NCAA

Arch Manning isn't waiting to get started at Texas.

According to Anwar Richardson of Rivals, Manning will enroll at the school in January:

Manning, the top overall prospect in the class of 2023 according to 247Sports' composite rankings, committed to the Longhorns in June over schools like Georgia, Alabama, LSU and Clemson, among others.

"He does have a big arm," a coach from an opposing school who recruited him told ESPN's Pete Thamel in June. "He's a lot more mobile than everyone thinks. He's not like a Manning who can't move. He can get out of trouble. He's not a statue in [the] pocket. He played basketball and can dunk. He's a prototypical kid that sees the field well. He's not going to make bad decisions and not make bad plays worse and will truly run the offense."

Manning's lineage is well chronicled. His uncles, Peyton and Eli Manning, were each NFL quarterbacks, with Peyton already in the Hall of Fame and Eli a contender for the honor.

His grandfather Archie Manning was also an NFL quarterback, while his father, Cooper, was set to play wide receiver at Ole Miss before spinal stenosis ended his football career in 1992.

Manning will bring to Texas one of the most legendary football legacies any recruit has ever possessed. No pressure or anything.

"What I've been impressed with is him living with the pressure," the coach who recruited Manning told Thamel in June. "He's got to live with that pressure and deal with all that. That may be a good transition for him. He's been doing it his entire high school career. No stage is going to be too big."

Returning Texas to national prominence is a sizable stage to conquer, however.

Cormani McClain, a 5-star cornerback in the 2023 recruiting class, announced Thursday he's decided to play college football at Miami.

Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal reacted to the news:

McClain emerged as an intriguing two-way contributor at Lake Gibson High School in Florida, where he played both corner and wide receiver. He transferred to Lakeland High School for his senior season.

The versatile playmaker projects as a defensive back at the college level, and he could also be an impact player on special teams at the outset.

He's rated as the No. 2 overall prospect and the top-ranked cornerback in the 2023 class, according to 247Sports' composite rankings.

Last May, McClain told Warchant's Michael Langston he still enjoyed playing on offense but his affinity for playing cornerback grew over time.

"I love playing press-man," he said. "I also play a lot of receiver, and whatever the team needs I'm going to do in making some big plays. Offense is probably more natural for me at times because that's where I started my career, so I'm comfortable with route-running. But corner ... I just love it there. Being out there on a corner, and it's one-on-one."

His steady growth as a corner allowed him to receive scholarship offers from many of the nation's top programs before he made his final decision.

Now his focus will shift to continuing that development in college.

McClain is a special talent on a path toward a potential NFL career, but there's still a major jump from high school ball to high-level college games, so a transition period should be expected as he arrives to Miami ahead of the 2023 season.

That said, even if he's not a Day 1 starter for the Canes, it probably won't take long before he sees the field. It's a significant recruiting victory for Cristobal and Co.

In the wake of Kanye West's recent antisemitic comments, Texas A&M will no longer play one of his songs that has been a staple of their pregame football activities.

Texas A&M athletic director Ross Bjork told reporters the school would stop playing "Power" during the Aggies' entrance for home games at Kyle Field.

"We've reviewed that situation for the last couple of weeks," Bjork said. "... We're pivoting away from that song."

West, who legally changed his name to Ye, made a series of antisemitic comments earlier this month. His Twitter account and Instagram accounts were locked for a period of time for violating their policy standards.

In a since-deleted post on West's Twitter account, he wrote he was going "death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE."

Per Anna Merlan of MotherBoard.com, West made "numerous antisemitic sentiments" during a taping of Tucker Carlson's show on Fox News that were edited out of the broadcast version.

In an Oct. 11 statement to Justin Tinsley of Andscape.com, Maverick Carter said an episode of The Shop with West as a guest that was taped would not be broadcast because he continued "to reiterate more hate speech and extremely dangerous stereotypes."

Premier League club Bournemouth also announced on Thursday it would no longer play "Power" before games at its home stadium.

West has also been dropped by several of his partners recently, including Adidas, Gap and Foot Locker. Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald and Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown announced they were leaving Ye's marketing agency, Donda Sports.

"Power" was included on West's 2010 album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Texas A&M's football team has been using it as part of the pregame soundtrack for every home game since 2012.

The University of Texas women's basketball team will host an exhibition against DePaul on Saturday with all ticket proceeds going to the Uvalde School District's efforts to build a new school in wake of May's mass shooting at Robb Elementary.

"Sometimes you feel helpless wanting to help somebody," Texas coach Vic Schaefer said, per Jim Vertuno of the Associated Press. "I felt like this might be an opportunity for us as a university, as an athletic department and my program, to really reach out."

Nineteen children and two teachers were killed when Salvador Ramos opened fire using an AR-15-style rifle at Robb Elementary. It was the third-deadliest school shooting in United States history.

Schaefer also plans to donate $1,000 for every 1,000 fans who attend the game. He said he's hoping for at least 10,000 tickets.

"I'm really begging and pleading for our community to come out, to do as much as we can to be a part of helping them rebuild and heal," Schaefer said.

City officials made the decision to permanently close Robb Elementary and demolish the school in the aftermath of the shooting. A memorial park is scheduled to be built in the school's place.

The current goal is to have a new school built and ready to open by October 2024.

Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff believes USC and UCLA leaving the conference will be an unpopular decision.

"I think saying hundreds would be an exaggeration—dozens, more than a hundred," Kliavkoff said when talking about discussions he has had with people connected to the programs, per Myron Medcalf of ESPN. "And I have yet to talk to anyone in the UCLA and USC community who's in favor of the move. I will say that I probably hear from folks who are not in favor, not surprisingly."

As Medcalf noted, the Trojans and Bruins will become members of the Big Ten in 2024 as the landscape of college sports continues to change with conference realignment that will also see Texas and Oklahoma join the SEC from the Big 12 in July 2025.

While Kliavkoff is a biased source who would clearly benefit from the two major brands staying inside the conference, there is something to be said for the difficulties it will present.

USC and UCLA will be in for multiple long road trips in football, basketball and other sports as they travel to places such as Penn State, Maryland and Ohio State. The Big Ten is also based in the Midwest and operates its high-profile conference championships and tournaments in cities such as Indianapolis and Chicago.

USC and UCLA will also lose some long-standing rivalries within the Pac-12 as they play new schedules.

Kliavkoff suggested expenses that come from additional traveling and salaries with the move to the Big Ten will counteract the gains available from a financial standpoint, but Medcalf noted reports say "UCLA will reap an eight-figure gain annually" with the move.

Thuc Nhi Nguyen of the Los Angeles Times pointed out the Pac-12's "archaic TV deal" has hamstrung powerhouse programs from a financial perspective, with the conference giving $33.6 million to each school in 2019-20 when the Big Ten gave an average of $49.2 million to its schools in that same period.

The gap figures to only grow, considering the Big Ten agreed to a new television rights contract with CBS, Fox, NBC, NBCUniversal's Peacock, Big Ten Network and FS1 in August. It will start in July 2023 and run through the 2029-30 season and give the conference between $7 billion and $8 billion.

Escalators could even bring the value to $10 billion.

Money talks, and USC and UCLA are headed to the Big Ten even if some within the Pac-12 wish it wasn't happening.

Kentucky big man Oscar Tshiebwe said he "absolutely" plans to be ready for the team's first game against Howard on Nov. 7, according to Gary B. Graves of the Associated Press.

The reigning AP Player of the Year underwent a "minor" procedure on his knee this month, as head coach John Calipari explained on Twitter. Despite the issue, Tshiebwe doesn't expect to miss any regular-season action.

"To be honest, I don't think I will miss games other than exhibition games because it's not really necessary that I get this done," he said.

Tshiebwe is coming off a breakout season for the Wildcats after transferring from West Virginia.

The 6'9" forward averaged 17.4 points, 15.2 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 1.6 blocks per game in 2021-22, winning the Naismith Award as the top player in college basketball. He helped Kentucky earn a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament, although the squad was shockingly upset in the first round by Saint Peter's.

Despite interest from the NBA, Tshiebwe returned to school and enters as a unanimous preseason All-American with higher expectations going into 2022-23.

"He's a better passer. He's a better dribbler. He has a better feel. He talks," Calipari said, per the AP's John Marshall. "Offensively he knows the plays better. And he's authentic."

There will be a lot of eyes on Tshiebwe this season with Kentucky entering No. 4 in the preseason AP poll.

Aliyah Boston and Caitlin Clark were unanimous selections Tuesday for the 2022-23 Associated Press preseason women's basketball All-American team, per Doug Feinberg of the AP.

Stanford's Haley Jones, Iowa State's Ashley Joens, Virginia Tech's Elizabeth Kitley and DePaul's Aneesah Morrow were also selected.

Boston was last year's AP Player of the Year. She averaged 16.8 points, 12.5 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game and helped South Carolina win the national championship. With Boston returning, the Gamecocks were the unanimous preseason No. 1 team in the country last week.

"I don’t think all the awards define who she is but also puts her in a position of she's in a more relaxed mode because she accomplished those things," South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said of Boston. "She's still in a place of hunger."

Clark will be a top contender for individual awards this season as one of the top scorers in the country.

The guard averaged 27.0 points per game last season, adding 8.0 rebounds, 8.0 assists and 1.5 steals. She enters her junior season having already scored 1,662 points, and she is certain to break plenty of records before she leaves school.

Like Boston and Clark, Jones was a first-team All-American last year. The guard averaged 13.2 points, 7.9 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.1 blocks per game and will help the Cardinal remain top contenders after they fell in the Final Four.

Joens, a senior, averaged 20.3 points and 9.5 rebounds per game for Iowa State last season, shooting 37.6 percent from three-point range.

Kitley is a force down low for Virginia Tech, averaging 18.1 points, 9.8 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game. The senior scored 42 points in her final game last year, a first-round NCAA tournament loss to Florida Gulf Coast.

Morrow is the only sophomore on the first team after turning heads last year with 21.9 points, 13.8 rebounds, 2.7 steals and 1.8 blocks per game. She had a double-double in 24 of her final 25 games as a freshman.

After earning second-team All-American honors last year, Morrow has a chance to be a star.

Kentucky's Oscar Tshiebwe and Gonzaga's Drew Timme highlight the 2022-23 Associated Press preseason All-America team in men's college basketball.

Both big men were unanimous selections on the first team, which also includes North Carolina forward Armando Bacot, Houston guard Marcus Sasser and Indiana forward Trayce Jackson-Davis.

Tshiebwe won the Naismith Award as the best player in college basketball last season after averaging 17.4 points and 15.2 rebounds per game. He is the first AP National Player of the Year to return to school the following season since Tyler Hansbrough in 2009.

Hansbrough didn't win a second player of the year award, but he did lead North Carolina to a national championship as a senior.

Tshiebwe will hope for similar success with the Wildcats, who enter as the No. 4 team in the preseason AP poll despite a shocking first-round exit in the NCAA tournament last season. Further improvements from their star player could be the difference in the upcoming season.

"He's a better passer. He's a better dribbler. He has a better feel. He talks," Kentucky coach John Calipari said of Tshiebwe. "Offensively, he knows the plays better. And he's authentic."

North Carolina is the top team in the preseason poll thanks to the return of Bacot, who averaged 16.3 points, 13.1 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game last season. The forward had six straight double-doubles during the Tar Heels' run to the NCAA title game, averaging 16.5 rebounds during the tournament.

With RJ Davis, Leaky Black and Caleb Love also set to return, North Carolina should be a tough team to beat in 2022-23.

Timme is looking for more team success after earning second-team All-America honors in the last two years. The senior averaged 18.4 points and 6.8 rebounds per game last season, helping Gonzaga earn the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament for the second straight year.

But a Sweet 16 loss to Arkansas leaves Timme searching for more going into this season.

Sasser missed all but 12 games last season with a toe injury that ended his season in December, but he created high expectations after averaging 17.7 points per game in his limited playing time. Houston went to the Elite Eight without him, but the team could be even scarier this season.

Jackson-Davis was overshadowed by the three Big Ten players who made the All-America First Team last year: Johnny Davis, Kofi Cockburn and Keegan Murray. The Indiana forward won't sneak up on anyone, though, after averaging 18.3 points, 8.1 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game last season.