“He would schedule his practices around things that we needed to do,” Allison Curley recalled from her home in Westminster. “On Halloween, we would trick or treat first, and then he would have practice at night. For Thanksgiving, we would have dinner, but then he would always take the kids to the gym.”

Mr. Curley, who amassed 214 victories to become the winningest coach in the Green Terror’s basketball history, died of esophageal cancer on May 27 at a hospice in Westminster. He was 54.

McDaniel athletic director Jeremy Shepherd described Mr. Curley as “a servant leader.”

“No matter what we were trying to do in the department as a community service initiative like the Boys & Girls Clubs, raising money for cancer, Kevin was always willing to give us time and be part of that,” he said. “So for me, he leaves a legacy of building a really strong basketball program, being very successful, never having a problem.”

A native of State College, Pennsylvania, Mr. Curley and his younger brother Greg dabbled in a variety of sports but gravitated toward baseball and basketball. They grew up rooting for the Pittsburgh Pirates in baseball and Penn State in everything else.

“We didn’t miss a football game, we didn’t miss a basketball game,” said Greg Curley, who is 2 1/2 years younger. “Probably one of the things that we used to do the most that we loved was we would go to the Atlantic 10 tournament at the Palestra every year and watch Penn State play there.”

After playing two seasons of basketball at Penn State-Altoona, Mr. Curley graduated with a bachelor’s in labor and industrial relations from Penn State in 1994 and earned a master’s in physical education with a concentration in athletic coaching from West Virginia University in 1996. He then began an assistant coaching career that included stops at Bethany College in Bethany, West Virginia, from 1994 to 1998 and Colgate University in Hamilton, New York, from 1998 to 2007.

In 2003, Mr. Curley and the former Allison Russin, who was teaching in New York, were matched on a blind date by a mutual friend. They married on May 28, 2005, and welcomed twins Caroline and Nathaniel two years later.

Shortly after their birth, Mr. Curley interviewed for the opening at McDaniel, which lost coach Bob Flynn on Jan. 12 to a sudden heart attack. Brett Foelber, a shooting guard who was a member of the search committee, said the panel was impressed when they noticed Mr. Curley still wearing the hospital bracelet on his wrist that provided access to visit his children.

“That was really honorable of him to come and meet with us,” said Foelber, a Sykesville resident and Cardinal Gibbons graduate.

Mr. Curley led the Green Terror to the Centennial Conference Tournament seven times and the Eastern College Athletic Conference Tournament five times. He was named the Centennial Conference’s Coach of the Year in 2009 and 2014.

Greg Curley coaches the Juniata men’s basketball team and is that school’s career leader in wins with 320. At times, he and his older brother battled to recruit the same players, and they agreed to scrimmage each other every preseason, but that was the limit.

“There’s two different instances when we got into fights in the scrimmage, and our assistants looked at us like we were nuts,” the younger Curley said. “And then five minutes after the game was over, we were asking about what’s going on with the kids and when are we getting together for this and what’s going on.”

A few days after expressing some discomfort during a home game against Swarthmore on Jan. 17, Mr. Curley was diagnosed with Stage 4 metastatic esophageal cancer. But he insisted on continuing to coach during a meeting with Shepherd.

“He immediately turned to making sure that he was taking care of his guys and making sure that the season was going to run the way it was going to run,” Shepherd said. “He was going to be here every day doing his job like normal.”

While wearing a chemo pump, Mr. Curley coached McDaniel to its first victory over six-time Centennial Conference titlist Johns Hopkins on Feb. 11. Fatigued, he agreed to be transported by his wife to and from the team’s 81-62 loss to Ursinus on Feb. 24 in the first round of the league tournament, the school’s first appearance since 2016.

Allison Curley said the swiftness of the cancer’s spread stunned loved ones.

“His body deteriorated fast,” she said. “And Hopkins had told us that. There wasn’t a cure. We were just going to give him time.”

Since Foelber created a GoFundMe page on March 3 to help offset medical costs for the Curley family, donors have contributed more than $51,600 toward a $60,000 goal. Foelber said the community’s support has been overwhelming.

“People have been coming out of the woodwork,” he said. “It’s been amazing how supportive everybody has been.”

A complete list of survivors was not available. Visitation is scheduled for Thursday (June 4) from 4 to 7 p.m. at Pritts Funeral Home and Chapel in Westminster. A Mass of Christian Burial will occur on Friday (June 5) at 11 a.m. at St. John Catholic Church in Westminster. Interment will be private.

Have a news tip? Contact Edward Lee at eklee@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/EdwardLeeSun.

Janove, a senior, became the first NCAA Division I player in eight years to play all nine positions in the field. On Tuesday, he started at catcher before spending one inning each at first, second and third base, shortstop, left, center and right field, and finally pitcher.

“I was very tired,” Janove said on Wednesday. “I think that the pitching took it out on me the most because I had been making throws all day, and then I had to go in and pitch on no warm-up pitches because I had hit the inning before. I think the adrenaline was pumping while I was pitching, but the second that I got pulled and went into the dugout, it kind of all hit me.”

The last player to fill every spot in a game was Texas’ Jake McKenzie. On April 17, 2018, in a seven-inning 13-2 win against the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, McKenzie began the game at catcher — the only position he had not previously played for the Longhorns — before moving from first to second to third to shortstop, playing all three outfield spots in the sixth, and taking the mound in the seventh to record the final two outs.

As novel as Janove’s achievement was, it was not unprecedented for Tigers coach Matt Tyner. When he played for the Charlotte O’s, an Orioles minor league affiliate, in 1984, his roommate, Jeff Schaefer, did the same thing.

“I think this was very rewarding for me,” Tyner said. “He’s the epitome of a team player. Doesn’t say a lot, doesn’t complain. He just comes ready to go every day, and when he gets in there, he gives you all he’s got. That’s a heck of an MO in today’s world.”

During his four years at Towson, Janove had started a game at every position except for second base, shortstop and center field. So when associate head coach and pitching coach Mike Ruppenthal joked last fall about rotating Janove to all nine positions in the field, the latter didn’t blink.

“I was pretty confident in my ability to be able to do it,” he said. “It was more just them being willing to find a game to sacrifice and allow me to do it and take a chance on it.”

Tyner said in his eight years at the Tigers’ helm, Janove was the best candidate for such an opportunity.

“He’s a pretty good bet wherever you put him,” he said. “Kind of a Swiss army knife type player. He’s never going to be the best in the field, but pretty damn good. So it was a natural pick for us. We really didn’t have somebody in my eight-year tenure here that I felt could do the same thing, or we would have tried it before, but Josh was a perfect fit.”

In the third inning, Janove ranged to his left and snagged a ground ball in the hole before throwing out the runner at first base for the final out. In the fourth, he made an error that allowed an unearned run. And in the ninth, he got the first out before giving way to senior closer Jacob Whiteman.

“I was really happy with how I did,” Janove said. “I think obviously the error will go down onto my stats and stay there. But it was a tough play. So overall, for that being the only little mistake of the day, and I had a couple putouts at other positions, I’m pretty happy with how everything went.”

Tyner said Janove could not be blamed for the error at third base.

“He had about a 104 miles-per-hour exit velo come at him, and I don’t care who’s down there, that was tough,” he said. “It bounded off of the glove for an E5. So that was tough for him.”

Janove is graduating next week with a bachelor’s in sports management, including a minor in business administration. He has been interviewing for hotel management jobs in Florida and is unsure whether he will continue his baseball career.

But if Tuesday was one of his final memories, Janove sounded content with the ending.

“It’s awesome,” he said. “I want to leave some sort of a legacy on this program, and obviously, we hadn’t won as many games in my four years here as we would have liked to. We never were able to secure the CAA championship. But this is something that leaves my legacy on the program.”

Have a news tip? Contact Edward Lee at eklee@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/EdwardLeeSun.

A total of 2,092 students voted in favor of the measure by the Student Government Association — about 69% of ballots cast — while 231 opposed it and 721 abstained in results announced Tuesday. Turnout totaled just over 3,000 students, about 10% of the university’s spring undergraduate population of 30,184.

McMillen — a former Maryland and NBA basketball star, Rhodes Scholar and three-term U.S. representative — has framed the vote as less about his limited connection to Epstein and more about what he described as a “radicalized” student government advancing broader political agendas.

“I can take this in stride. I’ve been screamed and spit at in arenas all over the world and in college sports and pro sports,” McMillen said. “The real focus on all this needs to be on those victims, the people that were really harmed by Epstein. This stuff’s a sideshow.”

The university system declined to comment on the recent SGA vote.

The referendum does not carry formal authority. Members of the University System of Maryland’s Board of Regents are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state Senate and can only be removed or step down through a formal process, not by student vote.

McMillen, who represented Maryland’s 4th Congressional District from 1987 to 1993, said Epstein was one of many political contributors he encountered while in politics. He also served as chair of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports under President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1997.

Records released by the Department of Justice in January include a Feb. 27, 2013, email in which Epstein asked McMillen, “when are you in ny.”

McMillen responded later that day, writing, “I just got back from Costa Rica and heading to cabo in a week so it may be late March. Hope you are well.”

He has since described the exchange as dismissive, noting Epstein had already pleaded guilty in 2008 to Florida charges involving solicitation of a minor.

Epstein served jail time under a controversial plea deal before being arrested again on federal sex trafficking charges in 2019. He died later that year in a New York jail while awaiting trial in what was ruled a suicide.

“My role in the Epstein thing is so tangential,” McMillen said. “There’s one email in 35 years and there’s 20,000 names in the Epstein files. I’m at the bottom of the list.”

McMillen’s name appears in additional correspondence from that year. In a Jan. 22, 2013 email, an unidentified sender told Epstein they had recently seen McMillen and that he had “lost touch” with him.

“Hi Jeffrey, I saw Tom McMillen last night and he asked about you — said he lost touch,” the email reads.

According to OpenSecrets, Epstein donated twice to McMillen’s political campaigns, totaling $3,000 in 1990 and 1992.

“He was a contributor to dozens of Democrats, dozens of them. And when I left Congress, like many contributors, he just faded away from me,” McMillen said. “That’s just the way it is in politics. You meet a lot of people.

“The fact was, he was nobody. No one even knew who he was.”

McMillen, who played in the NBA for 11 seasons from 1975 to 1986 after a decorated career with the Terps, has served twice on the 21-member Board of Regents that governs the University System of Maryland: from 2007 to 2015 and again since 2023.

“Actions taken by the Student Government Association are student-led and have no bearing on university policy or practice,” said Rebecca Aloisi, senior director of communications for the university.

In a letter to fellow regents and the Student Government Association in March, McMillen pushed back on an earlier SGA resolution calling for his resignation, describing the allegations as “unfounded and biased” and arguing they were based on “limited, decades-old and tangential interactions.”

The resolution, passed in early March, cited his appearances in Justice Department records tied to Epstein and also referenced his past support for Israel — a point McMillen said has been taken out of context. Student leaders, including SGA Speaker Pro Tem Hasan Islam, said the letter did not address their concerns and have continued to call for his resignation.

“His responses to us were just very strange in general, where he was focusing on … accusing us of being anti-Semitic or focusing on his Israel stuff,” said Islam, a senior.

McMillen, a member of the 1972 U.S. Olympic basketball team, said the student government has targeted Jewish members of the Board of Regents and noted that there are currently no Jewish members on the board — the first time he can recall. He said he believes he is now being targeted for his past votes in Congress to send aid to Israel in the 1990s.

In recent months, the student government has supported pro-Palestinian initiatives, including calls for the university to label the Israel-Palestine conflict a genocide and divest from investments tied to Israel.

“The student government at Maryland’s been really radicalized. They’ve been taken over by a lot of extremists,” McMillen said. “There’s a lot of Jewish kids that feel unsafe on campus there. It’s a problem across lots of universities.”

Islam rejected that characterization, saying the student government’s push is rooted in policy and humanitarian concerns, not antisemitism. One large area of concern for the group was an Oct. 21 event where three former Israel Defense Forces soldiers spoke to the Students Supporting Israel chapter on campus. A resolution passed 25-0 with one abstention to ban those speakers from coming to campus again.

“All we ask basically is [Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions] measures against the State of Israel, which people consider that racist, which it isn’t,” Islam said. “We don’t like IDF soldiers coming on campus and talking. That’s not cool, because these are war criminals. They kill children in Gaza for fun.”

Steve Sibel, who served on the board from 2023 to 2025, criticized both the student government’s actions and what he described as a lack of response from university leadership and the Board of Regents in a statement to The Sun.

“This attack on Regent McMillen has nothing to do with Epstein — it is all about his support of Israel decades ago,” Sibel said. He added that the university’s response to the vote, as well as to incidents of antisemitism more broadly, has been “weak at best.”

“I am also appalled that the board of regents has not issued a statement defending him,” Sibel said, calling the lack of a response “shameful.”

Sibel said that absence of a public defense does not reflect on Chairwoman Linda Gooden, whom he called the “most competent, thoughtful and dedicated leader” he has served under, but rather on what he described as the board’s “current composition.”

Islam said his concerns extend beyond the single email exchange with Epstein, arguing McMillen’s presence in the records — even if limited — raised broader questions about accountability.

In addition to the emails, McMillen is briefly seen in a 1992 video from an event at Mar-a-Lago, where Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell were present alongside President Donald Trump. He appears to exchange a short greeting with Maxwell as he enters. His name also appears in Epstein’s address book, according to previously unsealed case files reported by The Washington Post.

“This guy, clearly, he knows stuff. He didn’t say anything about it for years,” Islam said, adding that others tied to Epstein have stepped down from positions of power. “If we lived in a sane society, people would be more in an uproar about this.”

The vote came amid turmoil within the student government itself.

Both major tickets in this spring’s SGA elections were disqualified for rule violations, prompting plans for a special election in the fall to fill vacant positions. McMillen pointed to the upheaval as further reason to question the legitimacy of the referendum, arguing it was driven by a small group rather than the broader student body.

“It’s emblematic of our politics today,” McMillen said. “It’s become just so polarized. I’m a big guy. I can take a lot of arrows. I’ve taken them over my career, both in Congress and on the basketball court.”

McMillen said he has no intention of stepping down.

“I’ve enjoyed service. I enjoyed the other board members,” he said. “I’m happy to contribute, and as long as I can contribute, I’ll continue.”

Have a news tip? Contact Michael Howes at mhowes@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/Mikephowes.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly spelled the last name of former Board of Regents member Steve Sibel. The Sun regrets the error. 

The Terps landed a commitment from Boston University transfer Michael McNair, one of the most efficient high-volume three-point shooters in the country last season, he announced on X. The 6-foot-5-inch guard’s perimeter shooting provides a needed boost for coach Buzz Williams’ team, which hit just 31.7 percent from three last season — the third-worst mark in the Big Ten.

McNair was one of the best shooters in the NATION last season!

Are the Terps building a contender https://t.co/OWC6E5xCzW pic.twitter.com/ZURM5LPh9d

— The Portal Report (@ThePortalReport) April 21, 2026

The rising senior averaged 16.9 points per game, fourth in the Patriot League, while leading the conference with 110 made three-pointers and shooting 44.4% from beyond the arc on 248 attempts.

He also shot 47.9 percent from the field overall, adding 5.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 36.1 minutes per game — the second-highest workload in the league.

The first-team All-Patriot League honoree’s production translated against a range of competition. He scored 29 points against Lafayette, 28 against Bucknell and knocked down five three-pointers against Navy in the Patriot League semifinals. In two games against Big Ten opponents last season, he combined to shoot 13-for-21 from 3-point range against Northwestern and Penn State.

His addition continues a sweeping offseason overhaul under coach Buzz Williams, who is reshaping a roster that went 12-21 last season, tying a program record for losses. Maryland has emphasized size, defense and rebounding through transfer additions such as Tomislav Buljan, Robert Jennings II and Maban Jabriel, while also reinforcing the backcourt with Bishop Boswell and Arkansas transfer DJ Wagner.

Wagner, a former five-star recruit, arrives with pedigree and playmaking ability after helping the Razorbacks reach the NCAA tournament’s Sweet 16 with 7.6 points per game. But even as Maryland added perimeter talent, consistent outside shooting remained a clear need.

McNair appears positioned to fill that void immediately.

With a highly regarded freshman class incoming, including five-star forward Baba Oladotun, Maryland’s roster now blends youth with experience and greater positional balance. McNair’s ability to stretch defenses could generate space for returning guard Andre Mills, who logged 12.2 points per game, and for forward Pharrel Payne, should he receive a medical redshirt after contributing 17.5 points and 7.2 rebounds in 10 games.

If McNair is the final addition, Maryland’s offseason reshaping may have addressed nearly every major roster gap — leaving shooting, at last, as less of a question than it was just weeks ago.

Have a news tip? Contact Michael Howes at mhowes@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/Mikephowes. 

Four days after his five-year contract with the Retrievers — which paid an annual base salary of $375,000 — ended Tuesday, the 58-year-old coach and the university agreed to a new multiyear deal that keeps him in Catonsville, the school announced Saturday morning.

Terms of the deal were not immediately available.

“I thank UMBC President Valerie Sheares Ashby and [athletic director] Tiffany D. Tucker for this opportunity,” Ferry said in a written statement. “I deeply appreciate my coaching staff for their tireless drive and commitment to our student-athletes. Energized by our recent achievements, I am excited to use the momentum from our record-breaking season to set new goals and continue establishing UMBC as a leading program in the America East Conference.”

This past season, Ferry guided the Retrievers to a 24-9 overall record and a 14-2 mark in the America East. The 14 league victories were a program record for a single season, and the run included a school-record 12-game winning streak.

UMBC, which was voted to finish seventh in the nine-team league, completed its first sweep of America East regular-season and tournament championships since 2008. The team earned its first berth in the NCAA Tournament since 2018, but fell to Howard, 86-83, in a First Four game on March 17.

For his efforts, Ferry was named the America East Coach of the Year. In addition to the Retrievers, he has shepherded Division III Plymouth State, Division II Adelphi and Division I LIU Brooklyn to regular-season league crowns.

Hired in April 2021 to succeed Ryan Odom, who left for Utah State and now coaches at Virginia, Ferry led the 2021-22 team to an 18-14 record and an 11-7 mark in the America East. That squad earned the No. 2 seed in the league tournament and reached the final before losing to Vermont.

The 2022-23 squad went 18-14 overall and 8-8 in the conference to place fourth, but was bounced from the first round of the America East Tournament. The teams in 2023-24 and 2024-25 slipped to seventh- and eighth-place finishes, respectively, and did not advance past the first round.

UMBC’s latest achievement is more remarkable considering the university and Binghamton were the only two schools in the conference to not opt in to last summer’s NCAA vs. House settlement that allows colleges to share $20.5 million with their athletes. The Bearcats have since agreed to share revenue with their players.

“It’s a Great Day to be a Retriever! We are thrilled to announce the contract extension of men’s basketball head coach Jim Ferry,” Tucker said. “Over the past five years, Jim has helped build a winning program at UMBC, from the basketball court to the classroom. This extension brings much-needed continuity to the men’s basketball coaching position at a crucial time in college athletics, as we navigate through the current landscape of NIL and eventual revenue sharing possibilities for our student-athletes.”

The uncertainty surrounding Ferry’s status coincided with a mass exodus of players to the transfer portal. Three junior starters, shooting guard Jah’likai King, junior point guard Ace Valentine and center Jose Roberto Tanchyn, and two key reserves — sophomore power forward Caden Diggs and junior small forward Daylon Dickerson — entered the portal.

Valentine, a 6-foot-3, 190-pound Columbia resident and Mount Saint Joseph graduate, agreed Wednesday to transfer to Robert Morris. He led the Retrievers in assists (3.9 per game) and ranked third in points (11.9) and rebounds (4.1).

King, who paced the team in points (14.0) and ranked sixth in rebounds (3.3); Tanchyn, who led in rebounds (5.7) and ranked sixth in points (6.5); Diggs, who ranked fourth in points (10.0) and rebounds (3.8) primarily off the bench: and Dickerson, who ranked seventh in points (5.6) and rebounds (3.3), are still looking for homes.

This article will be updated. Have a news tip? Contact Edward Lee at eklee@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/EdwardLeeSun.

UMBC has been under intense scrutiny from the media and parents of student-athletes since February, when news surfaced of men’s lacrosse coach Ryan Moran being placed on administrative leave and softball coaches Angela and Richard Nicholson getting dismissed.

Robert Sroka, an assistant professor of sports management at Towson, wondered whether the recent turmoil might force the Retrievers to reconsider whether they should sponsor sports at the NCAA Division I level.

“There may also be an evaluation of whether UMBC should even have D1 athletics, or whether certain programs should just be eliminated,” he wrote via email. “Is D1 athletics core to the mission of UMBC, or undermining it at this point? Is occasionally having some national profile in men’s basketball worth what’s going wrong in other sports?”

In February, news surfaced that UMBC athletic director Tiffany D. Tucker had placed Moran on leave on Sept. 24 after a probe was launched when a player made allegations of bullying and “sexual misconduct” against a teammate, according to attorneys representing the accuser.

Moran took part in a proceeding on Feb. 11 to defend himself for “failure to report” what Moran’s attorney, Don M. Jackson of The Sports Group, described as “a confrontation” between two players in a dorm on the night of Sept. 12, and the university ruled that Moran must complete Title IX training to be reinstated. Jackson said Moran completed the terms for reinstatement, but Tucker fired him last week.

On March 22, UMBC fired softball coach Angie Nicholson, five days after terminating her husband, Rick, an assistant coach. On two separate occasions earlier in the month, Rick Nicholson brushed the chest of two players while attempting to swat away insects, according to the parents of three players who spoke on condition of anonymity out of fears their daughters might face retaliation. The university canceled the rest of the softball season on March 31.

Unlike many of its peer institutions, UMBC does not have vast resources at its disposal. The university is one of only two schools in the America East Conference that did not opt into last summer’s NCAA v. House settlement that permitted universities to share revenue with their athletes.

According to the university’s 2026 fiscal-year operating budget for athletics and recreation, the university anticipated generating $17.8 million in revenue while funding $21.8 million in expenses. How much of those numbers can be attributed solely to the Retrievers’ backing of sports is unclear.

Sroka said that the deficit might be a tipping point.

“The calculation of having a D1 program is that the increased profile will bring reputational benefits to the school (as well as donors and more applications) that outweigh the immediate direct financial cost to students,” he wrote. “If the reputational impact of the athletics program is repeatedly negative, that calculus changes.”

Asked March 25 if she was concerned about the adversity impacting the university’s reputation, president Valerie Sheares Ashby said, “What I hope people see is that we are serious about accountability, and we have made significant improvements. … That’s why our processes are so rigorous, and that’s why they’re in place to ensure that the next right things always happen.”

Milton Kent, a professor of multimedia journalism at Morgan State, said the onus will be on Sheares Ashby, Tucker and other school leaders to demonstrate to athletes and their parents that the recent furor is a blip on the radar.

“Every program to a certain degree has some kind of skeleton in its closet,” said Kent, a former sports reporter and columnist for The Baltimore Sun. “It’s just a matter of how you manage it, and I think the test for UMBC is how they manage this.”

Dionne Koller, professor of law at the University of Baltimore and director of the Center for Sport and the Law, said the frequency of incidents is troubling. But she noted that the list of schools rebounding from scandals is long.

Even area colleges have weathered tragedies, scandals and controversies recently. The University of Maryland fired football coach DJ Durkin after the death of freshman offensive lineman Jordan McNair, a Randallstown resident and McDonogh graduate in 2018.

In 2023, Coppin State said men’s basketball coach Juan Dixon would not return shortly after he was named in a lawsuit by a former player claiming an assistant coach blackmailed, sexually assaulted and harassed him. A court later dismissed Dixon and the school from the lawsuit.

Since 2024, both Loyola Maryland and Coppin State men’s basketball have been involved in gambling scandals involving players.

“As a society, we unfortunately have far too many examples of even worse athletic department harms and wrongdoing, and the reality is that schools usually do not suffer long-term damage,” Koller wrote, noting that Michigan State and Penn State overcame scandals involving former team doctor Larry Nassar and assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, respectively. “UMBC athletics is undoubtedly taking a reputational hit in the short term, but in the long run, college athletics and the institutions that participate always endure.”

Have a news tip? Contact Edward Lee at eklee@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/EdwardLeeSun.

All that talent at Arizona and Michigan. All that momentum and good vibes at UConn. And somebody has to play the part of the unheralded “little guy.” At the Final Four next weekend, that role belongs, improbably, to Illinois.

In a sign of the times, the Illinii — a Big Ten team with more wins in the conference over the last seven seasons than any other program — will pass for something resembling Cinderella when college basketball’s biggest party kicks off in Indianapolis on Saturday.

The first challenge for coach Brad Underwood’s team will be stopping a hard-charging UConn juggernaut that came from 19 points down and got a game-winner from the logo with 0.4 seconds left from an Indy native — Braylon Mullins — to make its third Final Four in the last four years.

The last two times the Huskies reached this point, they won the championship.

“It’s a UConn culture, a UConn heart,” coach Dan Hurley said. “We believe we’re supposed to win this time of year.”

All these teams do.

Arizona, led by Brayden Burries, and Michigan, with Yaxel Lendeborg, have up to nine NBA prospects between them.

The Wildcats opened as slight favorites — at plus-165 to win the championship, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. That was a shade ahead of the Wolverines, who are plus-180 after their 95-62 romp over Tennessee on Sunday.

But, in one of a few strange twists on the odds chart, the Wildcats are 1 1/2-point underdogs to Michigan in Saturday night’s marquee semifinal, a matchup of No. 1 seeds.

Illinois is a 1 1/2-point favorite over UConn and, in reality, it’s the Huskies, at plus-550, who are the biggest long shot in Indy.

Even so, the fact that Illinois — the flagship university in the nation’s sixth most populous state and a school with an enrollment of nearly 60,000 — feels most like this year’s out-of-nowhere underdog speaks more about the current state of college hoops than the Illini themselves.

They are a No. 3 seed — the highest number at the Final Four in two years. (UConn is a 2. Last season, all four No. 1s made it.)

This year’s meeting of 1 vs. 1 — Michigan vs. Arizona — is a heavyweight matchup of power teams from power conferences meeting with everything at stake.

It’s a far cry from a mere three years ago, when mid-majors Florida Atlantic (coached by Dusty May, who now leads the Wolverines) and San Diego State crashed college basketball’s biggest party.

Since then, NIL and the transfer portal have reshaped the contours of player movement, another spasm of realignment has made the big conferences bigger (Arizona, now in the Big 12, was in the Pac-12 in 2023), and the high-achieving underdogs who used to make March Madness what it is have gone into a slump.

Double-digit seeds won a total of five games in this tournament (not counting the play-in round). Two years ago, they won 11 and sent one team (N.C. State) to the Final Four.

Not surprisingly, Underwood — the coach who landed on the Illinois radar a decade ago by coaching double-digit seed Stephen F. Austin to a pair of upset wins in the tournament — views his program’s trip to the Final Four more as destiny than a once-in-a-lifetime story.

It is, however, the first trip for Illinois since 2005, when it lost to North Carolina in the title game.

“I don’t want to sound arrogant,” said Underwood, whose teams have won 96 Big Ten games since 2019-20, two more than Purdue. “I’ve never doubted us getting to a Final Four would happen. I have thought we have had other teams capable. But I also know how doggone hard it is to do it.”

The Big Ten knows all about this. Both Illinois and Michigan have a chance to deliver a title for the conference for the first time since Michigan State won it all in 2000.

Illinois vs. UConn

The Illini, led by the so-called “Balkan Bloc” — a cohort of players with roots in Eastern Europe — have a potential NBA lottery pick of their own in guard Keaton Wagler.

Even so, the best-known name on the Illini roster might be Andrej Stojakovic, whose father, Peja, was a three-time NBA All-Star. Illinois is the third school in three years for the younger Stojakovic, who spent one season at Stanford and another at Cal before joining Underwood’s crew.

The task for Illinois: Figuring out who to key on across a roster that has five players who average double figures, led by Tarris Reed Jr.

Michigan vs. Arizona

The Wildcats-Wolverines game is a high-powered matchup of programs that have shown there’s more than one way to amass talent in the era of the unlimited transfer portal and big-money name, image and likeness deals.

Four of the five starters for Tommy Lloyd’s Wildcats began their careers in Tucson; the fifth, Big 12 player of the year Jaden Bradley, moved over from Alabama and has been with the Wildcats for three years.

Meanwhile, the top four players in minutes played at Michigan — Lendeborg, Morez Johnson Jr., Aday Mara and Elliot Cadeau — all arrived from the transfer portal.

In a twist that makes perfect sense these days, both coaches parlayed roots in the mid-majors to a spot on the sport’s biggest stage. Lloyd spent decades as a top assistant for Mark Few at Gonzaga before heading to Arizona to rebuild the program after the ouster of Sean Miller in 2021.

May led FAU to the Final Four before heading to the Michigan program that had thrived, then collapsed, under former Fab Five star Juwan Howard.

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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

WASHINGTON (AP) — Braylon Mullins sank a desperation 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds left to give UConn an astonishing 73-72 victory over top-seeded Duke on Sunday, earning the Huskies a spot in the Final Four after they rallied from a 19-point first-half deficit.

The Blue Devils (35-3) led by three before UConn’s Silas Demary Jr. made one of two free throws with 10 seconds left. With Duke playing keep-away to prevent the Huskies from fouling, Cayden Boozer’s pass near midcourt was deflected by Demary, and after UConn came up with the ball, Mullins swished a 3 from 35 feet away.

It’s the second straight season to end in a huge collapse for Duke, which was the top overall seed in this year’s tournament. The Blue Devils led by six with 1:14 remaining before falling to Houston in last year’s national semifinals.

UConn (33-5) missed 17 of its first 18 attempts from 3-point range and finished 5 for 23. The fifth will be remembered in Connecticut for generations.

The Huskies are trying to win a national title for the third time in four seasons, a feat that hasn’t been accomplished since UCLA in the 1970s. UConn now faces third-seeded Illinois in Saturday’s semifinal in Indianapolis.

To get there, the Huskies needed one of the biggest comebacks in regional final history. Only Louisville, which came from 20 down to beat West Virginia in 2005, had a bigger one. Duke led 44-25 late in the first half and 44-29 at the break. That’s now the largest halftime lead in tournament history blown by a No. 1 seed.

Cameron Boozer, who had 27 points for the Blue Devils, fought his way to a basket inside with 28.9 seconds to play, and the next UConn possession used precious time before Demary was fouled.

After he made one of two, the inbound came to Cameron Boozer, who passed out of a double team to Dame Sarr, who then found Cameron’s twin brother, Cayden, in the middle of the could. Instead of waiting to be fouled, Cayden Boozer — who shoots about 81% from the line — tried for one more pass.

There were two Duke players alone behind the UConn defense, but Demary was able to deflect the ball and Mullins recovered it near midcourt. He passed to Alex Karaban, who gave it back to Mullins. The freshman was in rhythm, but about halfway between the 3-point arc and half court.

Nothing but net.

It’ll go down alongside the great NCAA Tournament game-winning shots, next to Christian Laettner’s for Duke in the 1992 Elite Eight against Kentucky. Or Laettner’s shot in the 1990 regional final — which turned another Duke-UConn classic from a loss into a win for the Blue Devils.

UConn has now won 18 consecutive games in the Sweet 16 or subsequent rounds. The last loss for the Huskies in those stages of the tournament came against Michigan State in the 2009 Final Four.

For all the success Duke has had through the years, the Blue Devils have now had hearts broken by UConn three straight times in the Big Dance. The Huskies beat one of Duke’s greatest teams in the 1999 title game and rallied late to beat the Blue Devils in the 2004 semifinals.

This one was a gut punch very much on par with those.

Tarris Reed Jr. led UConn with 26 points, and for a while he had little help offensively. The Huskies gradually cut into their deficit in the second half, though, and a 3 by Karaban pulled them within one with under a minute left.

Up next

UConn: The Huskies have met Illinois in the NCAA Tournament once. UConn won 77-52 in the Elite Eight in 2024.

Duke: The Blue Devils are expected to lose Cameron Boozer to the NBA.

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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

It might also have been Jim Ferry’s last as the team’s head coach.

Ferry’s five-year contract with the Retrievers — which paid an annual base salary of $375,000 — ends April 14, and university officials only recently agreed to meet with Ferry this week about a new deal. The absence of clarity about his future in Catonsville did not seem to unnerve Ferry, 58.

“I’m waiting to hear from the university,” he said simply.

An athletic department spokesman did not return a request for comment on whether the school wants Ferry back and why it waited until after this season to begin contract negotiations.

That Ferry coached this past winter without an extension surprised two of his players.

“It’s crazy how this new college world works,” junior point guard Ace Valentine said. “Coaches go in and out almost as much as players do. But he definitely earned it.”

Added junior shooting guard Jah’Likai King: “He got us so far. So I know that he’s going to get more years. I hope he does.”

Hired in April 2021 to succeed Ryan Odom, who left for Utah State, Ferry guided the 2021-22 team to an 18-14 overall record and an 11-7 mark in the America East. That squad earned the No. 2 seed in the league tournament and advanced to the final before falling to Vermont.

The 2022-23 squad went 18-14 overall and 8-8 in the conference to place fourth, but was upset in the first round of the America East Tournament. The teams in 2023-24 and 2024-25 stumbled to seventh- and eighth-place finishes, respectively, and were bounced in the first round.

This past winter, however, the Retrievers defied preseason expectations where they were voted to finish seventh in the league’s preseason poll. They racked up a 24-9 record and a 14-2 mark in the conference that included a program-record 12-game winning streak.

UMBC completed its first sweep of America East regular-season and tournament championships since 2008. Ferry was named the league’s Coach of the Year and has guided Division III Plymouth State, Division II Adelphi, Division I LIU Brooklyn and now the Retrievers to regular-season league crowns.

The team’s accomplishment is more remarkable considering the university and UMass Lowell are the only two schools in the conference to not opt in to last summer’s NCAA vs. House settlement that permits colleges to share $20.5 million with their athletes. And Ferry had to acclimate 10 new players, including five from Division II programs.

Ferry said his focus all year had been on the players and his coaching staff, not his employment.

“I have poured every ounce of energy into this group of kids,” he said. “It’s not about me. I’ll be fine. I anticipate being wanted back.”

Valentine said Ferry never let his murky future interfere with the team’s goals.

“He stayed just like he wants us to do,” the Columbia resident and Mount St. Joseph graduate said. “He stayed calm and collected and just kept it straight — not being too hot, not being too low. He knows what championship teams look like, and he knows how a coach coaches a championship team. So it didn’t seem to rattle him at all.”

King spent his first two years at Division I New Haven, but joined UMBC after meeting Ferry.

“He brought me here, and he kept his word,” King said. “He told me from the jump that he wanted me to be part of the organization. Just being here is very special. And he pushed me hard every day, even on the days when I have an attitude or I’m upset about something. He’d call me for one-on-one meetings. If I have a bad game, he sits me down and tells me if I’m playing bad. Him doing that just makes me go on straight forward. So I’m thankful for all that.”

Ferry’s presence looms significant for next season. Two starters, shooting guard DJ Armstrong Jr. and small forward Josh Odunowo, have exhausted their eligibility. Armstrong led the offense in 3-point shooting (41.9%) and ranked second in scoring (13.3 points per game), and Odunowo ranked second in rebounding (5.2) and fifth in scoring (8.4).

Three starters, Valentine, King and junior power forward Jose Roberto Tanchyn, and four key reserve forwards, junior Daylon Dickerson, sophomores Caden Diggs and Tim Eze and freshman Riley Jacobs, are expected to return. But would they enter the transfer portal if Ferry and the Retrievers can’t agree on a new deal?

Both Valentine and King said they want Ferry to return. Ferry, in turn, appreciated their trust and backing.

“We’re family. I love these kids, and I want all these kids back. I wish these guys wouldn’t graduate. I wish this crazy market of college athletics wasn’t out there, because we’re a special group and a special family.”

Have a news tip? Contact Edward Lee at eklee@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/EdwardLeeSun. 

On Sunday, playing against North Carolina with a spot in the Sweet 16 on the line, Maryland women’s basketball coach Brenda Frese’s intensity was on full display in an exchange with forward Oluchi Okananwa.

With the Terps trailing by eight points and struggling to keep up with the former Atlantic Coast Conference rival Tar Heels, the longtime coach engaged with Okananwa, the Maryland junior who was off to a slow start offensively. As Okananwa came off the court, Frese got up close, firing off a string of comments, one of which appeared to be “I believe in you” as the star player made her way to the bench.

Okananwa was asked about the confrontation in the postgame news conference and proceeded to squash any suggestion that this was something negative.

“Coach understands [that] I’m a competitor at heart, and I’ve told her this before and I’ll keep on telling her,” Okananwa said. “I love to be coached hard. And that’s what she does with me every single day.”

Okananwa added that the exchange served as a “regroup moment for myself and her telling me she believed in me.”

After the game, which the Terps lost, 74-66, Frese said her goal was to “challenge” Okananwa. The longtime coach also posted on social media “Elite players want to be coached hard! Love coaching @oluchi_okananwa!”

“I think for me, it’s always been, you know, a pulse that I’ve been able to have with individuals and players, and we do at times have to have those tough conversations. You can’t have them without a relationship; you’ve got to be able to have that. The best of the best, the elite of the elite, want to be coached hard, and at that moment, you know, I kind of had watched [Oluchi] struggle within this tournament, and she’s just too gifted,” Frese said. “So, you know, I kind of wanted to implore just how much belief I had in her and just kind of challenge her. I know what a winner and competitor she is and just challenge her — do you want the moment? And I knew it was like, give it a minute, get her back in and you saw, she went out, she got a bucket, she got a steal and never looked back. And sometimes that’s where you’ve got to, you know, know your players and the relationships that you have.”

I love this so much. All time coaching moment from Brenda Frese.

“I need you to lock in and stop being distracted. I BELIEVE in you but YOU’VE got to want this moment. This isn’t my story alright?” https://t.co/ENj7CEt4fr

— Romeen Sheth (@RomeenSheth) March 22, 2026

Held to six points in the first half, Okananwa responded to Frese’s remarks, rallying to finish with 21 points on 9 of 18 shooting with six rebounds and a pair of steals. It was the final display of a strong season turned in by Okananwa, whose skill set earned her an All-Big Ten first-team selection this season.

With the defeat, Frese and Maryland failed to emerge from the tournament’s first weekend for just the second time over the past seven years. The Terps have won 14 conference titles and one national championship under Frese.

Have a news tip? Contact John Romero at jromero@baltsun.com and 443-608-4010.