Former United States men's national team coach Bruce Arena has criticized the appointment of current head coach Mauricio Pochettino, saying that a non-American lacks the necessary understanding of the country's culture.

Argentine coach Pochettino was appointed last August with the task of leading the USMNT into the 2026 World Cup, which will be jointly hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

He is far from the first non-American coach of the USMNT. German Jurgen Klinsmann led the team between 2011 and 2016 and Serbian Bora Milutinović took charge of the USMNT the previous time it hosted the World Cup, in 1994. Coaches from England, Poland and Greece, among others, have also led the team over the years.

But Arena, now coach of the San Jose Earthquakes in MLS, made it clear he is not a fan of the approach.

"You know if you look at every national team in the world, the coach is usually a domestic coach," Arena said on the "Unfiltered Soccer" podcast with former USMNT stalwarts Landon Donovan and Tim Howard.

"And I think when you have coaches that don't know our culture, our environment, our players, it's hard. I'm sure our coach is a very good coach, but coaching international football is different than club football, it's a completely different job.

"And I think when you're a national team coach, you need to know your environment, you need to know the animals you coach, and we're lacking that. If you're an American coaching the U.S. team, you know the culture, you know the pride and how important the national team is. I think when you bring in somebody from the outside, they don't understand it, especially in our country, because we're so different."

The USMNT is coming off a disappointing two games in the Concacaf Nations League Finals last month, when it lost to Panama in the semifinals before falling to Canada in the third-place playoff.

Over the course of the international window, Pochettino openly questioned the team's mentality and character. He echoed those sentiments in an interview published Tuesday, saying talent alone would not be enough to earn a place on the roster for this summer's Gold Cup.

The focus remains on next summer, when the U.S. will be looking to at least match its best World Cup performance in modern times -- when Arena led it to the quarterfinals in 2002.

And Arena, whose short second spell in 2017 ended in failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, expressed concern over whether the USMNT would be ready to challenge the world's best.

"You ask me if we lacked pride, I'm watching and I'm shocked. I'm shocked that we can't beat Panama and Canada," he added. "It was shocking to me.

"I don't want to be disrespectful. I want them to do great in the World Cup, there's no question about it. But we only have a year left now. Time is running out, and they got to get going."

Wrexham have been branded a "circus" by Charlton Athletic manager Nathan Jones ahead of Saturday's showdown between the promotion-hunting League One sides.

Wrexham, owned by Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, are bidding for their third successive promotion in English football and sit two points above Wycombe Wanderers and four above Charlton in the fight for the final automatic promotion spot, which would take them to the Championship.

With just two games remaining, fourth-placed Charlton visit the Stok Racecourse on Saturday for a crucial clash that could both seal Wrexham's promotion -- if Wycombe fail to win -- or open the battle wide open.

Jones, the Welsh boss of Charlton, has upped the ante beforehand.

"All we do is take a game as it comes," Jones said after his side beat Wycombe 4-0 on Monday. "We are not looking at the playoffs, we are not looking at Burton at home on the final game.

"We'll finish, we'll debrief, we'll breathe a little bit and then we'll move forward with Wrexham.

"It's a bumper game, we have to go to the circus and see what we can get."

Both teams head into the game in fine form, with Wrexham unbeaten in their last eight and Charlton their last six -- picking up 16 points from a possible 18 in the process.

Wrexham could be promoted this weekend if they win and Wycombe fail to beat Leyton Orient, while Charlton need a victory as well as help on the final day to have a chance of automatic promotion. Stockport County are a point behind Charlton in fifth with extremely slim hopes of a top-two finish.

Two wins for Wrexham -- against Charlton and Lincoln City -- would assure their place in the Championship, which is one tier below the Premier League.

The teams that finish third, fourth, fifth and six will enter a playoff, with the winner joining champions Birmingham City and the second-place finishers in the league above.

Real Madrid's 2024-25 season: discuss. The team's elimination in the Champions League quarterfinals to Arsenal, 5-1 on aggregate, has unleashed a predictable storm of recrimination, soul-searching and mud-slinging in the Spanish capital.

"Humiliated" Marca's frontpage said, the morning after Madrid's comprehensive 3-0 defeat at the Emirates. "It was just a dream," Diario AS admitted a week later, when Madrid's comeback hopes were thwarted in a deflating 2-1 loss at the Bernabéu.

No one -- not the players for their output and work rate, not coach Carlo Ancelotti for his tactics and game management, nor club president Florentino Pérez for the squad's shortcomings -- has escaped criticism. There have been whistles from the Bernabéu crowd for the team's stars, Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior. The atmosphere for Ancelotti's postmatch news conference after the second leg against Arsenal was funereal. In hushed tones, Ancelotti was asked if he'd still be in charge when the FIFA Club World Cup begins in June; if this was his last Champions League game as a manager; if he'd consider walking away from the job.

That Madrid were only four points off the top of LaLiga -- that was extended to seven points on Tuesday night when Barcelona beat Mallorca 1-0, with Real Madrid then playing at Getafe on Wednesday -- felt like an afterthought. So did the fact that the team were just days away from the opportunity to win another trophy, in Saturday's Copa del Rey final against Barcelona in Seville (stream LIVE at 3 p.m. ET on ESPN+). Madrid being in a position to win a domestic Double, when the team have been so unconvincing, for so much of the season, is an inconvenient truth.

Madrid have lost 11 games in 2024-25. They have been thrashed 4-0 and 5-2 by Barcelona. In Europe, they lost 3-1 to AC Milan at the Bernabéu, and 2-0 to Liverpool at Anfield. In LaLiga, in 2025 alone, they have lost to Espanyol, Real Betis and Valencia. They have spent most of the season missing their two best defenders, Éder Militão and Dani Carvajal. The front four of Mbappé, Vinícius, Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo have often appeared entirely disconnected from the rest of the team. And the only player who's looked like making sense of it all has been Dani Ceballos.

But here they are, in late April, with at least some chance of winning two major trophies -- three, if you count the inaugural Club World Cup. It makes you wonder: how good, or how bad, are this Real Madrid team, really? And is minor or major surgery required to make them Champions League contenders again?

"Compared to last year, we've lacked a bit of collective attitude," Ancelotti said last week, after Madrid's Champions League title defence came to an end. It was a typically understated, but also damning assessment of his team's season, and his own inability to successfully knit his players into a cohesive unit. Because isn't "collective attitude" what a team sport like football is all about?

One of Ancelotti's favourite phrases during Madrid's 2023-24 Double-winning campaign was "collective commitment," constantly praising the side's lack of egos, and the willingness of superstars like Bellingham and Vinícius to put their talents at the service of the team. In 2024-25, that's disappeared. And Ancelotti has admitted as much. "We've lacked a bit of balance in the team ... It's a collective problem," he said in February, and added last month: "We've been clinical up front, and less solid in defence. Those are the characteristics of the team this year."

That same month, before Real squeezed past Atlético Madrid on penalties in the Champions League round of 16, Ancelotti offered a binary assessment of his squad. "There are two types of players," he said. "Those who run, and those who make the difference. You can't be in the middle. Either you run, or you make the difference."

And too often this season, running has been the issue. Against Arsenal, in the first leg in London, Madrid's players covered 101.2 kilometres (62.8 miles), compared to Arsenal's 113.9km. In the second leg, when Madrid -- spurred on by the Bernabéu crowd -- needed to produce another miraculous European remontada (comeback), they covered 108.1km, compared to Arsenal's 117.6km.

"You always give yourself a better chance if you run more," said midfielder Bellingham, who has cut a frustrated figure lately. "Fourteen kilometres is almost the equivalent to [what] one player [covers], so logically, it impacts the game. Last year was similar. We didn't always run the most, but we were in organised positions, knowing where to run, what spaces to cover. It's about finding a balance: running a lot, and knowing where to run."

On any number of metrics, there has been a drop-off between the team's defensive performance between 2023-24 and 2024-25. Madrid conceded 26 goals in 38 LaLiga games last season, or 0.68 goals per game. They have conceded 31 in 32 this campaign -- 0.97 goals per game, so far. It's a difference for which even the addition of Mbappé, with his firepower, hasn't been able to compensate. In 2023-24, Madrid's players made 1,766 ball recoveries over 38 league games, winning the ball back an average of 46.5 times per game. In 2024-25, they've made 1,298 ball recoveries so far, averaging 40.6 recoveries per game.

Bellingham is right: distance covered isn't everything. But it's an eye-catching statistic that Mbappé and Vinícius are the two outfield players, in all of LaLiga, who spend the most time walking, rather than running. Maybe a team can afford to accommodate one difference-making star forward who prefers to conserve their energy out of possession. But can they afford to embrace two? Mbappé, Vinícius and Bellingham have contributed plenty in attack -- the trio have 56 goals and assists in LaLiga between them, although both Vinícius (11 goals, five assists) and Bellingham (eight goals, seven assists) are down on last season's tallies -- but there's been a weakening of the team as a whole.

"Sometimes, maybe we have to play more as a team, and less as individuals," goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois said after losing to Arsenal at the Bernabéu. "If [opponents] double-mark Viní or Kylian, it's two-on-one. [A goal] might come off once, but not three, four or five times ... We put a lot of crosses in, but this year we don't have a Joselu to win those duels, to be a natural centre-forward up front."

Madrid played 43 crosses in that game, with Joselu and Rodrygo providing 11 each, and Lucas Vázquez delivering five. As game plans go, it felt rudimentary, and a little desperate.

After a disappointing European exit, the mood around Real Madrid is low and Ancelotti's future is in doubt. But they still have the Copa del Rey final and are battling for the LaLiga title with a team packed full of stars. How much needs to change for them to be back to their best?

Courtois' name-check of Joselu -- a useful squad player, on loan from Espanyol, who single-handedly fired Madrid into last season's Champions League final in extremis, with a three-minute brace against Bayern Munich as a substitute at the Bernabéu -- was a reminder of what this year's squad are missing. Players like Joselu (with 10 league goals) and another departure, club captain Nacho (with 29 league appearances), weren't stars, or even guaranteed starters. But they have been missed, above all as characters and example-setters, as has Carvajal -- still present, but absent since October with a serious knee injury. Other veterans like Luka Modrić, 39, and 33-year-old Vázquez have remained but are showing their present-day limitations.

Madrid's squad-building -- both going into this season, and when given the chance to reassess in January -- has been exposed as undercooked and over-optimistic. The shortage at centre-back, with no replacement for Nacho, has been dealt with by the fortuitous emergence of Raúl Asencio, 22. But Vázquez has not been able to adequately deputise for Carvajal, and the retirement of Toni Kroos left a vacuum in the heart of the team. Kroos was the midfield conductor, effortlessly setting the tempo. Ceballos has done his best to compensate, his Kroos-esque 95% pass completion in LaLiga being the squad's best.

Will crashing out of the Champions League -- with a verdict yet to be delivered in LaLiga and the Copa del Rey -- be enough to spur Madrid into remedying these shortcomings this summer? The first arrival is expected to be a right-back in Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold. A source told ESPN last month that Madrid are now "very optimistic" about signing the 26-year-old, the latest -- after Mbappé, Antonio Rüdiger and David Alaba -- in a series of free-transfer signings of high-profile players in their peak years. It remains to be seen how the England international would co-exist with a fit-again Carvajal, a very different kind of full-back, and not yet over the hill at 33.

ESPN has also reported that Madrid have been looking closely at a move for Bournemouth and Spain centre-back Dean Huijsen, as another step in rejuvenating the defence. There would be competition for the 20-year-old from the Premier League, though, and his 50 million release clause would represent a substantial investment.

Madrid's income is rising, topping 1 billion in 2023-24. It is expected to grow again in 2024-25, with increasing matchday revenue from the Bernabéu, where the refurbishment project is nearly complete. But Madrid are still reluctant to spend big on transfer fees, for anything less than the very best young talent globally.

New recruits will only strengthen the team so far, if a functioning system can't be found into which they can fit. And this is where criticism of Ancelotti -- a manager with unmatched experience, who has delivered two Champions Leagues and two LaLiga titles since returning to the club in 2021 -- is loudest, and truest.

When available, the Italian has insisted on picking all four of Mbappé (29 league appearances), Rodrygo (29), Vinícius and Bellingham (both 26) in the same XI. That hasn't proved easy to square with Ancelotti's preference for an old-school shape when out of possession. "My preferred system is 4-4-2 without the ball," Ancelotti said on Sunday. "Defensively, I think it's the best system."

But defensively is just where this team has struggled to convince, with those four players crammed into the side, and often unwilling to track back. And whether by personal preference, or under pressure from executive level, Ancelotti has been unwilling to drop one of the forwards for an extra body in midfield. Would a new coach be bold enough, or have more leeway, to act differently? Or would they be subject to just the same constraints, and in-house politics?

Ancelotti refused to discuss his future under repeated questioning in a news conference on Saturday, limiting himself to denying any behind-the-scenes rift with Pérez and the club. "There's no clash. We're all in the same boat," he said, pointing to the trophies still at stake. "I don't want to talk about my future today."

But when punting any verdict on the team, and his job, until "the end of the season," Ancelotti wouldn't say whether that meant before, or after, the Club World Cup.

Madrid play their first group game against Al Hilal in Miami on June 18, with the final taking place on July 13. FIFA's new tournament is an additional complication for any planned summer changing of the guard. Under normal circumstances, a coach could be fired at the end of the domestic season in late May, and a replacement appointed with months to bed in and prepare for the new campaign in mid-August.

If the decision has been made to part ways with Ancelotti, it wouldn't make much sense to keep him around for the Club World Cup. But equally, it would be highly unusual for a successor, such as Bayer Leverkusen's Xabi Alonso -- who has long been reported by ESPN to be Madrid's No. 1 choice -- to begin their reign by diving headfirst into a tournament, with what is effectively still another coach's team. An interim, internal appointment for the Club World Cup, such as the reliable former manager Santi Solari, now the club's director of football, or RM Castilla coach Raúl González might prove an attractive compromise.

But the Club World Cup is still two months away. Madrid play a cup final Clásico in three days' time, and six title-deciding league games in the next month, starting with Getafe away, and peaking when they face Barcelona again at Montjuïc on May 11.

If Madrid's meek Champions League exit felt like the beginning of the end, their performance in those seven matches -- especially the pair against Barcelona -- will seal Ancelotti's fate, and dictate how radical a rebuild is required this summer.

Three-time Olympic gold medalist Faith Kipyegon, the world-record holder for the women's mile, announced Wednesday that she will attempt to become the first woman to break the four-minute mile.

"I'm a three-time Olympic champion. I've achieved world championship titles. I thought: What else? Why not dream outside the box?" Kipyegon said in a statement.

Kipyegon will try to run a sub-four-minute mile June 26 at Stade Charléty in Paris, the culmination of a yearlong Nike project dubbed "Breaking 4." Nike believes Stade Charléty is the optimal location for her attempt because of its rubber track and because Kipyegon has run her fastest 1,500- and 5,000-meter times there. The precise time will be based on weather conditions.

Kipyegon, 31, set the world record in the women's mile of 4:07.64 at the Monaco Diamond League race in July 2023, shaving nearly five seconds off the previous record, which stood for four years. The Kenyan runner won the past three Olympic gold medals and holds the world record in the 1,500 meters and previously held the world record in the 5,000 meters.

Dropping nearly 8 seconds from her current world record, set only two years ago, is a mammoth goal. It has taken women more than 30 years to shave the same amount of time off the world record.

"In talking with Faith, we saw instantly her courage in taking on this challenge. It's a big goal to shave 8 seconds off the mile, but she feels ready," Seema Simmons, Nike's vice president of global women's running, told ESPN. "She's challenging decades of incremental progress in a very short span of time."

In 2017, Kenyan runner Eliud Kipchoge ran a marathon in 2:00:25 for a similar Nike project called "Breaking 2," which aimed at breaking the two-hour marathon barrier. A second attempt at the barrier in 2019 saw him run 1:59:40.2 for the Ineos 1:59 Challenge. Neither run was recognized as a world record because the conditions of the race, including the use of a rotating cast of pace-setters to shield Kipchoge from the wind, broke with the sport's official rules.

Because Kipyegon's attempt in June also will not meet her sport's official standards, her time will not be recognized if she eclipses her world record.

But that's not the only point of the project.

"Faith's goal is not just about her breaking a four-minute mile, and that's what's special," Amy Jones Vaterlaus, vice president at the Nike Sport Research Lab, told ESPN. "It is grounded in her legacy around confidence and ambition for women and girls. She says she wants them to see they can dream their dream."

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Notre Dame's quarterback competition will continue into the summer, as freshman CJ Carr and sophomore Kenny Minchey will vie for the top job after senior Steve Angeli entered the transfer portal.

Angeli, who served as Notre Dame's primary backup the past two seasons and led a key scoring drive in the CFP semifinal win against Penn State, had the most experience entering the spring. But he entered the portal Thursday, before Notre Dame had wrapped up its spring session. All three quarterbacks played April 12 in the Blue-Gold Game, when Carr performed best with 170 passing yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception.

"Both, we believe, have the ability to be the starting quarterback," coach Marcus Freeman said Wednesday of Carr and Minchey, who has appeared in four games in two seasons at Notre Dame. "Both have done a tremendous job improving through spring practice."

Freeman and offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock said all three quarterbacks performed well during the spring, but dividing practice reps into thirds limited the evaluation. Notre Dame expected to reduce the candidate pool before the summer.

Notre Dame is replacing starting quarterback Riley Leonard, a transfer from Duke who helped the Irish to their first three CFP wins and a spot in the national title game. The Irish have gone with experienced transfers at quarterback in the past two seasons with Leonard (Duke) and Sam Hartman (Wake Forest) in 2023.

"I don't know that our goal was necessarily to name a starter at the end of the spring, as much as it was to identify, 'OK, let's get this to a manageable number,' which most people would agree is two, and then allow those guys to battle," Denbrock told ESPN. "The final decision, obviously, was a very difficult one to make. Who are you going to have a hard conversation with out of that group? Because we can win, in my opinion, with any of those guys."

Minchey, a Tennessee native, was ESPN's No. 5 dual-threat quarterback recruit in the 2023 class. He has only three career pass attempts and two runs. Carr, the grandson of former Michigan coach Lloyd Carr, was the No. 2 pocket passer and No. 36 overall recruit in 2024. He redshirted last season after an injury to his throwing elbow surfaced in late September, but he did not require surgery and went through the spring at full strength.

Freeman said Notre Dame would have named a starter if one quarterback had clearly separated himself, but added he was "never put into a situation where I felt like we needed to." The next Irish starter will play behind an offensive line filled with starting experience, and throw to a group of receivers that Freeman and Denbrock think will be significantly deeper.

Notre Dame will resume practices in the summer ahead of a challenging opening stretch that begins Aug. 31 at Miami, followed by hosting Texas A&M on Sept. 13.

"Neither of them have played meaningful plays snaps in a game, so when you have a QB competition, you put them in some of those pressure situations before they have to go do it," Freeman told ESPN. "I love competition, period, so I'm excited for the future of our quarterback room."

Cincinnati transfer Dillon Mitchell has committed to St. John's, sources told ESPN, likely cementing the Red Storm as a preseason top-five team.

Mitchell, who visited St. John's earlier this month, spent last season with the Bearcats after beginning his career with two seasons at Texas.

A 6-foot-8 forward, Mitchell was a top-five recruit and McDonald's All American coming out of high school in 2022. He averaged 9.9 points and 6.9 rebounds for the Bearcats last season, shooting better than 61% from the field.

Mitchell is the fifth member of Rick Pitino's elite portal class, joining Ian Jackson (North Carolina), Bryce Hopkins (Providence), Joson Sanon (Arizona State) and Oziyah Sellers (Stanford).

Those five players -- all ranked among ESPN's top 100 transfers -- will combine with first-team All-Big East selection Zuby Ejiofor to form the core of the Red Storm's 2025-26 roster.

Mitchell's versatility and two-way ability adds valuable frontcourt depth for the Red Storm. He is explosive athletically, which shows up defensively and in transition. He should allow St. John's to play bigger -- with Mitchell in a power forward role and Hopkins on the wing -- or smaller -- with Mitchell in a small-ball center position and four perimeter players around him.

Prior to the addition of Mitchell, St. John's was No. 3 in ESPN's Way-Too-Early Top 25.

FOUR MONTHS BEFORE Nico Iamaleava shocked the college football world by leaving Tennessee for UCLA, signs of his discontent were apparent.

On Dec. 28, hours before the winter transfer portal window closed, Tennessee sources say Iamaleava's representatives, including his father, Nic, reached out to the Tennessee NIL collective, Spyre Sports Group, and were looking to increase Iamaleava's pay for 2025 to around $4 million. Hitting that target would put him closer to the amount eventually procured by transfer quarterbacks Carson Beck (Miami) and Darian Mensah (Duke) during the winter portal. Iamaleava was set to make around $2.4 million at Tennessee this year, sources said.

Sources close to the quarterback deny they were seeking $4 million.

Iamaleava wasn't returning phone calls from coaches at this point. Sources close to the quarterback said he needed to take a "mental break" following the Vols' 42-17 loss to eventual national champion Ohio State in the first round of the College Football Playoff, but they acknowledged that they did seriously consider entering his name in the portal.

Tennessee sources say they believe the Iamaleavas reached out to several schools, including Miami, Ole Miss and Oregon, to gauge interest. Tennessee coach Josh Heupel was seemingly able to smooth things over and keep Nico on board for 2025, but the quarterback did not receive a new deal or more money.

But while the deterioration of the relationship between Iamaleava and Tennessee was months in the making, the whirlwind that followed his decision to skip practice on April 11 -- a day ahead of Tennessee's spring game -- and enter the transfer portal was dizzying.

Coaches and teammates attempted to reach him that day, a Friday, but were met with silence.

"As the day went on, it started to become obvious. He was gone and wasn't coming back," a Tennessee source said.

A little more than a week later, Iamaleava had signed with UCLA. A source described Iamaleava's UCLA agreement as paying him less than what he was earning at Tennessee but more than the $1.5 million that some have reported. A day after UCLA announced Iamaleava's signing, the Bruins' expected starting quarterback, Joey Aguilar, left and reportedly joined ... Tennessee.

It became the crystallization of college football in 2025 in which million-dollar quarterbacks can become free agents every season and Power 4 starters can essentially be swapped for each other. The ripple effects will be felt far into next season, when the fortunes of a Tennessee team with playoff aspirations and a UCLA squad under pressure to turn things around quickly hang in the balance.

How did a once-promising relationship between school and QB fall apart so swiftly? What does Iamaleava's big move mean for UCLA? And what comes next for both sides after the most prominent college football breakup in recent memory?

THE DAY OF Iamaleava's no-show at Tennessee, UCLA coach DeShaun Foster spoke with ESPN about the start to the Bruins' spring practice session. Foster had completed his first full offseason leading the program and had made key changes to the coaching staff and to the roster, including the additions of offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri and Aguilar, a transfer from Appalachian State.

Foster was complimentary of Aguilar during the interview. UCLA was prepared to "lean on" Aguilar's experience, especially with Sunseri coming in from Indiana and installing a new offense.

"I don't want to say he's just a pocket passer, but he does a good job of getting the ball out of his hand, anticipating some throws," Foster said. "Being that this is a new system for him, I just like the way he's approaching each practice. You can just tell that he's getting more vocal, he's getting more comfortable, and he's been able to assert his leadership a little bit more."

But by the end of the day, UCLA's quarterback situation seemed foggier because of what was happening more than 2,000 miles away in Knoxville. Once Iamaleava was officially in the transfer portal, the Bruins emerged as the front-runners for the Southern California native practically by default.

Sources close to Iamaleava were confident he could secure a deal for more than $4 million at his next school, but he was working with little leverage. SEC players cannot transfer to another SEC program in the spring and immediately play in the fall, so those schools weren't involved. Iamaleava's absence from the Friday practice also created a perception among coaches that he had attempted a holdout.

High-profile players and their reps seeking offseason pay raises is nothing new in the era of NIL and the portal, especially this year with the imminent arrival of revenue sharing. But rarely do these discussions devolve into a public feud.

"It's been going on in a lot of programs for a while," a Power 4 personnel director said. "You just don't hear about it. It's happening more than people think. It's just public because it's Tennessee and it's Nico."

Sources at USC, Notre Dame, North Carolina, Texas Tech and several other Power 4 programs told ESPN they weren't getting involved with Iamaleava. Some had quarterbacks locked in; others were hesitant to deal with Iamaleava's representatives. The Bruins, meanwhile, were debating whether to move forward but would be interested if the price was right.

Although UCLA had been pleased with Aguilar as a good fit for Sunseri's offense, it also viewed Iamaleava as a clear upgrade. He had started a full season for an SEC team that went to the CFP. UCLA recognized some of the drama in Iamaleava's orbit, but the player himself was well-liked by those inside the Tennessee program until his no-show and was fairly productive on the field while staying healthy. Iamaleava passed for 2,616 yards and 19 touchdowns, but in his eight SEC games and the playoff game against Ohio State, he passed for more than 200 yards only twice.

"If it wasn't a local kid, it would've been a little bit more difficult. But being able to see him play in high school and evaluating that film at Tennessee wasn't hard to do," Foster said. "A lot of the kids on the team know him and have played with him."

IAMALEAVA'S ATTEMPTED NIL renegotiation was just the start of a tumultuous offseason. It soon became increasingly evident to those at Tennessee that Iamaleava's camp was looking into options elsewhere.

Multiple sources at Tennessee told ESPN that Iamaleava missed two offseason workouts in February and that his father told Tennessee coaches that Iamaleava's attorney advised him to skip workouts until he worked things out with Spyre. Iamaleava's camp contends the absence was over a payment issue with Spyre. A Spyre representative told ESPN that there were no missed payments. Nic Iamaleava could not be reached for comment. The quarterback returned to workouts the next week, but his NIL deal remained unchanged.

Before Tennessee's spring practices began in March, school officials were alerted by Oregon's staff that Iamaleava's camp had contacted the Ducks inquiring about their interest, according to sources at Oregon and Tennessee. Oregon told the Iamaleava camp it wasn't interested.

Sources close to Iamaleava told ESPN that the family's primary concern in the offseason was less about his compensation and more about Tennessee's efforts to build up a better supporting cast on offense. Those close to Iamaleava were concerned about pass protection and his overall health. Iamaleava sat out the second half of the Mississippi State game after a concussion, but he went through the concussion protocol and was cleared the next week by medical personnel and played against Georgia.

Those in Iamaleava's camp expected Heupel to shore up the offensive line and reload at wide receiver this offseason, with one source saying the coach made "false promises" about those efforts. When asked to respond, Heupel declined to comment through a university spokesperson, saying he was done talking about Iamaleava.

The Vols must replace four starting offensive linemen in 2025 and brought in two transfers who had been starters, Arizona's Wendell Moe Jr. and Notre Dame's Sam Pendleton, as well as five-star freshman tackle David Sanders, who was part of a 2025 recruiting class ranked 11th nationally by ESPN. The receiving corps will feature considerable youth in 2025 after Dont'e Thornton Jr. and Bru McCoy graduated and Squirrel White transferred to Florida State.

The lone wideout added via the portal in January, Alabama's Amari Jefferson, is a redshirt freshman. Former five-star recruit Mike Matthews will be a sophomore next season after catching only seven passes in limited opportunities in 2024. Matthews and fellow freshman Boo Carter, who will play receiver and defensive back next season, both considered entering the winter portal before agreeing to return to Tennessee.

"You kept hearing rumblings all spring that [Iamaleava] one way or the other wouldn't be here in the fall," one Tennessee source told ESPN. "A lot of people were surprised he missed that practice, but it wasn't the first time he missed something he was supposed to be at, so I don't know if anybody should have really been that surprised."

According to Tennessee sources, talks continued into the spring between the collective and Iamaleava's side. There had been opportunities in place for Iamaleava to make "well into the six figures" in additional NIL earnings, one source said, if he agreed to certain appearances and requests, but he declined to do so.

Even though Iamaleava participated in spring practice, sources told ESPN that a general uneasiness still lingered throughout the program and athletic department about whether the quarterback would stick around for the 2025 season.

"We were just hoping we could make it to December [2025], and then we knew he was gone, either to the NFL or transferring somewhere else," a source within the Tennessee program said.

AS TENNESSEE'S SPRING practice reached its final week, sources said Iamaleava told at least one teammate after the Vols' Wednesday practice that he planned to enter the transfer portal on the Sunday after the spring game.

"I'm getting in the portal, if you need to handle your business," Iamaleava said as he was walking off the practice field, according to a Tennessee player who heard him say it.

One of the teammates went to Heupel to alert him. Heupel met with Iamaleava to make sure everything was OK and didn't mention anything about the information coming from teammates, and Iamaleava assured his coach that everything was good and that it was "all a bunch of rumors."

The following day, a report from On3 emerged that Iamaleava and Tennessee were in "active negotiations" for a new deal. Iamaleava's camp tells a wholly different story. Cordell Landers, an adviser who previously worked as assistant director of player personnel at Florida under Dan Mullen, and Iamaleava's father took to social media to adamantly deny that negotiations were taking place.

Iamaleava does not have an agent. His team of advisers includes his father and Landers, who has been close with Nic since high school, as well as sports attorney Michael Huyghue, the former commissioner of the United Football League.

Sources close to the quarterback insist they've had zero conversions with Heupel or Spyre since January regarding his deal and deny they were seeking $4 million, even going so far as to suggest Nico was already making that much. "The family is happy with Tennessee," a source told ESPN that night, in response to the On3 report. "Nico is happy. We're good." But the report itself sowed far more distrust and a suspicion that Tennessee coaches or the NIL collective was responsible for leaking information.

"It was a false narrative and they took that s--- and ran with it," a source close to Iamaleava said. "It became bigger than what it was, when it wasn't even the case."

As his phone blew up Thursday with calls and texts, Iamaleava was blindsided. He still attended a dinner along with his fellow Tennessee quarterbacks Thursday night at the home of Joey Halzle, Tennessee's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

But later that night, sources close to Iamaleava say he reached his breaking point. He couldn't understand why the reports were coming out, where they came from or whom he could trust going forward, and he felt pressured to make a decision about his future. He was ready to leave, sources said, but his father encouraged him to sleep on the decision.

That next morning, Iamaleava didn't show up for Friday's practice or meetings and didn't alert anyone in the program.

Nic Iamaleava urged his son to go in and meet face-to-face with Heupel and his coaches to work things out, but Iamaleava felt betrayed, sources said, and did not speak with Heupel on Friday. Several people within the Vols' program tried to reach out to the quarterback to no avail.

"He's hurt and he's disappointed," a source close to Iamaleava said Friday morning. "They're making him look like the villain and the scapegoat."

On Friday night, Iamaleava called Halzle to inform him that he was completing his paperwork and planned to enter the transfer portal when it opened April 16.

"He was never a troublemaker," a Tennessee source said, "worked hard and didn't cause problems in the locker room. He was quiet and kept to himself a lot, sort of had that California cool to him, but it's unfair to paint him as a bad kid."

Iamaleava's locker was cleared out early Saturday morning before Heupel told the team its starting quarterback would no longer be part of the team.

"I want to thank him for everything he's done since he's gotten here, as a recruit and who he was as a player and how he competed inside the building," Heupel said after the spring game. "Obviously, we're moving forward as a program without him. I said it to the guys today. There's no one that's bigger than the Power T. That includes me."

REGARDLESS OF THE drama, UCLA's ability to land Iamaleava after his surprise departure from Tennessee is considered a major move. And now his brother Madden -- the nation's No. 145 recruit last year -- is also transferring to UCLA in a package deal that elevates expectations for the program.

"When's the last time we had this many people here talking to us?" Foster asked Tuesday. "You guys know what I'm saying, so this is a good buzz for us."

Arkansas's NIL collective, Arkansas Edge, is expected to attempt to recoup some of the money it paid to Madden Iamaleava, a source told ESPN, after he had signed a one-year agreement but departed within two months of joining the program. Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek announced Tuesday that he'll support those efforts because "enforcement of these agreements is vital in our new world of college athletics."

Once it became clear Nico Iamaleava could be on his way to Westwood, representatives for Aguilar began evaluating their options. Aguilar continued to participate in practice with the Bruins last Friday despite reports that a commitment from Iamaleava appeared imminent. UCLA coaches notified the quarterbacks of their decision Sunday. Less than 24 hours later, Aguilar was back in the transfer portal.

Tennessee inquired with the agents of several Big 12, Big Ten and ACC starting quarterbacks about the possibility they would become available in the transfer portal, sources said, a tactic that has become commonplace across the sport as players increasingly seek representation. But it's not easy to pry one away in the spring with most returning starters already locked into seven-figure deals with their current teams. Illinois' Luke Altmyer, TCU's Josh Hoover and Kansas State's Avery Johnson were all rumored to be interests of Tennessee but couldn't be flipped, according to sources.

"We got a damned wall built around him," a Kansas State source told ESPN, referring to Johnson. "They better bring the Tennessee National Guard."

In the end, Tennessee's best option ended up being the quarterback who had to leave UCLA.

And now the Iamaleava-Aguilar swap will be closely watched from coast to coast this season.

"You want to be in conversations," Foster said Tuesday, "you want to play big-time ball, you want to have haters, you want all this stuff because that means that you're trending in the right direction, so if you want to play big-time ball, you can do that at UCLA."

ESPN college football writer Paolo Uggetti contributed to this report.

Jimmer Fredette, a college basketball star at BYU who went on to become an NBA lottery pick and then played for the U.S. in 3x3 basketball at last year's Paris Olympics, announced his retirement Wednesday.

"Basketball has taken me all around this world: from Glens Falls NY, to BYU, the NBA, China, Greece, and even Team USA at the Olympics!" Fredette wrote in a social media post. "This game and my love for it has shaped me into the person I am today and for that I am forever grateful. So many memories and amazing moments. It wasn't always easy, but it was always worth it! The next journey starts now."

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At BYU, Fredette led the country with 28.9 points per game in 2010-11 and won consensus national player of the year honors while leading the Cougars to their first Sweet 16 appearance in 30 years.

Fredette, 36, was the No. 10 pick by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2011 draft before being traded to the Sacramento Kings. He spent parts of six seasons in the NBA with Sacramento, Chicago, New Orleans, New York and Phoenix.

He also played professionally in China and Greece, winning the MVP award in the Chinese Basketball Association in 2017. Fredette had games of 70 and 75 points in China, including one where he scored 60 points after halftime.

The best years of his playing career may have been his final ones, when he turned his attention to 3x3. Fredette was a star in that fast-paced, half-court game for the U.S., helping the Americans win gold medals at the 2022 FIBA 3x3 AmeriCup and 2023 Pan American Games along with a silver at the 2023 FIBA World Cup. He was USA Basketball's 3x3 male athlete of the year in 2023.

He entered the Paris Olympics as the top-ranked 3x3 men's player in the world, with the Americans ranked No. 2 worldwide. But Fredette suffered an adductor muscle injury early in the tournament, and the U.S. by rule could not replace him on its four-man roster for the Paris Games, so the Americans had to play the rest of the Olympics with three players and no substitutes.

"I owe a lot of who I am today to this game and it's not easy to say goodbye as a player," Fredette wrote. "But the time has come."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The New Orleans Pelicans have hired Troy Weaver as their senior vice president of basketball operations, a source told ESPN's Andscape on Wednesday.

Weaver will report to new Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations Joe Dumars, who had an introductory news conference in New Orleans on Tuesday. Weaver is departing the Washington Wizards, having served as a consultant with them.

The Washington, D.C., native also spent nearly four years as the Detroit Pistons general manager before being relieved of his duties May 31.

Weaver was hired by the Pistons as their general manager on June 18, 2020. Under him, they were 74-244 overall and did not make the postseason. Weaver, however, did have some notable draft picks in NBA All-Star Cade Cunningham, injured guard Jaden Ivey, starting guard Ausar Thompson and reserve center Luka Garza, now with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Detroit also did not have much luck in the NBA draft lottery under Weaver, landing the No. 5 pick three straight years.

Weaver was also player personnel director for the Utah Jazz in 2007-08 before spending three seasons (2004-07) as the Jazz's head scout. Weaver had served as vice president and assistant GM for the Thunder since 2008. He was promoted to VP of basketball operations before the 2017-18 season.

THE DAY AFTER the visiting Denver Nuggets ended the Houston Rockets' nine-game winning streak in late March, Amen Thompson stepped in front of his teammates at the team's newly opened 75,000-square-foot training facility.

Finally, it was his turn in the team-bonding exercise: Tell your life story in five minutes.

"Everybody goes over the time," Thompson told ESPN.

He couldn't help it.

Spinning essentially the same two narratives into one as the Rockets leaned in closely to listen, the soft-spoken Thompson explained how the young man before them had grown up in the Oakland, California, area with an ultra-competitive identical twin brother, Ausar Thompson, born a minute later, in a supportive family that played an integral role in manifesting dreams jotted down on a family vision board as 9-year-olds.

"They're like that if you know their background and history," Houston coach Ime Udoka told ESPN. "So, we got to learn a little bit more about Amen's background than we already knew. Anytime you have a twin brother that's in the position that they're in, you just know they came up going at each other. Their father [Troy Thompson] got after them and obviously grew them into who they are. Their competitiveness was always there."

Amen and Ausar, now 22, are the first twins in league history to be drafted in the top five (Amen was drafted No. 4 by the Rockets and Ausar followed at No. 5 with the Detroit Pistons) and are making their playoff debuts in their second seasons as cornerstone pieces for a pair of franchises on the rise.

Amen admits he "wasn't expecting it," adding that Ausar "always believed since last year" that the twins would seriously vie for a Larry O'Brien Trophy in 2025.

"It's super cool," Ausar said. "Last year, Amen was talking a lot about us. They had 41 wins. We had 14. He was like, 'Flip the number around and that's how many wins y'all got.' But I was like, it doesn't matter. Y'all didn't make the playoffs. We didn't make the playoffs. Now he can't say that. We made the playoffs the same year. All he can say is they've got a better record. I promise you next year it won't be."

Amen's Rockets are down 0-1 to the Golden State Warriors, and will look to even the series Wednesday night. Ausar and the Pistons, meanwhile, snapped a 15-game postseason losing streak, the longest in NBA history, with a win over the New York Knicks on Monday night and will look to take a 2-1 lead as the series heads to Detroit on Thursday.

For now, though, Amen wants to focus on the present. He's "not doubting [Ausar's predictions] anymore" but envisions a grander picture for the Rockets and the Pistons in the 2025 playoffs.

"I want to see him in the Finals," Amen told ESPN. "That would be fire. But just one of us wins. I know who that's going to be."

Clearly, the brothers disagree.

"Man, we would whoop 'em," Ausar told ESPN. "This year, when we played, when we had all of our players, we beat them."

ON THE NIGHT the Rockets bested the Utah Jazz 143-105 to become the second Western Conference squad to punch its postseason ticket, Amen leaned back at his locker in the Toyota Center and chuckled, reminiscing about his family's vision board.

The twins' mother, Maya Wilson, forbade the boys from playing football. So, by age 7, their father, Troy, was running Amen and Ausar through basketball drills put together years before for their older brother, Troy Jr., who played at Prairie View A&M and is viewed by the twins as "the blueprint" for their success.

That daily grind sparked a dream for the twins, who share the middle name XLNC (pronounced "excellency").

"They're special people," Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff told ESPN of the Thompson family. "You can tell they instilled in them that the team was greater than any individual and that there was more to it than just being a good basketball player, and the importance of being able to take care of yourself mentally, physically, spiritually, all of it."

Thumbtacked to a wall in penmanship impressive for a pair of 9-year-olds, the Thompson family vision board was titled "Amen & Ausar's 6'9" Dreams," written in graffiti with markers above a drawing of a black-and-white camouflage Nike Air Foamposite One sneaker. Just underneath, the goals followed, each marked with a star.

• Become The Greatest NBA Player of All-Time

• Become a Multi-Billionaire

• Get a shoe company

• Become 6 ft. 9 inch[es]

"Yeah, my dad always believed in writing down what you wanted to do," Amen told ESPN. "It's writing down like basically just affirmations. I forget what I wrote. But it was just writing it down so that we have a guideline and things we needed to do to get there."

Below the goals, the twins wrote a 10-step daily to-do list just above their signatures scribbled in cursive.

"Some of the stuff in there was kind of crazy," Amen said. "We used to do it, though. But some of that stuff was hard to do every day."

No. 1 on the list was "run 2 miles dribbling left-handed," then "200 pushups, 200 sit-ups, 50 pull-ups, 500 calf raises, squat while watching TV." The last two steps were "eat vitamins every day, healthy foods, and milk," ending with No. 10: "hustle as hard as possible always."

Troy always wanted the boys to compete with the same relentless ferocity and hustle as Russell Westbrook. They acquiesced. Eventually, friendly pickup battles morphed into brawls. It reached the point that Troy no longer wanted his twins to play against each other one-on-one.

"Whoever lost would just start fighting and stuff," Amen said. Ausar claims "it was always Amen who started it," which Amen does not deny.

"He would get so mad," Ausar said. "We'd get home, and he'd still be mad. Our dad would be like, 'Alright, we're going on a spiritual walk.' And it would be just him and my dad, and they'd walk maybe like 4 miles. It's funny."

In one instance, Amen says a scuffle he started resulted in a 14-mile hike.

"I would be so mad, especially if Ausar didn't have to go, and it was just me on the hike," Amen said.

Did Amen's punishments make Ausar feel guilty?

"Hell no," Ausar said. "He was trying to hurt me. I would try to go home, and he just wouldn't let us go home [until he won]. So, it's like, 'Yeah, you don't want to go home? Go do that spiritual walk up the hills.'"

The competitiveness spilled over to high school at Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where they transferred after leaving California just before starting the eighth grade. Highly regarded for its academics, Pine Crest allowed Amen and Ausar to play varsity basketball as eighth graders.

By the end of their junior season, they had dominated for four years on varsity, leading Pine Crest to a state championship on the way to becoming Co-Players of the Year for Classes 4A-2A. The opportunity to join Atlanta-based Overtime Elite, a new professional basketball league that aimed to provide athletes an alternative path to the NBA, would come once the twins started the AAU season.

They decided to skip their senior year at Pine Crest to commit to OTE, due to the league's 24-hour access to a gym, NBA-level trainers and coaches, and top-notch competition -- not to mention the minimum $100,000 salary.

Amen said he immediately saw improvements in his game.

"But I still feel like when we were in the predraft [process], because we were on OTE, people thought we were not going to be ready for the league because they said we were playing against 15- and 16-year-olds," Amen told ESPN. "Just making up lies for a narrative. We played up our whole lives. And if I'm running [away from competition], I can only run for so long. We've always wanted to be the best. You can't be the best and run."

The 6-foot-7 twins with wingspans of nearly 7 feet played two seasons with OTE before Houston and Detroit drafted Amen and Ausar fourth and fifth, respectively, in the 2023 NBA draft.

"Everybody says they have dogs on their teams," Udoka told ESPN. "Some are pit bulls and some are poodles. We try to go get pit bulls. He's exactly what we want, need, look for, all of the above. We love guys with his length, athleticism and versatility. He fits. Everything he brings to the table, we were thrilled to get him at the spot we got him. He was the guy we fell in love with. He fits everything. He fits the mold of the modern-day NBA, but also of what we're trying to do here."

Bickerstaff felt similarly about what he wanted to bring to Detroit.

"You want guys who are versatile and who can impact the game on both ends of the floor, and you are looking for tough, competitive, fierce dudes that are willing to do whatever it takes and guys who are willing to sacrifice," he told ESPN. "Ausar is all those things. He is what you're looking for."

THE THOMPSON TWINS last saw one another in Miami in March, when the Heat hosted the Pistons and Rockets in back-to-back outings that turned out to be victories for the visiting teams. Armed with versatile two-way skill sets and explosiveness, the Thompsons significantly impacted the outcome of both contests as primary defenders on Tyler Herro.

Amen flashed the most eye-popping display. Miami had defeated Houston in a December matchup marred by six ejections that included Thompson, Herro and Udoka in the final minute. And a sore ankle kept him out of the previous six outings going into that matchup.

Defending Herro primarily, Amen notched seven steals and a block as Houston turned 21 Heat turnovers into 24 points. The Heat guard had fared better two nights prior against the Pistons. But both of Ausar's steals that night came while guarding Herro.

Former Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone described film clips of the Thompson brothers from this season as "incredible."

"You're really seeing both of those guys this year growing into their own, making a name for themselves," Malone said. "Their athleticism, their ability to guard 1 through 5, how strong they are, how fast they are [is impressive]."

Amen might be slightly further along in his development than Ausar, due to the latter missing the last 19 games of his rookie season and the first 18 games of his 2024-25 campaign because of a blood clot issue. Ausar didn't make his season debut until Nov. 25.

"You can go back and almost look at the numbers directly," Bickerstaff told ESPN. "When he came back and was playing minutes, our pace picked up because he'd get rebounds or he runs the floor, pushes and attacks. He's a really good passer and offensive rebounder. Defensively, he's just a menace. He's just all over the floor. He's grown so much. But I think a lot of it just has to do with him being able to play and getting those games under his belt."

Udoka sees similar growth in Amen, who joined the Rockets as a point guard primarily. When Alperen Sengun suffered an injury last season, Amen filled in at power forward, honing his skills as a screener and roller. Amen also spent plenty of time at the dunker spot and moved to point guard for long stints this season when Fred VanVleet missed extended time with injury.

"So, he took all of that and added it to his toolbox," Udoka told ESPN. "He has pretty much played every position, and I think those experiences of different things he hadn't done before is what's really propelled him. He was a point guard and only knew one way to play: get out in transition, make passes, get to the basket. Now the fact that he can roll under and play in the dunker and do all those different things has expanded his game."

From Dec. 23 to the end of the regular season, Amen and Ausar are the only two players in the NBA to log 100 offensive rebounds and 125 combined steals and blocks. While Amen holds a slight edge over Ausar in production on a per-game level, the numbers stack up similarly on a per-36-minutes basis.

According to GeniusIQ, an AI-powered sports analytics site, Amen and Ausar rank in the top five in average jump height (2.38 feet and 2.28 feet) when attempting a layup or dunk this season. Defensively, Ausar ranks fifth in field goal percentage allowed (38.8%) as the contesting defender among players to defend 400-plus shots, according to GeniusIQ. Amen ranks sixth but would be first in the league if the threshold for minimum shot contests was raised to 700 shots.

Ausar finished the regular season ranked No. 3 in defensive estimated plus-minus, trailing Alex Caruso and Kris Dunn, while Amen ranked fifth behind Victor Wembanyama.

"I want to be even more aggressive on-ball, attack more and explore my game while attacking," Ausar told ESPN. "The main thing is just exploring what I'm already great at, which is getting to the rim, finishing or getting into that mid[-range] area."

Amen is also one of two players this season to tally 80 steals and 80 blocks, along with Jaren Jackson Jr. He's the first Rocket since Hakeem Olajuwon (1998-99) to accomplish that feat.

For all the talent and basketball IQ they've shown in their first two seasons in the NBA, the Thompson twins understand they need to improve as shooters to truly thrive in the league. Until that happens, they'll continue to flex the physical tools that got them to the NBA with an emphasis on impacting games in any way possible.

"It's refreshing to see a young player lean into their strengths," Utah Jazz coach Will Hardy said. "The draft process is weird for young players because they get picked apart and told all the things they're not good at. And sometimes their minds shift to trying to prove everyone wrong. A big part of establishing an identity as a young player in the NBA is step one, don't tell on yourself, and [step two], lean into the things that you're good at now to try to impact winning while improving the other parts of your game."

Ahead of their first-round games, the twins will send each other a routine text message: "Go kill."

"I just want to see him do well, honestly," Ausar told ESPN. "I used to get nervous watching his games. But now I don't. He plays like 40 minutes a night. So, it's like I'm just watching it as entertainment now. I expect him to do amazing."

If only one is playing, the other will be watching, knowing exactly what they're feeling in each moment out on the floor. It's not twin telepathy, but rather a matter of familiarity.

"If I'm watching, I can tell what he's feeling just by his face," Amen told ESPN. "It's not a [sixth] sense or anything. He would say the same thing. Like, he'll send a TikTok or we'll send each other a TikTok at the same time, and it's the exact same TikTok. So, there's some stuff like that. But sixth sense? Nah, you've just been around the guy your whole life, you know? Our story is basically the exact same story."

ESPN Research contributed to this report.