Tony Bennett, Virginia Men's Basketball Coach (Photo Courtesy: UVA/Twitter @UVAMensHoops)
On March 16th, 2018, coach Tony Bennett and his Virginia Cavaliers men’s basketball team made history by losing to the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, thus becoming the first #1 seed to ever lose to a #16 seed in the NCAA tournament.
The potential for embarrassment and scrutiny could not have been higher, but Coach Bennett’s post-game words at the press conference showed a man of class and grace. At first, I was upset that something horrible like this could happen to such a man and coach of character. Just the day before I had a shared a post on Facebook from Sports Spectrum that highlighted the following words from Coach Bennett: “I have great things in my life-my love for my wife, my love for my family, my love for coaching, my love for basketball. Those are wonderful things, but when you line them up in comparison to Christ and the relationship you have with Him, with what He’s done for you and with that He’s given you, they don’t compare. That’s the greatest truth I know.”
As I continued to see his post-game words retweeted and shared on Facebook over the weekend I began to realize that maybe this was a good thing. Maybe this was an opportunity for people to see that who you are as a person is more important than winning and losing. And maybe it is an opportunity to show that the greatest truth Coach Bennett knows, and the promise that God gives each of us, does not change whether we win the championship or lose an embarassing game.
What many people like to do is point to Virginia’s loss and blame Coach Bennett’s style of play. That he is too focused on defense. That his offense is not high-powered enough, etc. This is a debate that can go on and on and the fact is, there are many different strategies and philosophies that can win games. However, on any given day, any strategy and philosophy is subject to lose.
What we really need to guard ourselves against is buying into the idea that when good things happen to us, God loves us more and when bad things happen to us, we have done something wrong or He loves us less. If you think God is helping you win a sports contest because He favors you, then you are saying that he loves you more than your opponent who you just defeated, and God loves all his creation the same.
We can’t only praise God for the wins.
When God says that He has plans to prosper us and not harm us, what He means is that through what Christ did for us and through His promises we can have a calm inner peace to handle everything that is thrown at us. He is talking about prospering us with internal rewards, not external rewards.
It doesn’t mean we won’t feel emotions. I’m sure Coach Bennett and his players felt a variety of emotions after all the effort they put into doing something they love and falling short. But no matter our level of talent, resources, or confidence, we will experience adversity at some point. God doesn’t promise to take away all our discomfort. He promises to give us a reason to be strong enough to deal with any disappointment. And that reason is Jesus Christ.
He also promises that we do not have to do it alone. In times of great disappointment or adversity like Coach Bennett’s historic loss, this is an opportunity for us to open ourselves up to God’s love, strength, and guidance.
In verse 13 of Philippians 4, God tells us that we can do “all things through Christ.” This does not mean that if we try hard enough we can win a national championship, be elected President of the United States, or win a Nobel Prize. We may or may not achieve some of those things. This means that whatever circumstances we experience or whatever we achieve or don’t achieve God will provide us the strength to not only survive, but to thrive and honor Him.
We should be careful not to isolate verse 13 without paying attention also to verse 12: “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.”
So how can we be successful like Tony Bennett and have the strength to thrive and prosper when we lose a game or many games throughout a season? Remember what God said just a couple verses after telling us that he has plans to prosper us and give us hope for the future: “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
San Antonio Spurs forward Harrison Barnes, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)
From 2012-2016, Harrison Barnes was a key piece of a Golden State Warriors team that went to the postseason four straight years and the NBA Finals twice. He averaged 33.0 minutes, 8.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per game in the 2015 Finals for the squad that won the world championship.
Now at 34 years old, he’s back in the NBA Finals for the first time in a decade, this time with a new team and a much different role. After starting 52 games during the 2025-26 regular season for the San Antonio Spurs, he’s made no starts this postseason and is averaging 8.5 minutes with no points during the Finals. His role now is more as the wily veteran helping provide leadership to a young Spurs team led by emerging stars like 22-year-old Victor Wembanyama, 21-year-old Stephon Castle and 20-year-old rookie Dylan Harper.
The Spurs are back in the NBA Finals for the first time since 2014, and Barnes is grateful to have another crack at winning a title. Though much of the team’s core is young players with the majority of their career still ahead of them, he’s reminding his teammates not to take this opportunity for granted.
“This may be the last time both teams are in the Finals for a while. We have no idea,” Barnes said after shootaround on Friday, via Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News.
The Spurs will have to dig out of a 3-1 hole after surrendering a 29-point lead that eventually led to a 107-106 New York Knicks win in Wednesday’s Game 4, the largest comeback in NBA Finals history. If the Spurs are to come back, the leadership from Barnes could be a factor.
His teammates have already noted how valuable his presence is. As they navigate this deep playoff run early in their career, the wisdom provided by someone who’s been there several times is invaluable.
“Shout out to HB,” forward Devin Vassell told the Express-News. “It’s been great for us so far and just his wisdom and his knowledge being in so many different games, Game 7s, championship games, whatever the case may be. He’s been able to just kind of calm us down and just tell us kind of what to expect.”
After a decorated three-year career at North Carolina, Barnes was drafted by the Warriors in 2012 with the No. 7 overall pick and made the All-Rookie Team. He stayed with Golden State through the 2015-16 season, when the Warriors lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Finals. He’s since played for the Dallas Mavericks and Sacramento Kings before joining the Spurs ahead of the 2024-25 season. His last playoff appearance before this season was in 2023, when he averaged 28.0 minutes and 10.7 points per game for the Kings during a first-round series loss to the Warriors.
Now in his 14th NBA season, the Ames, Iowa, native is relishing the opportunity to play in the Finals once again. He told KCCI in Des Moines, Iowa, that he didn’t expect to be back in the Finals this late in his career.
“There were a lot of years where we were missing the playoffs,” he said. “…To be here this year where we’re in the NBA Finals, it’s a very unique and special situation.”
Earlier this year, he played his 1,000th career NBA game. He said he attributes his longevity to “having a village and day-to-day work and commitment. Obviously, it starts with my faith, but also my wife, Brittany, being the rock for me,” he told KCCI.
Barnes’ faith in God has been central to his life and career, and he’s been open about sharing how important it is. He calls himself a “devout Christian” on his website, lists the Bible verse Acts 4:12 in his X bio, and writes “#IJNIP” (In Jesus’ Name I Play) in his Instagram bio.
“Money, fame, and talent can be the top priorities for most professional athletes, but for Harrison Barnes, it’s his relationship with God that comes first. He is a Christian,” his website says. “Ever since he was young he grew up in the church. His faith has always been a big reason why he plays.
“On the inside of his shoes he has TGBTG, which is ‘To God Be The Glory’ and he just plays for Him. … He just realizes it is not his work, but His.”
Barnes’ faith began to take shape in high school, thanks in part to attendance at retreats, Sunday School and Bible studies. He even led some of those Bible studies.
“I wanted to leave an impact on the school, and I wanted Christ to be represented there,” Barnes told Iowa State Daily in 2009 after committing to play at North Carolina. “So I wanted to start that Bible study just to get a coalition of believers together and also integrate non-believers in there and just have that fellowship.”
He continued later: “I try to make [God] the center of my life and then just have that infiltrate all other spheres, such as glorifying Him on the basketball floor with all the gifts that He’s given me.”
The Spurs and Knicks continue the NBA Finals back in San Antonio for Game 5 on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET.
UNC head coach Scott Forbes, June 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben McKeown)
The 2026 North Carolina Tar Heels and head coach Scott Forbes are hoping the baseballs bounce their way in the program’s 13th trip to the College World Series (CWS). North Carolina has fallen short in its previous 12 appearances in Omaha, Nebraska, the second-most appearances on college baseball’s biggest stage without a national title.
Now, with the perennial powerhouse Tar Heels back in familiar territory, Forbes believes this is the team that can finally break through and bring a national championship trophy back to Chapel Hill.
“I’m happy for them, because they get to go. I’ve been to Omaha before,” Forbes said in his postgame press conference Sunday after ousting USC in the super regionals. “I get to see the joy on these guys’ faces of coming back in here tomorrow and preparing to win UNC Baseball’s first national championship.”
North Carolina proved to be one of the best teams in the country all season, earning the No. 5 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. But after sweeping through the Chapel Hill Regional in three games, the Heels dropped the opening contest of their super regional with the Trojans. They staved off elimination with a 4-0 victory Saturday, but in Sunday’s winner-take-all Game 3, they found themselves trailing 3-1 with only four outs left to mount a comeback.
Two clutch doubles in the bottom of the eighth inning drew them to within one. Then a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth tied the game, setting up the heroics from junior outfielder Owen Hull.
Hull’s walk-off double sent the Tar Heels back to Omaha for the second time under Forbes and the second time in the past three years, the only program in the country to accomplish that feat. The win also marked North Carolina’s 50th win of the season and Forbes’ 250th career win. The longtime UNC assistant was named to the head coaching position ahead of the 2021 season after the retirement of legendary coach Mike Fox.
Since being elevated to head coach, Forbes hasn’t been shy about mentioning his faith in Jesus. He did it once again in Sunday’s press conference.
“I’d written a Bible verse on my card today, that no matter what — everything that I do — just make sure I do it like I’m supposed to do it through my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I’m just thankful that He gave me the opportunity to be here and be around these guys. I’m the one that gets blessed by their presence,” Forbes said.
Moments after North Carolina punched its ticket to the 2024 College World Series, Forbes’ first as head coach, he made sure to deflect all praise that was sure to come his way.
“It’s not them getting me to Omaha, it’s me hoping to get them. That’s been my prayer all year,” Forbes said in an on-field interview with Raleigh’s CBS 17 News. “I changed the thought process of how I coached in 2022 and I made a decision that, if I’m a Christian believer, I’ve gotta coach through that avenue.”
“If I’m a Christian believer I need to coach through that avenue.
In that year of Forbes’ paradigm shift as a coach, he was featured in the Heart of a Coach Q&A in the Spring 2022 edition of Sports Spectrum Magazine. There, he spoke about how his faith affects his approach to his job.
“My faith in Christ impacts everything I do as a coach,” he said. “I try my best to make every decision through Him and coach so that others will hopefully see Him in me daily.”
He continued later, “Keeping perspective as to why I coach, I am challenged the most in making sure I remind myself daily that you win in many more ways than just the final score.”
Today and every day we honor and remember the brave men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.
North Carolina begins its CWS journey on Friday evening in a matchup with Ole Miss (41-21), which advanced past No. 4 Auburn to get to Omaha. In 2022, the last time the Rebels made it to the CWS, they left with a national championship.
Mississippi State head coach Samantha Ricketts, May 24, 2026. (Photo By Hallie Walker/Mississippi State Athletics)
The student beat the master.
Mississippi State, led by head coach Samantha Ricketts, knocked off perennial power Oklahoma on Sunday with a 6-0 shutout win in Game 3 of the super regional to advance to the Women’s College World Series for the first time in program history.
For Ricketts, the upset came in familiar territory. A former Oklahoma star, she played first base under legendary coach Patty Gasso from 2006-09, setting then-program records for career home runs (48) and RBIs (239). She later spent two seasons as a graduate assistant on Gasso’s staff.
Now leading Mississippi State, Ricketts made history twice in one weekend. Friday’s 11-9 victory marked the first time a former Oklahoma player had defeated Gasso as a head coach. Sunday’s win raised the stakes even higher, making Ricketts the first former player to knock off her former mentor for a tournament or regional championship.
She was quick to give praise to her mentor following the win.
“They’re the standard of college softball,” Ricketts said during her postgame press conference. “What Coach Gasso has built cannot be denied — what this program is and what she’s done. I know, for myself and the relationship to the program, I am so thankful for her and her guidance. I would not be in this seat and in this moment without Patty Gasso.”
Mississippi State took Game 1 of the series 11-9 but lost 7-1 in Game 2. That provided a teaching moment for Ricketts, who’s been at the helm since 2019.
“We talk a lot about perspective,” she said in the press conference. “Even in those tough moments, even after yesterday’s loss when we got punched in the mouth, this is something we get to do. Nobody has to be here. Nobody’s forcing us to be here. We are all very blessed to be in this moment in the wins and the losses.”
The defeat for OU marks the first time in 399 games that it was held scoreless, and this year’s Women’s College World Series will be without OU for the first time since 2015.
Because of Oklahoma’s pedigree, MSU knew it wasn’t expected to win, which allowed the Bulldogs to play from a perspective of just having fun.
“It’s not life or death at the end of the day; it’s softball. And we’re going to go out there and give it everything we’ve got, have fun with our friends, and give glory to God at the end,” Ricketts said in the press conference. “This group, I think, did a really good job of that. We kind of embraced the David-versus-Goliath mentality, and just knew that all the pressure was in their dugout.”
Ricketts has learned a lot from Gasso, but perhaps some of the most important lessons were in how to build a sustainable, winning culture. Much of that has helped Ricketts lead with her faith in God out front and foster an environment where faith is at the core.
“I think what I’ve really learned to do, and starting with Coach Gasso, is just surrounding yourself with people that are strong in their faith, that have the same values and beliefs,” Ricketts said on the Sports Spectrum Podcast in 2021. “Just making sure you have good leaders and mentors in place and strong people of faith for your players to look up to.”
She recalled being at Oklahoma and being introduced to team chaplain and Fellowship of Christian Athletes area director Sarah Roberts. Ricketts started attending Sunday chapels, and eventually it became essentially “a whole team event.”
“Everyone just really loved her and her passion and wanted to start off the Sunday on the right foot,” Ricketts said on the podcast. “That’s something we’ve been able to do here [at Mississippi State]. We’ve got a great FCA program as well.”
Join us today on the podcast for a conversation with @HailStateSB coach Samantha Ricketts (@Coach_Ricketts) for a conversation about on leadership and coaching for greater purpose.
Now a coach, her schedule is every bit as busy as it was as a player, if not more. But she knows she can’t let that be an excuse for her time with God to be put aside. She understands she has to keep her priorities in order and make intentional time to be in the Word, because when she’s busy or tired, that’s usually the first thing that gets sacrificed from her schedule.
“I like to journal,” she said on the podcast. “I use typically the Bible app and the verse of the day. I’ll use that to dive in, just pick a verse, and then from there, journal what that looks like for me, what I think the meanings of it might be, and then use that to spark my prayer over my players, my team, my family.
“But that just helps me stay in a routine as well. That [verse is] something that changes every day and something I know is going to be there that I could use to sit down with and spend 15 minutes, 30 minutes, whatever I have, and just try to stay locked in to what I know my priorities are.”
Ricketts and Mississippi State begin WCWS play on Thursday against Texas Tech at 12 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Ajay Mitchell, May 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)
The much-anticipated Western Conference Finals between what many consider the NBA’s two best teams tipped off on Monday, and it lived up to all the hype and more.
The No. 2-seeded San Antonio Spurs, led by Victor Wembanyama, outlasted league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the No. 1-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder, 122-115, in two overtimes in Game 1 to notch a road victory and seize early control of the seven-game series.
San Antonio battled to a seven-point halftime lead, but a fourth-quarter surge from the Thunder sent the contest to OT tied at 101. The Spurs finally pulled away in the second overtime to cap the instant classic.
The Last 15 Minutes of Game 1: Oklahoma City Thunder vs San Antonio Spurs 🍿🎬 PURE CINEMA pic.twitter.com/1XsgZkXswV
— Not Locked On Fantasy Basketball (@MaarkyBoy) May 19, 2026
Game 1 marked the first real adversity the Thunder have faced in this year’s playoffs. After winning the NBA Finals a season ago for the first time since the franchise has been in Oklahoma City, the Thunder cruised to two four-game sweeps in the first two rounds of these playoffs. OKC dispatched the Phoenix Suns in the first round and the Los Angeles Lakers in the second. Only two of those eight wins came by less than 10 points.
An unexpected star for the Thunder during the team’s dominant run has been 23-year-old second-year guard Ajay Mitchell. The 2024 second-round pick started the last two games of the series with the Suns and each of the four games against the Lakers, and the crafty lefty has performed admirably. He’s averaged 17.1 points, 4.9 assists and 4.0 rebounds so far in these playoffs while shooting 35.1% and providing stout defense in more than 30 minutes per game. Each of those totals is an improvement on his season averages.
After that Game 3, Gilgeous-Alexander was asked about what the former UC Santa Barbara standout brings to the team.
“He’s a gamer,” SGA said of Mitchell. “Works super hard, never shaken by the moment. He’s just ready for his opportunity and he takes full advantage of it. It might be a shock to the world, but it’s no shock to us. We knew who Ajay Mitchell was the day he stepped foot in the building, and he’s just showing it to the world.”
Mitchell was born and raised in Belgium until he moved to France at age 17 to advance his basketball career. In France, he played briefly with Wembanyama, who now provides the opposition on Mitchell’s path to a second straight title.
During his postgame press conference after Game 3 against the Lakers, Mitchell was asked to reflect on where basketball has taken him in life.
“It’s been more of just being grateful,” he said. “I think looking back to where I was, looking back to myself as a little kid in Belgium just dreaming of playing in the NBA, and then God putting me in those positions, I just truly feel grateful for those opportunities. I feel like I’ve always had a chip on my shoulder, and every time I step out on the court I just want to prove myself and be a winning player and help my team win.”
Mitchell writes “All glory to God” in his Instagram bio, and he’s been known to post about faith on the social media platform. In January, he opened up about his journey with His Huddle.
“Faith plays an important role in my basketball career,” he said. “There’s a lot of pressure and stress from basketball, and being able to pray and talk to God about it really helped me throughout the years. Praying and talking to God helps me remind myself of what I’m grateful for.”
Mitchell spent his youth attending church in Belgium, but it wasn’t until his time in college with the Gauchos that a true relationship with God blossomed. Now as a rising NBA star, he wants to use his platform to tell others about all that Christ has done.
“The impact I would like to have is just to be able to share God’s Word,” he told His Huddle. “Understanding that God sent Jesus to die on the cross for our sins really changed my perspective. It helped me to seek forgiveness from God, and also forgive others.”
Mitchell wasn’t in the starting lineup for Game 1 against the Spurs on Monday and registered a quiet four points on 2-of-5 shooting with five assists, four rebounds and two steals. He did lead the Thunder bench with 34 minutes played and was +7 on the night.
The Thunder hope he can return to the kind of production he exhibited in the first two rounds of the playoffs as they seek to bounce back in Game 2 in Oklahoma City on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. ET.
