Friday's Report: Scores, Mercer football/baseball, Warner Robins' Dinkins; GHSA/Brunswick, Falcons, Kennesaw State, UGA, Tech, Braves; NFL, college football HQ, college hoops, NBA, MLB, NHL, NASCAR
📰S📰C📰O📰R📰E📰B📰O📰A📰R📰D
High Schools
🏀🏀🏀Girls Basketball🏀🏀🏀
Edmund Burke 44, John Hancock 32
Fullington 60, Covenant 25
Harlem 45, Howard 36
Westfield 64, Tiftarea 44
Windsor 73, Twiggs 26
🏀🏀🏀Boys Basketball🏀🏀🏀
Covenant 43, Fullington 31
Edmund Burke 52, John Hancock 26
Harlem 65, Howard 43
📰C📰O📰V📰E📰R📰A📰G📰E📰
Alumni Update
Warner Robins’ Dinkins earns lofty comparison from Smart after making first start
Around/About Central Georgia
Mercer loses a pitching coach, hires a pitching coach
Last week, Mercer pitching coach and Windsor grad Tanner Gordon bid adieu to the Bears for a job with the Seattle Mariners organization.
A few days after his bio was erased from the Bears’ baseball web page, his replacement is announced.
Kent State pitching coach Kade McClure is the Bears’ newest hire in that position, the school announcing Thursday morning.
The team posted a congratulations note on Dec. 8, but there was no release on his resignation. As of Thursday evening, there has been nothing online about Gordon’s hire or his role.
Gordon spent two seasons at Mercer and helped the Bears to go 29-29 and 35-25. He followed Cory Barton (2022-23), and Brent Shade (13 seasons).
The Windsor grad played at Andrew and Auburn-Montgomery after high school, and coached at Middle Georgia (junior) College and Andrew College before joining Mercer as a volunteer coach in 2014.
He returned to Mercer after stints at Virginia Commonwealth and Murray State as well as Trevecca Nazarene.
McClure spent 2025 at Kent State, helping the Golden Flashes to a 38-18 mark, a jump from 27-27 in 2024.
The Ohio native played at Louisville and was a sixth-round pick by the White Sox in 2017, and played in that organization as well as San Francisco’s and Pittburgh’s. He retired in the summer of 2024 and joined the Kent State staff shortly after that.
Around/About Georgia
GHSA reverses field again, withdraws Brunswick suspensions, downgrades punishment
Cousins leads Falcons to comeback victory over the reeling Buccaneers
Bowles unleashes profane tirade after Bucs blow 14-point lead in 4th quarter
Kennesaw State extends CUSA champ coach Mack
SEC releases 2026 Georgia schedule
Stockton finishes seventh in Heisman voting
Tech’s King takes 10th in Heisman
3 Bulldogs named to Coaches Freshman All-SEC Team
2-time All-Star reliever Suarez and Atlanta agree to $45 million, 3-year contract
Braves' priorities remain the same in Winter Meetings
State college basketball
Williams scores 21, Georgia Southern knocks off Coastal Georgia
The year: 2025
Wrong balls, bird poop and more: 2025's most unusual rules issues
Opinion
Goodman: Trump’s war on football is a gross perversion of the American Dream
College Football/Playoffs
Big 12 commissioner says Notre Dame AD's behavior toward ACC is 'egregious'
Venables’ aggressive defense gives Oklahoma a different look than past Sooners playoff teams
Why did Notre Dame’s August loss cost the Irish a playoff spot in December?
College Football/Postseason/Bowls/FCS playoffs
Key matchups to watch as South Dakota collides with Montana in FCS quarterfinals
College Football/Coaching carousel
Moore’s firing leaves Michigan and its troubled football program scrambling to find a coach
Tennessee coach Josh Heupel hires Jim Knowles as new defensive coordinator
Coastal Carolina tabs Beard as head coach
Southern Miss promotes Anderson to head coach
ASU's Dillingham a coveted coach. What schools did he talk to?
Wisconsin hires Mateos as offensive line coach and doesn’t renew Blazek’s contract
South Carolina hires Clements as offensive line coach
College Football/Coaching carousel, the next few days
Napier tasks himself with continuing to make history as James Madison’s coach
College Football/Awards
Mendoza is AP player of the year after leading Indiana to 13-0 record and top seed in CFP
AP All-Big 12: Texas Tech has 7 first-team picks with LB Jacob Rodriguez the top defender
College Football/SEC/ACC/South
Auburn officially announces three additional hires to Golesh’s staff
Dates for Georgia-Bama, LSU-Ole Miss and every other SEC game in 2026
Kiffin, LSU open 2026 SEC slate at Ole Miss
Dart reacts to Kiffin leaving for LSU, Golding hire
Napier reveals decision not to call plays at James Madison
College Football
Army tries to turn the tables on No. 22 Navy when they renew their rivalry in Baltimore
Navy uniform for the 126th Army game honors six original warships
College Sports, the changing landscape
Some athletic directors are open to collective bargaining agreements for college athletes
NFL/NFC
Stafford’s Rams host Goff’s Lions in another high-stakes meeting nearly 5 years after win-win trade
Bears look to bounce back against Garrett, Browns with rematch against Packers looming
Prescott embraces a must-win finish for Cowboys, starting with visit from Vikings
Texans’ defense shines in 5-game winning streak, eyes playoff spot as Cardinals visit
Young seeks solution to Saints defense as the Panthers try to stay atop the NFC South
NFL/AFC
Steelers LB Watt hospitalized after experiencing discomfort in his lungs
Patriots can extend win streak to 11, capture AFC East title with win over Bills
Broncos waive 41-year-old Lewis, the oldest tight end in NFL history
Lawrence back to full practice
NFL/USFL/UFL/Football
10 months after Super Bowl, Mahomes and Hurts struggle in historic week of turnovers
NFL is seeking a practice squad of officials, wants to base postseason assignments on performance
College Basketball/SEC/ACC/South
Wood scores 21, Jacksonville takes down Trinity Baptist
Avdalas scores 30 as Virginia Tech pushes past Western Carolina
Jennings scores 20, Appalachian State knocks off East Carolina
Syracuse holds on for close win over visiting Saint Joseph’s
Missouri takes down Alabama State behind hot-shooting first half
College Basketball/Women
Why Iowa State star Audi Crooks is seemingly impossible to stop
Hidalgo scores 24 in No. 19 Notre Dame women’s 87-48 win over Morehead State
Beers’ has 26 points and 15 rebounds as No. 9 Oklahoma beats Little Rock
College Basketball/Men
Jefferson leads No. 4 Iowa State back from 13-point deficit in 66-62 win over Iowa
NBA/Basketball
Bucks players shoot down report Giannis Antetokounmpo met with them amid trade rumors
Paul: 'I'm actually at peace with everything,' reportedly working with Clippers on trade
Curry eager to return from leg injury, play for Warriors as soon as Friday against Minnesota
Jokic has 36 points and 12 boards as Nuggets rout Kings for 4th straight win
Baseball/MLB
Mets front office taking heat with fan favorites Alonso, Díaz and Nimmo headed out of town
Cease impressed by Blue Jays’ recruiting pitch as much as his own tosses
Brewers manager Murphy says ace Peralta `due to be a wealthy man’ with `a lot of acreage’
Hockey
MacKinnon leads a balanced scoring attack as Avalanche cruise over Panthers
Hyman has 3 goals, McDavid gets 4 assists as Oilers beat Red Wings
Predators center Steven Stamkos scores 4 goals in win over Blues
Golf
Florida’s capital city approves plan to sell golf course built on slaves’ graves, despite outcry
Soccer
FIFA accused of ‘monumental betrayal’ over latest World Cup ticket prices
Inter Miami extends defender Ian Fray’s contract through 2028-29 season
Auto Racing
NASCAR settles federal antitrust case, gives all teams the permanent charters they wanted
The family ties at the heart of NASCAR were highlighted throughout the trial
Olympic Sports
Vonn added 12 pounds of muscle to her frame and is ready for her Olympic season at age 41
Clark, Bueckers and Reese bring a youth movement to USA Basketball camp
Boxing/UFC/MMA/WWE
Dubois breaks down why she signed with Jake Paul's MVP over BOXXER
Scoreboards