Category: College Football

Michigan State football has extended an offer to a big-time defensive lineman prospect from Texas.

Smith Orogbo of Houston, Texas announced earlier this week that he’s received a scholarship from the Spartans. Orogbo is a four-star defensive lineman in the 2025 class.

Orogbo ranks as the No. 15 defensive lineman and No. 132 overall prospect in 247Sports’ composite rankings for the 2025 class. He’s also listed as the No. 22 player from Texas.

Michigan State is one of nearly 40 schools to extend an offer to Orogbo. He currently has official visits lined up with Missouri, Texas Tech, Kansas, Texas and Oklahoma over the next month.

Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan state news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Robert Bondy on Twitter @RobertBondy5.

Story originally appeared on Spartans Wire

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A new era of college athletics is upon us, and leaders do not have much time to prepare for the transformative age.

College sports is on the precipice of changing forever as leaders from the NCAA and several power-conference levels have agreed to destroy the amateurism model and share revenue with players by coming to terms on settling a multi-billion dollar lawsuit that threatened to bankrupt the collegiate athletics enterprise. 

The NCAA Board of Governors voting Wednesday to accept the anti-trust lawsuit settlements and move forward was a pivotal rubber-stamping. The SEC and Pac-12 are set to vote Thursday before it’s in the plaintiff lawyers’ hands; they each are expected to approve moving forward with settling in separate meetings. 

The $2.8 billion settlement in the House v. NCAA case, a landmark legal battle, has far-reaching implications anchored by revenue sharing and the expansion of roster sizes, which might also spark more legal battles with Title IX implications. In the immediate future, the legal settlement is transformative for players because not only will past athletes be compensated for prior restrictions on earning from their name, image, and likeness via the $2.8 billion settlement, but the agreement sets the stage for a future revenue-sharing model, a first in the NCAA’s long history, benefiting thousands of collegiate athletes starting as soon as Fall 2025.

The NCAA and its conferences will hammer out the details of new revenue-sharing and governance models over the next few months, but a framework was revealed in internal documents uncovered by multiple outlets in recent weeks. Athletic departments must now prepare for new line items that could balloon up to $30 million annually as the richest schools prepare to…

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Wisconsin top transfer portal target defensive lineman Gavin Meyer committed to USC on Wednesday.

Meyer chose the Trojans over other finalists Wisconsin, Cal and Illinois.

Related: Updated 2024 Wisconsin football game-by-game predictions after spring practice

The veteran lineman entered the transfer portal on May 1 after four years at Wyoming. He entered with major experience and production, having recorded a combined 66 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss and 4.0 sacks over the last two seasons.

Meyer is a Franklin, Wisconsin native. The Badgers did not extend him an offer when he was a three-star DE recruit in the class of 2020. They now lose out on his transfer recruitment — to a rival program on the 2024 schedule.

Wisconsin’s quest for a transfer defensive lineman appears to have concluded. The program lost out on C.J. West (committed to Indiana), Khurtiss Perry (committed to Virginia Tech), Jay’Viar Suggs (committed to LSU), Meyer (USC) and Brandon Lane (committed to Louisville) all in the last few weeks.

It is now at the 85 scholarship limit after extending one to former walk-on wide receiver Haakon Anderson.

The Badgers will now enter a 2024 season that sees Oregon, Penn State and Alabama visit Madison with a clear weakness along the defensive line. If not a weakness, then at least the team’s thinnest position.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion.

Story originally appeared on Badgers Wire

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College sports leaders and lawyers are nearing a legal settlement in a landmark antitrust lawsuit that will pave the way for revenue sharing with players as part of the inevitable march toward professionalization in college athletics.

On Tuesday the Big 12 became the first power conference to approve settlement terms, sources tell 247Sports. Other leagues are expected to conduct similar votes over the next few days. 

“We are optimistic that a transformative moment for college sports may be very close,” House plaintiff attorney Jeffrey Kessler told 247Sports. 

The long-anticipated resolution of House v. NCAA could come as soon as this week, with college athletics’ governing body expected to pay approximately $2.7 billion in back damages over the course of the next decade, according to a memo obtained by multiple media outlets. 

Within that total, $1.6 billion would come from reductions in NCAA distributions over the next 10 years — with roughly 40% from the five power conferences — according to ESPN. However, there are 68 power-conference schools and nearly 300 Division I programs that fall outside of that category. Division II and Division III schools are not expected to be impacted, but that could change. 

The remaining $1.1 billion would be tapped from NCAA reserves and budget cuts, among other sources. 

But back damages are only one part of the equation. An expedited timeline for conferences and universities to implement a new pay-for-play model is also on the table. Though booster-led NIL collectives would not be eliminated altogether as part of a new “enforcement infrastructure,” they would be subject to guardrails not seen in the current unregulated market, per Yahoo Sports. 

The most notable power players swaying…

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Missouri State football coach Ryan Beard began pitching to recruits that the Bears will be in the FBS rather than the FCS come 2025. He’s already landed a handful of prospects ready to lead the football program into its new era.

Here are those MSU has landed since announcing it will join Conference USA before the 2025 season.

Khalil Anderson, East Tennessee, DB

Anderson’s a 5-foot-10 corner coming off his redshirt junior season. He started his career at Pittsburgh. He played 11 games last season with 25 tackles and a pick. He also held an offer from Rhode Island since entering the portal.

More: How will Missouri State be ‘budget-neutral’ with CUSA move? Here are new revenue streams.

James BlackStrain, Georgia Tech, WR

BlackStrain was a four-star recruit rated in the ESPN 300 out of high school but saw minimal time in three years at Georgia Tech. He’s a 6-foot-2 wide receiver who head coach Ryan Beard offered while at Louisville when BlackStrain was a 15-year-old high schooler in Florida.

Noah Gardner, Tulane, OL

Gardner is a 6-foot-5, 290-pound offensive lineman transfer from Tulane. Since entering the portal, he held offers from Houston, McNeese, Tennessee Tech and Lamar. He was a three-star prospect out of high school and held offers from Louisiana Tech and California. He has four years of eligibility remaining.

More: How Missouri State football coach Ryan Beard is approaching Conference USA, FBS jump

Missouri State head coach Ryan Beard during a game against the Utah Tech Trailblazers at Plaster Field on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023.

Antonio Robinson, Marshall, WR

Robinson’s a 6-foot-2, 190-pound receiver with three years of eligibility remaining. He appeared in one game last season after redshirting in 2022 with no game action. He held offers from New Mexico State, Buffalo, New Mexico, Utah State, Arizona and others out…

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USATSI

Georgia freshman wide receiver Sacovie White was arrested Saturday morning on charges of reckless driving and driving down a one-way roadway. According to the Athens-Clarke County Police’s jail log, White was arrested at 3:04 a.m. and released around an hour later on a $26 bond. 

White’s arrest is the 18th incident in which someone associated with Georgia football has been jailed or cited for a traffic-related offense since January 2023, per The Atlanta-Journal Constitution. Georgia running back Trevor Etienne Jr., a highly billed transfer from Florida, was arrested in March for driving under the influence, reckless driving and two misdemeanor charges. Etienne still participated in Georgia’s spring game. 

“I can only speak for my university, but I think we do it better than anybody in the country,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said in March, when asked about educating his team on the dangers of speeding following Etienne’s arrest.   

White is in his first semester at Georgia after signing with the Bulldogs as a three-star prospect in the Class of 2024. He had two catches for 29 yards and a touchdown in Georgia’s spring game. 

The 5-foot-9, 180-pound White earned an early offer from Georgia and committed to the Bulldogs in October 2022. He never wavered and signed in December, joining the program in time for spring practice. 

Georgia saw a rash of speeding-related incidents in the months after a Jan. 15, 2023 crash killed recruiting staffer Chandler LeCroy and offensive lineman Devin Willock. Ten different players were arrested for various charges from…

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Having a roster of blue chip players doesn’t win championships. Having around eight game-altering players does. It’s why Texas is now winning at a level it hasn’t in over a decade.

The Texas football program has long been known for recruiting good players. For years, outsiders remarked on the Longhorns’ failure to consistently win at a high level over the head coaching tenures of Charlie Strong and Tom Herman. Those teams didn’t have enough players who could take control of games. Sarkisian’s teams have that.

Game changers have changed the course of the program. Sarkisian’s first of many such players was his only 2021 recruit, Xavier Worthy. As a freshman, Worthy put up 62 receptions, 981 yards and 12 touchdowns. Alone, Worthy wasn’t enough to alter game results, but he did make games interesting.

The next offseason, Texas added two five-star offensive linemen. One of them was left tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. who went on to a freshman All-American season in 2022. He’s on track to be selected in the first round of a future NFL draft like Xavier Worthy was this offseason.

By the 2022 season, the Longhorns had cultivated or brought in more game changers, but not enough to win a conference title. Linebacker Jaylan Ford and tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders became players of that caliber, but you need more than four players taking over games.

In the 2023 offseason, Texas added a couple more stars in wide receiver Adonai Mitchell and linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. Mitchell went for 11 touchdown receptions while Hill added 67 total tackles and five sacks in limited playing time. Edge rusher Ethan Burke added 5.5 sacks, while interior defensive linemen Byron Murphy and T’Vondre Sweat became All-Americans and early round draft picks. Game changers.

This offseason has seen Texas add five Top 50 portal players in wide…

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Auburn running back Brian Battie was injured during a fatal shooting Saturday morning in his hometown of Sarasota, Florida, 247Sports confirms. Battie’s brother, 24-year-old Tommie Battie, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to police.

The incident, which took place around 3:30 a.m. Saturday morning, sent four others to the hospital, including the Tigers running back. 

“We are aware of the situation and are continuing to gather information,” an Auburn spokesperson told multiple outlets. 

Battie served as Auburn’s primary kick returner and provided depth at running back during the 2023 season. He finished fifth in the SEC in kick return average with 23 yards per touch and averaged just under 50 yards per kick return per game. Battie also rushed for 227 yards for the season, scoring a touchdown in a Nov. 11 win against Arkansas. 

Prior to joining Auburn’s roster, Battie spent three years at South Florida, where he emerged as one of the top kick returners in the nation. He was named a consensus All-American in 2021 after amassing 650 yards and three touchdowns as USF’s primary kick returner. He also earned second-team All-AAC honors as a running back in 2022 after rushing for 1,186 yards and eight touchdowns in 12 games. He was a four-star prospect in 247Sports’ 2023 transfer rankings, 

Battie signed with South Florida in 2020 out of Sarasota High School. 

CBS Sports will update this story as more information becomes available. 

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