Eli Lederman covers college football and recruiting for ESPN.com. He joined ESPN in 2024 after covering the University of Oklahoma for Sellout Crowd and the Tulsa World.
Texas A&M followed its seismic win over LSU on Saturday night by landing a pair of key 2026 commitments Sunday afternoon, securing pledges from four-star prospects Jordan Carter and Aaron Gregory one day after the Douglas County (Georgia) High School teammates visited College Station.
The Aggies also landed another 2026 pledge late Sunday, when four-star linebacker Samu Moala (No. 211 in the ESPN Junior 300) committed, securing the program its third top-300 commitment in the 24 hours after the LSU win.
Carter is the No. 2 defensive end and the 23rd-ranked overall prospect in the ESPN Junior 300, while Gregory is ESPN’s No. 41 prospect and the seventh-ranked player at his position in the 2026 cycle. Both players are standout contributors for a Douglas County football program that improved to 8-1 Friday night with a 42-0 win over Chapel Hill (Georgia).
Carter and Gregory followed their Friday victory with a visit to Texas A&M on Saturday, and both were on hand to see the Aggies’ 38-23 victory over LSU. Their respective pledges arrive with coach Mike Elko & Co. riding seven consecutive victories and sitting alone atop the SEC standings entering Week 10. Between them, Carter and Gregory now represent the highest-rated commits among the seven prospects pledged to Texas A&M’s 2026 class.
The Aggies trailed LSU 17-7 in the third quarter Saturday when Elko benched starting quarterbackConner Weigman in favor of backup Marcel Reed. The freshman passer was the spark to a 31-point second half that left Texas A&M as the last remaining undefeated in SEC league play and in firm College Football Playoff contention with four regular-season games left to play. Elko followed the win with a pointed statement on the state of the Aggies in his first fall in charge at Texas A&M.
“This is a real program,” the first-year coach said late Saturday night. “It’s not fake. It’s not a politician running this program, talking fast and B.S.-ing everybody. This is a real program, and for all the recruits out there, this is a real place.”
Carter, a 6-foot-3, 235-pound edge rusher, is the No. 9 overall defender in the ESPN Junior 300 and trails only four-star edge Zion Elee (No. 15 in the ESPN Junior 300) as the highest-rated defensive end in the class. Gregory is a big-bodied, two-way star at Douglas County, where he’s emerged as a standout at both wide receiver and defensive back.
Carter is now the Aggies’ top commit in the 2026 cycle. Texas A&M landed its first ESPN 300 pledge in the cycle on Oct. 17 with a commitment from three-star quarterback Helaman Casuga, ESPN’s No. 5 dual-threat passer in 2026. The Aggies also hold 2026 pledges from safety Markel Ford, cornerback Ryan Gilbert and defensive tackle Trashawn Ruffin.
The days leading up to the 2025 NHL trade deadline were a furious final sprint as contenders looked to stock up for a postseason run while rebuilding clubs added prospects and draft capital.
After the overnight Brock Nelson blockbuster Thursday, Friday lived up to expectations, with Mikko Rantanen, Brad Marchand and other high-profile players finishing the day on different teams than they started with. All told, NHL teams made 24 trades on deadline day involving 47 players.
Which teams and players won the day? Who might not feel as well about the situation after trade season? Reporters Ryan S. Clark, Kristen Shilton and Greg Wyshynski identify the biggest winners and losers of the 2025 NHL trade deadline:
There are some who saw what the Carolina Hurricanes did at the trade deadline — or perhaps failed to do after they traded Mikko Rantanen — and believe they’re cooked when it comes to the Stanley Cup playoffs. However, based on the projections from Stathletes, the Canes remain the team with the highest chances of winning the Cup, at 16.7%.
Standing before them on Sunday are the Winnipeg Jets (5 p.m. ET, ESPN+). The Jets had a relatively quiet deadline, adding Luke Schenn and Brandon Tanev, though sometimes these additions are the types of small tweaks that can push a contender over the edge. As it stands, the Jets enter their showdown against the Canes with the sixth-highest Cup chances, at 8.7%.
Carolina has made two trips to the Cup Final: a loss to the Detroit Red Wings in 2002 and a win over the Edmonton Oilers in 2006. The Canes have reached the conference finals three times since (2009, 2019, 2023). Winnipeg has yet to make the Cup Final, and was defeated 4-1 in the 2018 Western Conference finals by the Vegas Golden Knights in the club’s lone trip to the penultimate stage.
Both clubs are due. Will this be their year?
There is a lot of runway left until the final day of the season on April 17, and we’ll help you keep track of it all here on the NHL playoff watch. As we traverse the final stretch, we’ll provide detail on all the playoff races — along with the teams jockeying for position in the 2025 NHL draft lottery.
Points: 43 Regulation wins: 12 Playoff position: N/A Games left: 17 Points pace: 54.3 Next game: vs. NSH (Tuesday) Playoff chances: ~0% Tragic number: 8
Race for the No. 1 pick
The NHL uses a draft lottery to determine the order of the first round, so the team that finishes in last place is not guaranteed the No. 1 selection. As of 2021, a team can move up a maximum of 10 spots if it wins the lottery, so only 11 teams are eligible for the draw for the No. 1 pick. Full details on the process can be found here. Sitting No. 1 on the draft board for this summer is Matthew Schaefer, a defenseman for the OHL’s Erie Otters.
Hintz extended his stick toward Henrique, whose wrist shot sent the puck under Hintz’s visor during his club’s 5-4 loss to the Oilers. He was on the ice, with his face in a towel, as the team’s medical staff assessed him and helped him skate toward the dressing room.
After the loss, Dallas coach Peter DeBoer said Hintz was at a local hospital, receiving tests. The coach added that the initial report was fairly optimistic for Hintz, 28, who has 25 goals and 52 points.
“Everyone’s optimistic that it’s not ‘serious, serious,'” DeBoer said. “But we won’t know until we get testing.”
The short-handed Stars rallied from a 5-1 deficit before eventually losing. Trade deadline acquisition Mikko Rantanen had a goal and an assist in his debut for Dallas, which had its four-game winning streak stopped. Wyatt Johnston, Jamie Benn and Matt Dumba also scored for the Stars.