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TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | Sept. 6

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Alumni Stadium at Boston College (Photo by T. Peter Lyons)

By TERRY LYONS, Editor-in-Chief of Digital Sports Desk

CHESTNUT HILL – After an NCAA Week 0, which included an eyebrow-raising North Carolina (with Coach Big Bill Belechick) win over perennial power TCU and a shocking UMass victory over Big TEN doormat Rutgers, it’s time for the 2026 College Football season. The first “real” Saturday of the season came fast upon us and the results will be unfolding as this column is created (September 5).

This column will rely upon experts such as Phil Steele and his incredible preseason magazine to ESPN pundits to VSiN experts and a few early observations from the brand new armchair placed just yesterday in the Lyons’ den.

Only a handful of early afternoon and a few early evening games are in the scorebooks as of the time of writing. Some early impressions?

  1. Boston College barely made a showing in a 34-15 dismantling by Cincinnati
  2. The powerhouse Top 25 schools mostly saw typical one-sided scores over weak opponenents with the exception of a back-and-forth Oregon win over Boise St. (34-27).
  3. A primetime Clemson v. LSU game was delayed because of weather.
  4. The non-NFL Labor Day weekend bodes well for the schedule. Sunday, September 6 boasts three top notch games, including: Washington St. at Washington, Wisconsin at Notre Dame and Louisville at Ole Miss.

Looking further down the road, there’s some interesting buckets of information tucked into the Phil Steele annual. Consider a few that struck a chord and have been filed away as the season progresses:

Steele’s 2026 Toughest Schedule – Top 10

  1. Texas
  2. Michigan
  3. USC
  4. Arkansas
  5. Oklahoma
  6. Ohio St.
  7. Michigan St.
  8. Mississippi St.
  9. Purdue
  10. Florida

Steele’s Surprise Teams for 2026

  1. Alabama
  2. BYU
  3. Oklahoma
  4. USC
  5. Utah
  6. SMU
  7. Clemson
  8. Louisville
  9. Iowa
  10. Houston

Steele’s POWER Ten Teams for 2026

  1. Notre Dame
  2. Oregon
  3. Georgia
  4. Ohio St.
  5. Texas
  6. Indiana
  7. Oklahoma
  8. Mississippi
  9. Miami (FL)
  10. USC

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: After serving more than seven years as WNBA Commissioner, Cathy Engelbert announced her plan to step down at the end of 2026. The announcement came after severe criticism of the WNBA leadership team, mostly coming from the rank and file WNBA players.

Engelbert led the WNBA through very important times. Among her major accomplishments:

  • Leading the WNBA with the WNBA Players Association to formulate a monumental collective bargaining agreement that will govern the league from its inception in 2026 through 2032.
  • Navigating the league through a season in a bubble during COVID-19.
  • Leading the WNBA efforts for its current, blockbuster and record-setting television and media arrangments. The term runs from 2026-2036 aqnd will generate $2.2 billion from Disney/ABC/ESPN platforms, NBC Universal and Amazon. An additional $281m annually ($3.1 billion) will come from auxillary deals with USA Network, ION and CBS Paramount. The deals will be analyzed in 2028 for possible adjustments.
  • Overseeing the WNBA during unprecedented growth of teh league, including record interest to follow the career of Caitlin Clark.

The burning question surfacing in each and every story of Englebert’s retirement is the uncertain succession plan to name a new WNBA Commissioner. In columns and other media reports, speculation has run the gamut of naming recently retired players, like Swin Cash to sitting Governors (Maura Healy of Massachusetts) to former First Lady Michele Obama.

While they’re all great suggestions, it’s more likely the successor to Englebert will come from either an all-out executive search committee, an internal candidate at the WNBA or a team, or someone currently working in the sports industry. Regardless, it will take time.

The most feasible move for the NBA and WNBA is to lure recently retired Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman back to her old stomping grounds – even if it’s just for a six month interim basis.

Ackerman was the WNBA’s first executive leader, then titled President. Ackerman oversaw the lead-up to the WNBA launch – a year-long barnstorming by the USA Basketball women’s senior national team, leading into the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. It served as the perfect launchpad for the WNBA in the summer of 1997.

Ackerman’s calming presence would be welcomed by both management (WNBA Board) and players. Since the season runs from May until October (2027), the stabilization of the organization between January and June will be an important window of time.

There’s no question, Val Ackerman can get the job done and then sail off to a happy retirement sunset, maybe with a few million dollars from a thankful NBA-WNBA organization together with its players.

Just in case you aren’t familiar with her illustrious career, here’s a quick look via a recent edition of The Sports Business Journal. The SJ paid tribute to her amazing career with a full length story and a sidebar of her accomplishments. WWYI took the liberty to snip Val’s year-by-year C.V., including her education and sports industry high points:

The Val Ackerman File

Born: Nov. 7, 1959, Lakewood Township, NJ

Education: University of Virginia, B.A., political and social thought (1981), basketball, two-time Academic All-American; UCLA, law degree (1985)

Family: Husband, Charlie Rappaport; two daughters, Emily and Sally

Boards: NCAA Women’s Basketball Oversight Committee, member; Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, board of directors; Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, lifetime trustee

The Work of Art:

  • 1981: Union Cosnoise Sportive Basket, player in France
  • 1985-87: Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, corporate and banking associate
  • 1988: NBA, staff attorney
  • 1989: USA Basketball, board of directors
  • 1990: NBA, special assistant to the commissioner; later named vice president of business affairs
  • 1992: USA Basketball organizational liaison at the 1992 Olympics; later has same role for 1994 Worlds and 1996 Olympics
  • 1996: WNBA, president (league’s first); guided the league’s launch the following year
  • 1999: College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-America Hall of Fame, inductee
  • 2002: Atlantic Coast Conference 50th Anniversary Women’s Basketball Team
  • 2005: USA Basketball, president (4-year term)
  • 2005: Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, member
  • 2005: Women’s Basketball Coaches Association President’s Citation
  • 2006: U.S. representative for men’s and women’s basketball on the Central Board of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA); named to a second term in 2010
  • 2008: John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
  • 2008-13: NCAA, consultant
  • 2012: National Consortium for Academics and Sports Hall of Fame (now called Institute for Sport & Social Justice)
  • 2013: Big East commissioner (as the college conference split from what became the AAC conference of “football schools.”
  • 2013: USA Basketball’s Edward S. Steitz Award for contributions to international basketball
  • 2013: Big East signed 12-year deal with Fox Sports worth $500 million
  • 2014: NCAA Men’s Basketball Oversight Committee, member
  • 2014: Led the relocation of the Big East’s headquarters from Providence, RI to its current site in New York City
  • 2014: Launched Big East Digital Network (BEDN)
  • 2016: Women’s Sports Foundation’s Billie Jean King Contribution Award
  • 2017: U.S. Soccer Federation, at-large board member
  • 2018: Big East and Madison Square Garden signed agreement to keep The Garden as the home of the Big East men’s basketball tournament through 2028
  • 2019: Led negotiations resulting in the University of Connecticut’s return to the Big East, effective 2020
  • 2019: Co-chair of the NCAA Federal and State Legislation Working Group
  • 2020: Oversaw and navigated Big East’s response to COVID-19 epidemic
  • 2021: Naismith Memorial Basketball of Fame, inductee
  • 2023: Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame, inductee
  • 2024: Big East entered into a successor media rights agreement through 2031 on multiple platforms – Fox Sports, NBC/Peacock and TNT Sports
  • 2024: Conference and MSG extended venue agreement, keeping the Garden as the home of the Big East men’s tournament through 2032
  • 2024: Sports Lawyers Association Michael Weiner Award of Excellence
  • 2025: Conference entered six-year agreement with ESPN to provide broad coverage of additional Big East competitions on the ESPN+ platform
  • 2025: Big East and Playfly Sports extended multimedia rights partnership through 2031
  • 2026: Big East announced a three-year extension with Mohegan Sun Arena to serve as host of the women’s basketball tournament
  • 2026: Announced planned retirement as Big East commissioner, effective Aug. 31

Will 2027 see Ms. Ackerman return to 645 Fifth Avenue and guide the reestablishment of the WNBA league office while searching for the next WNBA Commissioner?

TIDBITS & NUGGETS: all basketball fans recall the 2000 Olympics and 2002 Worlds and the coming out party for Yao Ming and “The Great Wall of China.” It was an amazing time to see the athletic and versatile 7-foot-6, 310 lbs center play for his national team and eventually the Houston Rockets.

The WNBA might be awaiting a similar story as the possibilities are endless.

China’s Zhang Ziyu – a 7-foot-3 center – is playing for the Chinese women’s national team at the 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup in Berlin. She is among 70 current and former WNBA players dotting rosters. In fact, 15 of the 16 teams competing for the FIBA World Cup for women have a WNBA player on their rosters.

If you remember, Zheng Haixia was the first player from China to play in the WNBA. She was on the opening night roster of the Los Angeles Sparks.

Guinness Dublin barrel lot
Photo by Jessica Johnston on Unsplash

YOU CAN’T MAKE IT UP: British police are trying to recover 70,000 pints of stolen Guinness stout. Two trailer truckloads of the creamy dark suds, valued at 115,000 pounds ($155,000), were stolen from a depot near Liverpool in northwest England, the Cheshire Constabulary reported Thursday. “It is famously said that ‘Guinness is good for you,’ but that is only the case when it has been bought and paid for,” Det. Sgt. Gary McClatchy said. “We will settle for nothing less than the full recovery of all the items stolen.” The Guinness had been destined for pubs, but was snatched Monday night by two drivers who pulled up to an industrial park in Runcorn and hauled away the trailers containing about 800 barrels of stout.

The Guinness caper comes only weeks after a theft of Pabst Blue Ribbon lager from a Southern California warehouse, valued at $70,000. The company offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to the recovery.

Sonny Gray Twirls 7 Scoreless in Win

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BALTIMORE – (Wire Service Report) – Boston’s Sonny Gray pitched seven scoreless innings to earn his major league-leading 17th win as the visiting Red Sox defeated the Baltimore Orioles 5-0 on Saturday night.

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The Red Sox (78-65) have won the first three games of the four-game series. The Orioles (69-74) have lost five straight.

Eli White and Isiah Kiner-Falefa each drove in two runs. Trevor Story collected three hits and scored two runs and Nick Sogard had two hits for the Red Sox.

Gray (17-4), who was facing Baltimore for the first time this season, held the Orioles to three hits and three walks while striking out seven.

Jovani Moran, Greg Weissert and Wyatt Olds worked in relief to complete the five-hit shutout. Baltimore struck out 10 times, and three of its five hits were doubles.

Chris Bassitt (6-5) matched Gray until he ran into trouble in the sixth inning. He went 5 2/3 innings and was charged with three runs on five hits and four walks.

The pitchers’ duel marked a second consecutive shutout for the Red Sox, who won 1-0 on Friday night.

White’s two-out, two-run single opened the scoring in the sixth. Connor Wong followed with an RBI single to make it 3-0.

Boston, which pulled out one-run victories in the first two games of the series, stretched its lead in the seventh on Kiner-Falefa’s two-out double that pushed across two more runs.

The teams combined for five hits through five innings. The Orioles threatened in the third after Colton Cowser’s leadoff double. He advanced to third on Jackson Holliday’s lineout to right but was thrown out at home on Blaze Alexander’s fielder’s-choice grounder.

Baltimore, which was held to six singles Friday, stranded two runners in the first inning.

–Field Level Media

Rock the Gasper

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BALTIMORE – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston starting pitcher Ranger Suarez fired seven sharp innings and recent call-up Mickey Gasper homered in the first, lifting the Red Sox to a 1-0 victory against the host Baltimore Orioles on Friday night.

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Suarez (6-4) limited the Orioles to five hits and one walk while striking out three across a 91-pitch effort. He won for just the second time in his past nine starts.

Garrett Whitlock and Aroldis Chapman each pitched an inning in relief to complete the shutout. Chapman notched his 32nd save, and second in as many nights, by working the ninth.

The Red Sox (77-65) earned their second victory in a row, but only their fourth in a 10-game stretch. The Orioles (69-73) took a fourth consecutive loss.

Gasper had two of Boston’s five hits.

Orioles starter Shane Baz (5-15) lasted 6 1/3 innings, yielding one run on four hits and two walks. He struck out six in an unsuccessful bid for a second straight win following an 0-8 run in a 12-start stretch.

Blaze Alexander registered three of Baltimore’s six hits, which were all singles. The Orioles left six runners on base but had only three batters go to the plate with a runner in scoring position.

Boston stranded 10 runners, going 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position.

Gasper was the game’s second batter and he homered on a first-pitch fastball. His eighth long ball of the season was the only extra-base hit in the game.

The Red Sox threatened by loading the bases with two outs in the seventh inning on a single, a walk and a hit batter. However, reliever Alex Hoppe retired Adley Rutschman, the ex-Oriole who homered twice on Thursday in the series opener, on a flyout to end the scoring chance.

Josh Walker and Cam Sanders each pitched a shutout inning in relief for Baltimore, which would need to win the next two games in order to split the four-game series.

–Field Level Media

1 + 1 = 2 for Adley

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BALTIMORE – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Catcher Adley Rutschman homered twice against his former team and then scored on Nick Sogard’s go-ahead two-run blast as the visiting Boston Red Sox defeated the Baltimore Orioles 6-5 on Thursday night to begin a four-game series.

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Sogard’s fourth homer of the year broke a 3-3 tie in the eighth inning. Roman Anthony added a solo shot with two outs in the ninth which proved critical when Christian Encarnacion-Strand hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth for Baltimore.

Rutschman missed the prior three games with a lingering elbow injury but he looked fine in his return to Baltimore, where he was the only Red Sox player with more than one hit.

Erik Miller (4-0) picked up the win with one shutout inning in relief after Boston starter Jake Bennett gave up three runs on five hits across six innings.

Luis Robert Jr. and Pete Alonso smashed back-to-back home runs to lead off the bottom of the fourth inning for the Orioles (69-72). Aroldis Chapman was credited with his 31st save despite giving up the homer to Encarnacion-Strand.

Baltimore starter Brandon Young pitched 6 2/3 innings and was charged with three runs on four hits with two walks and seven strikeouts. Luis De Leon (0-2) took the loss, though Yennier Cano surrendered Sogard’s homer.

Rutschman’s blasts in the first and sixth innings are his second and third homers since joining the Red Sox (76-65) in a trade from the Orioles on Aug. 3.

Rutschman, who was the first overall selection by the Orioles in the 2019 MLB Draft, had Boston’s only two hits until Eli White’s two-out double in the seventh inning. Isiah Kiner-Falefa followed with a game-tying RBI single.

Anthony’s third homer came in the 35th game of his injury-interrupted season.

Both teams scored in the first inning, with Rutschman’s homer the first blow with two outs. The Orioles responded to tie the game when Blaze Alexander scored on Alonso’s sacrifice fly.

–Field Level Media

 

Crawford Powers Seattle Over Sox

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FENWAY – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The visiting Seattle Mariners rode a pair of four-run innings to an 8-3 win over the Boston Red Sox in the rubber game of their three-game series on Wednesday. J.P. Crawford went 3-for-3 with two runs scored to lead four multi-hit performances for Seattle (66-74). Jhonny Pereda had two RBI and scored another run on his 2-for-3 day.

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All of the Mariners’ runs came in the third and sixth innings.

Seattle used four relievers behind Bryce Miller, who scattered seven hits in 4 2/3 innings of one-run ball. Cooper Criswell (3-2) pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to earn the win.

Roman Anthony (home run) and Wilyer Abreu (two doubles, run) logged three hits apiece for the Red Sox (75-65), who went just 3-for-10 with runners in scoring position on the way to their sixth loss in eight games.

Both teams had 12 hits.

Boston starter Patrick Sandoval (1-4) did not record an out in the fifth inning, allowing four runs (three earned) and five hits.

The Red Sox started fast with three straight one-out singles in the first inning, but could not score after a relay from Seattle left fielder Randy Arozarena to Pereda cut down Mickey Gasper at home on Abreu’s knock.

After two 1-2-3 innings from Sandoval, the visitors broke it open for a 4-0 lead in the third. Weston Wilson and J.P. Crawford opened the rally with back-to-back singles, and a wild pitch brought Wilson home.

Dominic Canzone extended the inning with a two-out walk, leading to Julio Rodriguez’s line-drive RBI single to center. Josh Naylor dropped his own run-scoring hit into a left-center field gap before left fielder Jarren Duran’s errant throw in allowed Rodriguez to slide in at home to cap off the frame.

The Red Sox broke onto the scoreboard on Trevor Story’s two-out, ground-rule double down the left-field line in the fourth. Abreu led off the inning with his own double off the Green Monster.

After Miller departed, Jose A. Ferrer extinguished Boston’s second straight threat with two runners in scoring position.

In the sixth, the Mariners loaded the bases with just one hit before Pereda drove a two-run single through the middle. Arozarena followed with an RBI single to the base of the left-field wall before Canzone ripped a double off it in center.

The Red Sox made another dent in the seventh. Anthony lined a one-out, opposite-field homer to left, and Gasper and Eli White combined for back-to-back doubles, bringing in another run.

–Field Level Media

Mariners Swinging Hot Bats vs Sox

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FENWAY – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Hanging on the fringe of the American League playoff race, the Seattle Mariners will look for a series win when they meet the host Boston Red Sox on Wednesday afternoon. Seattle (65-74) has 17 runs on 25 hits in the first two games of the series, quickly brushing aside a previous four-game stretch during which the team was shut out twice and scored just four runs.

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Randy Arozarena hit his second home run in as many games in the Mariners’ 9-6 win on Tuesday, giving him seven RBIs in the series. Dominic Canzone and Lazaro Montes also went deep for Seattle, with the latter recording a multi-hit, multi-RBI game in his MLB debut.

“His energy is already felt,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said of Montes, 21, the organization’s No. 5 prospect.

Montes, who helped Seattle snap a five-game losing streak, became the first Mariner to record multiple hits in his MLB debut since Hall of Fame outfielder Ichiro Suzuki in 2001.

“I can’t describe how I feel in this moment right now. But I feel like I made it,” Montes said.

The Mariners on Wednesday will start right-hander Bryce Miller (4-8, 4.12 ERA), who has allowed five or more runs in three straight starts and had been set for a short-term return to the bullpen before an injury to Emerson Hancock (adductor) earlier this week.

Miller labored through 4 1/3 innings on a season-high 104 pitches on Aug. 23 against the Chicago Cubs, allowing six runs on two homers and seven walks in a 19-2 loss.

“I acknowledge that the last couple of outings definitely haven’t gone how I wanted them to. I think that just comes down to executing a pitch here, a pitch there, and getting outs … in the high-leverage situations,” Miller said.

He has lost all four of his career starts against Boston (0-4, 6.64 ERA), although he tossed five one-run innings on June 19.

A night after rallying for a 9-8, series-opening win in 10 innings, the Red Sox (75-64) made things interesting again on Tuesday, scoring the final five runs to trim a 9-1 deficit. However, it was too little, too late in their fifth loss in seven games.

Before Eli White and Jahmai Jones drove in two runs apiece to force in Seattle closer Andres Munoz on Tuesday, Mickey Gasper continued an incredible stretch with his seventh homer in 13 games. The New England native is hitting .394 with a 1.686 OPS over that span.

“I don’t assume (he’s going to hit a home run every game), but it’s been impressive,” Boston interim manager Chad Tracy said. “He’s taking great swings.”

Jones also cleared the wall as a pinch hitter in the ninth.

Trevor Story and Roman Anthony posted multi-hit games as they continued to reintegrate into the Boston lineup. Both were reactivated from injury stints on Sunday.

“At this point, there’s one goal,” Anthony said. “There always is, but I think even more so now entering September. Your eyes are kind of on one thing, which is playoff baseball.”

Boston’s Patrick Sandoval (1-3, 4.20 ERA) will start for the first time since losing 1-0 on Friday in the opener of a four-game set against the New York Yankees. The left-hander still is in search of his first win since Aug. 4th.

Against the Yankees, Sandoval matched a season high with seven strikeouts while allowing one run, three hits and four walks in 5 1/3 innings. The lone run was a Paul Goldschmidt blast.

Sandoval is 0-5 with a 3.04 ERA in nine career starts against the Mariners, who were an American League West rival for his six seasons with the Los Angeles Angels.

–Field Level Media

It Was Ugly

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FENWAY – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The skies over Fenway Park were dark. There was a steady rain all day long, reminding many of a cold, March gray day. It was even worse once the game started. Seattle rookie Lazaro Montes homered in his major league debut for the visiting Mariners, who scored in each of the first five innings en route to a 9-6 win over the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday night.

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All nine starters produced at least one hit for Seattle (65-74), which snapped a five-game skid with the 14-hit attack. Randy Arozarena contributed a three-run homer, and Dominic Canzone also went deep.

Montes, a 21-year-old who was promoted from Triple-A Tacoma on Tuesday, served as Seattle’s designated hitter. He was one of five Mariners with multiple hits, finishing 2-for-4 with a walk, two RBIs and two runs.

The early run support was more than enough for Bryan Woo (10-9), who struck out seven in a six-inning start. Woo allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits and one walk.

The Red Sox (75-64) trailed 9-1 before scoring a run in the sixth and two more in both the seventh and ninth. Mickey Gasper hit his seventh homer in his past 13 major league games. Jahmai Jones crushed a pinch-hit, two-run shot in the ninth, forcing Seattle closer Andres Munoz into the game to record the last two outs.

Jedixson Paez (0-1), who was recalled from Triple-A Worcester to make his first major league start and Red Sox debut, was tagged for eight runs on 10 hits in 3 2/3 innings. He walked two and fanned three as the Red Sox took their fifth loss in seven games.

Solo homers by each team’s second batter made it 1-1. Canzone got Seattle started with a blast over the bullpens in right-center field before Gasper ripped a game-tying shot to virtually the same location.

The Mariners used a five-run second inning to blow the game open, headlined by Arozarena’s towering three-run homer down the left field line. Back-to-back hits and a walk loaded the bases before Paez recorded the first out on J.P. Crawford’s sacrifice fly. Brock Rodden chopped an RBI single over first baseman Gasper to drive in a run before Arozarena went deep for the second straight night.

In the third, back-to-back-to-back singles brought home a seventh Seattle run. Montes drove in Josh Naylor on a base knock through the right side.

In the fourth, Julio Rodriguez and Cal Raleigh joined the hit parade with back-to-back doubles, increasing the Mariners’ lead to 8-1 before Paez exited.

Montes socked a solo homer to deep center leading off the fifth.

Wyatt Olds, who relieved Paez, finally held Seattle scoreless in a 1-2-3 sixth. The Red Sox got back on the board in their half of the inning, as Abreu smacked a double off the left field wall and scored as Caleb Durbin reached base on an errant throw.

The Red Sox drew closer on Eli White’s two-run double into the left field corner in the seventh.

–Field Level Media

Adley Out of Sox Lineup

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FENWAY – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston Red Sox catcher Adley Rutschman is dealing with a lingering elbow injury that kept him out of the starting lineup on Tuesday against the visiting Seattle Mariners.

Rutschman, 28, missed his second consecutive start because of discomfort from a hyperextended right elbow, which likely will be an issue for the rest of the season, interim manager Chad Tracy said Tuesday afternoon on WEEI.

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The three-time All-Star has been in and out of the lineup since initially hurting himself on a swing during an Aug. 24 game against the Miami Marlins. Rutschman last played on Sunday, going 0-for-4 with a strikeout in a 16-1 road loss to the New York Yankees.

Rutschman is batting .170 (9-for-53) in 15 games for Boston with one home run and four RBIs. He has a .254 on-base percentage and a .245 slugging percentage for a .500 OPS.

He was acquired at the MLB trade deadline on Aug. 3 from the Baltimore Orioles in a seven-player swap. Rutschman had been placed on the injured list on July 20 with inflammation in his left wrist and, after a rehab assignment, was added to the Boston roster on Aug. 11.

An All-Star this year, Rutschman batted .254 with 69 home runs and 277 RBIs in five seasons and 572 games for the Orioles.

–Field Level Media

TL’s Sunday Notes | August 30

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By TERRY LYONS, Editor-in-Chief, Digital Sports Desk (and former head of NBA International Communications)

ISTANBUL – Attending a Basketball without Borders camp for the first time since 2005 (Basketball w/o Borders – Asia (Beijing as host) with Yao Ming is making quite an impression on one former NBA International staffer. The B w/o B camp concept, created in 2000-2001, and staged in Summer of 2001 (in Treviso, Italy), was done in conjunction with the United Nations. The UN’s Zach Messite played a significant role and approached us (the NBA) with hopes to create a program to encourage healthy living amongst the youth of the world.

That evolved into a sports diplomacy mission as well, with the 2001 camp re-uniting players of five former Yugoslavian provinces via each region sending their top players to be instructed by the likes of Vlade Divac (Serbian) and Toni Kukoc (Croatian). The players had not been on speaking terms since playing as one team at the 1990 FIBA Worlds, a tournament they won. The war erupted and divided the nation znd the players.

We (at the NBA) did our small part in re-uniting them.

Pivoting from the “Doctors Without Borders” program already being run, Messite came up with the idea of “Basketball without Borders.” Commissioner David Stern and Deputy Commissioner Russ Granik gave the green light and we were off to the event planning stages. For PR and my staff back then, Helen Wong carried the torch. On Basketball Ops, it was Kim Bohuny and Bret MacTavish. NBAE, Security and NBA events staff plugged in and it was “on.”

At the time, the NBA was already working on the continent of Africa and was staging a camp tagged “Africa 100.” It was a “no-brainer” to rename that effort and the NBA began a continent-by-continent approach to staging the camps, eventually adding The Americas and Asia.

This year, the concept changed to bring the world to Istanbul with the top player prospects all in one place.

FIBA is instrumental in helping to identify the best and most deserving players without allowing any politics to get into the choices. The FIBA U-17 World Championships and their qualifiers also help scout the up & coming players.

Fast forward 25 years and the stats are staggering … check it out!

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: This year’s camp is happening because of the following NBA and FIBA players/coaches/trainers all volunteering their time:

NBA Players

Dominick Barlow – Philadelphia 76ers, USA

Saddiq Bey – New Orleans Pelicans, USA

Thomas Bryant – Cleveland Cavaliers, USA

Bub Carrington – Washington Wizards, USA

Brook Lopez – LA Clippers, USA

Khris Middleton – Washington Wizards, USA

Jalen Suggs – Orlando Magic, USA

Jabari Walker – Philadelphia 76ers, USA

NBA Coaches and Personnel

Kenny Atkinson – Cleveland Cavaliers, USA

Caron Butler – Miami Heat, USA

Dahntay Jones – LA Clippers, USA

Jannero Pargo – Indiana Pacers, USA

Lamar Skeeter – Charlotte Hornets, USA

Greg St. Jean – Los Angeles Lakers, USA

Ekpe Udoh – Atlanta Hawks, USA (ties to Nigeria)

James White – Minnesota Timberwolves, USA

NBA and FIBA Legends

Vlade Divac – NBA and FIBA Legend, Serbia

Danilo Gallinari – NBA and FIBA Legend, Italy

Camp Directors

Chris Ebersole – Los Angeles Lakers USA

Prosper Karangwa – Philadelphia 76ers, Canada/Rwanda

Adam Simon – Miami Heat, USA

Mike Zarren – Boston Celtics, USA

Strength and Conditioning Personnel

Isaiah West – Brooklyn Nets, USA

Emily Zaler – Philadelphia 76ers, USA

Athletic Trainers

Dan Shimensky – Denver Nuggets, USA

Casey Smith – New York Knicks, USA
The Blue Mosque along the Bosphorus River (Europe/Asia)

That list is an amazing combination of people who are all spending their time in the No. 1 world class city of Istanbul – which happens to be home HQ for our NBA Basketball School – Türkiye. To say the synergy is working would be an understatement.

Now consider these historical numbers for B w/o B:

  • B w/o B has been a platform for more than 4,900 participants from 149 countries and territories since 2001.
  • As of 2026, there are 155 former campers advancing to the NBA or WNBA.
  • The NBA and FIBA have staged 86 B w/o B camps in 56 cities across 36 countries on six continents.
  • More than 50 former B w/o B campers were among the record 135 international players on opening-night rosters last season, including 2026 NBA All-Stars Deni Avdija (Portland Trail Blazers; Israel; B w/o B Europe 2018; B w/o B All-Star 2019), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander(Oklahoma City Thunder; Canada; B w/o B All-Star 2016), Jamal Murray (Denver Nuggets; Canada; B w/o B All-Star 2015) and Pascal Siakam (Indiana Pacers; Cameroon; B w/o B Africa 2012).

The Players participating as campers here in Istanbul are the Top 78 17-year old men’s players in the world. The NBA stages similar camps for women, including a wonderful annual event at the NBA All-Star Game.

Jose Dias – Angola

Facundo Mathieu – Argentina

Enzo Roth – Argentina

Riak Akhuar – Australia

John Aryang – Australia

Yahya Basaran – Australia

Antonio Browne – Australia

William Troy Hamilton – Australia

Manu Agbason – Azerbaijan

Hassan Oshobuge Abdulkadir – Bahrain

Aaron Ona Embo – Belgium

Imran Subasic – Bosnia

Lucas Moro – Brazil

Victor Santos – Brazil

Isaiah Clarke – Canada

Noah D’Acre – Canada

Kenyon St. Louis – Canada

Kingston Thomas – Canada

Boran Yue – China

Zhanfeng Zhou – China

Marek Houska – Czech Republic

Martin Sibal – Czech Republic

Martin Simko – Czech Republic

Neora Francis Ossete Toly – Democratic Republic of the Congo

Lucas Troels-Smith – Denmark

Malvin Duran – Dominican Republic

Robert Kangur – Estonia

Mathias Fabien – France

Messi Yangala – France

Mansour Bayo – The Gambia

Mamadou Samba – The Gambia

Herbert Roland Senghore – The Gambia

Lucai Anderson – Germany

Paul Plato – Germany

Caspar Vossenberg – Germany

Angelos Zoupas – Greece

Vince Gaspar – Hungary

Lapo Santini – Italy

Minty Jean-Philippe Dylan Oka – Ivory Coast

Gabrielius Buivydas – Lithuania

Jokubas Kukta – Lithuania

Kristupas Sabeckas – Lithuania

Luca Balducci – Mexico

Yair Olano – Mexico

Luka Malovic – Montenegro

Marko Popovic – Montenegro

Tawhiri Cate – New Zealand

Liam Keogh – New Zealand

Zach Rampton – New Zealand

Justin Akengbowa – Nigeria

Kalu Miracle Ebubechukwu – Nigeria

Prince Carino – Philippines

Lukasz Lysek – Poland

Miguel Sousa – Portugal

Dwight Gaines – Puerto Rico

Ameer Hausawi – Qatar

Azam Yakan – Qatar

Serigne Saliou Mbodji – Senegal

Petar Bjelica – Serbia

Matija Lukic – Serbia

Ognjen Simjanovski – Serbia

Lun Jarc – Slovenia

Taejoon Park – South Korea

Emmanuel Aguer Majak – South Sudan

Eghosa Odeje – Spain

Troy Hilamani Kaufusi – Tonga

Abderahmen Bouguerra – Tunisia

Adem Rafrafi – Tunisia

Besir Briant – Turkey

Darius Karutasu – Turkey

Ruzgar Opcun – Turkey

Demir Ozturk – Turkey

Omer Sik – Turkey

Dmytro Datsenko Ukraine

Oliver Bishop – United Kingdom

Maxx Tjongondjoza – United Kingdom

Kevin Gutierrez – Venezuela

Julio Vasquez – Venezuela

Remember those names, maybe to be seen at an NBA or college basketball arena near you someday soon.

And, remember Matija Lukic – Serbia who won the “Kim Bohuny” MVP award.
Packed house at Türkiye Basketball Federation’s gym (Photo by T. Peter Lyons)

TIDBITS & NUGGETS: What’s the new motto! – “When in Istanbul, attend a FIBA World Qualifying Tournament game!” – That big game was played Friday night at 9:00pm (local) and it coincided with FIBA World Cup qualifying games being played all over the world.

Türkiye drubbed Lithuania, 94-66, after jumping out to a 27-13 1st Quarter lead and they never looked back.

For the USA Basketball qualifying squad, the venue was in Chile and the USA Men’s World Cup Qualifying (Window 4) Team handling their business in front of a capacity crowd in Santiago, 89-71.

Red Sox: A Bronx Fail

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BRONX – (Wire Service Report) – Heliot Ramos delivered his biggest hit for his new team when his three-run homer capped a five-run fifth inning and helped the New York Yankees roll to a 16-1 victory over the visiting Boston Red Sox on Sunday afternoon.

The Yankees won for the 10th time in 14 games and moved four games ahead of the Red Sox for the AL’s top-wild card spot. New York also won seven of the 13 meetings to secure the season series and the tiebreaker should the rivals finish tied at the end of the regular season.

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Austin Wells hit a pair of two-run homers in a nine-run eighth after entering the game as a pinch hitter for the Yankees. Jose Caballero hit a three-run homer in the eighth off infielder Andruw Monasterio, who also served up Wells’ second homer of the inning.

Ramos staked New York to a 5-0 lead when he lifted a 1-2 curveball from Boston starter Ranger Suarez (5-4) into the left field seats for his first homer since being obtained from the San Francisco Giants at the trade deadline. Ramos’ 416-foot drive was his first homer since July 20, and the outfielder had his first multi-hit game as a Yankee while also drawing a pair of walks.

Paul Goldschmidt started that inning with a two-run single that got by Suarez and past Boston’s drawn-in infielders.

Goldschmidt’s clutch hit occurred after Boston center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela could not complete a running catch on Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s sinking liner. Rafaela caught the ball, but umpires determined his glove was touching the grass and the original call was upheld after Boston challenged.

Wells lifted a sacrifice fly in the sixth and Amed Rosario contributed an RBI single in the seventh as the Yankees totaled 25 runs on 31 hits in the final two games of the four-game series. Goldschmidt added a solo homer for New York’s 10th run in the eighth.

New York’s Will Warren (9-6) allowed one run on six hits in seven-plus innings. The right-hander struck out seven and walked one before exiting to a nice ovation from the crowd after allowing an RBI single to Nick Sogard.

Suarez was tagged for season highs of six runs and nine hits in 5 1/3 innings.

–Field Level Media