Walk it off
From The GIST College Sports (hi@thegistsports.com)
Hyped for the Summer Olympics yet?
If not, you will be after watching Virginia swimmer Gretchen Walsh set a 100m fly world record at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials on Saturday. With NCAA athletes ready to bring home gold medals, July 26th can’t come soon enough.
— Legendary NFL quarterback and devoted Tennessee alum Peyton Manning waxing poetic about the Men’s College World Series (MCWS) while watching his top-seeded Vols’ 12–11 Friday win over No. 8 Florida State. There’s no place like home-aha.
Baseball
⚾ Instant classic
The GIST: The MCWS began with a blockbuster opening round this weekend, and the chaos just kept on coming. The NCAA baseball boys are drawing all the attention — no one can afford to miss this.
Opening games finish with walk-offs: Friday and Saturday saw No. 4–seed UNC, No. 1 Tennessee, and No. 2 Kentucky all steal stunning one-run wins, but Kentucky’s was particularly exciting: First baseman Ryan Nicholson erased No. 10 NC State’s narrow lead with a bottom-of-the-ninth bomb, then third baseman Mitchell Daly homered for the walk-off win in the 10th.
- Saturday’s second game was also a long-awaited thriller: No. 3 Texas A&M and Florida traded jaw-dropping plays, but A&M right fielder Jace LaViolette’s ninth-inning home run robbery sealed the Aggies’ 3–2 dub. Unreal.
No. 12 Virginia is the first team to fall: No. 8 Florida State went yard yesterday to end the Cavaliers’ season with a 7–3 beatdown. FSU left fielder Jaime Ferrer was the star of the show, drilling two of the Seminoles’ three homers in a historic performance.
What’s next: NC State will try to contain chaos-machine Florida in a fight to the death elimination game today at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN. The loser heads home, but the winner will still need three straight dubs to reach next weekend’s Championship Finals. No room for mistakes.
- Then at 7 p.m. ET tonight, SEC rivals No. 2 Kentucky and No. 3 Texas A&M will face off (also on ESPN). One will remain perfect, while the other will be one loss away from a long plane ride home.
Summer School Q&A
🎓 Walk-on wonders
The GIST: Welcome back to Summer School, the series where we answer your questions about all things NCAA. If there’s a topic you want us to dig into this summer, tell us here.
Q: What’s a walk-on?
A: A walk-on is an NCAA athlete who does not receive an athletic scholarship. Sometimes they make a roster through open tryouts, but some — called “preferred walk-ons” — are recruited and basically guaranteed spots on the squad. All walk-ons can earn scholarship status for outstanding contributions, often finding out they leveled up in sweet surprise locker room moments.
- With 180K Division I (DI) and DII players on at least a partial scholarship, that leaves about 132K DI and DII walk-ons. Meanwhile, every single DIII athlete falls into this category, as no DIII program can offer athletic scholarships.
- While the yet-to-be-finalized House v. NCAA settlement will bring a million changes to college sports, one of the biggest could be the settlement’s effect on roster size — including the possible elimination of walk-ons in some sports.
Q: How many scholarships can a team give out…and why are the rules so complicated?
A: NCAA scholarship rules are different for “head-count” sports (like FBS football and women’s volleyball), which offer a set number of full-rides: Each football team has 85 players on full scholarship, volleyball teams have 12 fully funded athletes, and so on. On the other hand, “equivalency” sports’ coaches break up a set amount of scholarship money across their roster.
- For example, DI baseball teams can dole out the equivalent of 11.7 full scholarships, meaning coaches could grant partial scholarships to all 35 to 40 rostered players or give full-rides to 11 (with another athlete earning a 70% scholarship) — or anything in between.
- Those complicated equivalency rules help schools accommodate massive, all-male football rosters while aiming for Title IX compliance, which requires educational institutions to offer the same scholarship dollars to men and women.
🔜 In a bombshell decision, Stanford softball’s star pitcher NiJaree Canady will reportedly enter the transfer portal today. Coincidence that the 2024 Player of the Year is leaving just as four-time reigning champ Oklahoma is looking to reload? We think not.
⏭️ Illinois men’s basketball forward Coleman Hawkins — the top hooper left in the portal — announced Friday that he’ll join Kansas State this fall. He’s the latest addition to the Wildcats’ completely retooled roster after they struggled in the cutthroat Big 12 last season.
🥎 Clemson softball alum McKenzie Clark is the latest 2024 grad to shine in the pros. After just one week with AUX Softball, the rookie outfielder will serve as a captain for this week’s Series Two. Catch her squad in action tonight at 6 p.m. ET and 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPNU.
📺 ESPN reported a huge spike in viewership for last week’s NCAA outdoor track & field championships. A record 1.7M people tuned in — an 81% increase from last year — thanks in part to the upcoming Olympics and superstars like Florida’s Parker Valby.
Giveaway Alert
Can’t decide what to do this sunny season? How about an all-expenses-paid weekend trip for two to LA to watch both the LA Sparks and Angel City FC next month? Problem solved.
While rocking some sweet swag from our friends at Birdies, take in WNBA action when the Sparks host the two-time defending champion Las Vegas Aces on July 5th.
- Then catch Angel City vs. the reigning NWSL champs, NJ/NY Gotham FC, on July 6th. In addition to two premium tickets which include warm up field passes, the winners will also walk away with jerseys.
Be part of the women’s sports movement and enter to win today.
Peep our squad’s MVPs (Most Valuable Picks):
🥎 What to reflect on
The Women's College World Series. This year’s rosters of softball superstars featured many standout Black players, sparking an important conversation about the sport’s growth in Black communities.
🎧 What to listen to
This episode of ESPN Daily featuring Maya Brady, UCLA softball’s prolific shortstop and NFL legend Tom Brady’s niece.
📺 What to stream
Sue Bird: In the Clutch, the documentary on the WNBA icon’s legendary career, her final season, and her ongoing social justice advocacy journey.
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