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LAS VEGAS — The day it was announced Las Vegas was getting an NHL team. The way that team became a symbol of a city that was in pain before the Golden Knights even played a game. The big trades that saw them get the stars who have built their win-at-all-costs mentality.

Moments such as these have defined the Vegas Golden Knights. And with Tuesday marking the sixth anniversary of their first game, those events were instrumental when they raised their first Stanley Cup banner before taking a 4-1 win against the Seattle Kraken at T-Mobile Arena.

“It was cool seeing the banner go up,” Golden Knights goaltender Adin Hill said. “I hadn’t seen a banner with that much detail before. It was pretty cool to see it go up but we know what we did last year, and we were ready to go tonight.”

Like so many Golden Knights games, the ceremony began with the team leaning into its medieval theme. The videoboard displayed pictures of the team winning the Stanley Cup that were made to look like something from an epic fantasy, complete with narration suitable for a Shakespearean play.

Then came Lee Orchard, who plays the role of the “Golden Knight,” skating onto the ice and donning his golden armor before placing his sword in a stone at center ice.

From there, the arena’s collective attention returned to the videoboard, where fans watched the history of the Golden Knights through video clips. It started with the board of governors meeting when it was announced Las Vegas would get a team, followed by clips of the expansion draft.

The video then went to the numerous memorials that were displayed around Las Vegas from the Route 91 Harvest music festival shooting that occurred Oct. 1, 2017. The Golden Knights honored the victims and first responders before their first home game nine days later. Tuesday’s video featured excerpts from the emotional speech delivered that evening by former Golden Knights defenseman Deryk Engelland, who said, “We’ll do anything we can to help you and our city heal.”

The video continued by showing the day the team named Mark Stone captain followed by players the Golden Knights either signed or acquired in a trade, including Jack Eichel. It showed a clip from coach Bruce Cassidy’s introductory news conference and a series of goals from last season.

While the video then started playing highlights from the Stanley Cup playoff run, on-ice crew members rolled out the banner box — a slot machine.

“I had a feeling the three Cups were coming,” Eichel said. “It’s Vegas so it’s to theme. I loved it. It was great.”

After the video ended, the team took the ice, with Stone being the last to join as he hoisted the Stanley Cup over his shoulders while skating around the rink. He then set the Cup on a table next to the slot machine and pulled the lever.

Three Stanley Cup icons were displayed on the three LCD screens, and the banner slowly came out of the box and was raised high enough for the crowd to see.

Once the Golden Knights took a team photo in front of the banner, it was raised to the rafters. The booming speakers of the public address system played “Shot at the Night” by famed Las Vegas natives The Killers as the banner made its way to the rafters.

Many of the Golden Knights looked longingly at the banner, and a few appeared to get emotional before the ceremony ended with a chant of “Go Knights Go” by the sellout crowd.

“We had our ring dinner a few nights ago and went to the Raiders last night,” Eichel said. “There’s a lot of things going on in your life and you’re trying to enjoy what we accomplished but prepare for a season, so, you try to balance both. It’s an amazing experience to watch a banner go up and you want to enjoy every moment. But in the back of your mind, you’re preparing for a game as well.”

How the Golden Knights would celebrate the most significant moment in their history had been surrounded by curiosity. The team’s entertainment staff instantly made T-Mobile Arena one of the most unique venues in the league by living up to the expectations that come with being in Las Vegas.

The Golden Knights have developed trademark touches such as Orchard skating around in golden armor, the Golden Belles showgirls team and the Knight Line — the team’s drum line — having one of its members rappel down from the rafters and onto the ice while still drumming.

Andrew Abrams, who is the Golden Knights’ vice president and executive producer for their entertainment team, said meeting those demands was “both hard and easy” when it came to what they would do for the banner-raising ceremony.

“We always try to sort of one-up ourselves, and the expectation is that it can’t be another hockey team doing another banner raising,” Abrams said. “But it was easy, because some of the elements that we chose, we actually had ideas for back in the playoffs before we could even talk about a banner ceremony.”

Tyler Ferraro, who is the Golden Knights’ senior manager of entertainment experience, said they wanted to make the ceremony about the team. Instead of solely tapping into those familiar trademarks, they wished to create what Ferraro described as a love letter from the team to the city.

It’s why they wanted to have items such as the slot machine banner box — something that was kept secret, with only a few select people in the organization knowing about it.

“We wanted to have a few things that when people looked at it, they said, ‘Yeah, that’s Vegas,'” Abrams said.

Reaching that conclusion also meant watching what other teams did in the NHL, along with other leagues, before confirming the direction the Golden Knights wanted to take.

Last year, the Colorado Avalanche had Blink-182 bassist and singer Mark Hoppus lead the crowd in singing “All the Small Things” — the 2000 hit song that eventually morphed into the team’s anthem, with fans continuing to sing well after the song stopped playing over the arena’s public address system.

Abrams said the Golden Knights’ entertainment team thought about different ideas such as possibly bringing in a musical act. But factors such as time restraints led to it keeping the focus on ceremony.

“Because we are such a young team, throughout the last six years, you can pinpoint specific points in our timeline of how this led to our championship,” Ferraro said. “Or how this trade fed into this thing that gave us the Stanley Cup.”

Another element the entertainment team worked with was when owner Bill Foley issued the famed “Cup in Six” edict in which he claimed the club would win a Stanley Cup in six seasons.

“It feels like a really beautiful endcap to our first Golden Knights saga,” Ferraro said. “We’re able to close a chapter on that, literally and figuratively, and we start focusing on the future, but that was a fun creative twist, as well.”

Even though the Golden Knights had months to work on creating what they deemed to be the perfect ceremony, they had a rather limited window to rehearse at T-Mobile Arena. The arena hosted Game 1 of the WNBA Finals between the New York Liberty and the defending champion Las Vegas Aces on Sunday. On Monday, the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers played a preseason game, which further heightened the need to make the most out of rehearsals.

Abrams said the first time they rehearsed the show was Oct. 4. The first rehearsal allowed them to see how the show looked in segments, but they didn’t have enough time to see how the whole ceremony would look start to finish.

Two days later, they were able to get back into T-Mobile because of an unforeseen opening in the schedule, which allowed them to rehearse four or five times.

“We walked out of there in a really good spot,” Abrams said. “A two-day rehearsal is not normal, but the important thing is we got as many reps as physically possible.”

Having a nostalgic ceremony also allowed a former Golden Knights player to look back, with Kraken forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare talking about his time with the team. Bellemare, who spoke after morning skate, was one of the original Golden Knights who helped them reach the Stanley Cup Final that they lost to the Washington Capitals.

“You’re kind of proud, first of all, to be able to have the honor to be part of [that first team in franchise history],” Bellemare said. “Second of all, for the people of Vegas, you’re happy for everyone who is able to celebrate that.”

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Suit accusing BYU QB Retzlaff of rape dismissed

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Suit accusing BYU QB Retzlaff of rape dismissed

A civil lawsuit accusing BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff of rape has been dismissed, according to court records.

The parties jointly agreed to dismiss with prejudice, ending the case which was filed last month. None of the parties was immediately available for comment.

Retzlaff now plans to transfer from BYU as he faces a possible seven-game suspension for violating the school’s honor code by admitting to premarital sex during the legal proceedings, sources told ESPN. He has begun informing staff and teammates of his intention to leave, sources said.

Retzlaff had been working out with the squad and participating in summer workouts and practices. The team is on break until July 7.

The BYU staff has been ramping up the preparation of the three backup quarterbacks — McCae Hillstead, Treyson Bourguet and Bear Bachmeier — in anticipation that Retzlaff might not be available.

The woman alleged Retzlaff raped, strangled and bit her in November 2023. In a response to that lawsuit filed Friday, a lawyer representing Retzlaff denied those allegations but said Retzlaff had consensual sex with the woman.

The response indicated Retzlaff and the woman traded lighthearted text messages for months after the encounter and characterized the lawsuit as an extortion attempt based on the idea that Retzlaff developed into an NFL prospect roughly a year later.

The lawsuit described the encounter much differently.

Both the complaint and the response agree that Retzlaff and the woman connected through social media, which led to her visiting Retzlaff’s apartment to play video games on or around Nov. 22, 2023. The woman arrived with a friend, and friends and teammates of Retzlaff also were present.

Later that evening, the woman’s friend left, after which Retzlaff and the woman started watching a movie and began to kiss, the lawsuit states. While “Retzlaff began escalating the situation,” the suit says, “Jane Doe A.G. tried to de-escalate the situation and attempted to slow things down, trying to pull away, and saying ‘wait.’ She did not want to do anything sexual with him.”

The lawsuit says the woman told Retzlaff “no” and “wait, stop,” but he continued to force himself on her. After she tried to get up out of the bed, the lawsuit alleges, in graphic detail, that Retzlaff put his hands around her neck and proceeded to rape her.

A few days later, the woman visited a hospital, where a rape kit was performed and pictures of her injuries were taken. The lawsuit says she was connected with Provo, Utah, police but did not initially share Retzlaff’s name.

No criminal charges have been filed against Retzlaff.

After the lawsuit was filed, BYU issued a statement, saying: “The university takes any allegation very seriously, following all processes and guidelines mandated by Title IX. Due to federal and university privacy laws and practices for students, the university will not be able to provide additional comment.”

Retzlaff is not the first high-profile BYU athlete who faced a lengthy suspension for an honor code violation related to premarital sex. In 2011, basketball player Brandon Davies was dismissed from the team — which at the time was 27-2 and ranked No. 3 in the country — and suspended from school. He was reinstated that fall. In 1999, running back Reno Mahe was suspended from school and forced to leave the football team. He transferred to a junior college and later reenrolled at BYU.

Retzlaff, who has graduated from BYU, is expected to enter his name in the transfer portal in the coming days. He started 13 games for the Cougars in 2024, his first year as the starter, leading the team to an 11-2 record. He passed for 2,947 yards and 20 touchdowns with 12 interceptions.

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Pac-12 welcomes Texas St. ahead of ’26 relaunch

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Pac-12 welcomes Texas St. ahead of '26 relaunch

Texas State has officially joined the Pac-12, the conference announced Monday, becoming the league’s ninth member ahead of its relaunch in 2026.

“We are extremely excited to welcome Texas State as a foundational member of the new Pac-12,” commissioner Teresa Gould said in a statement. “It is a new day in college sports and the most opportune time to launch a new league that is positioned to succeed in today’s landscape with student-athletes in mind.”

Texas State’s board of regents voted to authorize a $5 million buyout to the Sun Belt Conference early Monday. The Bobcats will remain in the Sun Belt through the 2025-26 season before joining the Pac-12 in all sports for the 2026-27 school year.

The Pac-12 needed to reach eight football-playing schools to meet the NCAA minimum for an FBS conference prior to the 2026 season.

The conference’s board of directors, which includes representatives from all current and future members, voted unanimously to admit Texas State following the university’s formal application. Texas State joins Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Gonzaga, Oregon State, San Diego State, Utah State and Washington State as members of the rebuilt league.

Texas State president Kelly Damphousse called the move “a historic moment” for the university.

“Joining the Pac-12 is more than an athletic move — it is a declaration of our rising national profile, our commitment to excellence, and our readiness to compete and collaborate with some of the most respected institutions in the country,” Damphousse said.

Athletic director Don Coryell echoed that sentiment, calling the opportunity “a new era” for Texas State, which has been in the Sun Belt since 2013 after making its FBS debut with one season in the WAC in 2012.

“This historic moment belongs to our coaches, staff, student-athletes, fans, alumni and students,” Coryell said. “As the Pac-12’s flagship school in Texas, we proudly embrace the opportunity and responsibility that comes with it.”

The long-awaited announcement comes on the heels of the Pac-12’s announcement last week that it had finalized a five-year agreement with CBS for a portion of the conference’s football and men’s basketball media rights, including both sports’ championship game. Additional media partners are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

Texas State is located in San Marcos, which is only about 35 miles south of the University of Texas in Austin. Texas State has more than 40,000 students, with one of the 25 largest undergraduate enrollments among public universities in the U.S.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Alabama lands top 3 OLB Griffin for 2026 class

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Alabama lands top 3 OLB Griffin for 2026 class

Alabama’s 2026 recruiting class landed another significant late-June recruiting boost Saturday when four-star defender Xavier Griffin, ESPN’s No. 3 outside linebacker, announced his commitment to the Crimson Tide over Florida State, Ohio State and Texas.

Griffin, a versatile, 6-foot-4, 205-pound prospect from Gainesville, Georgia, is the No. 30 overall recruit in the 2026 ESPN 300. A former longtime USC commit, Griffin took official visits with each of his finalists in June. He now stands as the top-ranked prospect among 14 commits in Alabama’s incoming class, joining days after the program secured top 300 pledges from running back Ezavier Crowell (No. 31 overall) and tight end Mack Sutter (No. 138) on Thursday night.

Griffin told ESPN that the Crimson Tide’s pedigree and vision laid out by Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer and outside linebackers coach Christian Robinson were driving factors in his decision.

“Growing up, just seeing them, all the draft picks and stuff that they’ve had — all the guys they’ve put in the league — it speaks for itself,” Griffin said. “They have history and they’re really clear about what they’re trying to build with this new staff.”

A physical defender capable of dropping into coverage, Griffin has cemented his status as one the nation’s top linebackers at Gainesville (Georgia) High School, where he’s recorded 97 total tackles and 21 sacks across his sophomore and junior seasons.

He initially committed to USC last July and remained one of the Trojans’ top prospects over next 10 months before Griffin pulled his pledge from the program on May 14. Sources told ESPN at the time that Griffin’s decommitment stemmed from his intention to schedule official visits with programs this spring, bucking against USC’s policy against committed players taking official trips to other campuses.

Upon reopening his recruitment, Griffin locked in official visits with Alabama, Florida State, Ohio State and Texas for this month, closing with a trip to the Crimson Tide from June 20-22. Despite his lengthy USC pledge, Griffin told ESPN that no program recruited him more actively than Alabama across the past two years, led by Robinson, the program’s second-year assistant.

“He’s been one of the most consistent with me throughout my whole process,” Griffin said. “He’s just a really, really good guy.”

The highest-ranked of seven ESPN 300 pledges bound for Alabama in 2026, Griffin now leads an increasingly talented Crimson Tide defensive class forming in the current cycle.

Alongside Griffin, Alabama holds commitments from top-10 cornerbacks Jorden Edmonds (No. 38 overall) and Zyan Gibson (No. 65) in 2026. Defensive end Jamarion Matthews, Griffin’s teammate at Gainesville High School and ESPN’s No. 92 overall recruit, has been pledged to the Crimson Tide since February, and Alabama’s latest defensive class could get even deeper over the next month as priority targets including top-60 prospects Jireh Edwards, Anthony Jones and Nolan Wilson approach the final stages of their recruiting processes.

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