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CHICAGO — White Sox general manager Rick Hahn wore the blame for his team’s 7-18 start to the season as it returned home from a 0-6 road trip to begin a four-game series against the first-place Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday.

Chicago has lost seven in a row overall.

“Put it on me,” Hahn said. “It’s the job. It’s the absolute gig. … It sure as heck isn’t on Pedro [Grifol] and this coaching staff.”

Grifol is in his first year as White Sox manager after replacing Tony La Russa, who left the team due to health reasons at the end of last year. The team had renewed hope for 2023 after underachieving last season, finishing 81-81.

Hahn was asked what his message is to upset fans after such a terrible start to the season. The team ranks 25th in scoring and 29th in ERA.

“They’re not alone,” Hahn answered. “We’re upset. We’re feeling every emotion in the book from rage to disappointment. We’ve done the exact opposite of what we set out to do, in terms of regaining our fans’ confidence and trust.”

Nothing has gone right for the 2021 American League Central winner. Most disappointing might be the White Sox’s offense, which continues to struggle without Tim Anderson (knee) in the lineup. He’ll begin a rehab stint with Triple-A Charlotte on Friday, but his return won’t fix everything. The White Sox are perennially a team that chases outside the strike zone as much as anyone in baseball. This year is no different.

“It’s a label that has stuck,” Grifol said. “The only way to improve on it is to do the work and go out there and execute.”

As the losses mount, attention will continue to focus on the front office. Unlike Grifol, Hahn and executive vice president Kenny Williams have been with the organization for two decades. Their stated rebuild toward the end of last decade has stalled with just two playoff wins to show for it since 2020; neither came after last season.

“I’m not a king,” Hahn said. “I don’t sit in this chair by divine birthright. It’s an absolute privilege to be the GM of the White Sox, one I need to continue to earn.

“At the end of the day, the people who put the players on the roster, put them on the field, bear the responsibility if that group doesn’t achieve. That’s me.”

Besides the return of Anderson, the team is hopeful that oft-injured third baseman Yoan Moncada is on the mend from a back ailment while closer Liam Hendriks is also on his way back after being declared cancer-free recently. He’ll be in Chicago next week for a checkup before heading out on his own rehab assignment. Same goes for lefty reliever Garrett Crochet (Tommy John surgery). The White Sox will have reinforcements soon, but the question is whether it will be enough to turn around their season.

“Despite the start, there is a strong focus on getting this thing right,” Hahn said. “And a belief in this group that they can get this thing right. … We have to start digging out of this hole we’ve created for ourselves as soon as possible.”

The hole might be deeper than just one month. The team hasn’t been very good since the second half of 2021 — despite winning the division that year.

“We’re [the front office] probably not quite as smart as we were viewed then and not quite as stupid as we’re viewed now,” Hahn said. “It doesn’t do us any good as a club [right now] … to try and dig back to when this did start.”

Players are trying to stay focused on the here and now as well, but maintaining confidence and positivity isn’t easy after they’ve fallen to the bottom of the standings as the end of the first month approaches. The White Sox have the third-worst record in the AL.

“I would never think this early about having a losing season,” infielder Elvis Andrus said. “It’s just about trying to fix yourself first and helping the rest to get back on track. … Stay focused. One of the hardest things is to be positive especially when you go through the negative side of the game. You have to dig deep to stay positive.”

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Sources: Sooners DT Stone hits transfer portal

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Sources: Sooners DT Stone hits transfer portal

Oklahoma defensive tackle David Stone entered the NCAA transfer portal Friday, sources told ESPN.

Stone, a former five-star recruit and the No. 6 overall player in the ESPN 300 for the 2024 class, made the surprising decision to enter the portal after playing in all 13 games as a true freshman with the Sooners. The 6-foot-3 313-pounder saw limited playing time, playing 88 snaps and recording 6 tackles, 2 tackles for loss and 1 sack.

Stone was expected to compete for a more significant role as a sophomore, and Oklahoma coach Brent Venables recently praised him as the Sooners’ most improved defensive tackle this offseason.

The Oklahoma native finished his high school career at IMG Academy in Florida and was a significant recruiting victory for Venables and his coaching staff in August 2023. Stone chose the Sooners over Texas A&M, Oregon, Florida, Miami and Michigan State.

The SEC does not grant immediate eligibility to players who transfer within the conference during the spring transfer window, so Stone would need to sit out the 2025 season if he moves on to another SEC program.

Oklahoma returns its top three defensive tackles from 2024 in Damonic Williams, Gracen Halton and Jayden Jackson. It also added Trent Wilson, the No. 164 recruit in the ESPN 300 for 2025, as an early enrollee this spring.

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QB Browne returns to Purdue after brief UNC stint

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QB Browne returns to Purdue after brief UNC stint

Quarterback Ryan Browne has decided to transfer back to Purdue after joining North Carolina earlier this offseason.

Browne committed to rejoining the Boilermakers on Friday after entering his name in the NCAA transfer portal Wednesday.

The 6-foot-4, 210-pound redshirt sophomore started two games for Purdue in 2024 but moved on amid the program’s head coaching change and went through spring practice under new Tar Heels coach Bill Belichick.

North Carolina landed a commitment from South Alabama transfer quarterback Gio Lopez on Thursday.

Browne and freshman Bryce Baker were North Carolina’s lone scholarship quarterbacks available for spring practice and were competing with three walk-ons while sixth-year senior Max Johnson recovers from a broken leg.

Browne threw for 636 yards, rushed for 240 yards and scored four touchdowns while appearing in nine games as Hudson Card’s backup over the past two seasons at Purdue, earning starts in losses to Illinois and Oregon.

By returning to West Lafayette, Browne will get an opportunity to compete for a starting job with Arkansas transfer Malachi Singleton, Washington State transfer Evans Chuba and Bennett Meredith, a former Arizona State transfer.

The Boilermakers lost one quarterback, EJ Colson, to the transfer portal earlier this week.

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U-M’s Underwood has up-and-down spring game

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U-M's Underwood has up-and-down spring game

Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood showed glimpses of the growing pains he will experience as a freshman and flashes of the promise that made him the nation’s top-rated high school football recruit in the Wolverines’ spring game Saturday.

Underwood was 12 of 26 for 187 yards with a scrimmage-ending, 88-yard pass to tight end Jalen Hoffman on a reverse flea-flicker in a 17-0 win for the Blue over the Maize.

He also recovered his fumble, had a pair of delay-of-game penalties, several errant throws – high and wide – and some dropped. Underwood lost 12 yards on two sacks and gained 17 yards on three runs.

“He did well,” coach Sherrone Moore said. “Made some really, good throws and had some things we need to clean up and get better at.”

As the Wolverines wrapped up spring football in front of about 40,000 fans at the Big House, all eyes were on Underwood and he has become comfortable with that.

“It’s just the pressure that came with my arm,” Underwood told The Detroit News earlier this spring. “I can’t stop that.”

Underwood was sacked on his first snap and his first completion went for a loss. He did throw some darts, usually in the flat, and was quick enough to escape collapsed pockets to pick up yardage with his feet.

Underwood is expected to compete with sophomore Jadyn Davis and Fresno State transfer Mikey Keene for playing time ahead of the season-opening game on Aug. 30 at home against Fresno State.

“It’s a battle,” Moore said. “It’s going to go all the way to fall camp.”

Underwood is motivated to start and kick off a legacy-building career with lofty goals.

“A couple of Heismans and at least one natty,” Underwood said last month in an interview on the Rich Eisen Show.

Underwood knows there will be people doubting he can live up to the hype.

‘He’s just a freshman. He won’t be good enough,'” Underwood said. “I might keep that chip my whole three years.”

He attended at Belleville High School, which is about 15 miles east of Ann Arbor, and flipped his commitment to Michigan after telling LSU coaches last year he intended to play there.

Tom Brady, a former Wolverine and seven-time Super Bowl winner, talked with Underwood during the school’s recruitment via FaceTime and Oracle founder Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people, also connected with him.

Jay Underwood told the Wall Street Journal that his son is expected to make more than $15 million at Michigan, but that doesn’t guarantee he will take the first snap next fall.

“He wants to earn everything,” Moore has said. “He doesn’t want to be given anything.”

Hoffman said Underwood has simply blended in with his teammates.

“He’s really humble, like not a big head, ego, nothing like that,” he said. “Comes into work and every day, he wants to get better every day. He’s not riding off his success in high school. He’s really trying to be one of those top players in college football.”

Underwood participated in practices with the team before it beat Alabama in a bowl game, enrolled in classes in January and gained a lot experience in 14 private practices before a public scrimmage.

“Football is football,” he told MLive.com. “School is a little bit more overwhelming now.”

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