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Virginia's emergent big men take the floor Monday night against a busy Coppin State squad in Charlottesville, Va.
While the visiting Eagles (0-3) are playing for the fourth time in eight days, the Cavaliers (1-0) opened the season on Wednesday with a 65-56 win over Campbell, fueled by Jacob Cofie and Blake Buchanan.
Cofie, a 6-foot-10 freshman, scored a game-high 16 points off the bench on 7-of-8 shooting with two 3-pointers and grabbed six rebounds. Buchanan, a 6-foot-11 sophomore starter, contributed 10 points, seven boards, five assists and three blocked shots. They had only one turnover and three fouls between them.
"He had a great game," Buchanan said of Cofie. "I'm super, super happy for him. I'm pretty hard on him in practice, and I get on him, and I try to do my best that I can to kind of mentor him a little bit."
Buchanan scored in double figures for the first time since the second game of his freshman season, an 18-point effort against Florida on Nov. 10, 2023.
"I just feel a lot more natural this year," Buchanan said. "I'm not reactive. I know where to be. I know what to expect. I've already done a year of college basketball, so the game's a lot slower this year than it was last year. I definitely am stronger from last year, so I'm more physical and I can do a little bit more stuff with that."
It was the first win for Virginia under interim head coach Ron Sanchez. During his final season as the head coach at Charlotte in 2022-23, his 49ers opened the season with an 82-59 victory against Coppin State.
Coppin State fell 64-53 against Rider in its home opener in Baltimore on Saturday.
Derrius Ward and Toby Nnadozie scored 18 points each but the rest of the Eagles combined for just 17. Ward, a two-time transfer, leads the team with 15.3 points per game.
Coppin State went 2-27 in alumnus Larry Stewart's first season as head coach in 2023-24. Stewart was a two-time MEAC Player of the Year in 1989-90 and 1990-91.
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Colts' QB decision makes no sense, sets stage for wasted season
The Indianapolis Colts must have zero belief that Anthony Richardson is capable of being a starting quarterback in the NFL. That is the only logical conclusion one can draw from their decision to go with Daniel Jones as their starting quarterback for the 2025 season, while also giving him a lengthy leash to play through. It's not only nonsensical, but it sets the stage for what could be a completely wasted season of football where they do not get anything from it. Whether the Colts decided to go with Jones or Richardson, their ceiling was unlikely to change. They're not a Super Bowl-contending team, and they may not even be a playoff team. The Colts have a very flawed roster that is probably more than just one quarterback away. But that's part of the reason why it would have at least made sense to give Richardson one more run at it. While the early part of his career has been filled with injuries and inconsistency, he is still a player they used a No. 4 overall pick on. He is also a player who is still full of talent, a big arm and — in theory — a lot of potential. He is in a lot of ways still a mystery and something of an unknown as an NFL player. He's played only 15 games, thrown just 348 passes and is still 23 years old. There is still something there that a team can dream on. It would make sense to try to see if he can figure it out given that unknown potential and upside. Jones, on the other hand, is the complete opposite in every way. He is a mostly known commodity in the NFL. He has appeared in 70 regular-season games and thrown 2,241 passes, and he is going to be 28 years old when the season begins. There are no secrets here. Everybody knows what he is: veteran mediocrity. Sure, there is a chance he could follow the path of Geno Smith and finally put things together and become an above-average starter after washing out with the New York Giants. But those types of success stories are the exception and not the rule. After six years and nearly 2,500 passes in the NFL you start to get a sense for what a quarterback is and what they can do. Jones has shown everybody who and what he is as an NFL starting quarterback: not good enough. What are the Colts hoping to accomplish here? Maybe Jones is a marginal upgrade over Richardson right now. But is he enough of an upgrade to take them from a mid-level, average team to a playoff team or a contender? Not likely. Not in a stacked AFC. Due to Richardson's upside, if he can reach it, he might actually have the ability to do that. That alone should have been the incentive to give him one more run at it. If he washes out, then you might know for sure that he is not your answer and that you need to seriously look at the position again in 2026. The season might not go well, but it at least wouldn't be a waste. Right now, the Colts just seem to be hoping that Jones can get them to another eight- or nine-win season that keeps them squarely in the middle of the NFL standings. Nobody wants to see that. Nobody wants to watch that. They should have at least given Richardson one more swing at it. Now they have pretty much already written him off as a potential option without ever really knowing for sure if he could do the job or reach his potential.
Three-time NASCAR champion to retire after 2025 season
A storied NASCAR career will come to an end after 2025. Three-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion and 15-time race winner Matt Crafton will retire following the Truck Series championship race at Phoenix Raceway, concluding a NASCAR career that has spanned 25 years. Crafton, 49, has spent the entirety of his NASCAR Truck Series career — save for 2004 — with ThorSport Racing. His partnership with Menards has made his No. 88 truck iconic. Following Friday's eero 250 at Richmond Raceway, Crafton has made a total of 585 Truck Series starts and 592 across the top-three series of NASCAR competition. His last Truck Series victory came at Kansas in July 2020. Crafton failed to qualify for the 2025 Truck Series playoffs and will not compete for a fourth title in his final season. 2025 marks the second consecutive year that Crafton has missed the postseason and the second time he's missed it since NASCAR instituted the playoffs in the Truck Series in 2016. Through 18 races in 2025, Crafton is 16th in the Truck Series standings with three top-10 finishes. Defending Truck Series champion and ThorSport driver Ty Majeski will take over the No. 88 in 2026.
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MLB sends message by suspending Victor Robles for bat-throwing incident
Major League Baseball announced that Mariners outfielder Víctor Robles has received a 10-game suspension and an undisclosed fine from the league. The suspension will begin as soon as Robles is reinstated from the injured list, though Robles has filed an appeal and the suspension is being held in abeyance until the appeals process is complete. Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times reported these details prior to the official announcement. Divish notes that the M’s would have to play a man short during the suspension. Robles has been on the injured list for most of the year. Back in early April, he made a sensational catch in San Francisco but crashed into the sideline netting and dislocated his left shoulder, causing a small fracture in the humeral head of said shoulder. A week ago, he was finally able to begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Tacoma. During that week, he was hit by pitches multiple times, as shown in this video breakdown from Jomboy Media. Although he was hit five times, only three of them were technically counted as hit-by-pitches, with the other two counting as swings. Regardless, the final incident saw Robles hit by Joey Estes of the Las Vegas Aviators. Of the five times Robles was hit, three of them were out of the hand of Estes, though the final two were counted as swinging strikes. Regardless of how it was scored, Robles was clearly upset and threw his bat toward the pitcher’s mound. It doesn’t appear as though it hit Estes or anyone else, but MLB is understandably taking a firm stance against a player using his bat in this dangerous manner and sending Robles a message. President of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto spoke to members of the media, including Adam Jude of the Seattle Times, noting that the club tentatively planned to reinstate Robles from the IL next week but those plans may change with the suspension. Divish suggests that perhaps the best plan is to reinstate Robles on Sept. 1, so that the M’s can at least play with a 27-man roster, though that would push his reinstatement into the middle of September. Reinstating him earlier would mean playing with a 25-man roster for a while, though that would also mean Robles would be able to be reinstated for more games. It’s also unclear how long the appeals process will take. Sometimes, players appealing a suspension will hang in limbo until their team goes to New York, where the MLB head offices are located. The M’s don’t play in New York again this year, so it’s not clear when the appeal would be scheduled for. Robles being in the minors could also complicate factors. The M’s would surely love for the appeal to drag out into the winter and for Robles to serve his suspension next year, since they are currently in a playoff race, though MLB presumably wouldn’t let it play out like that.
Aaron Judge seemed annoyed with Aaron Boone over troubling health update
New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone offered a concerning update on Tuesday about Aaron Judge's recovery from an elbow injury, and the slugger did not seem thrilled about that. Judge returned to the Yankees' lineup on Aug. 5 following a 10-day stint on the injured list. The two-time American League MVP had a flexor strain in his throwing elbow, and he has been slotted in as New York's designated hitter since he returned. In an interview with WFAN on Tuesday morning, Boone said he does not believe that Judge will get back to "throwing like he normally does" at any point for the remainder of the season. Judge was caught off guard by his manager's remarks. Prior to Tuesday night's game against the Tampa Bay Rays, Judge told reporters that he is unsure of why Boone provided the pessimistic update. "I don’t know why he said that. He hasn’t seen me throw the past two weeks," Judge said. "I’m pretty confident I’ll get back to that.” Boone later admitted that he may have misspoken during the WFAN interview. Many were surprised by the apparent disconnect between Judge and Boone. It is possible that what Boone said in the initial interview was accurate and Judge did not want that information to be made public. The alternative is that Boone is not completely up to speed on his best player's recovery from an injury, which would be a bad look for the manager. Judge is batting .333 with 39 home runs and 91 RBI this season. His bat is far more important to the Yankees than his glove, but he has struggled at the plate a bit since returning. Judge is batting just .229 with a .429 slugging percentage in 11 games since he came off the injured list.
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