As the NFL draft approaches, Minnesota Vikings-themed rumors and misconceptions are circulating, as they always do this time of year. It’s important to address some of the speculation promptly, so here’s a look at the rumors that simply aren’t true.

Three Vikings rumors made noise this week, and each one needs context.

Each week, this column debunks dubious narratives surrounding the Vikings, as well as ideas that never had a chance of becoming reality — or stuff that just didn’t work out as planned.

Breaking Down the Week’s Shakiest Minnesota Talking Points

These are the Nopedy Nopes with the NFL draft about 3.5 weeks away.

The Nopey Nope: The Bears will sign Harrison Smith.

DaWindyCity.com‘s Ernesto Cova thinks Smith, a lifelong Viking, is a real free-agent option for the Bears.

He wrote this week, “The Bears should make a run at Harrison Smith. Smith is still a free agent, and the Bears could certainly use some help at strong safety. Given Smith’s age, he’s obviously not going to be a long-term solution at the position. That said, the Bears’ Super Bowl window is wide open right now, and he’s the type of proven veteran who can help this young team push through in the second year of the Ben Johnson era.”

“The Chicago Bears already lured a former divisional rival to the Windy City. And even though the addition of WR Kalif Raymond may not be as impactful, bolstering the team while hurting an NFC North rival is a double win. Now, GM Ryan Poles might repeat that approach, this time to bolster the defense with a Minnesota Vikings star.”

A six-time Pro Bowler, Smith has never indicated interest in playing elsewhere, despite speculation that he could, in theory, find a new team. Smith’s situation this offseason has never been about exploring free agency, an opportunity that passed years ago without his pursuing it.

In 2026, his decision will be straightforward and personal: retire or return for a 15th season in Minnesota. The Vikings and their fans recognize this reality, even staging a retirement ceremony for him at U.S. Bank Stadium in January following the season finale against Detroit.

While longtime teammates like Adam Thielen and C.J. Ham have moved on, Smith remains undecided. His choice is imminent and hinges on a single question: should he return for a 15th year, or retire?

One thing is for certain: he won’t sign with a Vikings rival on his way out the door.

The Verdict: Nopedy nope on Smith signing in Chicago. Like really?

The Nopey Nope: Jonathan Allen adds a major boost to the Bengals’ defensive trenches.

ESPN’s Seth Walder didn’t hold back on Cincinnati’s move for Allen, grading it harshly and questioning the payoff.

He explained, “Grade: D. A year ago, I handed the Vikings a D+ for signing Allen to an expensive contract shortly after he had been cut by the Commanders, a deal that called for him to make $16.2 million in 2025 and fully guaranteed $8 million of his $17 million in cash due in 2026. Now this year, the Vikings cut Allen after a lackluster first season in Minnesota, and the Bengals are going to pick up some of the tab and then some.”

“Cincinnati needs to improve its defense, and I understand wanting more pass rush from its interior. B.J. Hill, T.J. Slaton and Kris Jenkins Jr. all had below-average pass rush win rates for a defensive tackle last season. But this is too much to pay for what will likely be too little.”

The Vikings also parted ways with defensive tackle Javon Hargrave, who quickly landed in Green Bay, earning a ‘B-‘ from Walder for that signing.

Walder continued, “Allen was a very good defensive tackle earlier in his career. But the numbers clearly paint a picture of a 31-year-old player who is well into his decline. And I think the Bengals are overpaying him based on what he did several years ago. There’s another wrinkle here that affects Allen’s old team.”

“Though the Vikings had guaranteed $8 million of Allen’s 2026 money, the defensive tackle had offset language in that deal. Which means that the Vikings could receive a cap credit at the end of the season for whatever the Bengals pay Allen in 2026. While we don’t know the structure of the deal yet, that could be a nice break for Minnesota.”

Both Allen in Cincinnati and Hargrave in Green Bay will get fresh opportunities to reset their careers. Walder isn’t buying the upside on Allen.

The Verdict: Nopedy nope on Allen as the Bengals’ big offseason DT fix.

The Nopey Nope: LSU CB Mansoor Delane will be on the board for the Vikings at pick No. 18

Delane put real speed on display Monday at his Pro Day, and it showed up in a big way.

SBNation’s Dale Altman wrote, ‘Mansoor Delane ran a blazing 4.35 40-yard dash today at the LSU Pro Day. The LSU cornerback was already considered to be the top prospect at the position for the 2026 NFL Draft. All he did by running that time was solidify himself as the top guy, and potentially another step closer to going in the top 10.”

“Delane was tremendous in 2025 with a 90.7 coverage grade. He allowed just a 40.0% completion rate against him this past season. He was a shutdown corner for the Tigers. He isn’t just a cover corner either, Delane is a more than willing participant against the run.”

That speed turned heads across the league, and teams hunting for rookie cornerback help took notice quickly. He now looks firmly in line to be the first cornerback selected, wiping him off the board for the Vikings all the way down at No. 18.

In January, he was a popular mock-draft selection for Minnesota. Not anymore.

The Verdict: Nopedy nope on Delane to Minnesota; he’s too good and too fast.

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The confetti having fallen, the celebration very much ongoing, and here’s the guy responsible for most all of this just off to the side, somehow, by himself. 

Here stands Tommy Lloyd — steps away from the risers, blue-and-red shreds of soft, celebratory paper at his feet; and no doubt more underneath his cotton, black Cats quarter-zip — just hanging out. He’s got a smile on, but not too big of a smile.

There’s still two more games to win.

But he can pause for now to acknowledge the long-awaited return to the biggest stage in the sport for the Arizona Wildcats. The program’s going to the Final Four for the first time in 25 years, getting there with an authoritative second half power stroke over No. 2 seed Purdue that ended with a 79-64 anticlimax. Thousands in red, blue and white in the stands are screaming, laughing, crying, celebrating. 

Lloyd’s taking it in. 

Less than a minute ago, he was hugging and high-fiving with none other than Mix Master Mike, forever of Beastie Boys fame and acclaim, now a dear friend of Lloyd’s. Life has changed so much, but also not that much at all, for the 51-year-old former Gonzaga assistant who helped guide two of those teams to the national title game in 2017 and 2021.

This, tonight, is different. Those Gonzaga teams were the design of Mark Few. This is now Lloyd’s doing. He’s brought Arizona back to the promised land, and as thousands cheer, he’s humbly standing alone, just waiting for a reporter to interrupt the moment.

Of course I had to. 

Did Lloyd think this was possible all those years ago, as a carefree hooper growing up in Kelso, Washington?

“I would say, yeah,” Lloyd told CBS Sports on the court. “I 100% believed it. I’ve always dreamed big. I mean, I’m not surprised. I’m respectful of the moment, but this isn’t the greatest thing to ever happen in my life. I’ve got a great family, and I’ve had a lot of good experiences, but I’m a big dreamer.”

For decades, Lloyd dreamed up what he would do and how he would run a program if he was ever given the chance. In April 2021, Arizona gave him that opportunity despite Lloyd never being a head coach. His reputation was terrific as a program-builder and international recruiter, but it was still a gamble. 

It paid off on Saturday night. Hiring Lloyd altered Arizona’s trajectory and redefined the upper echelon of the reformed, 16-team Big 12.

And as Arizona readies for a trip to Indianapolis, it must be acknowledged: Arizona has spent more weeks as the No. 1 team this season and been the winningest program over the past five seasons because Lloyd has tripled down on his refusal to bend to modern convention of overl relying on 3-point-oriented offense. 

The best coaches, no matter the sport, not only innovate, they force those around them to adapt by virtue of their convictions. Tommy Lloyd is that, and Saturday night’s dismantling of Purdue was the latest evidence that shows his style was always going to work. 

“He builds confidence,” Arizona associate head coach Jack Murphy told CBS Sports. “I’ve just seen that from Year 1 to Year 5. He’s been steady, the same person every single day when it comes to work. Doesn’t change, doesn’t get too high or too low. Now, he’s very competitive, yes, and I’ve beaten him in pickleball. He doesn’t like that. But he does not change, and he instills ultimate confidence in everybody, his staff and his players.”

At a time when Steph Curry’s influence and modern analytics’ grip on the 3-pointer has never been more inescapable, here is Lloyd’s Arizona program bucking convention and kicking ass on the way to potentially the best season in program history. 

The Wildcats rank 363rd in 3-point rate, shooting from beyond the long line just 26.4% of the time. What’s more, this team is the first ever to be bottom five in 3-point rate and make the Final Four since North Carolina did it (with something of a similar system) in 2008.

The message is always: north-south, go! go! go! Go at the opponent every time. Drive the ball. Play on two feet as often as possible. The gaps are there, find them, and drive your line when the space comes open. From there, the 3-point options will emerge, but don’t take a good shot when a great one is waiting for your teammate two or three passes away — and that teammate might wind up being you. 

“He likes us to call it an insurance policy,” Arizona star senior point guard Jaden Bradley told CBS Sports.

Bradley‘s ever-reliable second-half steadiness was one of the key components that drove yet another Arizona win over yet another ranked opponent, now the 14th of its 36 victories this season.

“Obviously everyone wants to go shoot the basketball; it’s a huge part of the next level,” Arizona assistant TJ Benson said. “That’s all they ever talk about. But I think as the season started going along, these guys have been the most coachable group I think we’ve had in five years, and we’ve had some great groups. But just understanding, nah, man, we’re gonna put our head down. This is a strength of ours. We’re not gonna let people take that away.” 

Through four games in this tournament, Arizona is averaging a modest 13.3 3-point attempts, the fewest of any Final Four team since 2014-15 Kentucky. Only five other Final Four teams in the past 20 years averaged fewer, doing so before the 3-point revolution to the evolution. 

It’s not that Lloyd’s team can’t shoot the 3 — at 36.7%, it ranks a solid-but-not-spectacular 37th overall — it’s that it gets the win by most other avenues. 

Two years ago, when Arizona left the Pac-12 for the Big 2, Benson went to Lloyd and they discussed whether they needed to change and lean into the 3-pointer because of the league upgrade. Lloyd was open to it but came back to his style: tough players with incredible conditioning who magnetize to the paint instead of floating around on the perimeter. 

Said stud freshman Brayden Burries: “Coming here, I actually didn’t know too much about the play style. I just knew what coach Lloyd told me, that he believed in me, and I believed in him.”

Burries got off to a slow start this season. In June he’ll be a lottery pick in the NBA Draft. 

“He is who he is and who he’s always been,” Benson said. “Gonzaga was that smash mouth basketball. At the end of the day, we’ve had a lot of good players that are great at putting their head down, getting to the paint, and then making plays with their teammates or for themselves.”

And it showed again on Saturday night, especially in the second half. The game was really good until it wasn’t. The SAP Center felt tense … until Arizona cut the slack and ran away down the stretch. At halftime, it looked like Purdue might pull off the upset and get to a second Final Four in three seasons. The Boilermakers drained seven 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes and had a seven-point lead on Arizona going into the break. 

Arizona proceeded to pick up the pace, only shooting 3-pointers as necessary (4 of 9) and ultimately overcame their sixth halftime deficit of the season — and their largest NCAA Tournament halftime gap in program history. 

“We went back to our Plan A,” Lloyd told CBS Sports. “We kind of lost our way at the end of the first half on offense. We put JB (Jaden Bradley) on Braden (Smith) instead of Ivan Kharchenkov, and JB was unbelievable chasing him through everything.” 

The Wildcats held Purdue to just nine points in the first 10 minutes of the second half and outscored them 48-26 overall after the break. The 22-point differential was Purdue’s worst of the season — and this coming after Purdue averaged 81.4 points in its previous seven wins heading into Saturday night. Arizona held it 17 below that number.

Purdue coach Matt Painter put it bluntly Saturday night when he said, “Sometimes people don’t understand those great teams, they just cause problems.”

Arizona is a 40-minute problem every time it suits up. 

The defense is the best of any team Lloyd has coached, both at Arizona and Gonzaga. The Wildcats are No. 1 in defensive efficiency. After Purdue’s senior nucleus of Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer and Trey Kaufman-Renn averaged 58 points on 55% shooting in the three previous games, Arizona stymied them to 31 total points on 31.6% shooting.

This group has won its past four games by 20.5 points on average, the sixth-best margin of any Final Four team since 2000. 

“We have the personnel to do it, the will to do it, and I know how to coach it,” Lloyd said. “I think that’s it, the place of my strength as a coach. … You’ve just got to hang with it. You can’t abort mission, you know? You just can’t. It’s not how you win.” 

This team showed who it was in the first game of the season, when it shot 2-of-5 from 3-point range and beat the reigning national champions/future fellow No. 1 seed Florida 93-87. Koa Peat had statistically maybe the greatest freshman debut ever in that game, going for 30 points, seven rebounds, five assists, three steals and a block.

Peat won the West Region Most Outstanding Player after averaging 17.5 points and 6.8 rebounds the past four games in the tournament. That’s not an outstanding stat line, but that’s Arizona basketball. The Wildcats had six players score at least 14 points in the 109-88 Sweet 16 slicing of Arkansas, becoming the first team ever to pull off the feat. 

“Tommy has done an unbelievable job with culture-building, team building, getting the right combination of guys,” Jason Gardner told CBS Sports. Gardner holds a special place on this staff. He was part of the last team to make the Final Four back in 2001. 

“To get back here,” Gardner, “it takes a camaraderie. It takes an unbelievable staff. It takes guys to buy in. It takes guys to share the wealth. It takes the community, fan base to rally around you when times are tough. It takes everybody.” 

Lloyd has won 148 games in his first five seasons, easily a record for the best five-year start to a head coaching career in men’s college hoops history. He’s done it with the belief that freshmen can get you there, too. That’s a privileged place to recruit from, and only a handful of schools can try it. But beyond all else, he’s done it with conviction without bending to convention.

That’s living the dream.

And the dreaming isn’t done. 

“I can’t wait to get a couple days off, put my feet up a little bit, and then let’s start preparing for the next one,” Lloyd said before he went to find his family on the floor. 

Calm, casual, unwavering belief. You can’t fake that. Arizona is no dream. This team is as real as it gets and should be considered the favorite to win two more in Indianapolis. 

Punjab Kings will begin their IPL 2026 campaign on March 31 against Gujarat Titans in New Chandigarh. After finishing as runners-up in 2025, Shreyas Iyer and his team are determined to replicate last year’s heroics and clinch their maiden IPL title. At the auction, PBKS retained their core squad and brought in four new players, including Australian all-rounder Ben Dwarshuis. The 31-year-old is no stranger to the PBKS setup, having previously been part of the franchise during the 2018 season. Ahead of their opening match, Dwarshuis interacted with NDTV and shared his insights on the team’s preparations and Shreyas Iyer’s leadership.

Here are the highlights of NDTV’s exclusive interaction with Dwarshuis:

NDTV: PBKS’ first match of IPL 2026 is against GT. How’s the mood in the camp?

Ben: Yeah, the mood’s been really high. I think we’ve had a really nice lead-in. We’ve had a couple of really competitive practise games and we’ve got a few training sessions to go to sort of sharpen up our skills and really get ready for the 31st.

NDTV: You are not new in the PBKS setup as you were also there in the 2018 season. Does this familiarity in the camp helps in you any sense?

Ben: Yeah, I mean there’s a couple of familiar faces. Obviously, a lot has changed in the eight years that I haven’t been here, but you know it’s nice to be back here and have a little bit of familiarity to help you settle in. The stadium is also beautiful. Looking forward to seeing it packed out with fans and it be really loud and noisy. All the facilities are great and we’ve had a couple of great training and practise games, so vibes high and the ground looks great.

NDTV: How does it feel to work under the guidance of Ricky Ponting, who is widely known for his smart cricketing style?

Ben: It’s great. I’ve had a little bit of experience with him in the past and really enjoyed those times, so to have a nice two months stint with him is gonna be really great and hopefully I can learn a few things.

NDTV: Some words on Shreyas Iyer and his captaincy?

Ben: I mean from all reports, he’s one of the strongest captains in the league. Great cricketing brain, really understands the game and I’m excited to hopefully get to play a few games and see out in the middle what he’s like.

NDTV: PBKS are filled with youngsters like Priyansh, Prabh, Nehal, Musheer. With whom do you get along the most?

Ben: Initial take is that they’re all incredible cricketers. They all got an opportunity to showcase their skills in the practise matches and it’s been really impressive to see the young proper players, how strong they are. Maybe Mushir (whom you get along the most). He’s a funny character and he’s loud and outgoing, so it’s been nice to have a few conversations with him.

NDTV: IPL is played on various venues in India, you think that these different pitch conditions will be affecting the game?

Ben: Yeah, I think each ground you go to is always going to slightly alter the way that you want to go about your game and having that adaptability to be able to play not only in different conditions in India but all around the world I think is what makes great cricketers.

HOUSTON — Illinois coach Brad Underwood got the traditional honors of the final snip of the scissors cutting down the nets in the Toyota Center after Illinois’ 71-59 win against Iowa to win the South Regional title and secure a spot in next weekend’s Final Four. He climbed to the top of the ladder, cut the net and took a moment to celebrate the achievement. Not as a moment that cements decades of ladder-climbing through the coaching ranks with decades in junior college and as a mid-major assistant, but as a moment for Illinois. 

For the first time since 2005, Illinois is headed to the Final Four. And just like that group which was led by Deron Williams, Dee Brown and Luther Head, this year’s Fighting Illini have a group with undeniable chemistry and resilience. It’s a group that the Illinois fans similarly adore, and so when Underwood paused at the top of the ladder, net in hand, he turned to both sides of an orange-clad lower bowl let them in on the celebration with a couple hearty “I-L-L” calls. 

“One of the most fulfilling moments personally that I just had was standing on the ladder with the net, and then seeing our fans,” Underwood said still soaking wet from yet another Super Soaker battle with his team in the locker room celebration. “That wasn’t about me. That was about our fans, and that was about what’s probably going on in Champaign right now, because that’s what you believe this to be.” 

Earlier in his career, Underwood told an staffer that being at Illinois was his “dream job.” His wife bought his son, Tyler, who is now an assistant on the team, a Brian Cook jersey when he was two years old. He’s been intimately aware of what Illinois can be, and how badly Illini fans want to embrace a big-time winner. 

“I don’t want to sound arrogant,” Underwood said. “I’ve never doubted us getting to a Final Four would happen, I have thought we have had other teams capable. But I also know how doggone hard it is to do it. For that, I just say thank you. I say thank you to everybody involved. And I’m going to get emotional, but I’ve been doing this 39 years, and you dream about this as a kid, and I dreamt about doing it at Illinois.”

Saturday’s win against Iowa is a true “program win” for a group that has been as adaptable to the modern times as anyone in college basketball. Underwood and his staff are utilizing European connections and the transfer portal while also remaining true to traditional methods of roster building with high school recruiting and player development. Every box is checked with this 2026 team in terms of how they arrived at Illinois, but once they did get together for the first time it did not take long for them to gel into the lovable Final Four-bound squad that’s now two wins away from the school’s first-ever national championship. 

A freshman star that makes the right plays 

Keaton Wagler had a game-high 25 points in the win vs. Iowa and was named the South Regional’s Most Outstanding Player. It’s yet another honor to go with the All-Big Ten and All-American and Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors that have come from a stunning debut for a player who was a four-star prospect but ranked outside the top 100 in his recruiting class. Underwood knew quickly in the recruiting process that Wagler would be a difference-maker for the program based on the way he played. 

Interestingly enough, Wagler only scored two points the first time Underwood came to see him live in high school. Yet the Illinois coach couldn’t wait to call his son and assistant coach, Tyler, to rave about what he had just seen. See, Underwood’s relationship with Wagler’s AAU coach, Victor Williams, clued him into what an undersized guard out of Kansas could be at the next level. 

“The night before he had had 36. The night I went to see him he had two,” Underwood said. “They blitzed him, they got it out of his hand, but he made every right play, he was not selfish, he was not a pig, he wasn’t trying to force things. He just let the game come to him. Very, very mature as a senior in high school when you’re the guy. And he just played the game. 

“And so I felt great about it. Did I know a 178-pound kid coming in was going to be this? I didn’t. To be the South Region MVP and an All-American is, you know, I would be lying. I’m proud as heck of him, because no one works harder than him, and no one’s a better human being than him.” 

You could see on film that Wagler could shoot it well and had skills that could translate, but the intangibles of how he handled adversity offset any of the concerns about his size that may have led to him being overlooked by other top programs. Whether it’s recruiting out of high school, recruiting overseas or recruiting out of the transfer portal, a competitive spirit and the ability to handle adversity are timeless X-factors still valued as Illinois’ builds its rosters. 

Unruly horn causes 11-minute delay in Illinois vs. Iowa Elite Eight game inside Houston’s Toyota Center

David Cobb

Advertisement

Tapping in to a European connection 

It’s taken years, but Illinois has truly established a pipeline to Europe that has helped lead a run at a national championship. It’s a great marriage of styles for how Underwood wants to coach, utilizing positional side and great shooting that has come with many of the players who’ve come through in recent years. He credits the work of assistants Geoff Alexander and Orlando Antigua for building those relationships overseas, but also using NIL resources to help enhance their ability to attract top talent. 

“I’m a spoke in the wheel,” Antigua said Saturday night in the celebration, deflecting the credit Underwood was handing out earlier. “It’s an unbelievable program, we’ve got a lot to sell, and [Underwood] has allowed us to go do what we do.” 

Antigua was interrupted in the moment, mobbed by Tomislav Ivisic who jumped in with a surprise bear hug and a loud “Que Pasa?!?”

All those years of making connections overseas and establishing those relationships with players and coaches in Europe is starting to pay dividends. Any school can try to offer NIL money to a skilled player abroad to bring them to the program, but the relationship-building is how you know what kind of player you are adding when it comes ot the team chemistry. 

This year’s team obviously has David Mirkovic (Montenegro) and the Ivisic brothers Tomislav and Zvonimir (Croatia), but the success also includes Second team All-Big Ten forward and NBA Draft pick Kasparas Jakucionis (Lithuania). Underwood said  they plan to continue looking overseas for talent, noting that it’s a great fit for Illinois but “not for everybody.”  

“They fit our university,” Underwood said. “We’re a diverse university with a lot of international students, so it’s a perfect fit for them. Basketball-wise it’s a great fit for me, and I like coaching them. The way we’re playing with positional size and shooting, it’s just — it’s a great marriage and a great fit. So we’ll continue it.”

How the pieces fit together 

With college basketball being transient and transactional, every season is filled with teams who spend spend resources on their roster construction only to find the pieces don’t fit together. Illinois is blessed with a resource advantage that comes from its commitment to basketball success and the revenue machine that is life in the Big Ten, but not every Big Ten team that spends finds itself having the kind of consistent success that Underwood has established as the standard in Champaign. 

To make sure he was getting the right personalities, Underwood leaned on his players that knew the program best. Tomislav Ivisic was a big key, he said, as was Kylan Boswell in getting background on new additions to the squad and helping get those players acclimated to how Illinois runs its program. Guys like Ben Humrichous and Jake Davis, too, who although they started their careers elsewhere have now become pivotal to the chemistry in the locker room as they have opted back in to the program when there were opportunities to transfer elsewhere. 

“I think our chemistry is off the charts. This team, very special on and off the court. We’re a great group of guys,” Davis said on the court at the after cutting his piece of the net. “You couldn’t ask for anything more.” 

And that chemistry travels.. 

On the court as Illinois’ was celebrating the win was Coleman Hawkins, a four-year player who transferred out of the program prior to last year. He was a great player for the Fighting Illini and helped the team make four NCAA Tournaments. Hawkins had a huge smile on his face watching the team take a group picture, and he rushed to grab a photo with his old coach to commemorate the moment. 

“I’m probably different than most coaches. When guys leave for whatever reason, if they have been a part of us, they’re still part of my family,” Underwood said. “He’s a diehard Illinois guy. He comes back every chance he gets. And he’s always welcome.” 

‘We’re coming to win two more games’

When Illinois fans think back to that 2005 team and the run to the national championship game, which is certain to happen often throughout the week leading into next weekend’s events in Indianapolis, they are going to remember a lot that is reflected in this group in 2026. That Fighting Illini team, memorably, stormed back from a double-digit deficit against Arizona in the Elite Eight. This year’s team just flipped the script on Iowa after trailing by 10 points in the first five minutes of its Elite Eight win. That group was also the culmination of years of building across two different coaches, and while this year’s team has four of its top eight players as new additions to the roster the chemistry and competitive standard has been years in the making. 

That 2005 team will no doubt be represented in Indianapolis, but it will also be represented on the court. Because while the makeup of Illinois’ roster is extremely modern and different from the way college basketball was 21 years ago, the chemistry, energy and charm of the 2026 squad has a proud Illinois fan base finally seeing their program climbing back to the top of the sport. 

In a college basketball landscape that’s changing all the time, Brad Underwood has found advantages on the margins of roster construction. With European talent, overlooked diamonds in the rough and program-first players who help set the tone and the culture, Illinois has pulled together a unique group that’s capable of pushing the program to heights it has not seen in decades. But while tonight is filled with Super Soakers and celebrations in Houston and Champaign, the internal drive of this team remains focused. 

“I think last thing I’ll say is I don’t want anybody to think that this is it,” Stojakovic said after the game with a load-bearing certainty in his voice. “We didn’t get to the Final Four just to get there. We’re coming to win two more games and we’ll take it one game at a time.”

Only biological women will be allowed to compete at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics following a landmark decision by the International Olympic Committee banning transgender women and those with differences in sexual development.IOC President Kirsty Coventry said the policy was “led by medical experts.”The IOC used gene testing in the 1980s, but it was abolished in the 1990s.The policy change comes after years of controversy over the participation of transgender and DSD athletes in women’s competition.Selina Sykes has more.

Every year before the NFL Draft, VikingsTerritory updates the lay of the land for the Minnesota Vikings’ roster for youth’s sake. It would be silly to do it after the draft — because obviously most of the newcomers would top the list. So, here’s this year’s edition.

Minnesota still has a young core developing behind its veteran foundation.

The Vikings actually have one of the NFL’s oldest rosters right now; they’ll need to nail the upcoming draft and a few more after that to keep a championship window in place.

A Closer Look at the Freshest Faces on the 2026 Vikings Roster

This article is about the youth.

5. J.J. McCarthy (23)
Birthdate: January 20, 2003

Yes, the fact remains that McCarthy is still quite young, despite entering Year No. 3 in 2026. The man just turned 23; he was a young rookie.

Now, McCarthy will be forced to battle for his job this summer, as the Vikings signed 28-year-old quarterback Kyler Murray, who should have no problems outlasting McCarthy this summer at training camp. The good news for McCarthy? Murray isn’t necessarily a beacon of pristine health. History suggests McCarthy will crack the starting lineup again when Murray goes down.

4. Dallas Turner (23)
Birthdate: February 2, 2003

Turner fired up a wonderful second half of the season in 2025, banking 8 sacks altogether and holding down the fort when Jonathan Greenard suffered a season-ending injury in December.

The 2024 1st-Rounder is so young that he’d be “middle-aged” compared to this year’s rookie EDGE class. That is — if Turner were a rookie in 2026, teams would not consider his age to be old. He has all the time in the world to hone his craft, and all signs point to a breakout campaign in 2026, assuming he gets the reps.

Our Janik Eckardt noted on Turner earlier in the offseason, “If that comfort level continues to grow, Turner could take on an even larger share of pass-rush snaps in 2026, particularly in obvious passing situations where his burst and closing speed are most disruptive. Improved hand usage and counter moves would only raise his ceiling further, turning pressure flashes into more consistent sack production across a full season.”

“In the upcoming season, Turner will once again compete for snaps with his two 2024 Pro Bowl teammates. The good news is that outside linebackers can rotate, and probably should rotate more to keep them fresh. Van Ginkel will turn 31 in the summer and Greenard 29 in May.”

The Vikings traded a king’s ransom in EDGE rusher-speak to get Turner, so he must break out before too long. Otherwise, the trade to get him will look silly.

Eckard added, “Barring a significant surprise, Turner should continue to play a major role in the rotation. He already led the trio in defensive snaps in 2025, with injuries providing him some help.”

“Turner has the physical tools and trajectory to become a foundational piece for the Vikings, making the breakout projection a realistic next step rather than a stretch.”

3. Tai Felton (23)
Birthdate: March 15, 2003

Felton has one thing on his side: age. Minnesota “reached” for him in Round 3 last year; most draft heads had him pegged as a 5th-Round pick. Then, the 2025 season rolled around, and the Vikings hardly used Felton on offense.

Thankfully for his sake, the Vikings let WR3 Jalen Nailor walk via free agency earlier this month, landing with the Las Vegas with an impressive contract. The club currently has no other WR3 options in its roster orbit. It’s just Felton.

He should see more playing time in 2026, so long as Minnesota doesn’t draft a more promising rookie or find a way to get Brandon Aiyuk from the San Francisco 49ers, for example.

2. Gavin Bartholomew (22)
Birthdate: April 30, 2003

Bartholomew did not play in 2025; The 5th-Rounder from last year’s draft missed the whole season with an injury, not an ideal development for a team that desperately must start to connect on draft picks.

However, TE1 T.J. Hockenson is scheduled for just one more season in Minnesota. He’ll be a free agent next March. In theory, Bartholomew can make his case for an enhanced role in 2026 and 2027, now that he’s healthy.

He’s young enough to have a do-over rookie season in 2026.

1. Tyrion Ingram Dawkins (22)
Birthdate: June 26, 2003

The Vikings picked Ingram-Dawkins in Round 5 last year, and he wound up playing about 250 defensive snaps, an impressive amount for a late-round rookie defensive tackle.

He’s also had an accidentally good offseason, with Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave leaving in free agency for new teams. If the 2026 regular season began tonight, Ingram-Dawkins would start for the Vikings.

For the next 3.5 weeks, Ingram-Dawkins is the single youngest player on the purple team’s depth chart.

Manchester United legend David Beckham has hailed Michael Carrick for bringing a calming presence to Old Trafford, saying the last few months have been more comfortable than the last decade

David Beckham has praised Michael Carrick for restoring a sense of calm to Manchester United – something he feels has been absent for a decade. Carrick has triumphed in seven of his 10 fixtures since taking on the interim head coach’s role in January and has built a compelling argument to get the job on a permanent basis this summer.

United faced an uphill task to qualify for the Champions League at the time when Ruben Amorim was dismissed at the beginning of the year, with the squad languishing in sixth place in the Premier League.

Carrick has suffered defeat only once thus far, amassing 23 points from a possible 30 in the league to lift the team up to third as they pursue qualification for next season’s Champions League.

Get MEN Premium now for just £1 HERE – or get involved in our United WhatsApp group by clicking HERE. You can also join our United Facebook page by clicking HERE and don’t miss out on our brilliant selection of newsletters HERE.

The former midfielder has made an outstanding impression on the squad and his influence is such that director of football Jason Wilcox and chief executive Omar Berrada have yet to engage in discussions with potential candidates for the permanent role.

READ MORE: Ex-Man United star with 317 appearances kicked out of dressing room and made to train aloneREAD MORE: Man United offered free run at Barcelona forward in stunning Marcus Rashford transfer swap

Carrick’s prospects of securing the position grow stronger with each result and Beckham has become the latest high-profile former player to express his admiration.

“Yeah, I must admit, the last few months have been a lot more comfortable than the last 10 years, to be honest. It’s been tough over that time,” Beckham said when asked on talkSPORT if he was surprised by Carrick’s success at United so far.

“But I think Michael’s got experience. I think he’s got a calmness about him that he’s brought into the club. He knows the club. He knows the players. He knows the way Man United play and the way Man United should play.

“And I’ve always liked Michael as a coach. You know, when you look at him, there’s a calmness. There’s, on the side of the pitch, there’s, I don’t want to say elegance because I’m not sure that’s the right thing to say, but there’s an elegance in the way he is, whether it’s the way he celebrates, whether it’s the way he gets angry.

FOLLOW OUR MAN UNITED FB PAGE! Latest news and analysis via the MEN’s Manchester United Facebook page

“You know, all of those things are important in a manager. And I think that the way he’s got the team and brought the team together has been, has been incredible. And I think as a United fan, it’s exactly what we needed.”

Carrick has repeatedly deflected questions regarding securing the role on a permanent basis, remaining firmly focused on the outstanding seven Premier League fixtures, reports the Mirror.

United enjoy a six-point cushion over Liverpool in fifth place and, with no other competitions to contend with, are strong contenders to secure a top-four finish.

United’s leadership installed Carrick on a deal until the end of the campaign, always intending to take their time before settling on a permanent replacement for Amorim.

The club have been linked with Bournemouth head coach Andoni Iraola, Crystal Palace’s Oliver Glasner and Roberto De Zerbi, formerly of Marseille, along with ex-England boss Gareth Southgate.

England’s 2026 World Cup kits

This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more

Various Prices

England Official Store

Advertisement

Buy Now on England Official Store

England and Nike have launched the new home, away and goalkeeper kits to be worn at this summer’s FIFA World Cup. You can get free delivery on all orders with the code: ENGFREEDEL

A former Manchester United forward, who made over 300 appearances for the club, has been hit with disciplinary action

Life after Manchester United hasn’t been a walk in the park for Anthony Martial.

The Frenchman, who scored 90 goals in 317 appearances for the club, has reportedly been banished from first team training at his current club Monterrey. It came after he threw a strop after being overlooked as a substitute during their clash with Chivas de Guadalajara last weekend.

According to Mexican outlet TUDN, Martial was left fuming when youngster Joaquin Moxica was brought on from the bench instead of him with 15 minutes to go while Monterrey were 3-0 down.

Get MEN Premium now for just £1 HERE – or get involved in our United WhatsApp group by clicking HERE. You can also join our United Facebook page by clicking HERE and don’t miss out on our brilliant selection of newsletters HERE.

His angry reaction was spotted by coaching staff, who reported it to manager Nicolas Sanchez. As punishment, Martial was ordered to train away from the main group until the end of the week.

Despite Martial’s protests, the decision proved inspired: Monterrey surged back late on, scoring twice to cut the deficit to 3-2 and set up a tense finish. Ultimately, however, Guadalajara held firm to secure the victory.

It’s perhaps no surprise that Martial was overlooked on Sunday given his struggles in Mexico. Since joining Monterrey last September, the 30-year-old has managed just one goal in 21 appearances.

Martial moved to Old Trafford in 2015 for an initial £36million fee – the highest ever paid for a teenager at the time. With add-ons and bonus clauses – including one now-infamous Ballon d’Or-winning stipulation – the transfer fee could have risen to £57.6m, though United ultimately paid £44.7m.

His career in Manchester started brightly, with Martial scoring against Liverpool on his debut. He went on to net 17 goals in all competitions that season and looked destined to become the focal point of United’s attack.

But managerial changes, fluctuating form and recurring injury problems made consistency elusive. In five of his nine seasons at Old Trafford, Martial’s goal tally remained in single figures. He enjoyed a standout 2019/20 campaign, scoring a career-best 23 goals – but managed just 19 across the four seasons that followed.

Midway through the 2021/22 season he was loaned to Sevilla, having spent much of the campaign warming the bench following the summer arrivals of Cristiano Ronaldo and Jadon Sancho. However, he struggled in Spain, scoring just once in 12 appearances.

The curtain was finally brought down on Martial’s United career in 2024 when he left following the end of his contract. He subsequently joined AEK Athens before eventually moving to Monterrey a year later.

The France international had to wait 15 games to open his account for Monterrey, finally doing so against relegation-threatened Mazatlan in a match where he also provided two assists. Since then, however, the goals have dried up again.