THIS IS THE SPORTS SPECTRUM PODCAST
WITH JASON ROMANO, FEATURING WAYNE SIMIEN
Wayne Simien is a character coach with the Kansas Jayhawks. He played his college ball at KU, where he was a consensus first-team All-American and Big 12 Player of the Year in 2005. His success in college led to him becoming a first-round selection in the 2005 NBA Draft by the Miami Heat (29th overall).
Simien played two seasons with the Heat, and in 2006 as a rookie earned an NBA championship ring alongside Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O’Neal as the franchise won its first-ever title. In October 2007, Simien was traded to Minnesota but never played another game in the NBA. He played a few more years in Spain before retiring in May 2009 at the age of 26 to pursue ministry work.
Today, he is serving as Kansas’ associate athletic director of engagement and outreach, and his No. 23 is retired at Allen Fieldhouse.
On this episode of the podcast, we talk to Wayne Simien about his unique role at Kansas, why he considers his work to be ministry, growing up a Jayhawks fan, and lessons learned from legendary coaches Roy Williams, Bill Self and Pat Riley.
On repeat and getting me right this morning! 🎶🎧 “Jesus the anthem of my heart. Jesus the anchor of my soul. Im overwhelmed by all You are. Oh how I love You!”☀️❤️ pic.twitter.com/GcFk3UC2vX
THIS IS THE SPORTS SPECTRUM PODCAST WITH MATT FORTE, FEATURING PATRICK BAILEY
Patrick Bailey is the starting catcher for the San Francisco Giants. He was a first-round selection in the 2020 MLB Draft by the Giants and made his MLB debut with the team in May 2023. Bailey won back-to-back Gold Glove awards in 2024 and 2025, and last year became the first player in MLB history to hit a walk-off inside-the-park home run and a walk-off grand slam in the same season.
Today on the podcast, Matt Forte talks with Patrick Bailey about his faith in Jesus, winning two consecutive Gold Glove awards, and the identity battle he’s faced in keeping baseball in proper perspective.
North Carolina head coach Hubert Davis, Jan. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)
The results on the court have been up and down for Hubert Davis in his five years as the head coach at North Carolina. What’s remained consistent, however, is his faith in Jesus and willingness to be bold in sharing it.
After serving as an assistant coach for Roy Williams from 2012-2021, Davis was elevated to head coach ahead of the 2021-22 season. From the start, he said he viewed his job as more than just coaching basketball.
“I’ve said this a number of times, that I’ve been put, placed, purposed and planned to be in this position at such a time as this,” Davis said on “The Drive with Will Dalton” ahead of this season. “I’m on assignment. It is missionary work. It’s an act of service … it’s a position of great honor, and I love being in [it].”
That perspective hasn’t changed, even as the results and the sport itself have.
On the court, his team’s next task is a first-round matchup in the NCAA Tournament on Thursday against a No. 11-seeded VCU team that just won the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament. The No. 6-seeded Tar Heels enter the tournament looking to right the ship following a 15-point loss to rival Duke in the regular-season finale and a one-point loss to Clemson in their first game of the ACC Tournament.
After a first-round loss last year, UNC is looking to rekindle some of the magic that led to a run to the 2022 championship game in Davis’ first season at the helm. They’ll have to do so without star forward and projected NBA Draft lottery pick Caleb Wilson, who led the team in scoring (19.8 points per game), rebounds (9.4), steals (1.5) and blocks (1.4) before undergoing season-ending thumb surgery in early March.
UNC missed the NCAA Tournament the year after the runner-up finish, but returned as a No. 1 seed in 2024. That season ended with a Sweet 16 loss, however, to No. 4-seeded Alabama.
The topsy-turvy nature of UNC’s results have coincided with significant changes in the college game, most notably the transfer portal and NIL (name, image and likeness) rules that allow for players to make upwards of six or seven figures in some cases. That has resulted in heavy roster turnover, including losses of key Tar Heels like Caleb Love and Elliott Cadeau.
While some coaches have stepped away amid the changing landscape, Davis has embraced the challenge.
“Obviously there’s differences, but I think it’s been really exciting to maneuver through the differences in college athletics,” Davis told Dalton. “But again, with all the changes, my mission and my assignment haven’t changed at all. It’s to be in these kids’ lives and be able to serve them and give back to them.
“Regardless of how many changes happen, my assignment has stayed the same. I love this assignment. I enjoy it. As I’ve said before, it’s a privilege to be in this position, having a front-row seat to be able to do it on a daily basis.”
That sense of purpose is rooted in Davis’ own story.
Before his coaching career — and even before his 12-year NBA journey — Davis was a player at North Carolina under legendary coach Dean Smith from 1988-1992. It was during that time that his faith in Christ took shape.
In 1990, just before his junior year, Davis attended a service at Chapel Hill Bible Church while searching for answers following the death of his mother two years earlier.
“During that time, I was really struggling,” Davis said on Dalton’s show. “I was going to a number of churches, and the reason being I was looking for answers. I was looking for answers in regards to why my best friend, my mom, passed away two years earlier of cancer. That’s the only reason I was going to church.”
After that church service, a man named Mike Echstenkamper — who was working with Athletes In Action on the UNC campus — approached him.
“He introduced himself and I broke down crying,” Davis told Dalton. “I met him on campus the next day, and that was the day I accepted Christ into my life.
“I was going to church looking for answers, and obviously I never found that answer. But I did find out and was able to see the things that my mom told me — how much Jesus loved me and the plan and purpose that He had for me.”
“When I’m asked a question, the only thing I know how to do is to be myself,” he told Dalton. “My personality is my personality and this is what you get for 55 years. I’m very secure and confident in my own skin and I feel very passionate about the things that I love and care about.”
UNC and VCU tip off at 6:50 p.m. ET Thursday on TNT.
Maryland's Oluchi Okananwa handles the ball, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Jayne Kamin-Oncea)
Countless stars have shuffled through the Maryland women’s basketball program under head coach Brenda Frese, and this year, the perennial contenders eye another deep run in the NCAA Tournament behind star guard Oluchi Okananwa.
The junior from Boston helped the Terrapins (23-8) earn a No. 5 seed in Regional 1, and they will take on No. 12-seeded Murray State (31-3) in the first round.
Okananwa transferred to College Park last April after two years at Duke, and with the Terps she became a starter and quickly proved to be one of the better portal pickups in the country. She led her team in scoring (18.0 points per game on 52.4% shooting) while adding 5.5 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 2.3 steals per game. For her efforts, she was named to the All-Big Ten first team as well as the all-defensive team.
— Big Ten Women's Basketball (@B1Gwbball) March 6, 2026
Okananwa’s transition into Maryland’s program has been seamless.
“When you’re in the transfer portal, there are no guarantees. I think it’s sometimes tragic when you see a player not get the right fit,” Coach Frese told TestudoTimes.com last week. “It was a perfect fit for us with Oluchi.”
Okananwa wholeheartedly agreed.
“The grass is green wherever you water it,” she told TestudoTimes.com. “No one should be transferring expecting things handed to them on a silver platter. It’s going to take two. You have to meet God, you have to meet your coaches, you have to meet everyone halfway.”
When asked in a NCAA March Madness social media video in February what a privilege it has been to play for a program like Maryland, Okananwa credited her Heavenly Father.
“First and foremost, all glory to God,” she said. “Without Him, I would not be in the position that I am, and I would not have made it this far. … I’ve looked up and I’m here, by God’s grace.”
Her decision to transfer was also one of the topics of conversation when Okananwa appeared as a guest on Sports Spectrum’s “What’s Up” podcast last week. She shared that it was God who sustained her throughout the process.
“My sophomore year in college (at Duke) was one of the hardest seasons I’ve gone through, basketball-wise and in my relationship with [God],” she said. “He taught me so much about patience, and what it really looks like to have faith in Him. … You’re really gonna have to trust Him, and your actions are going to have to be in accordance to that trust and to that faith that you’re putting in Him.”
At Maryland, Okananwa has helped to foster a strong team-wide atmosphere of faith. There are chapels before games where the team prays and reads Scripture, and the team says another prayer just before running out onto the court. Even during games, Okananwa finds herself looking to her Heavenly Father for help.
“It’s honestly an open dialogue between Him and I during a game,” she said on the podcast, “most of the time just me trying to calm myself down and understanding that it’s in His hands and the outcome is going to be exactly the one that He designed.”
Okananwa is never one to shy away from talking about Christ, including a banner photo with the words “do it all for Jesus” on her X account. She also describes herself as a “child of God” in her Instagram bio.
And now, as she enters the NCAA Tournament for the first time with Maryland (after two appearances with Duke), she will once again lean on God’s sustaining grace.
Tip-off between Okananwa’s Terrapins and the Murray State Racers from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, is scheduled for Friday at 3 p.m. ET. If Maryland advances, it will play either No. 4-seeded North Carolina or No. 13-seeded Western Illinois on Sunday.
Cal Baptist's Dominique Daniels Jr., Dec. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Let the madness begin.
Following a jam-packed weekend of conference tournaments, the bracket for the men’s 2026 NCAA Tournament was officially released on Sunday evening. And as fans scramble to dissect every matchup before filling out a bracket, one name to know is Dominique Daniels Jr. of California Baptist University.
Cal Baptist, a small private Christian university in Riverside, California, is one of two teams making its first-ever appearance in the Big Dance (the other is Queens University in Charlotte), in large part because of Daniels’ heroics in the closing minutes of Saturday’s Western Athletic Conference Tournament.
The No. 2-seeded Lancers found themselves down six against No. 1-seeded Utah Valley in the championship game with two minutes remaining, and Daniels was having an off shooting night at the worst possible time. But suddenly, he hit one 3-pointer at the 1:50 mark and another on the ensuing possession to tie the game at 60. Then Utah Valley drained one of two free throws, putting the ball back in Daniels’ hands with 39.7 seconds left and a chance to win it.
After nearly losing his dribble, Daniels hit a deep 3-pointer from the top of the key to give CBU a 63-61 lead with 14 seconds left. Utah Valley couldn’t equalize on its final possession, and the Lancers’ bench erupted in celebration. Cal Baptist earned a No. 13 seed in the NCAA Tournament and will face No. 4-seeded Kansas in the first round.
CALIFORNIA BAPTIST IS GOING DANCING FOR THE FIRST TIME IN PROGRAM HISTORY 🕺
Daniels played the entire game and once again led his team in scoring (23 points), afterward being named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament. He has scored more points this year than any CBU player in a single season (741), and he’s fifth this season in scoring among all Division-I players (23.2 points per game).
Few may know about Daniels — yet. And that’s something he’s perfectly fine with. He wants others to know the One who should be glorified.
“It’s all glory to God at the end of the day,” he said, as he often does, after scoring a school-record 47 points in a win against Utah Valley in January. “He’s the reason why I’m able to do what I’m able to do. He put me in this position for a reason, and I just give Him all the praise and all the glory and all the honor at the end of the day.
“I wouldn’t be able to do this without Him. It’s no credit to me. He put the hard work in me, He put the determination in me, so I give all credit to God.”
In addition to frequently giving glory to God after his big performances, Daniels says he also prays before every game. He lists the Bible verse Hebrews 11:1 in his Instagram bio, a verse that reads, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”
Daniels may become a nationwide darling in the days ahead as the country learns about one of college basketball’s most dynamic players. But no matter the attention he gets for his play, he knows his basketball ability is nothing but a gift from God.
CBU’s opening-round game against Kansas from Viejas Arena in San Diego is scheduled for 9:45 p.m. ET Friday.
