SEARS EARNS ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICAN HONORS
Senior Brett Sears was named a second-team Academic All-American by College Sports Communicators on Tuesday.
Sears is the first Husker baseball player to be an Academic All-American since 2016 and is the first Husker to be an All-American and Academic All-American in the same season since Aaron Marsden in 2003.
The Westphalia, Iowa, native becomes the 19th player in program history to be named an Academic All-American, increasing Nebraska’s total to 22 all-time Academic All-Americans.
In the classroom, Sears carried a 3.65 cumulative grade-point average while earning a degree in child, youth and family studies in May.
FIRST COLLEGE FOOTBALL PRESEASON POLL RELEASED FROM BIG 12, B1G TO RELEASE LATER IN JULY:
Big 12 newcomer Utah has been picked to finish first in the expanded 16-team football conference this fall in a preseason poll of media who cover the league.
The Utes got 20 of 61 first-place votes in the poll released Tuesday, a week before the start of the league’s football media days in Las Vegas. Kansas State got 19 first-place votes and was picked second, ahead of last year’s Big 12 runner-up Oklahoma State, which was first on 14 ballots. Kansas (five first-place votes) and Arizona (three) rounded out the top five.
Pac-12 teams Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah officially became Big 12 members this week, at the same time that reigning Big 12 champion Texas and Oklahoma joined the Southeastern Conference.
Colorado and coach Deion Sanders were picked 11th in the preseason poll, with Arizona State picked 16th.
SECOND COMMIT AS MANY DAYS COMMITS TO NEBRASKA
A versatile athlete is set to come to Lincoln.
Matt Rhule added the commitment of three-star athlete Jeremiah Jones Monday. Jones made the announcement on social media.
The 6-5, 215 pound (per 247Sports) athlete out of Murray, Kentucky had been rumored to have Louisville as his first choice. Jones visited the Cardinals back in May, but a recent visit to Lincoln (June 21) turned the tide to the Big Red.
Jones will likely play on the defensive side of the ball as a safety. He’s also played linebacker, quarterback, and wide receiver.
Nebraska is up to 14 commits for the 2025 class.
NEBRASKA VOLLEYBALL TEAMMATES WIN GOLD, SILVER IN INTL COMPETITION:
Nebraska sophomores Bergen Reilly and Andi Jackson led the U.S. U21 National Team to the gold medal at the NORCECA U21 Continental Championship in Toronto, Canada on Sunday. Nebraska assistant coach Jaylen Reyes served as an assistant coach for the U21 National Team. Future Huskers Campbell Flynn and Teraya Sigler were also on the team.
Down in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Huskers Merritt Beason, Taylor Landfair, and Lexi Rodriguez helped the U.S. National Team to a silver medal at the NORCECA Final Six. The U.S. team was made up of only college players, while the tournament champion, the Dominican Republic, utilized their full senior national team.
USMNT CRASHES OUT OF COPA AMERICA IN LOSS TO URUGUAY:
The U.S. men’s national team crashed out of the Copa América on home soil at the group stage after a 1-0 loss to Uruguay at Arrowhead Stadium.
Mathías Olivera scored the decisive goal for Uruguay in the 66th minute after a long check by the video assistant referee for offside and widespread protests from the U.S. after the goal was given, seemingly by the finest of margins.
The USMNT loss, coupled with Panama’s win over Bolivia, means that Panama goes through to the quarterfinals and, for the first time in its history, the USMNT has been eliminated from the group stage of a senior men’s tournament it hosted.
STORM’S CONNELLY DRAFTED IN FIRST ROUND OF NHL DRAFT
Tri-City Storm forward Trevor Connelly was selected 19th overall in the 1st Round of the 2024 NHL Draft by the Vegas Golden Knights Friday night at Sphere Las Vegas in Paradise, Nevada.
Connelly became the third 1st round pick in Storm history with the Golden Knights’ selection, joining former Tri-City forwards Jaden Schwartz (14th Overall, 2010, St. Louis Blues) and Patrick White (25th Overall, 2007, Vancouver Canucks). He is the 75th player in the Tri-City Storm’s twenty-four-year history to be selected in the NHL Draft.
The 18 year-old from Tustin, California, finished his two-year Storm career with one hundred and twenty-five points, the second-most in franchise history. His sixty career goals were the third-most in team history, and his seventy career assists were also the third-most recorded by a Storm player.
KEARNEY MISKO SPORTS SENIORS GO 2-2 IN LNK TOURNAMENT:
The Kearney Misko Sports Seniors went 2-2 at this weekend’s Mike Patterson / Coach K Tournament in Lincoln over the weekend, splitting both days of competition.
On Friday, Kearney defeated Sampson Construction 7-5, but fell to Equitable Bank 7-3. Saturday started off with a 4-3 loss to Lincoln Southwest but would rally to win 7-5 over Sioux City East.
HAWAII’S #1 RATED PLAYER PICKS NEBRASKA
Honolulu (Hawaii) St. Louis offensive lineman Houston Kaahaaina-Torres, the No. 1 player in Hawaii per the industry-generated 247Sports Composite Rankings, joined the Huskers yesterday over Utah, Arizona State, and Michigan State.
Kaahaaina-Torres is the No. 1 player in Hawaii per the industry-generated 247Sports Composite Rankings.
Nebraska now has 13 commits for the 2025 class. Including Kaahaaina-Torres, there are 10 three-stars and a trio of four-stars, according to the 247Sports Composite. 247 ranks NU’s class as 38th in the nation and No. 12 in the Big Ten Conference.
LOGANO WINS AT NASHVILLE FOR PLAYOFF BERTH:
It took a record five overtime restarts to settle Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway, but two-time series champion Joey Logano finally emerged as the race winner, securing his first win of the season and a bid into the 2024 playoffs in dramatic fashion.
With race leaders falling out of contention with each late-race restart — 31 extra laps and 15 total cautions on the day — Logano and his Team Penske team gambled that his No. 22 Ford Mustang had enough fuel for a final push to the checkered flag. Ultimately, Logano’s No. 22 turned 110 laps with that final tank of fuel.
The reward was the trip to Victory Lane on Sunday — the first for Ford at the 1.33-mile Nashville track — and a coveted ticket to the postseason for Logano and his team.
NASCAR action makes its way to the windy city next week, Chicago street race is Sunday.
FERGUSON FALLS SHORT IN OLYMPIC TRIAL SEMIS:
Wes Ferguson’s Olympic dreams will have to wait for LA in 2028.
The defending NCAA D2 800M champions was two seconds behind the final qualifier for the Olympic Trial finals Friday night, taking fifth in his heat with a time of 1:47.20. Overall, he was the top D2 collegian in the field, and took fifth of the collegians in the semifinal.
HUSKER ATHLETICS 2024 HOF CLASS NAMED:
Six decorated student-athletes comprise the 2024 University of Nebraska Athletics Hall of Fame class, announced on Thursday, June 27.
The 2024 class includes: Jordan Hooper (women’s basketball, 2011-14); Carl Myerscough (men’s track and field, 2000-04); Virginia Stahr (volleyball, 1986-89); Ndamukong Suh (football, 2005-09); Mary Weatherholt (women’s tennis, 2009-13); and Emily Wong (women’s gymnastics, 2011-14).
All six members of the 2024 class were either an individual national champion or the national or conference player of the year in their respective sport. Each Hall of Famer was an All-American during their Husker career, with the class combining for a total of 26 All-America awards.
SEARS EARNS YET ANOTHER POSTSEASON ACCOLADE:
Senior Brett Sears earned Second-Team All-American recognition from D1Baseball, the publication announced Wednesday.
Sears’ second-team All-American honor is the highest by an NU starting pitcher since Aaron Marsden in 2003 after being named a second-team All-American by Baseball America, ABCA/Rawlings, National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and Perfect Game earlier this month.
Prior to the All-American accolades, the senior was a first-team all-region selection and named the District 6 Player of the Year.
A semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy and National Pitcher of the Year, Sears was the Big Ten’s Pitcher of the Year and a First-Team All-Big Ten honoree while posting a 9-1 record with a 2.16 ERA and 101 strikeouts in 104 innings.
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