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Stanford’s Haley Jones on Adjusting to College, Coming Back From Injury

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The first No. 1 recruit to join Stanford women’s basketball since 2010, Haley Jones is a rising sophomore originally from Santa Cruz, California. This year, the 6’ 1 guard became the first Stanford freshman since 2001 to score in double figures in the first four conference games, before being sidelined with an injury after the season’s first 18 games. Prior to her injury in January’s game against Oregon State, Jones was named a Pac-12 Freshman of the Week three times. 

[Editor’s note: this interview took place before the Pac-12 announced it was postponing all sports, including basketball, to 2021]

What has your day-to-day looked like during the pandemic?

I ended my first season at Stanford with a knee injury, so I’ve been spending a lot of quarantine doing physical therapy and recovering from home. Basketball-wise, I’ve been able to do a little bit of on-court stuff, and I was busy with schoolwork, because I took on more units now that classes are online.

Any recommendations for good Netflix shows or fun hobbies?

Some other freshman teammates and I just discovered Netflix party. We watched season two of Dead to Me and we’ll be watching Dynasty now that it’s out. I’m trying to force my brother to watch Game of Thrones with me because that’s my favorite show ever.

As for hobbies, my mom is the greatest chef ever, so we’ve been putting all of her recipes ever into Evernote. Now I’m going to have all her recipes – I’ve been baking up a storm.

Going back a bit, how did you start playing basketball? 

My parents were varsity coaches at the local high school. I grew up being at practices, games, in the gym. Girls on the teams they coached were my role models. They would always want to babysit me, and I’d run around with them at the gym.

I played a bunch of different sports when I was younger. I did water polo, volleyball, soccer – I did everything. I started playing “real” basketball around third grade when I first played on a travel team. Most of my teammates were mostly in the fifth grade. People always ask me how I play guard when I’m so big –  it’s because I played above my age group when I first started playing basketball. Naturally, I was always the smallest on my team and had to play guard. Once I started playing for my actual age group, I became the biggest one but still had guard skills.

How else did playing above your age group impact the way you play?

Playing up always forced me to push myself. None of the girls that I ever played with ever took it easy on me just because I was younger, and that really helped build my competitive spirit. I’ve always wanted to be the type of kid that wanted to play against the best player, and playing up gave plenty of learning opportunities.

In high school you were rated as the No.1 player in the country – you’re the first No.1 prospect to sign with Stanford since Chiney Ogwumike. How did you decide to attend Stanford?

I first started getting recruited around the spring of seventh grade. By junior spring, I narrowed it down to around eleven schools. The summer between my junior and senior year, I narrowed my choices down to five schools: Notre Dame, Oregon, South Carolina, Stanford and UConn. I made five official visits and waited until the last possible day to decide to sign with Stanford.

I was the first female recruit to sign live on ESPN, which was so cool. They came  to my school with donuts with my face on it. I was like, “Oh, this is the real deal – this is my peak.”

My non-negotiable criteria when choosing a school included academics, future teammates and classmates. Everything from the coaches, to the opportunities I’d get at Stanford to the people I’d interact with on a day to day basis – it’s an experience I wouldn’t have gotten anywhere else.

And my expectations were true for the most part. For example, my freshman roommate who I was randomly assigned to – she’s the GOAT. She has her own nonprofit organization. It’s so cool getting immersed into these different communities; At Stanford, the athletes don’t feel separated from the rest of the community. And my team is amazing. They are some of my best friends now – they’re basically family.

At Stanford, you started off with an incredibly strong first season. You were the first freshman to score in double figures in the first four conference games since 2001. What was it like to transition to college basketball?

Coming to college, everyone on your team was that player on their high school team. They were that player on the AAU team. Everyone on our team was recruited because they played at the same level as me. I was so excited to get to play with everyone, because I saw it as an opportunity to make me better. No matter who you’re guarding, it’s a challenge. You can take them – and they can take you – on every given play. I had to understand that I was going to have to be competitive to get play time. But this competition came from a place of wanting to lift each other up.

Another thing about playing at the collegiate level that was so different was the pace. Pace is a mental challenge that you have to keep at the front of your mind at all times.

You had to stop playing after the first 18 games due to a knee injury. How are you overcoming this setback?

That game against Oregon State feels just like yesterday. I went down, twisted my leg – I just remember I was trying to stand up and couldn’t put any weight on it.

I’ve never had an injury before where I had to sit out of the season for so long. At first, it just took me a bit to come to terms with why this happened. You know, why me? Why now? My teammates were there for me every step of the way. Even so, it was really hard not getting to travel with them. It was weird not being at practice all the time, because I’d be at doctor’s appointments and physical therapy.

Additionally, it was really hard changing physical therapists from Stanford to ones local to home because of the pandemic.

I don’t want to say getting injured was a good thing, because it’s not. But, I think that my injury opened up new experiences. I’ve never really been on the sidelines. I really got to understand our system from a different point of view by watching our team and our games. I really got to understand all my different teammates’ tendencies. Usually during drills, I’m just focused on myself. But now I know where my teammates like to be on the floor – I got to talk to Kiana and Lexie a lot just about different things that they’re seeing on the floor so that when I’m able to come back, I can help them carry those ideas out. I’m able to hit them at the places they want to be hit. I think when I come back, I’ll really be able to understand everyone better.

Have you been keeping in touch with your teammates since your season was cut short?

One afternoon, Coach Tara VanDerveer called us. All of us on the team got in our circle in our locker room with all our staff, and she told us it was the end for this season. Just understanding that was the last time that this special group of people were all going to be together was really hard to grasp. The moment we got out of that meeting we were all looking for flights back home. It was a really abrupt ending to the season and that special team we had.

But since returning home, we’ve had a lot of Zoom calls with the coaches, which are fun. As a team, we text and Snapchat all the time. We get on team Zoom calls without coaches just to hang out and chat. I’m FaceTiming with the freshmen every day. We send each other memes. We’re trying to start Netflix partying shows together.

Certainly there’s a lot of uncertainty today and it’s hard to make plans for the future. With this in mind, do you have goals for your collegiate career? Are any post-college plans on your radar yet?

For my collegiate career, I’m not really thinking long-term right now. I’m really just thinking about how I want to come back this year. I’m not trying to come back as the same player I was before my injury – I’m trying to be better than I was. Post-college, professional basketball has always been a dream, but you never know what’s going to happen.

2025 NCAA Softball Kicks Off as Oklahoma Hunts 5th-Straight World Series Win

Oklahoma and Texas line up on the softball field before the second game of the 2024 Women's College World Series.
Oklahoma will pursue their fifth-straight NCAA softball title this season. (Brian Bahr/Getty Images)

College softball is back, with a new-look Oklahoma team kicking off the 2025 NCAA season in pursuit of a fifth-straight Women's College World Series win.

Despite Oklahoma's ongoing dominance, 2025's lineup does promise significantly higher parity than seasons past.

Having graduated a number of last year's stars — including a senior class that snagged four straight national titles — the Sooners enter the season ranked third.

Instead, 2024 runner-up Texas takes the top spot, followed by perennial contenders Florida at No. 2. Both teams enter 2025 with the majority of their rosters from last season intact, earning them an edge over the revamped Sooners.

Texas star catcher Reese Atwood blasts a double during a 2024 NCAA Softball Regional game against Northwestern.
Star slugger Reese Atwood is back to lead the Texas softball offense. (David Buono/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Texas on top as SEC looms

Still hunting a first national championship, Texas returns with six starters and four of their five 2024 pitchers — including then-freshman phenom Teagan Kavan, who led the team with 20 wins last year.

Meanwhile, last season's Big 12 Player of the Year, junior catcher Reese Atwood, is back to lead the Longhorn offense.

After joining rival Oklahoma in flipping to the SEC this year, Texas is gearing up to meet their new conference foes with the No. 1 target on their backs.

"It's a great honor, to tell you the truth," Texas head coach Mike White said about the preseason ranking. "And now we got to back it up. We’ve had a team that's been called young in the years past, and now we're a little more mature."

"We have a tough slate of games ahead of us, and then, of course, the gauntlet of the SEC is ahead of us," White noted. "We’ve really just got to go play good softball now."

The impact of conference realignment will extend beyond the SEC this season. The sport's historic dynasty No. 6 UCLA is now competing in the Big Ten while No. 4 Oklahoma State is taking over the top spot in the Big 12 rankings.

Stanford pitcher NiJaree Canady winds up from the circle during a 2024 NCAA Softball Super Regionals game against LSU.
A $1 million NIL deal convinced 2024 National Player of the Year NiJaree Canady to transfer to Texas Tech. (Eakin Howard/Getty Images)

2025 NCAA softball season takes the field

As multiple teams travel to warm-weather destinations to start the season, the first week of competition showcases a slate of top-ranked matchups.

With a top-tier win already in the books, No. 4 Oklahoma State opened their 2025 campaign with a bang at the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge on Thursday. Buoyed by a trio of home runs, the Cowgirls handed No. 12 Florida State a 9-6 loss.

Waiting on deck at this week's NFCA Leadoff Classic in Clearwater, Florida, are two ranked games featuring superstar pitchers.

First, No. 16 Nebraska ace Jordy Bahl — a two-time NCAA champion with Oklahoma — will likely take the circle against No. 5 Tennessee on Thursday. If she gets the start, it will mark her first game in nearly a year, as the Cornhusker transfer suffered a season-ending ACL injury in last year's opener.

Then on Friday, a revamped No. 10 Texas Tech side will face No. 25 Mississippi State, with former Stanford pitcher NiJaree Canady likely leading the charge.

The 2024 National Player of the Year transferred after her sophomore season with the Cardinal, as Texas Tech sealed the deal via a record-shattering $1 million NIL contract.

Oklahoma softball pitcher Jordy Bahl winds up during the 2023 Women's College World Series against Florida State.
Star transfer Jordy Bahl is back with Nebraska softball after missing 2024 play with an ACL tear. (Grace Bradley/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

How to watch this week's Top 25 NCAA softball games

Look for Bahl to lead No. 16 Nebraska against No. 5 Tennessee at 7 PM ET on Thursday, before No. 25 Mississippi State will contend with Canady and No. 10 Texas Tech at 5 PM ET on Friday.

Both games will stream live on the GameChanger app.

Unrivaled Basketball Drops 1v1 Tournament Bracket

Napheesa Collier and Stefanie Dolson tip off an Unrivaled basketball game.
The winner of the Unrivaled 1v1 tournament will earn $200,000 in prize money. (Megan Briggs/Getty Images)

Unrivaled 3×3 Basketball's 1v1 tournament is fast approaching,​ with the offseason league dropping the competition's official bracket on Wednesday.

The head-to-head showdown tips off on Monday, February 10th, with the semifinals and three-game final series all tipping off on Friday, February 14th. 

Fan votes determined the seeding for the debut league's first-ever in-season tournament. Those ballots gave the Mist's Jewell Loyd and Vinyl's Arike Ogunbowale first-round byes, moving them straight into Tuesday's quarterfinal round.

Meanwhile, the other 28 competitors have four rounds to overcome to claim the trophy — not to mention $200,000 in prize money.

Breaking down the Unrivaled 1v1 bracket

Some early battles will be tougher than others, as Unrivaled co-founder and current scoring leader Napheesa Collier takes on fellow UConn alum Katie Lou Samuelson. The winner of that matchup then faces either Jackie Young or Rickea Jackson.

Collier's fellow co-founder Breanna Stewart — also a UConn product — drew 2024 UConn standout Aaliyah Edwards in Monday's first round. The winner subsequently earns a second-round date against either Marina Mabrey or Kate Martin.

Despite her first-round bye, Ogunbowale's bracket quadrant appears to be a gauntlet.

The guard will first battle either fellow Notre Dame alum Skylar Diggins-Smith, who has four game-winners under her belt so far this season, or Vinyl teammate Dearica Hamby.

The Olympic 3×3 bronze medalist trails only Collier and Laces star Kayla McBride on Unrivaled's score sheet, averaging 21.2 points per game. Additionally, Hamby's 10.4 rebounding average has her sitting fourth in the league.

Should they advance, either McBride or Satou Sabally will await Ogunbowale in the quarterfinals.

Ultimately, every matchup is stacked considering the star-studded league's depth.

"I just want the top dawgs to knock each other out," joked Courtney Williams ahead of her own first-round clash with Tiffany Hayes, with the winner set to square off against either Rhyne Howard or Lexie Hull.

"[If] your shot's falling, really anyone can win 1v1," she continued. "It's all about who figured it out in that moment."

An official game ball rests on the Unrivaled basketball court in Miami, Florida.
The three-day 1v1 tournament will tip off on Monday. (Megan Briggs/Getty Images)

How to watch next week's Unrivaled 1v1 tournament

The inaugural contest's first round tips off at 2 PM ET on Monday, with live coverage on truTV. The evening session begins at 7 PM ET on TNT.

Both the second round and quarterfinals will air on truTV starting at 7 PM ET on Tuesday, with the semifinals and finals taking over both truTV and TNT on Friday beginning at 7:30 PM ET.

No. 1 UCLA Downs No. 8 OSU in Top 10 NCAA Basketball Action

UCLA center Lauren Betts lifts a shot over Ohio State during Wednesday's Big Ten basketball game.
UCLA center Lauren Betts registered 19 points and 14 rebounds in Wednesday's win. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

No. 1 UCLA added another Top 10 NCAA basketball win to their 2024/25 resume on Wednesday, tallying their second of the season after holding off Big Ten foe No. 8 Ohio State 65-52.

Despite Buckeye freshman Jaloni Cambridge's game-leading 21 points, Ohio State fell to a tough UCLA defense. The Bruins clamped down in the second and fourth quarters, relinquishing just 18 points to the Buckeyes across those two periods.

Meanwhile, UCLA junior Lauren Betts continued her National Player of the Year campaign, scoring a team-high 19 points plus 14 rebounds after clinching the double-double before the first-half buzzer.

Star junior guard Gabriela Jaquez narrowly trailed Betts, posting 17 points to help push UCLA over the line.

The victory marks a program-record 22nd consecutive win for the still-undefeated Bruins — their longest winning streak since 1978.

"I told the team after the game that these games are fun when they're close," Jaquez said afterwards. "This might have been one of the first games where it got close."

Top 10 NCAA upset rattles the Big 12

Wednesday didn't pan out as smoothly in the Big 12, where No. 12 Kansas State upset No. 9 TCU 59-50 in the Wildcats' first Top 10 win of the season. The victory broke the pair's tie atop the conference standings, putting Kansas State firmly in control of the Big 12.

While the Wildcat defense stifled TCU top scorers Sedona Prince and Hailey Van Lith, holding them to a respective 14 and 10 points, Kansas State senior Serena Sundell showed out on offense. The guard scored a season-high 27 points — 15 of which came during the Wildcats' third-quarter surge.

"[Sundell] lived at the rim," TCU head coach Mark Campbell told reporters after the game. "She absolutely destroyed us in the post. She just shot layups and layups and layups. That's what makes her unique is she's a 6-foot-2 versatile playmaker.... We didn't have an answer for that one."

UConn guard Azzi Fudd controls the ball against Tennessee during the rivals' 2022 basketball game.
Tennessee hosts historic rival UConn in a Top 20 matchup tonight. (M. Anthony Nesmith/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

How to watch Top 20 NCAA basketball on Thursday

The NCAA action continues with historic rivals No. 5 UConn taking on No. 19 Tennessee at 6:30 PM ET tonight. That's when Paige Bueckers and the Huskies will take aim at Jewel Spear and the Vols, with live coverage on ESPN.

USWNT Star Midge Purce Signs One-Year NWSL Contract Extension with Gotham

Gotham winger Midge Purce holds the ball before a set piece during a March 2024 NWSL match.
Purce earned NWSL Championship MVP with Gotham in 2023. (Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)

USWNT attacker Midge Purce re-signed with Gotham FC on a one-year deal Wednesday. The move quieted speculation about the star's future with the club.

The 29-year-old announced her return in classic fashion. She simply adding a two-word quote to Gotham's press release on Wednesday: "I'm back."

Purce played a major role in Gotham's 2023 title-winning run. She earned NWSL Championship MVP honors after assisting on both goals in NJ/NY's trophy-clinching match. However, she was sidelined for much of the subsequent season — her fifth at Gotham — after a late March 2024 ACL tear.

"Midge brings a number of great qualities to our team, and her dynamism and experience are great additions to our talented attacking group," Gotham GM Yael Averbuch West said in a statement. "We are very excited to welcome her back into the mix."

Purce signing helps ease Gotham's 2025 concerns

Securing the striker eases some fears about Gotham's plans for 2025. This offseason saw a number of high-profile exits including USWNT stars Lynn Biyendolo (née Williams), Crystal Dunn, Jenna Nighswonger, among others.

"We fully understand our journey won't always follow a straight path, and we are realistic about the time, fortitude, and effort required to achieve our goals," Averbuch West recently told fans in an open letter.

"I know this offseason has been a time of uncertainty for our fans, and I want you to know we've worked tirelessly to build a team you’ll be excited to stand behind in 2025 and every season after."

Ultimately, Purce's return rounds out a still-solid Gotham squad. Of course, the roster remains punctuated by USWNT mainstays Rose Lavelle, Emily Sonnett, and Tierna Davidson.

The team is currently in Spain for preseason training. They'll play a pair of closed-door scrimmages before returning to New Jersey to kick off the 2025 NWSL season.

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