UNDATED (AP) — Tennessee's Karlyn Pickens and Texas Tech's NiJaree Canady are the top picks in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League draft. Pickens joins the Carolina Blaze after throwing a record 79.4 mph pitch last season. She has a 13-7 record with a 1.44 ERA and 154 strikeouts this season. Canady, picked by the Texas Volts, has a 21-4 record with a 1.30 ERA and 194 strikeouts. She led Texas Tech to a national runner-up finish last year. The draft included 17 players identified through the Golden Ticket program. The season starts June 9.
UNDATED (AP) — The robot umpire is coming to college baseball, at least on an experimental basis. The NCAA Baseball Rules Committee on Monday approved the Southeastern Conference’s request to implement a challenge system for balls and strikes for each game of the 2026 SEC Tournament. It would be a system similar to the one used in Major League Baseball. The system will permit teams to challenge an umpire’s strike or ball call via an automated ball tracking system that monitors the exact location of each pitch, relative to the specific batter’s zone. The system also would be allowed in other conference tournaments.
STORRS, Conn. (AP) — A little more than a month after Geno Auriemma’s UConn women’s basketball team’s title bid ended with a Final Four loss to South Carolina, Auriemma reflected on his heated postgame exchange with South Carolina coach Dawn Staley. “You couldn't keep it in for five more seconds? You feel dumb for the way it played out.” Auriemma is turning his attention to making a run at a national title during the 2026-27 season.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Former Wake Forest guard Juke Harris has committed to Tennessee, giving the Volunteers one of the top scorers in this year’s portal. The 6-foot-7, 200-pounder scored 21.4 points per game last season for the Demon Deacons to rank No. 14 in the country. He was named to the All-ACC second team as a sophomore and has two seasons of eligibility remaining. Harris had originally declared for the NBA draft, but decided to go to Tennessee after being projected as a late first round or early second round selection.
UNDATED (AP) — Kansas has put itself on track for its best season since the standard-bearing 1993 team made the program’s only College World Series appearance. The Jayhawks have won 10 straight games and 21 of their last 22 after sweeping Arizona and on Monday they achieved their highest ranking ever when they landed at No. 7 in the D1Baseball.com poll. This is all new for Kansas. The Jayhawks' all-time record is just a little over .500 and the most recent of their three regular-season conference championships came in 1949.
CINCINNATI (AP) — Adrian “Odie” Smith, whose Hall of Fame basketball career included a college national title with Kentucky, a gold medal at the 1960 Rome Olympics and a 10-year stint in the NBA, has died at 89. Smith died on April 28th, the University of Kentucky said in a statement. There was no word on how or where Smith died. He played for the Cincinnati Royals for eight-plus seasons before finishing his NBA career with the San Francisco Warriors. The 6-foot-1 guard, who was named MVP of the 1966 NBA All-Star game, also played one season in the ABA with the Virginia Squires. Smith was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010 with the 1960 U.S. Olympic men's basketball squad.
