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Former Texas quarterback Maalik Murphy has committed to transfer to Duke, giving the Blue Devils and first-year coach Manny Diaz a key building block.

Murphy, one of the top quarterbacks in the NCAA transfer portal this offseason, announced his decision on social media Saturday, saying he is “106% Committed.”

Murphy is a 6-foot-5, 238-pound redshirt freshman who brings high-end arm talent to the position. He will be immediately eligible and has three seasons remaining.

ESPN’s No. 250 overall player in the Class of 2022, Murphy is the highest-ranked quarterback and sixth-highest-ranked overall player that Duke football has received a commitment from since ESPN began ranking players in 2006, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

Murphy won both of the games he started for Texas this season as a redshirt freshman, beating both BYU and Kansas State. Murphy threw for 477 yards and three touchdowns as he served as Texas’ primary backup behind Quinn Ewers and ahead of freshman Arch Manning.

In speaking to ESPN the night he entered the NCAA transfer portal Dec. 13, Murphy said he prioritized opportunity at his next destination.

“A place where I can play,” he told ESPN last week when asked what he’s looking for in a school. “Continue to get better and continue to be around great people and great players. And just do what’s best for me and my career.”

Duke’s starting job opened when star quarterback Riley Leonard decided to commit to Notre Dame. Leonard entered the NCAA transfer portal soon after coach Mike Elko took the Texas A&M job.

If Murphy returned to Texas, he’d have likely continued to back up Ewers, who has yet to declare he’s returning to Texas in 2024 but that remains the prevailing thought in his circle. Murphy’s decision to transfer means he won’t be with Texas for the College Football Playoff, as he prioritized the opportunity to find a school and secure his future.

“I just want to be in a position where I can play,” Murphy told ESPN last week. “Where I can get a chance to play. I don’t want to be waiting around and see what happens or anything like that. I’d rather kick-start my career while I can.”

That will happen at Duke, as Murphy is expected to enroll in January and immediately compete for the starting job. And his arrival will coincide with the arrival of Diaz, the decorated former Penn State defensive coordinator who previously served as the head coach at Miami.

Sources told ESPN that Murphy spent a lot of time discussing what Duke’s offense would look like with new offensive coordinator Jonathan Brewer, the former SMU quarterbacks coach. He’s expected to install a similar offense that SMU ran under Rhett Lashlee. While Diaz was at Miami as both the defensive coordinator and head coach, Lashlee worked as the offensive coordinator in 2020 and 2021.

Murphy was ESPN’s No. 12 pocket passer in the class of 2022. He visited both South Carolina and Oregon State after entering the NCAA transfer portal.

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Panthers-Hurricanes Game 5 preview: Can Carolina force another game?

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Panthers-Hurricanes Game 5 preview: Can Carolina force another game?

All signs pointed to the Florida Panthers finishing off the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 4, but the Canes kept the series rolling with a 3-0 win on Monday.

Will the Panthers finish the story in Game 5? Or will the Hurricanes send the festivities back to South Florida again?

Here are matchup notes heading into Wednesday’s Game 5 from ESPN Research, as well as betting intel from ESPN BET:

More on Game 4: Recap | Grades

Matchup notes

Florida Panthers at Carolina Hurricanes
Game 5 | 8 p.m. ET | TNT

The Panthers’ odds to win the series are now -1600, adjusted from -5000 heading into Game 4. The Hurricanes’ odds have shifted to +750 (adjusted from +1500) after their win. The Panthers’ odds to win the Cup are now +105 (previously -110), while the Canes’ are now +1800. Sergei Bobrovsky is the leading Conn Smythe candidate in this series at +200, followed by Aleksander Barkov (+800).

Game 4 was the Canes’ first win in the round since Game 7 of the 2006 Eastern Conference finals against the Buffalo Sabres, snapping a 15-game conference finals losing streak. It was the longest losing streak in NHL playoff history for a team in the round preceding the Stanley Cup Final. The Hurricanes are now 4-4 all-time in Game 4s when trailing 3-0 in a best-of-seven series.

Frederik Andersen made 20 saves for his fifth career playoff shutout, his second with the Hurricanes. He joins Cam Ward (four), Kevin Weekes (two) and Petr Mrazek (two) as goaltenders with multiple playoff shutouts in Whalers/Hurricanes Stanley Cup playoffs history.

Carolina’s Logan Stankoven scored playoff goal No. 5 in the second period. He joins Erik Cole (six in 2002) and Warren Foegele (five in 2019) as the only rookies in Whalers/Hurricanes history to score at least five goals in a single Stanley Cup playoffs year.

Sebastian Aho scored an empty-net goal in the third period, his 32nd career playoff tally. That extends his own franchise record for career goals in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The Panthers were shut out for the second time this postseason; both games were at home — the other instance was Game 6 of the second-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Florida went 0-4 on the power play in Game 4, and the team is now 0-8 with the man advantage in the last two games of this series after going 4-for-5 in Games 1 and 2.

Though he hasn’t scored a goal in the past two games, Sam Bennett has a team-leading nine this postseason. That is two shy of the franchise record in a single playoff year, currently held by Matthew Tkachuk (2023) and Carter Verhaeghe (2024).


Scoring leaders

GP: 16 | G: 6 | A: 9

GP: 14 | G: 5 | A: 9

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Astros’ Blanco having elbow surgery, done for ’25

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Astros' Blanco having elbow surgery, done for '25

Houston Astros right-hander Ronel Blanco will have surgery on his right elbow and will miss the remainder of the 2025 season, the team announced Wednesday.

The starter had sought a second opinion after being placed on the injured list last week with inflammation in the elbow.

The Astros said Blanco — who is 3-4 with a 4.10 ERA, 48 strikeouts and 20 walks in nine starts this season — is anticipated to return at some point during the 2026 season.

Blanco, 31, is among a long list of starting pitchers on the injured list for the Astros. Right-hander Hayden Wesneski underwent season-ending Tommy John surgery last week, while right-hander Spencer Arrighetti has been out since April after breaking his right thumb in a batting practice mishap.

Houston is also without right-handers Luis Garcia and Cristian Javier, who are both still recovering from Tommy John surgery.

Blanco is in his fourth major league season, all with the Astros. In 2024, he finished 13-6 with a 2.80 ERA in 30 games (29 starts). He threw his only career complete game in his season debut on April 1, no-hitting the Toronto Blue Jays in a 10-0 win.

The Associated Press and Field Level Media contributed to this report.

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Renovated Belmont to host Breeders’ Cup in ’27

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Renovated Belmont to host Breeders' Cup in '27

The Breeders’ Cup world championships are returning to New York in 2027 at the rebuilt Belmont Park, following a massive renovation project to revitalize one of the most important horse racing tracks in the country.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, along with officials from the Breeders’ Cup and the New York Racing Association, announced Wednesday that the track on the edge of Queens and Nassau County on Long Island will stage the event in the fall two years from now.

“We wrote the governor of New York a letter in 2023 that simply said, ‘If you build it, we will come,'” Breeders’ Cup Limited president and CEO Drew Fleming said in a phone interview with The Associated Press. “And so we’re very honored to keep our word and have a wonderful Breeders’ Cup world championship here in 2027 to showcase the new development and investment in Belmont Park to our fans from across the globe.”

Keeneland in Lexington was revealed as the 2026 host.

Belmont Park was last home to the Breeders’ Cup in 2005, the fourth time in two decades after also being there in 1990, 1995 and 2001. A goal of the $455 million teardown and reconstruction was to attract the major event.

“It was always part of the plan: We weren’t going to redevelop Belmont Park without Breeders’ Cup in mind, so it was always part of the initial goals,” NYRA president and CEO David O’Rourke told the AP by phone. “Getting the championships back to New York is big from an economic point of view and probably one of the most important [things], if not the most important. It gives our trainers and horsemen a chance to compete on their home tracks. I think it’s great. It’s been over 20 years.”

Hochul said in a statement that the redevelopment is bringing thousands of jobs and $1 billion in long-term economic activity to Long Island.

“Thanks to the investments we are making at Belmont Park, the long held dream of bringing the prestigious Breeders’ Cup back to New York will soon be a reality,” Hochul said.

The Breeders’ Cup has been at a Kentucky or California track every year since 2008. Del Mar outside San Diego has it this year as a back-to-back host and for the fourth time since 2017.

Santa Anita outside Los Angeles, Keeneland and Churchill Downs in Louisville — home of the Kentucky Derby — have become the regular sites for the two-day festival featuring the best thoroughbreds in the world and tens of millions of dollars’ worth of races. It’s shifting back to the Eastern time zone for the next two years.

“California is and has always been a wonderful spot to have the Breeders’ Cup with Santa Anita Park and Del Mar, but one of the missions of the Breeders’ Cup is to grow the sport, and one of the ways we do this is hosting world championships at various venues across the United States,” Fleming said, adding that he expects the event to generate $100 million for the New York economy.

While NYRA has not announced a location for the 2026 Belmont Stakes, the third leg of the Triple Crown is set to return to its old home by 2027, after a multiyear stint at historic Saratoga Race Course in upstate New York during renovations.

With the Belmont at Belmont Park shifting back to an annual occurrence, it is possible the track known for greats like Secretariat and Seattle Slew rumbling down the stretch to the finish line with fans roaring might get back in a regular rotation.

“The best part about working for the Breeders’ Cup is that nothing is off the table,” Fleming said. “New York City has some of the finest accommodations and restaurants and entertainment in the world, so it’d be a natural fit that we would be at Belmont Park frequently.”

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