A thrill-a-minute NCAA title for the Florida Gators in San Antonio has reminded us all of what’s so good about the games these college athletes play.
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Can storing their stem cells help?Microsoft workers say they've been fired after 50th anniversary protest over Israel contractOaks, asters and 6 other 'keystone' native species to plant for biodiversityMeet Father Spyridon: A Greek monk in an ancient cliffside monastery keeps island life together18 muertos y 120 heridos tras el colapso del techo de una discoteca de República DominicanaChina dice que"luchará hasta el final" después de que Trump amagó con imponer aún más arancelesFlorida’s Walter Clayton Jr. celebrates after Florida beat Houston in the national championship at the Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Monday, April 7, 2025, in San Antonio. Florida head coach Todd Golden rides to the locker room after their win against the Houston in the national championship at the Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Monday, April 7, 2025, in San Antonio. College soccer player Lexi Drumm leaves federal court during a hearing for a landmark $2.8 billion settlement impacting NCAA college athletics on Monday, April 7, 2025, in Oakland, Calif. Florida’s Walter Clayton Jr. celebrates after Florida beat Houston in the national championship at the Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Monday, April 7, 2025, in San Antonio. Florida’s Walter Clayton Jr. celebrates after Florida beat Houston in the national championship at the Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Monday, April 7, 2025, in San Antonio. Florida head coach Todd Golden rides to the locker room after their win against the Houston in the national championship at the Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Monday, April 7, 2025, in San Antonio. Florida head coach Todd Golden rides to the locker room after their win against the Houston in the national championship at the Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Monday, April 7, 2025, in San Antonio. College soccer player Lexi Drumm leaves federal court during a hearing for a landmark $2.8 billion settlement impacting NCAA college athletics on Monday, April 7, 2025, in Oakland, Calif. College soccer player Lexi Drumm leaves federal court during a hearing for a landmark $2.8 billion settlement impacting NCAA college athletics on Monday, April 7, 2025, in Oakland, Calif. SAN ANTONIO — The final buzzer in San Antonio closed a drama that ended with confetti and Gator chomps — a thrill-a-minuteThose two scenes Monday illustrated all that’s at stake, and maybe even whether March Madness, which Florida wrapped up with a 65-63 title-clinching victory over Houston,might have produced the day’s biggest headline, federal Judge Claudia Wilken’s decision about the multibillion-dollar college-sports lawsuit settlement — which could come within days, weeks, months, who knows? — will carry more weight. “Basically I think it is a good settlement, don’t quote me, and I think it’s worth pursuing,” Wilken said near the close of the daylong hearing she held in Oakland, California, that finished about an hour before tipoff in the Alamodome. “I think some of these things could be fixed if people tried to fix them and that it would be worth their while to try to fix them.”prescribed by the lawsuit. A solution could prevent an immediate wholesale phase-out of hundreds of football players, swimmers, sprinters and other college athletes across the country. She also wants tweaks to how athletes who haven’t yet reached college might be treated per terms of an agreement that’s supposed to last 10 years.As currently structured, terms of the settlement are due to take effect on July 1, when the biggest change will be schools’ ability to pay athletes directly. Also at stake is $2.78 billion in back pay to former players who weren’t eligible for those payments.That’s where it comes back to the Gators, along with the thousands of varsity teams and players participating in college sports — from swimmers to pitchers to quarterbacks and everyone in between. Like every other coach, Florida’s Todd Golden is learning to work with a payroll. It’s funded both from third-party booster groups that can funnel money to the players, and then, if Wilken gives the OK, from a pool of $20.5 million that schools like his will distribute among all its athletes — but mostly to football and a little less to basketball. Those financial decisions, in turn, will dictate roster decisions and determine whether the Gators can afford another player like Clayton. He’s the senior who left a small Northeastern school, Iona, to come back to his home state and join Golden and the Gators. He scored 134 points in six tournament games that culminated with Monday’s final. He will be playing in the NBA next year. Houston frustrated him and held him to 11 points in his final game as a collegian. But Clayton got the last laugh when he charged toward Cougars guard Emanuel Sharp, who was lining up for what could have been the game-winning 3-pointer with the clock ticking down in a tense, rugged, defense-focused game that left Clayton’s defense forced Sharp to let the ball go without shooting. It bounced once, then twice, then a third time — Sharp couldn’t grab it, lest he be called for traveling — before Clayton’s Florida teammate Alex Condon pounced on it and the buzzer sounded. “I do think what separates us and has separated us all season long is our team talent, how our guys have played together and for each other all year,” Golden said. “Because of that, we can call each other national champions for the rest of our lives.” While the Gators got ready to cut down the nets, the well-worn favorite “One Shining Moment” — a treacly highlight reel from America’s three-week hoops extravaganza — played on the big screen above. Florida sprinted and Houston trudged through the tunnel, into their locker rooms, and basketball — and college sports, in general — began the long wait to see what comes next.US stock market closed lower after Trump’s latest tariff threatsChina says it will ‘fight to the end’ after Trump threatens to impose still more tariffs
Florida Gators General News March Madness NCAA Tournament TX State Wire FL State Wire NCAA Mens Bracket IN State Wire CA State Wire Todd Golden Claudia Wilken Emanuel Sharp Sports U.S. News Florida Rakesh Kilaru Alex Condon U.S. News
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