The first round of the NBA Draft is in the

Newell( left ), McNeeley and Queen. (Kai Tsehay/NBAE via Getty Images )Skill pipeline: While this was a historical class for the Florida

prep school, Kevin Boyle’s program * is no complete stranger to draft night. Cade Cunningham, Joel Embiid, Scottie Barnes, RJ Barrett, Jalen Duren, Andrew Nembhard, Ben Simmons, D’Angelo Russell and numerous other existing and previous NBA players likewise went there.Advertisement * On the relocation: Boyle departed this spring for Spire Academy (Ohio) after leading Montverde to eight of the previous 12 national championships. Pro softball’s minute is here Volts utility player Danieca Coffey celebrates a HR.(AUSL)Has expert softball’s moment finally arrived? MLB certainly seems to think so.Meet the AUSL: The new Athletes Unlimited Softball League’s inaugural season started previously this month, and a week before the

first pitch it secured an eight-figure financial investment from Big league Baseball as a strategic partner.”This is a watershed moment for ladies’s sports and especially

for softball,”said AUSL commissioner and former Marlins GM Kim Ng.”MLB’s financial investment will supercharge our efforts to build the sustainable professional league this sport has long should have.”AUSL, described: Professional athletes Unrestricted introduced in 2020 with a distinct

• idea for ladies’s expert sports, utilizing fantasy-style scoring to crown specific champs in their softball, basketball and beach ball leagues that redraft new groups each week. AUSL takes a different tack, giving AU its very first standard, team-based league.Advertisement Teams and

format: Four groups (Outlaws, Talons, Volts, Blaze)are playing a 24-game barnstorming season throughout 10 cities, with strategies to expand to 6 city-based teams next summer season. The season culminates in a best-of-three champion in late July, followed by the All-Star Cup in August, which will go back to AU’s initial redraft format.Players: Lineups are peppered with current college super stars like 2025 POY Bri Ellis (Arkansas), 2021 pitcher of the year Odicci Alexander (JMU) and four-time Females’s College World Series champion Tiare Jennings( Oklahoma ). How to view: All 72 games, consisting of those in the All-Star Cup, will air on linear TV, with a bulk broadcast throughout ESPN’s platforms.What they’re stating:”Our goal is to get a softball league into the exact same position of stability that the

WNBA has discovered,”states MLB commissioner Rob Manfred. It’s a tall task, to be sure, however the sport seems in a prime position to take it on. McKenzie Clark, part of AUSL’s first-ever trade, slides into home base. (AUSL) Company is booming: After years of expert softball leagues failing to acquire traction, MLB’s historic financial investment and the present landscape ought to integrate to provide AUSL a genuine chance of breaking through.This year’s WCWS was the most-watched ever across its 15-game slate, with Game 3 of the Finals drawing a college softball record 2.4 million viewers. That’s more than viewed the preliminary of the Masters(2.3 M)or Duke-UNC in the ACC tournament semifinals

(2.3 M). Texas Tech’s NiJaree Canady signed two$1 million NIL offers this year

. That kind of star power is exactly what the AUSL is banking on, with fans following their preferred players from college to the pros like they perform in other major leagues.Looking ahead: The next few years are critical. If the league has a strong start, it can

• take that momentum straight into 2028, when softball returns to the Olympic program in Los Angeles. Great checks out (Dillon Minshall, Yahoo Sports)Elliot Worsell: Deontay Wilder’s right hand can just break things, not repair them Advertisement As soon as one

of the most relentless fighters on earth, Tuscaloosa’s previous heavyweight king returns Friday as a cause for concern rather than the reason for worry. (James Pawelczyk/Yahoo Sports)Jeff Eisenberg: Why AI

— and how to utilize it– has actually ended up being the NBA’s

most significant secret As basketball analytics have actually altered the game, NBA groups have actually become a growing number of secretive about how they use the loads of information available to them.(Matthew Grimes Jr./ Atlanta Braves/Getty Images)Jake Mintz: Braves still deal with an uphill struggle, however with Ronald Acuña Jr., anything seems possible

Because missing out on the last 4 months of 2024 and the very first two months of this season while recuperating from his second career ACL surgical treatment, Acuña has actually

reemerged like a bat out of hell. Watchlist: Thursday, June 26 Real Madrid throughout Sunday’s match versus Pachuca. (Michael Owens/Getty Images )The group phase concludes today with 4 more games, headlined by Juventus vs. Manchester City in Orlando (3pm ET,