-
1 week ago | 
hoopshq.com | Seth Davis |Drew Blouin |Jonathan Wasserman |Krysten Peek
Earlier this week, Texas Tech star JT Toppin announced that he will be returning for another season and his NIL package was reportedly a staggering $4 million. Toppin has been a projected late first-round pick all season long and is choosing to not even go through the draft process and receive feedback from teams. The 2025-26 NBA rookie scale salaries for picks 20 to 30 range from $2.2 million to $3 million in guarantee money.
-
2 weeks ago | 
hoopshq.com | Brett Friedlander |Drew Blouin |Seth Davis |Eric Prisbell
How does one process this: One game after a remarkable 14-point comeback to beat Duke, the script completely flipped, with the Cougars squandering a 12-point second-half lead in what matched the third-largest comeback in a title game. Houston closed the game committing turnovers on four consecutive possessions. The Cougars didn’t get off a shot in the game’s final 1:21.
-
2 weeks ago | 
hoopshq.com | Brett Friedlander |Drew Blouin |Seth Davis |Alex Squadron
SAN ANTONIO — Walter Clayton Jr. could barely move an inch without being swarmed by reporters. Orange and blue confetti blanketed the court beneath him. In his hands was the national championship trophy, which Florida had earned with a thrilling 65-63 victory over Houston just thirty minutes earlier.
-
2 weeks ago | 
hoopshq.com | Brett Friedlander |Drew Blouin |Seth Davis
“What’s that?” Golden asked. “Your high school coach. He’s outside.” Golden slapped Chinyelu’s hand and hugged him as well. When Chinyelu headed to the locker room, Golden asked no one in particular, “Can someone get my high school coach?” That last detail taken care of, Golden was ready to join his team inside the locker room. Even though the thick doors were closed behind him, the sounds of the jubilant Gators could be heard in the hallway loud and clear.
-
2 weeks ago | 
hoopshq.com | Brett Friedlander |Drew Blouin |Seth Davis |Fred Segal
Everything, that is, except win. Even though the Gators were held 20 points under their season average, finished just 6-of-24 from three-point range, gave up 15 offensive rebounds and saw leading scorer Walter Clayton Jr. held without a field goal for the first 32 minutes, Todd Golden’s team still found a way to persevere. Florida won 65-63 to earn its first national championship since going back-to-back in 2006-07.
-
2 weeks ago | 
hoopshq.com | Brett Friedlander |Seth Davis |Fred Segal |Drew Blouin
Junior forward Tae Davis provided a rare bright spot for a Fighting Irish team that finished ninth in the ACC. At 6-foot-9, Davis averaged 15.1 points and 5.3 rebounds per game in 2024-25 for the Irish. Monday, Porter Moser and Oklahoma earned a commitment from Davis, solidifying the Sooners’ first portal recruit of the transfer window. Davis will remain eligible for this year’s NBA Draft and plans to go through its evaluation process.
-
2 weeks ago | 
hoopshq.com | Brett Friedlander |Fred Segal |Drew Blouin |Eric Prisbell
Throughout Final Four history, there have been other notable flashpoints of young versus older in national title games, including Butler’s Brad Stevens against Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski in 2010; N.C. State’s Jim Valvano against Houston’s Guy Lewis in 1983; and Kentucky’s Adolph Rupp against Texas Western’s Don Haskins in 1966. We saw the largest age disparity — 34 years — when Stevens lost to UConn’s Jim Calhoun in the 2011 final.
-
2 weeks ago | 
hoopshq.com | Brett Friedlander |Fred Segal |Drew Blouin |Alex Squadron
SAN ANTONIO — After a night of utter chaos and complete shock at the Alamodome, the building is peaceful on Sunday as the two teams left standing in the NCAA Tournament — Florida and Houston — regroup and prepare to face off in the national final. Florida is seeking its third championship in program history, while Houston is trying to reach the mountaintop for the first time ever. Both teams got to this stage in dramatic fashion.
-
2 weeks ago | 
hoopshq.com | Drew Blouin |Brett Friedlander |Riley Frain |Justin Perri
SAN ANTONIO — “7 KILLS.” That was the only thing written on the whiteboard in Florida’s locker room after the Gators’ 79-73 national semifinal win over Auburn on Saturday at the Alamodome. The Gators face Houston on Monday night with a chance to claim their third championship in program history. In Florida’s dictionary, a “kill” is defined as three consecutive defensive stops. Each game, the team’s goal is seven kills.
-
2 weeks ago | 
hoopshq.com | Drew Blouin |Brett Friedlander |Riley Frain |Justin Perri
Bueckers doesn’t have to do these things. But she does. She always does. “She cares so much for the people around her that sometimes she forgets about herself,” 6-foot-5 redshirt freshman center Jana El Alfy said Saturday during a media availability before Sunday’s UConn-South Carolina national championship game. Bueckers has been in the spotlight since high school, when she was the country’s No. 1 recruit coming out of Hopkins (Minn.) High, in the Minneapolis suburbs.
