Lindsay Schnell

1 month ago | nytimes.com | Lindsay Schnell

When she goes to baseball games, Virginia Tech's Cori McMillan sometimes has no idea what's going on. That's not because McMillan, an outfielder for the Hokies and this season's home run leader (31) in Division I softball, doesn't know the rules of baseball. It's because the white ball is much harder to see when hit into the clouds. When a bat makes contact and launches the ball skyward, she frequently loses sight of it.

1 month ago | nytimes.com | CJ Moore |Lindsay Schnell

We talked SEC and Big East in the first of of our two-part mailbag. Let's dive into the Big 12, Kansas, Michigan State, the new Pac-12 and more in Part 2. (Note: Submitted questions have been lightly edited for clarity and length.) How much does adding AJ Dybantsa affect BYU and the rest of the Big 12? - Sarah K. Let's establish a couple of realities. First, the reigning Big 12 player of the year, JT Toppin of Texas Tech, is coming back for the 2025-26 season.

1 month ago | nytimes.com | Stewart Mandel |Lindsay Schnell

PALO ALTO, Calif. - The news last July came as a shock to the college sports industry. A softball star, pitcher NiJaree Canady, was leaving perennial power Stanford for Texas Tech, an afterthought in the sport. It was a commonly held assumption that few athletes would voluntarily leave behind a prestigious Stanford degree. But this was a new era. Canady, the national player of the year, had received a $1 million NIL deal - an unheard-of amount outside of football and men's basketball.

2 months ago | nytimes.com | Lindsay Schnell

PORTLAND, Ore. - Now that Nate Ament has committed to play basketball next season at Tennessee, tipping the Vols' 2025-26 roster from good to great, elated fans should seriously consider sending a thank you note to his older brother Frederick. Twenty-year-old Frederick can't take credit for Nate's 6-foot-9 height or his skill set (the forward is ranked No. 4 in the 2025 class). But he is the one who first convinced Nate to consider leaving soccer behind in favor of basketball.

2 months ago | nytimes.com | Lindsay Schnell

SAN ANTONIO - When Alijah Martin went to the Final Four two years ago, he played maybe the best game of his career in the national semifinals, scoring 26 points on 7-of-13 shooting and grabbing seven rebounds. But ninth-seeded Florida Atlantic, one of a handful of Cinderellas that stole hearts that spring, lost to San Diego State 72-71 on a buzzer-beater that night, sending Martin and the Owls back to Boca Raton.