Donovan Mitchell three. Maxey and Edgecombe were caught on the bench having what appeared to be a heated conversation after the play.
But on Monday, after Maxey was named an All-Star starter, Edgecombe was the first person to reach out to him — telling reporters he set a 2 p.m. alarm just to make sure he found out right away whether Maxey had been named a starter so he could congratulate him.
Edgecombe woke up Maxey from his pregame nap trying to call him.
“I’m like, why is he calling me?” Maxey said pregame. “And I answer, and he’s screaming and showing me the TV. And I’m like, ‘OK.’ We chopped it up a little bit.”
And postgame, the two Sixers guards were having fun after the 113-104 win over the Pacers.
Nick Nurse thought back to the 76ers’ preseason trip to Abu Dhabi, and how a multitude of injuries (again) forced him to cobble the rotation together for two exhibition games against the New York Knicks.
“I’d be pretty happy that we’re here right now,” the coach said of his former self late Monday.
“Here” is a 23-18 record at the regular season’s halfway point following a 113-104 home victory over the Indiana Pacers. Nurse acknowledged he is still irked by the handful of close games he believes the Sixers gave away. The roster, meanwhile, still feels like a work in progress after finally reaching full availability earlier this month.
But the Sixers are considered one of the NBA’s pleasant surprises, entering Tuesday in fifth place in the crowded Eastern Conference standings where 1½ games separate third and seventh.
“Probably would have taken this at the start of the season, for sure,” Nurse said. “And, hopefully, a couple more [health] dominoes can fall here as we go on.”
In that spirit, here is a collection of second-half goals for the Sixers’ rotation players.
Tyrese Maxey: Make the MVP ballot
When Maxey received “M-V-P!” chants at the free throw line during an early-season home game, he told Joel Embiid, “I don’t know how you do this.”
Maxey has been worthy of such serenading from spectators while making another significant leap in his sixth season. The 25-year-old point guard was named an All-Star starter Monday afternoon, as the top American vote-getter. That naturally makes him an All-NBA contender.
One step beyond those potential accolades? Getting onto MVP ballots, a race that could become more open if Nikola Jokić, the three-time winner of the sport’s top individual award and this season’s early favorite, falls under the 65-game eligibility threshold because of a recent knee injury. Maxey was seventh in the first ESPN straw poll, which surveys 100 eligible voters, released on Dec. 19.
For good reason. Maxey entered Tuesday ranked third in the NBA in scoring (30.2 points per game) while also setting career highs in assists (6.7 per game) and rebounds (4.4 per game). He is shooting 40% from three-point range and 47.5% from the floor, on 22.3 attempts per game as a multidimensional bucket-getter. He has become more of a defensive playmaker, averaging 2.1 steals per game — including a career-high eight in Monday’s win over the Pacers — and turning several into blazing finishes at the opposite end. And he is doing this while leading the league in minutes played, at 39.4 per game.
Some of these numbers could dip slightly if Embiid and Paul George can stay healthy, taking some of that load off the relentless Maxey. And a tough two-game stint against the Cavaliers — he went a combined 14-of-39 from the floor in consecutive losses — demonstrates he still faces a learning curve as the focal point of opposing defenses.
But Embiid was correct in nicknaming Maxey “The Franchise” years ago. If Maxey is the leader of a Sixers team that shifts from resurgent to legitimate East threat, he will need to get used to those chants.
Joel Embiid and Paul George: More dunks!
Following a Jan. 3 win at the New York Knicks, Embiid’s first dunk of the season was a popular topic. Nurse quipped that it occurring with a win secured in the final seconds “was a pretty cheap way of getting it … but at least we know he can still dunk.” When VJ Edgecombe learned that Embiid had not dunked since last season, the rookie’s reaction was “Oh my God.”
The celebration is not as much about the act itself, but the ongoing physical progress it signifies.
Ditto for Embiid more often stepping to center court for the opening tipoff. Or that he has played in 10 of 11 games since Dec. 30, including logging 40 minutes for the first time since the 2024 playoffs in a Jan. 5 overtime loss to Denver. During this stretch, he has averaged 27.4 points on 51.6% shooting with 7.6 rebounds, 4 assists, and noticeably improved elevation and mobility as a defender and rim protector.
And by the time the Sixers won in Toronto on Jan. 12, Embiid was throwing down one-handed dunks in traffic.
“I’ve made a lot of strides since the beginning of the season,” Embiid said Monday. “I’m back to, probably say, All-Star level and getting back to that All-NBA level and MVP level each and every day. Just got to keep it going.”
George, who battled numerous injuries during a disappointing first season in Philly, can relate. Though he has been most dangerous this season as a three-point shooter (37% on 6.3 attempts per game entering Tuesday), he said his body also feels (and looks) better as a versatile complementary player on both ends.
“Those small things,” George said. “It’s like stuff that I can check off like, ‘All right, I’m able to do this again. I’m able to dunk again. I’m able to explode again.’ So it’s just the small gains that just keep you going.”
Dominick Barlow and Jabari Walker: Secure an NBA standard contract
While sitting inside a restaurant during the Las Vegas Summer League, Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey said he believed the front office had been savvy in leveraging two-way contracts to sign helpful players in Dominick Barlow and Jabari Walker.
Morey was more than correct. Barlow has been the Sixers’ breakout player, lauded for his knack for crashing the boards and cutting while averaging 8.2 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.3 assists as the starting power forward. Walker is a high-energy rebounder (3.4 in 12.9 minutes per game), and has played in 39 of the Sixers’ 41 games.
“Those two guys just go out and play hard,” Nurse said Monday, “and have a lot of fun just giving everything they have.”
Both have certainly outplayed their two-way status, which primarily is designed for young, developing players to split time between the NBA and G League. The Sixers will aim to maximize the NBA games Barlow and Walker still have available before converting either (or both) to a standard contract. Because of a quirk for teams that do not fill their entire 15-man roster (the Sixers had 14 players signed to standard contracts as of late Monday), Barlow and Walker have a combined six active games with the Sixers remaining.
“We kind of have that respect for each other,” Walker said recently. “… This is new to both of us, so we don’t let the two-way define us. We just know we’re both big pieces and we have similar styles sometimes with our energy. We talk about how we can be effective as a team, and how we can both bring more energy.”
The Feb. 5 trade deadline could present an opportunity to free up another full roster spot. Kelly Oubre Jr., Andre Drummond, Eric Gordon, and Kyle Lowry are on expiring contracts.
Andre Drummond and Adem Bona: Stay ready
That sports cliche is in the air throughout the Sixers’ roster, as Nurse experiments with various personnel combinations with a healthier group. It is most applicable to the two centers behind Embiid. The roles for Drummond and Bona have ranged from starter to backup to completely out of the rotation.
With Embiid now (seemingly) able to play more consistently, matchups, foul trouble, and other factors could determine when exactly Drummond or Bona see the floor.
Drummond appeared to be in the midst of a resurgent season but has looked more limited at times since a late-November knee injury. Bona’s early-season minutes were more sporadic before he recently regained the backup spot. There have been games when one player took the first-half stint and the other held that role in the second half.
Sixers center Adem Bona has shared the backup spot behind Joel Embiid with Andre Drummond.
“We’ve got to do it by feel,” Nurse said. “But I think they’re not alone in that. That’s what we’re doing [with multiple players] almost every night as coaches. … We’re always, every night, trying to figure out which guy fits that moment of the game. It’s really moment-to-moment. It’s just kind of the way it is.”
Nurse said last week that, in the games Embiid does not play, he would prefer to start Drummond and bring Bona off the bench because of the way opponents typically go smaller with their backup frontcourt players.
On last month’s holiday road trip, Nurse even tried Embiid and Bona on the floor together. Bona said that making that partnership effective is one of his primary goals moving forward.
VJ Edgecombe: Embrace the grind
At halftime of a Jan. 5 loss to the Denver Nuggets, Embiid asked Edgecombe if he was taking the day off.
Then the rookie turned another quiet start into a fabulous finish on both ends of the floor. He flashed his rare blend of athleticism and poise while scoring 17 points after the break, and finished with a career-high nine assists and a slew of impact defensive moments.
This feels like a key stretch for Edgecombe, who has already surpassed the total games he played during his one college season at Baylor — and entered Tuesday ranked eighth in the NBA in minutes (35.7). He acknowledged some early-season fatigue before a calf injury. Now, he is entering the NBA doldrums before the All-Star break and, after that, a playoff push.
After that night against Denver, Edgecombe connected on 5-of-6 three-point attempts in a Jan. 12 win at the Raptors. He has taken on more ballhandling responsibility. He has guarded All-NBA guard Donovan Mitchell. But he also took only five shots in that Friday loss to the Cavaliers.
“I was the first person that went up to him [after that game],” Maxey said of Edgecombe, “and told him, like, ‘Dude, you shooting five times in a basketball game is not going to cut it for us. You’ve got to be up to 10, 12. You’ve got to be aggressive.’ Man, that’s my dog. That’s my little brother.”
On the season, Edgecombe is averaging 15.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 1.5 steals. He must embrace the grind, because the Sixers are counting on his electric impact to persist into the spring.
Kelly Oubre Jr.: Recapture the early-season flow
Oubre quickly got downhill for the Sixers’ first bucket of Monday’s victory, igniting an outing when he totaled 18 points and a season-high five assists.
He looked like the player Oubre was before a mid-November knee injury, when he arguably was putting together the best basketball of his career in his 11th NBA season. He was in more control with the ball in his hands, averaging 16.8 points on 49.7% shooting in 12 games. And he relished taking on challenging perimeter defensive assignments.
Sixers guard Kelly Oubre Jr. looked more like himself as he scored 18 points against the Pacers.
Oubre has been back for six games, initially with understandable rust. He has committed to allowing his defensive energy to ignite his offense. He gained some momentum in a Jan. 11 loss at Toronto (13 points, five rebounds, four steals, three blocks), and then put up 12 points as part of the closing lineup in Friday’s loss to Cleveland.
It will be critical for Oubre to maintain that patience and understanding with himself, rather than reverting to old habits.
“He’s done a good job of just kind of easing his way back in,” Maxey said of Oubre on Monday, “and I feel like letting the game come to him.”
Quentin Grimes: Make a Sixth Man of the Year push
Grimes was never going to be the high-volume scorer and lead ballhandler he was after the Sixers’ acquired him at last season’s trade deadline, then shifted into tank mode. But Grimes’ first full season in Philly has been spotty, at times.
After a December shooting slump, Grimes rediscovered his touch at the end of the Sixers’ holiday road trip. Since then, he has hit double figures in scoring in only two of the Sixers’ last six games. He entered Tuesday ranked sixth in that category among players with double-digit games played off the bench (14.2 points), while adding 4.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and a willingness to defend.
Grimes will often be in the closing lineup, where the Sixers can utilize their guard depth. But being that initial, consistent spark off the bench — which could lead to Sixth Man of the Year consideration — is another worthwhile goal.
One nugget: Grimes is now eligible to be traded, and has veto power on any proposed deal after signing his one-year qualifying agreement in October.
Trendon Watford and Jared McCain: Squeeze back into the rotation
Watford was regarded as a sneaky-good offseason signing because of his versatility as a “point” forward. Hamstring and thigh injuries have limited him to 20 games, though one was a triple-double against the Raptors.
Watford is beginning to crack the rotation minutes again, totaling four points, two rebounds, and two assists while setting the pace as an additional ballhandler on Friday against Cleveland.
He played another 12 minutes Monday against Indiana, with two points on 1-of-4 shooting.
“Being able to play a lot of positions and play with different lineups, I think I can do,” Watford said Saturday of that reintegration process. “I just try to keep building off of that. Obviously, the team has something going right now, so I’m just trying to integrate my way back into it with my style of play and my game. It’s a process, but it’s slowly getting there.”
Sixers forward Trendon Watford was considered a sneaky good offseason addition in free agency.
The opposite has happened for McCain, whose road back from knee and thumb surgeries has been choppy. His minutes have diminished as the Sixers’ roster returned to health, eventually falling out of the rotation Friday against Cleveland. The next day, he was assigned to the G League’s Delaware Blue Coats for the second time since his return. He was back in Philly in time for Monday’s matchup against Indiana, but he played only the final 47 seconds.
The former Rookie of the Year front-runner is shooting 35.4% from the floor, and has recently passed up some wide-open looks. His struggles even carried to the G League, where he went 5-of-18 from the floor (and had six turnovers) in the Blue Coats’ loss at the Noblesville Boom on Sunday.
“We’re just trying to get him some extended run,” Nurse said of McCain. “ … I don’t think he’s had much of a runway to play consistently.”
Which Eagles players should stay or go next season? Swipe and decide.
// Timestamp 01/20/26 1:02pm
Which Eagles should stay or go next season? Swipe and decide.
Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert will be a free agent this offseason.
The Eagles’ season ended sooner than expected with a loss to the 49ers in the wild-card round. Now the Birds will try to assemble a roster that can help them get back to their Super Bowl standard.
Beat writer Jeff McLane made his picks on what personnel decisions he sees the team making this offseason, including wide receiver A.J. Brown’s future and whether tight end Dallas Goedert should be back next season.
Make your pick for each player by swiping the cards below — right for Stay, or left for Go. Yes, just like Tinder.
One NFL personnel evaluator told ESPN the likely trading partner will be the Buffalo Bills, who desperately need to acquire talent to help Josh Allen.
“The Bills have to upgrade there — their best receiver is Khalil Shakir, who is a nice player but he’s not a top guy,” the executive told ESPN. “Brown is an immediate upgrade and he’s still young. And the Eagles can build the passing game around DeVonta Smith and a high draft pick.”
Other NFL scouts suggested to Fowler the Eagles could end up trading Brown to the Tennessee Titans, Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers and Las Vegas Raiders.
Brown is under contract through the 2029 season, and trading him would certainly put a dent in the Eagles’ salary cap (though designating it a post-June 1 trade would free up $7 million in cap space). But as Philly Voice’s Jimmy Kempski pointed out, there would be major long-term savings for the Eagles — over $44 million per season — if they traded him away this offseason.
Eagles general manager Howie Roseman was noncommittal when asked if he would consider trading Brown.
“It is hard to find great players in the NFL, and A.J. is a great player,” Roseman told reporters at a news conference last week. “I think from my perspective, that’s what we’re going out and looking for, when we go out here in free agency and in the draft, is trying to find great players who love football, and he’s that guy. So that would be my answer.”
Daboll went 20–40–1 (.336) in four seasons with the Giants, and was named NFL Coach of the Year in 2022. Prior to that, he was the offensive coordinator with the Buffalo Bills, where he was credited with the development of Josh Allen.
After firing Sean McDermott, the Bills are reportedly interested in bringing back Daboll. He interviewed with the Tennessee Titans, who ended up hiring former San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh as their next head coach.
Daboll also reportedly interviewed for the vacant offensive coordinator position with the Los Angeles Chargers.
Robert Saleh is headed to the Tennessee Titans to become their next head coach.
And then there were five.
In an offseason that saw 10 head coaching vacancies (tying an NFL record last reached in 2022), four have already been filled.
The latest is former San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh, who has been hired by the Tennessee Titans as their new head coach, according to multiple reports.
Here’s a look at the newest NFL head coaches:
Atlanta Falcons: Kevin Stefanski, former Browns head coach
Tennessee Titans: Robert Saleh, former 49ers defensive coordinator
New York Giants: John Harbaugh, former Ravens head coach
Miami Dolphins: Jeff Hafley, former Packers defensive coordinator
Here are the remaining head coaching vacancies across the league:
Eagles have yet to convince Mike McDaniel to interview: sources
Ex-Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel is getting a lot of interest from multiple teams.
In the past week, the Eagles have made it known to sources around the league that hiring former Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel as their new offensive coordinator is their No. 1 offseason priority. That includes fired New York Giants coach Brian Daboll, who is expected to interview for the position this week.
Virtually no amount of money, literally no amount of autonomy, and no fear of conflict would deter the team from signing McDaniel, a respected offensive innovator.
McDaniel and Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio endured a rocky year together in 2023, when Fangio worked for McDaniel as his defensive coordinator in Miami, and their split, while couched as a mutual parting of the ways, was not without acrimony.
At any rate, league sources indicate that even though Fangio’s work the last two seasons has been integral and possibly unmatched around the league, if the Eagles were somehow able to hire McDaniel, they would not be deterred by any possible discomfort from Fangio.
Of course, the actual hiring of McDaniel in Philadelphia would be an unexpected coup for the Birds. Right now, he’s a hotter commodity than Venezuelan oil.
League sources say the Eagles have not yet convinced McDaniel to interview, which offers a glimpse into how he considers the Philly job. That said, don’t expect money to be an obstacle. Sources say that, for McDaniel, the position could be worth as much as the $6 million annual salary the Raiders gave Chip Kelly, who then was fired just 11 games into 2025, his first of three seasons under contract. At the end of the season head coach Pete Carroll also was fired, which created the current vacancy.
Latest on Eagles’ search for a new offensive coordinator
Former Buccaneers offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard reportedly interviewed with the Birds Monday.
It’s been about a week since the Eagles moved on from offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo, and the Birds have been busy interviewing potential replacements.
Here are the offensive coordinator candidates the Eagles have already reportedly interviewed or are scheduled to meet with:
Brian Daboll: The former Giants head coach, reportedly at the top of the Eagles’ wish list, will interview with the team Tuesday, according to The Athletic’s Dianna Russini.
Josh Grizzard: The former Buccaneers offensive coordinator interviewed with the Birds Monday, according to Jordan Schultz.
Mike Kafka: The former interim head coach and offensive coordinator of the Giants interviewed with the Birds Saturday, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
Jim Bob Cooter: The Colts offensive coordinator and one-time Birds assistant also interviewed with the Eagles Saturday, according to multiple reports. Colts head coach and former Birds offensive coordinator Shane Steichen is open to letting Cooter pursue an opportunity to call plays, according to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer.
Zac Robinson: The former Falcons offensive coordinator was the first candidate interviewed by the Eagles, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
And here are some coaches the Eagles have either reached out to interview or plan to bring in:
Mike McDaniel: The former Dolphins head coach remains one of the Eagles’ top targets, but has yet to agree to an interview, according to columnist Marcus Hayes.
Eagles defensive coach Christian Parker to interview with Dolphins
Sources: The #Packers will interview #Eagles DBs coach and pass-game coordinator Christian Parker for their vacant DC job after Jeff Hafley took the Dolphins head-coaching position.
Broncos backup Jarrett Stidham will start his first game of the season Sunday against the Patriots.
We’re down to just three games remaining this NFL season, though most Eagles fans bailed following the Birds wild-card loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
The name you’ll be hearing all week is Jarrett Stidham, the backup replacing starting quarterback Bo Nix, who broke is ankle on the second-to-last play against the Bills Saturday and is out for the rest of the season.
Stidham (who was originally drafted by the Patriots and was once Tom Brady’s backup) will make his first start of the season Sunday. The last time that happened was 53 years ago in 1972, when then-backup Roger Staubach started in place of Craig Morton and played terribly in a lopsided loss to Washington.
“His last pass in a game came two years and two weeks ago,” retired NFL writer Peter King noted in his weekly newsletter.
Here’s the schedule for Sunday’s NFC and AFC Championship games:
No. 2 Patriots at No. 1 Broncos: 3 p.m., CBS (Jim Nantz, Tony Romo, Tracy Wolfson)
No. 5 Rams at No. 1 Seahawks: 6:30 p.m., Fox (Kevin Burkhardt, Tom Brady. Erin Andrews, Tom Rinaldi)
Jay Wright saw enough of Collin Gillespie a few nights before to invite him to Villanova on a Monday in January 2017 and offer him a scholarship. But this was hardly a courtship. Wright told Gillespie that he would redshirt his freshman season, maybe play as a junior, and then have a complementary role as a fifth-year senior.
“I thought he would get his master’s degree and be a great coach one day,” Wright said. “I was thinking ‘I would love to have this guy on my staff.’”
Gillespie — who has molded himself into an NBA starter with the Phoenix Suns after going undrafted in 2022 — nodded along. He didn’t have a Division I scholarship before his senior year at Archbishop Wood and declined to visit Division II schools because he believed bigger programs would eventually see what he already knew: He could play. Redshirt? OK. Bench player? Sure. Coach? Yes, sir.
“I didn’t really believe him,” said Gillespie, who will play against the 76ers on Tuesday night. “I believed in myself. I was just like, ‘Whatever he says, I’ll take it and then prove him wrong.’”
There was Gillespie 15 months later on the court for Wright in the national championship game, taking a charge against Michigan and looking the part. In his fifth year, the kid who had to wait for college scholarships was named the nation’s top point guard in 2022. He went undrafted that June but landed a non-guaranteed contract in July with the Denver Nuggets. He was on track.
Three weeks later, Gillespie suffered a broken right leg while playing in a pickup game at Villanova.
His NBA career — the one that is now flourishing — seemed unlikely then to nearly everyone except the guy who nodded along that day in Wright’s office.
“Everyone has their own journey,” Gillespie, 26, said. “Everyone runs their own race. You just have to stick to what you do, put your head down, and work hard. Don’t compare yourself to anyone else. If you work hard enough, you can probably achieve anything you want to.”
Collin Gillespie (right) became much more than a fifth-year senior role player first envisioned by Villanova coach Jay Wright.
G League to the league
Andre Miller often learned via text messages which players would be flying nearly three hours from Denver to join his G League team that night. He coached the Grand Rapids Gold, the Nuggets’ minor-league affiliate in Michigan that played 1,100 miles from Denver. Those morning flights gave Gillespie a chance to get on the court.
“It wasn’t a good recipe for these guys to be successful, but when he did show up, he didn’t want to come out of the game,” said Miller, who played three of his 17 NBA seasons with the Sixers. “We knew we had to leave him out there because he didn’t have an opportunity with the other team and he took great advantage of it.”
Gillespie feared that the Nuggets would void his contract after he suffered that injury playing at Villanova. That’s the first thing he said to his father, who was in the gym when it happened. But they didn’t. They kept him around that first season while he rehabbed and then split his time the next season between Denver and Grand Rapids.
“There was no ego,” Miller said. “One thing that’s tough to deal with is when your career is in the hands of other people. Some people felt like he wasn’t an NBA player and some people felt like he was an NBA player. The one thing that stood out about him to me is that he’s a competitor. He’s a dog. He’s a guy who enjoys playing basketball. He’s a leader. He plays with a chip on his shoulder.
“I wish I could have coached him more in the G League, but he was an NBA player. I knew that from the first time I saw him on the court with the G League players. I was like, ‘He probably won’t be here much.’”
Gillespie signed before last season with the Suns, again splitting time between the NBA and the G League. The 6-foot-1 guard earned a full-time role this season, starting for the Suns and fitting in with pesky defense and a three-point shot. Just like college, it took time before Gillespie’s game was appreciated.
“You just don’t see it initially. He doesn’t wow you,” Wright said. “But when you see him play over time and you realize this guy is getting to the rim and finishing, he’s elevating on his jumper and shooting over bigger guys, and he’s not getting backed down. You almost need to have time to believe what you’re watching.”
Collin Gillespie is shooting 41.4% from three-point range for the Suns.
Gillespie entered Monday’s game against Brooklyn averaging 13.2 points, 4.9 assists, and shooting 41.4% from three-point range. He hit a game-winner at the buzzer in November, regularly finds ways to create his own shot, and has proved that his game fits in the NBA.
Kevin Durant called him “a dog” and Anthony Edwards said after a loss to the Suns last season that “No. 12 is pretty good at basketball.” Two NBA superstars could see what Gillespie always believed: He belongs.
“He has more heart than talent,” said his father, Jim. “The kid just doesn’t want to lose. When he sets his mind to something, he just does it. And ultimately, he’s a winner. Wherever he’s gone, he’s won. At every level.”
Jay Wright says Collin Gillespie came to Villanova with a “killer mentality and stone face that we try to teach.”
Change of plans
Gillespie was in the stands for a Villanova game as a senior in high school, seated behind the La Salle bench at the Palestra. The Explorers invited him and Gillespie thought a scholarship offer was near.
“But they never offered,” Jim Gillespie said.
Gillespie eventually landed smaller Division I offers as a senior, but he was hopeful a Big 5 school would have a spot for him. None of them did until January when Villanova assistant Ashley Howard urged Wright to watch Gillespie play a game against five-star recruit Quade Green’s Neumann Goretti squad at Archbishop Ryan.
The Northeast Philly gym was packed and the coach couldn’t stay long as he was being hounded. Howard called Wright while he was driving home and told the coach that one kid scored 42 and the other kid scored 31. Wright figured the 42 points belonged to Green, who was already committed to Kentucky. It was Gillespie, the assistant said. Wright was sold.
“Nothing was spectacular, and he’s not bringing any attention to himself,” Wright said. “He just makes the right plays.”
Wright called Gillespie’s father and told him he needed his son at Villanova on Monday. The coach gave Gillespie his pitch that day without any guarantees.
“We left and we were like, ‘What are you going to do?’” his mother, Therese, said. “He said, ‘I’m going to play out my senior [year].’ I said, ‘Collin, it’s Jay Wright.’ He said, ‘Mom, I know what I’m doing.’”
Gillespie committed a week later, simply deciding after a game at Bonner-Prendergast that he had enough of the recruiting trail. He was headed to ’Nova and told a Wood coach without first running it by his parents. Gillespie knew what he was doing.
“He always said, ‘I’ll bet on myself,’” Jim Gillespie said. “He put the work in and the effort in and that’s what he’s always done.”
It took Gillespie just a few weeks to force Wright to rethink the plan that he would redshirt. Every day in practice that June he went up against Jalen Brunson and held his own.
Collin Gillespie (left) got to play in practice against future NBA players Donte DiVincenzo (center) and Jalen Brunson (right) at Villanova.
“He came in with that killer mentality and stone face that we try to teach,” Wright said. “But he came in with that. Then he spent every day with Jalen Brunson and it just became reinforced. It was so obvious. The coaching staff, behind closed doors, was going, ‘This kid is going against Brunson every day. He’s pretty good.’”
Gillespie suffered a minor injury that month and Wright checked with athletic trainer Jeff Pierce to see how the freshman was feeling. He was fine, the trainer said.
“The trainer said, ‘You’re not redshirting this kid,’” Wright said. “I said, ‘Is it that obvious?’ He said ‘Yeah, everyone knows.’ Yeah, it was.”
The guy who nodded along in Wright’s office proved that he belonged. Now, he’s doing it again in the NBA.
“It’s the way I was raised and where I come from,” said Gillespie, who grew up in Pine Valley before moving to Huntington Valley. “My brother is a year older, so I always played a year up. I had to play against older guys and was always smaller. I always had to prove myself and had a chip on my shoulder. My parents always believed in me and my family always believed in me and taught me to believe in myself.”
