After Indiana on Thursday became the latest state to ratify a “religious freedom bill,” which could potentially grant businesses discretion to ban same-sex couples based on religious beliefs, NCAA President Mark Emmert issued a statement of concern over the state’s decision. The NCAA’s headquarters is in Indianapolis and the city will host the Final Four next month. “The NCAA national office and our members are deeply committed to providing an inclusive environment for all our events,” the statement read....

Georgia Tech had its NCAA probation extended two years, to June 13, 2017, after coaches were found to have made hundreds of impermissible calls and texts to recruits in 2011 and 2012. The NCAA on Thursday announced its ruling that Georgia Tech “failed to monitor its sports programs.” In 2011, Georgia Tech was forced to vacate its 2009 Atlantic Coast Conference football championship and placed on probation for four years due to NCAA rules violations....

The jersey, which Fournette wore during the LSU-South Carolina game, will be part of a package deal that includes a signed LSU helmet by Les Miles and a signed South Carolina helmet by former coach Steve Spurrier. MORE: 2015 first Playoff Rankings | Four in, four out | You have questions “Having been through a similar situation with my family during Hurricane Katrina when I was 10 years old, this is something I wanted to do to help those in need,” Fournette said in a statement....

Because from now on, if the committee’s proposals are adopted by an NCAA oversight panel, game officials will be empowered to call technical fouls on players they judge to be attempting to con their way into personal foul calls against theIr opponents.. In television, bad acting may get you a prominent position on “The Bachelor,” but in college hoops, it’ll be a Class B technical that’s worth two free throws to the opposition....

Yesterday, the NCAA addressed FanPay directly in an Educational Column covering crowdfunding. Officially, the NCAA says crowdfunding to pay a student-athlete is impermissible. But right within the Educational Column, the NCAA reveals why it might be powerless to stop FanPay and similar campaigns. MORE: Breaking down the NCAA’s Mo’ne Davis decision | NCAA scandal fatigue The basic idea behind FanPay is that fans, alumni, family, and friends will pledge money to a student-athlete who can receive that money after graduation....

So it has that going for it. No, the “Elam Ending” isn’t the worst idea ever. But it’s superfluous enough it should never be allowed anywhere near the game of college basketball. MORE: NCAA experiments during NIT If you’re bothered that every now and then teams foul on purpose at the end of college basketball games, perhaps there’s another sport you might enjoy more. Yahoo Sports college hoops writer Jeff Eisenberg chose to report this week on the curiosity of the “Elam Ending,” which is in use at ESPN’s summer filler project, “The Basketball Tournament....

The NCAA will unveil the findings of its long investigation into Miami athletics and release any proposed sanctions on Tuesday, about 2½ years after the probe began and more than eight months after saying the Hurricanes did not "exercise institutional control" over former booster and convicted felon Nevin Shapiro's interactions with the football and men's basketball programs. The report will be released at 10 a.m. ET, the NCAA said. If the case follows typical protocols, the Hurricanes will not receive their copy of the decision until Tuesday morning, shortly before the public release....

Please, Mr. Nielsen. Oh, the ratings are going to sparkle and we’ll all be playing highlights of Wichita State-Kentucky in our heads for years. So the NCAA Tournament selection committee can smirk and pretend as though the job they performed in seeding the field was not only successful, but spectacular. And if they’re running a television show, they’re certainly correct — except they’re not. They’re running an athletic competition that is televised, and that is a very different thing....

West | Midwest | South Best storyline The most important storyline belongs to Virginia, and whether star junior Justin Anderson will be back to form after missing more than a month with a broken finger and then an emergency appendectomy. He came back for the ACC Tournament, but clearly wasn’t himself offensively in the Cavaliers’ two games. He didn’t score in either contest, missing all six shots he took in 26 combined minutes....

Sadly, there is not one answer that will work for everyone, so in order to find the obscure channel that is home to a handful of tournament games (as well as “Lizard Lick Towing”), use the truTV channel finder right here. MORE: Thursday schedule | Friday schedule | Seven worst ways Kentucky can lose | Potential bracket busters This handy list should also work for some of you: DirecTV: Ch....

In games he has coached in the NCAA Tournament, though, Pitino has won 74.64 percent. That’s right. He’s better in bigger games, against better opponents, under the brightest lights and the most intense pressure. There is a reason for this: Rick Pitino might not be the best coach ever to work in the NCAA Tournament — that’s Mike Krzyzewski, and John Wooden has a heck of a case — but there’s never been an NCAA Tournament coach like “Coach P....

The 31-year-old appeared to be close to joining Amakhosi last week, just a few days after leaving Platinum Stars following the expiry of his contract in June. According to a source close to the player, Chiefs were prepared to offer Mabena a two-year deal, but the striker rejected the proposed offer as he was looking for a three-year deal. “The deal is off. Mabena will no longer be going to Chiefs....

Robert Sylvester Kelly, whose hits include “I Believe I Can Fly” and “Ignition (Remix)” was recently found guilty of a number of crimes including sex trafficking and racketeering, resulting in him being sentenced to 30 years in jail. Ne-Yo, who has just released his new album Self-Explanatory, has received backlash on social media for his stance on R. Kelly’s music. “From time to time, I still listen to R. Kelly music; you can’t deny the quality,” Ne-Yo told the British newspaper The Independent, “Anybody who tries to say R....

Thousands have gathered across multiple states to demonstrate following the death of George Floyd, who died after a police officer put his knee on his neck while arresting him in Minneapolis. According to an Associated Press tally, nearly 1,400 arrests have been made across the nation during the demonstrations, amid concerns some are attending the protests not to demonstrate but as a springboard for violent actions. Clashes have broken out with police using tear gas and rubber bullets against the crowds....

The defense ministry on Saturday listed 710 Russians killed, which brings the two-day total to 1,470 Russian casualties. Russia has now lost an estimated 106,720 soldiers since the war began in late February 2022. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky during his Sunday night address to the nation said Russia is “afraid” and that he senses “fear.” “They are afraid. You can feel it. And they are right to be afraid. Because they are losing....

Ongoing reports logged by Chicago Police Department officers confirmed no one was arrested in connection with the crimes as of Sunday afternoon. Reports showed at least several victims were younger than 18. Authorities said there were two fatal shootings reported early Sunday about 20 minutes apart from each other. Overall, about 40 people were injured. The weekend’s crime statistics trailed an ongoing uptick in shootings and murders reported throughout Chicago, as well as other U....

According to data released by the North Carolina State Board of Elections, as of 9:30 a.m. local time on Tuesday, there have been at least 3,429,459 ballots casted, which accounts for 46.91 percent of registered voters in the state. Of those ballots, at least 805,956 were cast by mail and 2,623,503 in-person, the data shows. North Carolina voters can register to vote and cast their ballots on the same day during the state’s early-voting period, which runs through Saturday....

The survey by the health website Stat and the Harris Poll reported that 48 percent of unvaccinated respondents said they would be “not at all” or “very unlikely” to take Pfizer’s pill if a health professional prescribed it to them. But vaccinated people were much more open to taking the pill, according to the poll. Ninety-one percent of vaccinated respondents said they would be “very” or “somewhat” likely to take the pill if a health professional prescribed it....

The survey, released Wednesday by Morning Consult and Politico, found 49 percent of voters said it’s too early to end mask requirements on airplanes, trains, buses and subways. Approximately 16 percent of voters said it’s the right time to end the mandate and another 16 percent said it should have already ended. A small number of respondents, 11 percent, said they never thought the mandate should have been enacted....

Independents could be the most politically malleable with four out of ten saying they could rethink their opinions. However, only a quarter of Republicans and Democrats say they could change their minds. “Strictly on the merits of what has been presented, people think it is wrong for a president to interject a foreign leader into the United States’ electoral politics,” says Dr. Lee M. Miringoff, Director of The Marist College Institute for Public Opinion....