Thursday's Report: Scores, Houston County's Burress, Mercer; Hawks, UGA arrest, Tech, Falcons, Braves; Super Bowl, NFL, college basketball, NBA/trades, college football, MLB, golf, tennis, Olympics
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High Schools
(Teams: Please post first and last names, and names are preferred over social media handles (they know who they are, most people don’t) and post team names, not mascots)
🏀🏀🏀Girls Basketball🏀🏀🏀
ACE Charter 52, Twiggs County 17
Putnam County 59, Social Circle 17
Putnam County improved to 17-1 and 6-0.
Westside 51, Central 45
🏀🏀🏀Boys Basketball🏀🏀🏀
ACE Charter 85, Twiggs County 37
Central 74, Westside 57
Da’Monte Rembert hit three 3s en route to 21 points for Central, with 12 of Jarvis Williams’ 16 points coming on 3s. TaKoby Howard added 14 points.
Putnam County 74, Social Circle 54
Putnam County improved to 19-6 and 8-1.
🏫🏫🏫College🏫🏫🏫
(Colleges: Please post links to stories with social media posts, and team names instead of logos in graphics)
🏀🏀🏀Basketball🏀🏀🏀
M-Flagler 68, Middle Georgia State 58
W-Middle Georgia State 60, Flagler 46
The Knights set a program record in Division II for wins with 15.
W-USC Beaufort 70, Georgia College 51
M-USC Beaufort , Georgia College
📰C📰O📰V📰E📰R📰A📰G📰E📰
Alumni Update
Burress, Lackey & Advincula earn more preseason honors
Around/About Central Georgia
FB-Mercer adds dozens of transfers
Around/About Georgia
Georgia player arrested for felony criminal damage to property for dorm incident
Smart happy with transfer haul
Warriors agree to send Jonathan Kuminga, Buddy Hield to Hawks for Kristaps Porzingis
Hawks address persistent lack of depth at center by acquiring Jock Landale from Jazz
Burress, Lackey & Advincula earn more preseason honors at Tech
Checking on Georgia's NCAA Tournament hopes with the Bulldogs halfway through SEC play
Hodge's HBCU roots continue to shape his NFL career in Atlanta
Braves notes: Future of Braves TV, battery power top 30 propsects,
State college basketball
Tech’s second-half rally falls short
Georgia Southern women win fourth straight
A Worthy Read
Public vs. Private high school sports debate heats up
Obituary
Mickey Lolich, hero of the 1968 World Series for the Detroit Tigers, dies at 85
National Signing Day
College football’s February signing period is quiet for most schools. Penn State is an exception
College Sports, the changing landscape
Tennessee QB Aguilar gets a temporary restraining order in his bid to keep playing for the Vols
Ole Miss QB Chambliss’ NCAA appeal denied, but legal fight continues
Report: Florida State reports $437 million in athletics-related debt in 2025
LSU student-athlete cleared by College Sports Commission after investigation into NIL non-reporting
NFL/Super Bowl
Goodell wants 'safe' Super Bowl amid ICE fears, says NFL chose Bad Bunny to 'unite people'
Vrabel has built a culture that has his team on the verge of Super Bowl history
Stars talk about playing in NFL’s showpiece game
Darnold's peak has a 'Last Dance' vibe
How the Super Bowl halftime show evolved from pageantry to pop culture’s biggest stage
From Bart Starr, to everyone after, photographer John Biever has shot every Super Bowl
NFL/Coaching Carousel
LaFleur has learned from some of the NFL’s best coaches. Now he’ll try to turn around the Cards
Vikings hire former Dolphins OC Smith as assistant head coach
Jets hire veteran coach Reich as OC
Bradley rejoining Saleh as Titans DC
Cardinals hiring veteran coach Hackett as OC
NFL/NFC
McVay 'absolutely' wants Stafford back with Rams, but will give QB time to make retirement decision
NFL/AFC
Monken reveals who will call offensive plays
NFL/USFL/UFL/Football
NFL players’ union interim boss David White says players have ‘no appetite’ for an 18-game season
McCaffrey wins 2025 Salute to Service award for supporting military veterans
2026 Winter Olympics/Milan Cortina
Games kicked off in Cortina with curling, but took a brief pause due to a power outage
US Olympians are greeted at Milan’s airport with star-spangled Ralph Lauren uniforms
Olympic success is a family affair for US moguls skier Jaelin Kauf
Vonn doing ‘jumps’ in rehab, coach tells AP ‘no doubt’ she’ll race in Olympics with torn ACL
College Basketball/SEC/ACC/South
Oweh goes for 20-plus again and Kentucky defeats Oklahoma
Taylor scores 21 in UNC Asheville’s 76-67 victory against South Carolina Upstate
Vasko’s 26 points lead Wofford past VMI
Johnson’s 19 lead South Carolina State past Maryland Eastern Shore
Stephenson and Florida International secure 88-84 OT win over Middle Tennessee
Nziemi scores 20, Longwood beats Gardner-Webb
Giles puts up 23, Wichita State takes down Charlotte
College Basketball/Women
When is the documentary on South Carolina’s Staley?
How Vanessa Blair-Lewis built a winner at George Mason
Fudd scores 25 points as No. 1 UConn routs DePaul for 40th straight win
No. 2 UCLA rout Rutgers for 16th straight win
Okananwa’s 23 points help No. 22 Maryland upset No. 12 Michigan State
No. 14 TCU stretch home win streak to 39 with rout over Houston
College Basketball/Men
Izzo says he might bench Spartans star Fears after technical in loss to Gophers raises more concern
No. 5 Illinois makes 17 3-pointers, beats Northwestern 84-44 for 12th straight win
No. 6 Gonzaga goes down as winning streak ends with surprising loss to Portland
Davidson scores 16 points, grabs seven rebounds as No. 20 Clemson holds off Stanford
Roy scores 30 and Oklahoma State overcomes big game from Dybantsa to beat No. 16 BYU
NBA/Basketball
Embiid not sweating All-Star Game snub: 'I don't need any validation from anybody'
O’Neal calls 2006 Miami Heat title his favorite, as team celebrates 20th anniversary
Cavaliers rout Clippers after Garland-Harden trade
Johnson, Wembanyama lead Spurs to 4th win over OKC, beating the injury-depleted Thunder
Towns is bloodied and bandaged, Nuggets lose 2 injured starters in Knicks’ double-OT win
Bucks overcome a 44-point game by Trey Murphy III and beat Pelicans
NBA trades/moves
Wizards acquiring Anthony Davis from Mavericks in 8-player trade
76ers send former promising prospect Jared McCain to Thunder for four draft picks
Hornets bringing Coby White back home to North Carolina in trade with Bulls
College Football/SEC/ACC/Southeast
Goodman: A new era of cold-blooded villainy is here for the SEC
ACC's Phillips on changing tiebreakers, future realignment, Notre Dame, football success & more
College Football
Montana’s Hauck says he’s retiring because he doesn’t like dealing with the changes in college game
Washington QB Demond Williams says his short-lived departure was a mistake and he got bad advice
College Football Playoff schedule is getting a shakeup
College Sports
Mountain West reveals multiplatform media deals
USA Today Baseball Coaches Preseason Poll
Top NHL prospect and Penn State freshman Gavin McKenna charged with felony assault
Baseball/MLB
Ramírez will get final payment from Guardians in 2051 under $175 million, 10-year contract
Beltrán will have Mets cap on Hall of Fame plaque, Jones gets Braves and Kent has Giants
Why the WBC insurance issues affecting myriad teams have no obvious villain to blame
Former All-Star outfielder Austin Hays finalizes $6 million, 1-year deal with White Sox
Hockey
Kings are acquiring Artemi Panarin in a trade with the Rangers,
Injured Penguins defenseman Jones suspended 20 games by the NHL for violating PED policy
Devils acquire Bjugstad in a trade with the Blues before the NHL’s Olympic roster freeze
Tennis
Sabalenka stays top-ranked on women’s tour despite loss, Djokovic up to third on men’s tour
Golf
Koepka gets a warm reception in PGA Tour return. It might have been about more than him
Soccer
USMNT World Cup roster watch: Tillman-Reyna gap widening
Guardiola speaks out on ‘hurt’ he feels about humanitarian tragedies around the world
Auto Racing
Hamlin’s rollercoaster offseason: Lawsuit win, father’s death, and a return to racing
Olympic Sports
LA County supervisor calls for Casey Wasserman to resign from Olympic committee
Minnesota athletes head into the Winter Olympics with concerns about turmoil back home
Milan Cortina are the most spread-out Olympics ever. What this means for fans and athletes
Boxing/UFC/MMA/WWE
Revenge of the Nerds: Inside the ruthless rise of UFC’s newest avengers
USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, Feb. 3: Volkanovski climbs P4P
The UFC Hall of Famer who isn't
Scoreboards