Notre Dame's Arike Ogunbowale (AP Photo/Heather Ainsworth)
Last season, Notre Dame junior Arike Ogunbowale hit the game-winning shot that won the 2018 NCAA Women’s National Championship over Mississippi State. Now a senior and the school’s all-time leading scorer, Ogunbowale enters the 2019 ACC Tournament this week with sights set on getting Notre Dame to its seventh Final Four in the past nine years.
Ogunbowale has led the Fighting Irish to 21-3 record this season, averaging 21.4 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.0 assists a game, and the team currently sits fourth in both the AP and Coaches Polls, putting it on pace to secure a No. 1 seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament. It was during the tournament last year that Ogunbowale entered tournament history by drilling the championship winner, as well as the overtime shot that finished off perennial powerhouse UConn in the semifinals.
While it’s easy to remember her last-second tournament heroics, Ogunbowale actually struggled in Notre Dame’s final two games, missing two free throws that could have closed out the win over UConn, and shooting 5-for-20 in the championship. Ogunbowale credited her teammates, and God, for never giving up on her.
“If I got an open look, my teammates wanted me to shoot it,” Ogunbowale wrote for AthletesForGod.com. “No matter how poorly I had played, no matter how out of rhythm I was, my teammates had the confidence in me to shoot the ball. I think it’s similar to the approach God has … no matter what happened before, it’s never too late to turn things around.”
Ogunbowale’s Christian faith has been central to her life for years. Both Ogunbowale’s mother and father encouraged her faith from an early age, and she credits them and her brother for being examples of what a committed Christian life looks like.
Idk what I did to deserve the blessings God gave me in 2018 but I’m forever thankful. All gas no brakes all 2019! 🎉🙏🏾
“Even at that age,” Ogunbowale wrote, “I loved the verse Jeremiah 29:11, which says, ‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘Plans for you to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”
This belief in God’s plan for her life keeps Ogunbowale grounded during the inevitable ebbs and flows of success that come with being an athlete.
“I think it would be easy to get down [when things aren’t going well], but being a Christian helps keep your life in perspective. I try not to get too high or too low, because I know that one game or one shot wasn’t going to define me as a person,” she wrote.
Ogunbowale and Notre Dame tip off in the ACC Tournament on Friday as the league’s top seed.
Arizona forward Tobe Awaka, March 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
Every morning before sunrise, Tobe Awaka’s day began long before most high school students were awake. Growing up in Hyde Park, New York, Awaka chose a high school nearly two-and-a-half hours away by train — Cardinal Hayes in the Bronx — because he knew it would best prepare him for his future plans.
That meant waking up at 3:30 or 4 a.m. to catch the train, go to class, attend basketball practice, then make the long trip home — only to do it all again the next day.
“It was tough. It definitely had its ups and downs, but it helped mold [me] into the person and player I am today,” he said recently on Sports Spectrum’s “What’s Up?” podcast.
That early discipline, both in academics and athletics, set the tone for his future basketball journey. He didn’t start playing “high-level” basketball until ninth grade, and even then, his approach looked different from many future stars. Instead of structured drills in a gym, he was in his driveway, pretending an invisible defender was in front of him.
“I’d just do a bunch of different combo moves… kind of imagine myself going past them,” he said on the podcast. “I think that kind of helped build my creativity and my love for the game.”
Fast forward to the 2025-26 college basketball season, and that inner creativity and work ethic has helped Awaka become one of the most impactful pieces on the No. 1-ranked and 14-0 Arizona Wildcats. The senior forward is posting a double-double season, averaging 10.1 points and 10.3 rebounds per game, and shooting 59.8% from the floor — numbers that place him among the team’s and Big 12’s most consistent performers this year. And it’s all coming from a reserve role; despite starting 36 of 37 games last season, Awaka has come off the bench for every game this season.
His 18 points against Utah on Jan. 3 matched a career high, and he chipped in 12 rebounds to go with it. But his growth hasn’t only come through box scores.
After transferring from Tennessee following the 2023-24 season — a choice he described as one of the toughest decisions of his life — Awaka leaned deeply on his faith to find clarity. What began as prayer and thoughtful reflection turned into a sense of spiritual peace that guided his decision.
“Honestly, once I got the green light spiritually from God that I was making the right choice and moving in the right direction, it was tough going through on that but I think ultimately it’s been to my benefit and for my good,” he said on the podcast. “Sometimes, as a believer, the unknown can be a little scary. The whole fact of having faith becomes real and true and something you have to put into practice, and that was definitely a moment where I had to.”
Now at Arizona, faith has become something Awaka lives out in community. What started as a personal pursuit of spiritual growth has grown into a space for teammates — and others across campus — to do the same. In one of his early days in Tucson, he visited a local barbershop for a haircut. He noticed his barber had a sermon from pastor Philip Anthony Mitchell playing on a nearby TV, which sparked an organic conversation about faith.
Their friendship grew from there, and the two decided to meet regularly for a Bible study. Other players soon caught wind of what they were doing and asked if they could join. The group quickly grew to six members and has continued expanding as others from across campus have been invited. Some meetings now include 15 to 20 people, Awaka said.
“It’s been really cool just to see how God has moved,” he said on the podcast. “Honestly, it just kind of started with two guys trying to dive deeper into their faith and learn more about it. It’s kind of grown into something cool and special. We’re still trying to grow it, still trying to get more guys on the team interested and bring them along, but it’s been a great experience.”
That boldness in faith wasn’t always instinctive for Awaka. It came through searching, wrestling and earnest exploration of truth. Around his freshman year of college, he found himself digging into every major religion — Christianity, Buddhism, Confucianism, Hinduism and more — before landing where he felt alive with conviction.
“I went pretty deep and I landed on Christianity,” he said on the podcast. “I kind of read the Bible like a mad man. I read it front to back, then read through the New Testament again. I felt it deep in my soul that that was the truth and that’s where God wanted me to move. Even before that, it was just a lot of research, a lot of looking things up.”
Away from the court and classroom, Awaka is a big reader, using books to quiet his mind amidst the chaos of basketball and business school coursework. One book that left an impression was “Inner Excellence” by Jim Murphy, which he said reshaped his mental approach as an athlete. Ecclesiastes is also one of his favorite books in the Bible.
His faith went from something he followed because his parents did it to something he now claims as his. So when the decision to transfer schools came, he said it felt like “peace amongst chaos” when he got that “green light” from the Lord.
“There’s a lot of things swirling, a lot of people in your ear, but internally you have this gravity telling you that it’s going to be OK,” he said. He heard the Lord telling him to follow in His steps and He would lead him in the right direction.
“Adversity is inevitable. We see that all throughout the Scriptures,” he said on the podcast. “But at the same time, Christ isn’t going to take that away, necessarily, but He’s going to help us walk through that. I definitely believe and feel that’s what He was doing with me through that time.”
Awaka and Arizona next face Big 12-foe Kansas State at 9 p.m. ET Wednesday.
Auburn's Johni Broome (4), Ja'Heim Hudson (8) and other team personnel celebrate with a prayer after a win, Feb. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)
With 2025 coming to a close, Sports Spectrum is highlighting our most-viewed stories of the year.
The Auburn Tigers were riding high as the nation’s No. 1 team in February, and had just beaten arch-rival Alabama — No. 2 in the nation — on the road, moving Auburn to 23-2 on the season. They had a national player of the year candidate in Johni Broome and a fiery, charismatic head coach in Bruce Pearl.
But the Tigers also exhibited a culture of faith that intrigued many.
“Everybody on this team is revolved around God and having a relationship with God,” guard Miles Kelly told 247 Sports at the time. “So that’s a big part of why everybody is doing [Auburn’s signature ‘Call God’ celebration].”
Center Dylan Cardwell expanded on Kelly’s sentiment: “It’s unique to see guys use their platform to glorify God, especially just a small gesture like that,” he said. “… I’m just grateful for the opportunity to put that message forward rather than harp on our own successes.”
Sports Spectrum wrote about this team culture on Feb. 18 and the story received heavy web traffic right away. Readers were eager to learn about the No. 1 team in the country and its many players, coaches and others who publicly professed their faith in Christ.
Bonded by a shared devotion to God, Auburn earned a No. 1 seed for the NCAA Tournment and advanced all the way to the Final Four, joining the three other No. 1 seeds in San Antonio. The Tigers fell just short, however, as they lost to the eventual national champions, the Florida Gators, in the semifinals.
Still, Auburn’s run to the biggest stage in college basketball — as the players continued to praise God publicly — generated steady attention throughout March Madness and into the first weekend of April. Readers steadily found our story on the team, helping it to become our No. 3 most-viewed story in 2025:
Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
With 2025 coming to a close, Sports Spectrum is highlighting our most-viewed stories of the year.
In just his second year in charge at Texas Tech, head coach Grant McCasland took his No. 3-seeded Red Raiders to the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight before suffering a five-point loss to top-seeded and eventual-champion Florida. It was his second straight tournament berth and third overall as a head coach, including one appearance with North Texas.
As he’s ascended the college basketball coaching ranks, McCasland has also been unashamed to speak boldly about his faith in Jesus.
“God’s called us all to something,” he said during his introductory press conference at Texas Tech. “I know that our purpose is to pour our hearts into you guys every single day. We love winning, but the only way you can truly win is if you love people with all your heart, and I believe that.”
While he was leading North Texas, where he was named the 2019-20 Conference USA Coach of the Year, McCasland joined the Sports Spectrum Podcast in 2020 to share about his faith. He said his life revolved around church and sports growing up, but in seventh grade God started to break down the idol that sports had become to him.
“I think that was the turning point where I decided that, ‘OK, I get it now. Jesus can’t be a part of what I am, He has to be who I live my life for and give my heart to completely,’” McCasland recalled on the podcast.
Our story was published March 27, the day of Texas Tech’s Sweet 16 matchup against Arkansas, in which the Red Raiders rallied late and won in overtime. Texas Tech played again two days later and nearly knocked off Florida, but couldn’t hold onto a late lead.
Largely due to the exciting March Madness games McCasland’s team was involved in, lots of readers came across our story over the course of that week. It’s our No. 4 most-viewed story of 2025:
