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Quarterback Jaden Rashada has been the talk of the recruiting world because of the scenario that has played out between him and Florida.

Rashada, the No. 27 recruit in the 2023 class, signed with Florida in December but asked for a release from his national letter of intent Tuesday. Florida granted the request Friday. It has been a wild few weeks with reports of multimillion-dollar NIL deals and promises that have ultimately fallen through.

Rashada’s situation is a product of the new college football landscape with the transfer portal and name, image and likeness opportunities for players.

What’s next for Rashada and Florida? And even more importantly, what does this high-profile case say about the state of NIL and where it’s going? Our reporters break it down.


How did we get here?

​​Rashada started picking up bigger offers in 2020, when he was a sophomore at IMG Academy. He received offers from Cal, Penn State, Arizona State and Auburn, among a few others.

He started his high school career at Brentwood (California) Liberty High School for his freshman season, then transferred to IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, and finished his high school career at Pittsburg High School in California. He racked up more offers his junior season and became one of the more sought-after quarterbacks in the 2023 class.

He took visits to schools around the country but committed to Miami in June 2022, choosing the Hurricanes over Florida, LSU, Ole Miss and Texas A&M at the time.

Florida had finished a close second the first time around, and Gators coaches continued recruiting Rashada, eventually getting him to flip in November, only a few months after he chose Miami.

A person familiar with the situation told the Associated Press that Florida’s Gator Collective had offered Rashada a $13 million NIL deal to sign with the Gators. Rashada signed with Florida during the early signing period in December and looked as though he was set to enroll in Gainesville.

However, he requested a release from his national letter of intent Tuesday after it was reported the NIL deal had fallen through, and he was granted the release Friday. Rashada is prepared to sign with and play for another team in 2023 after signing with the Gators mere weeks ago. — Tom VanHaaren


What does this deal say about NIL, collectives, the NCAA and what comes next?

Collectives are officially unaffiliated with the schools they support. Florida, by rule, has no control over which athletes the Gator Collective signs to endorsement deals or how much money the group offers in those deals. In theory, collectives are booster groups that collect funds to pay athletes who are already attending the school they support. In practice, many of the more aggressive collectives have become outsourced payroll outfits that are used to unofficially entice players to attend their school.

Rashada’s situation at Florida is the first public, high-profile case of a collective reportedly failing to keep its promise to a player. It serves as an example of why the current business model for major college sports is less than ideal for all involved. If schools want to regain some control over the process, however, they either will need help from Congress or will need to get more directly involved in the now-established marketplace for acquiring the services of college athletes.

Schools have drawn a hard line in saying athletes will not be considered employees of their institutions. But several legal battles that could force the NCAA to change its rules have already begun. If any of the several attempts to shatter the NCAA’s current amateurism rules is successful — and the odds of that happening are steadily increasing — the top tier of college sports would be headed down a path where within the next few years the relationship between athletes and their schools will be more professional in nature. — Dan Murphy


How good is Rashada as a player?

From a skill set and measurables standpoint, Rashada is very similar to LSU’s Jayden Daniels when he first signed out of high school with Arizona State. Rashada has a high ceiling for physical development as he continues to grow and add strength, which will enhance his already impressive abilities as a passer. He can change arm angles, throw off platform and is very good on the move. However, he also has the ability to push the ball downfield from the pocket. Rashada is capable physically of contributing early, but that would depend on where he signs and the help and talent around him. Playing as a true freshman, particularly at quarterback, is a challenging learning curve. If it were easy, many more guys would be successful doing it. — Tom Luginbill


What’s next for Rashada?

This is an interesting situation now for Rashada, because the early signing period is over and the initial transfer portal window is closed. Most coaches have filled the majority of their roster spots.

The quarterback position is so unusual that coaches are essentially constructing a puzzle each season to try to keep depth at an optimal position. If they have already brought in quarterbacks this offseason, they could disrupt that quarterback room by bringing in another player so late.

The good thing for Rashada is that he is a top-50 prospect, and quarterbacks are difficult to come by, so there will be options.

If Rashada is looking for a large NIL deal, it could shrink the number of schools involved. But Arizona State would make sense. Rashada’s father, Harlen, played for the Sun Devils in the 1990s.

New coach Kenny Dillingham doesn’t have a quarterback signed in the 2023 class, and it would be close to home for Rashada. Washington is another West Coast school that could get involved, as could Cal, which offered him initially in his recruitment.

Now that he is released from his letter of intent, he will be free to enroll without penalty. — VanHaaren


What does this mean for Florida and Billy Napier?

Without question, this stings for both Florida and Napier — perhaps more so because he was hired, in part, for his recruiting prowess and absolutely had to have a quarterback in his first full class. When he got Rashada to flip from Miami in November, it was considered a huge win and helped ease some concerns about how well Napier and Florida were doing on the recruiting trail. But now, those concerns have returned. While it is true Napier is not involved with the Gator Collective, it is also true that both Napier and Florida have had to deal with the negative headlines and all the fallout. This will be easy fodder for any opposing coach to use against the Gators.

Given the broader context around Florida, this is especially problematic. With SEC rival Georgia winning a second consecutive national championship and continuing to recruit at a top-three level, the pressure is only mounting on Napier and the Florida program to show they are taking the necessary steps to be competitive with the Bulldogs again. Since Kirby Smart took over in 2016, Georgia has won five of their seven rivalry games. All but one was a double-digit victory.

Meanwhile, the questions at quarterback have grown. With Anthony Richardson gone to the NFL draft, the Gators are now left with Jack Miller — who did not play well in the 30-3 loss to Oregon State in the Las Vegas Bowl — Wisconsin transfer Graham Mertz and Max Brown, who just finished his freshman season. At this point, all the elite high school talent is spoken for, so perhaps Napier will have to dip again into the transfer portal to fill out the quarterback room. But no matter what he does, questions about what could have been with Rashada will continue to linger. — Andrea Adelson

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What are torpedo bats? Are they legal? What to know about MLB’s hottest trend

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What are torpedo bats? Are they legal? What to know about MLB's hottest trend

The opening weekend of the 2025 MLB season was taken over by a surprise star — torpedo bats.

The bowling pin-shaped bats became the talk of the sport after the Yankees’ home run onslaught on the first Saturday of the season put it in the spotlight and the buzz hasn’t slowed since.

What exactly is a torpedo bat? How does it help hitters? And how is it legal? Let’s dig in.

Read: An MIT-educated professor, the Yankees and the bat that could be changing baseball


What is a torpedo bat and why is it different from a traditional MLB bat?

The idea of the torpedo bat is to take a size format — say, 34 inches and 32 ounces — and distribute the wood in a different geometric shape than the traditional form to ensure the fattest part of the bat is located where the player makes the most contact. Standard bats taper toward an end cap that is as thick diametrically as the sweet spot of the barrel. The torpedo bat moves some of the mass on the end of the bat about 6 to 7 inches lower, giving it a bowling-pin shape, with a much thinner end.


How does it help hitters?

The benefits for those who like swinging with it — and not everyone who has swung it likes it — are two-fold. Both are rooted in logic and physics. The first is that distributing more mass to the area of most frequent contact aligns with players’ swing patterns and provides greater impact when bat strikes ball. Players are perpetually seeking ways to barrel more balls, and while swings that connect on the end of the bat and toward the handle probably will have worse performance than with a traditional bat, that’s a tradeoff they’re willing to make for the additional slug. And as hitters know, slug is what pays.

The second benefit, in theory, is increased bat speed. Imagine a sledgehammer and a broomstick that both weigh 32 ounces. The sledgehammer’s weight is almost all at the end, whereas the broomstick’s is distributed evenly. Which is easier to swing fast? The broomstick, of course, because shape of the sledgehammer takes more strength and effort to move. By shedding some of the weight off the end of the torpedo bat and moving it toward the middle, hitters have found it swings very similarly to a traditional model but with slightly faster bat velocity.


Why did it become such a big story so early in the 2025 MLB season?

Because the New York Yankees hit nine home runs in a game Saturday and Michael Kay, their play-by-play announcer, pointed out that some of them came from hitters using a new bat shape. The fascination was immediate. While baseball, as an industry, has implemented forward-thinking rules in recent seasons, the modification to something so fundamental and known as the shape of a bat registered as bizarre. The initial response from many who saw it: How is this legal?


OK. How is this legal?

Major League Baseball’s bat regulations are relatively permissive. Currently, the rules allow for a maximum barrel diameter of 2.61 inches, a maximum length of 42 inches and a smooth and round shape. The lack of restrictions allows MLB’s authorized bat manufacturers to toy with bat geometry and for the results to still fall within the regulations.


Who came up with the idea of using them?

The notion of a bowling-pin-style bat has kicked around baseball for years. Some bat manufacturers made smaller versions as training tools. But the version that’s now infiltrating baseball goes back two years when a then-Yankees coach named Aaron Leanhardt started asking hitters how they should counteract the giant leaps in recent years made by pitchers.

When Yankees players responded that bigger barrels would help, Leanhardt — an MIT-educated former Michigan physics professor who left academia to work in the sports industry — recognized that as long as bats stayed within MLB parameters, he could change their geometry to make them a reality. Leanhardt, who left the Yankees to serve as major league field coordinator for the Miami Marlins over the winter, worked with bat manufacturers throughout the 2023 and 2024 seasons to make that a reality.


When did it first appear in MLB games?

It’s unclear specifically when. But Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton used a torpedo bat last year and went on a home run-hitting rampage in October that helped send the Yankees to the World Series. New York Mets star Francisco Lindor also used a torpedo-style bat last year and went on to finish second in National League MVP voting.


Who are some of the other notable early users of torpedo bats?

In addition to Stanton and Lindor, Yankees hitters Anthony Volpe, Austin Wells, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt have used torpedoes to great success. Others who have used them in games include Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero, Minnesota’s Ryan Jeffers and Toronto’s Davis Schneider. And that’s just the beginning. Hundreds more players are expected to test out torpedoes — and perhaps use them in games — in the coming weeks.


How is this different from a corked bat?

Corking bats involves drilling a hole at the end of the bat, filling it in and capping it. The use of altered bats allows players to swing faster because the material with which they replace the wood — whether it’s cork, superballs or another material — is lighter. Any sort of bat adulteration is illegal and, if found, results in suspension.


Could a rule be changed to ban them?

Could it happen? Sure. Leagues and governing bodies have put restrictions on equipment they believe fundamentally altered fairness. Stick curvature is limited in hockey. Full-body swimsuits made of polyurethane and neoprene are banned by World Aquatics. But officials at MLB have acknowledged that the game’s pendulum has swung significantly toward pitching in recent years, and if an offensive revolution comes about because of torpedo bats — and that is far from a guarantee — it could bring about more balance to the game. If that pendulum swings too far, MLB could alter its bat regulations, something it has done multiple times already this century.


So the torpedo bat is here to stay?

Absolutely. Bat manufacturers are cranking them out and shipping them to interested players with great urgency. Just how widely the torpedo bat is adopted is the question that will play out over the rest of the season. But it has piqued the curiosity of nearly every hitter in the big leagues, and just as pitchers toy with new pitches to see if they can marginally improve themselves, hitters will do the same with bats.

Comfort is paramount with a bat, so hitters will test them during batting practice and in cage sessions before unleashing them during the game. As time goes on, players will find specific shapes that are most comfortable to them and best suit their swing during bat-fitting sessions — similar to how golfers seek custom clubs. But make no mistake: This is an almost-overnight alteration of the game, and “traditional or torpedo” is a question every big leaguer going forward will ask himself.

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St. Pete to spend $22.5M to fix Tropicana Field

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St. Pete to spend .5M to fix Tropicana Field

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The once and possibly future home of the Tampa Bay Rays will get a new roof to replace the one shredded by Hurricane Milton with the goal of having the ballpark ready for the 2026 season, city officials decided in a vote Thursday.

The St. Petersburg City Council voted 7-1 to approve $22.5 million to begin the repairs at Tropicana Field, which will start with a membrane roof that must be in place before other work can continue. Although the Rays pulled out of a planned $1.3 billion new stadium deal, the city is still contractually obligated to fix the Trop.

“We are legally bound by an agreement. The agreement requires us to fix the stadium,” said council member Lissett Hanewicz, who is an attorney. “We need to go forward with the roof repair so we can do the other repairs.”

The hurricane damage forced the Rays to play home games this season at Steinbrenner Field across the bay in Tampa, the spring training home of the New York Yankees. The Rays went 4-2 on their first homestand ever at an open-air ballpark, which seats around 11,000 fans.

Under the current agreement with the city, the Rays owe three more seasons at the Trop once it’s ready again for baseball, through 2028. It’s unclear if the Rays will maintain a long-term commitment to the city or look to Tampa or someplace else for a new stadium. Major League Baseball has said keeping the team in the Tampa Bay region is a priority. The Rays have played at the Trop since their inception in 1998.

The team said it would have a statement on the vote later Thursday.

The overall cost of Tropicana Field repairs is estimated at $56 million, said city architect Raul Quintana. After the roof, the work includes fixing the playing surface, ensuring audio and visual electronics are working, installing flooring and drywall, getting concession stands running and other issues.

“This is a very complex project. We feel like we’re in a good place,” Quintana said at the council meeting Thursday.

Under the proposed timeline, the roof installation will take about 10 months. The unique membrane system is fabricated in Germany and assembled in China, Quintana said, adding that officials are examining how President Donald Trump’s new tariffs might affect the cost.

The new roof, he added, will be able to withstand hurricane winds as high as 165 mph. Hurricane Milton, one of the strongest hurricanes ever in the Atlantic basin at one point, blasted ashore Oct. 9 south of Tampa Bay with Category 3 winds of about 125 mph.

Citing mounting costs, the Rays last month pulled out of a deal with the city and Pinellas County for a new $1.3 billion ballpark to be built near the Trop site. That was part of a broader $6.5 billion project known as the Historic Gas Plant district to bring housing, retail and restaurants, arts and a Black history museum to a once-thriving Black neighborhood razed for the original stadium.

The city council plans to vote on additional Trop repair costs over the next few months.

“This is our contractual obligation. I don’t like it more than anybody else. I’d much rather be spending that money on hurricane recovery and helping residents in the most affected neighborhoods,” council member Brandi Gabbard said. “These are the cards that we’re dealt.”

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Tulane suspends Finley after transfer QB’s arrest

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Tulane suspends Finley after transfer QB's arrest

Tulane quarterback TJ Finley has been suspended following his arrest Wednesday in New Orleans on a charge of illegal possession of stolen things worth more than $25,000.

Finley, 23, whose name is Tyler Jamal, was booked and released. Tulane said in a statement that the length of the suspension will depend on the outcome of his case. The school cited privacy laws in declining to comment further.

University police responded Wednesday to an address where a truck was blocking a driveway. After looking up the license plate, police saw it registered to a vehicle stolen in Atlanta. Finley arrived to move the car and informed the officer that he had bought the truck recently. He’s scheduled to appear in court June 1.

Finley transferred to Tulane in December after spending the 2024 season with Western Kentucky. He had been competing for the team’s starting quarterback job in spring practice alongside fellow transfers Kadin Semonza and Donovan Leary.

Finley, a native of Ponchatoula, Louisiana, started his college career at LSU before transferring to Auburn for two seasons and then Texas State in 2023. He started five games for both LSU and Auburn but had his most success with Texas State, passing for 3,439 yards and 24 touchdowns.

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