Mark Cooper

Inside the week Michigan basketball became a leading title contender: ‘Just scratching the surface’ The Athletic went all-access with the Wolverines as they pummeled Gonzaga by 40 points to win the Players Era Festival.

Michigan basketball was in its own league this week in Vegas — the Wolverines could be the new No. 1 team in college basketball. @cjmoorehoops.bsky.social
went all-access with them to understand what it looks like from the inside of a breakthrough. Fun story here: www.nytimes.com/athletic/684...

A potential No. 1 draft pick's secret sauce? AJ Dybantsa 'is so intellectually curious'

What makes BYU star AJ Dybantsa special? His size, athleticism and skill obviously. But his separator might be a curiosity that reminds one of his coaches of a young Shane Battier: www.nytimes.com/athletic/679...

How Emanuel Sharp learned to live with the moment he won't escape — and why he's still fearless

Emanuel Sharp had the shot to win the national title but didn’t take it. How do you come back from that? Luckily for Sharp, resilience is in his DNA: www.nytimes.com/athletic/676...

College basketball is so back

NCAA men’s college basketball 2025-26 preseason Top 25: Michigan, Kentucky lead field in wide-open year A new trend of marquee preseason matchups has given us some data points when it comes to ranking teams before the season begins.

My final preseason Top 25. I made updates after watching preseason games and I have a new No. 1: www.nytimes.com/athletic/675...

Connections: Sports Edition is a year old!! And we've got a special edition to mark the milestone: www.nytimes.com/athletic/con...

He left his mid-major school for Indiana. Then he donated six figures back Lamar Wilkerson credited Sam Houston for his development, and donated a portion of his NIL earnings back to his old school.

New Indiana guard Lamar Wilkerson was grateful for his time at Sam Houston State and wanted to give back. So he took over six figures of his NIL money and donated to the Bearkats. Maybe the best story yet from the NIL era: www.nytimes.com/athletic/662...

Test your NFL knowledge with our Connections: Sports Edition team-themed games During September, try your hand at our 32 team-themed Connections: Sports Edition boards, crafted by our expert NFL writers.

If you find Connections: Sports Edition too easy, give our NFL-themed puzzles (one for each of the 32 teams) a shot. Early reviews are in: They're way tougher than usual. @markcooperjr.bsky.social

www.nytimes.com/athletic/659...

Play Connections: Sports Edition, our newest word game Group sports terms that share a common thread. A new puzzle is available each day.

Playing Connections: Sports Edition might be the best part of my morning, so I was legit thrilled to partner with Mark Cooper on a special gameboard for Commanders fans. And I was told it was "diabolical," which seems a bit much www.nytimes.com/athletic/con...

I can now proudly say I’m a one-time puzzle maker!

Super cool to team up with our Connections: Sports Edition puzzle master Mark Cooper to do a Bills themed board for @theathletic.com!

If you want to give it a try, the link to the puzzle is on the next post.

Play Connections: Sports Edition, our newest word game Group sports terms that share a common thread. A new puzzle is available each day.

Test your Bears knowledge (and puzzling speed) with this special Connections: Sports Edition board I put together with @markcooperjr.bsky.social

Why Kansas legend Jacque Vaughn is back at KU after 2 stints as an NBA head coach Vaughn joined the Jayhawks staff over multiple NBA coaching positions. Why? He sees himself as a "guardian" of the next generation.

Jacque Vaughn had opportunities to return to the NBA but felt a calling to return to his alma mater. Story on what convinced him to return and whether a succession plan was part of it: www.nytimes.com/athletic/656...

Connections: Sports Edition is 300 days old! Speeding toward its first birthday 🥳

Play today's @theathletic.com: www.nytimes.com/athletic/con...

Make your picks for the best men’s college basketball players, coaches and teams of the last 25 years As we make our picks for the best of the quarter-century in men's college basketball, we want to hear yours, too.

Your turn: Pick your best players, coaches and teams of the last 25 years. We'll share the results next week. www.nytimes.com/athletic/649...

Ranking the 25 best men’s college basketball games of the 2000s: Chalmers’ 3, 6 OTs and more More than 100,000 games over the last 25 years were whittled down to the best of the best.

We finished with the top 25 games — maybe the most difficult list of all. Kris Jenkins and Mario Chalmers 3s, Cuse-UConn 6OTs and so many other moments. www.nytimes.com/athletic/650...

College hoops’ 25 best non-champs since 2000, from Cooper Flagg’s Duke to Wichita State Great college basketball teams often see their dreams denied in the volatile environment that is March Madness.

Jim Root ranked the top 25 teams that didn't win a title, from Cooper Flagg's Duke to Frank Kaminsky's Wisconsin and many others: www.nytimes.com/athletic/649...

Ranking the 25 best college basketball teams of the 2000s: Which blue blood comes out on top? Seven teams that won it all since 2000 do not appear — meaning seven others that fell short of winning a national title made the cut.

2000-01 Duke or 2011-12 Kentucky? @brendanmarks.bsky.social made that tough call in ranking the top 25 teams: www.nytimes.com/athletic/649...

Ranking men’s college basketball’s top 25 coaches of the 2000s: Bill Self, Roy Williams top list The NCAA Tournament is one-and-done chaos — regular-season success should matter more when judging college basketball coaches.

The top 25 coaches of the last 25 years, via @cjmoorehoops.bsky.social.

1. Bill Self
The rest … www.nytimes.com/athletic/649...

Ranking men’s college basketball’s top 25 players of the 2000s: Carmelo Anthony takes No. 1 Weighing one-and-done stardom against four years of sustained success is tough. How a player elevated his team's success mattered plenty.

All week, @theathletic.com college hoops staff has taken a look back at the last 25 years to rank the best of the quarter-century. The debates — and the nostalgia — have been a lot of fun. ICYMI, catch up, starting with …

Lindsay Schnell's top 25 players: www.nytimes.com/athletic/648...

It's Connections: Sports Edition, with a Beast-flavored twist 👀

Can you solve the puzzle?

http://dlvr.it/TKH83L

It begins.

Ladies and gentlemen... IT'S MARCH 🍿

Play Connections: Sports Edition, our newest word game Group sports terms that share a common thread. A new puzzle is available each day.

Check out our Sports Connections game. Test yourself each day
www.nytimes.com/athletic/con...

Awesome!

You may need to check that you have the latest version of the app, but if so — it should appear above the “top headlines” as you scroll

Thank you so much!

So thrilled to share that we've officially launched Connections: Sports Edition @theathletic.bsky.social

If you've been playing during the beta period — thank you! If not, join us at www.nytimes.com/athletic/con... or in The Athletic app.

The (other) big game is HERE.

Do you love Connections? We’ve got just the thing. Introducing Connections: Sports Edition.

Can you find the common thread? Test your knowledge ➡️ www.nytimes.com/athletic/con...

Play Connections: Sports Edition, our newest word game Group sports terms that share a common thread. A new puzzle is available each day.

Like Connections? Like sports?

Did you know there's a Connections: Sports Edition?

Hard to believe we're already at puzzle No. 61 — would love for you to give our game a try @theathletic.bsky.social. www.nytimes.com/athletic/con...

Play Connections: Sports Edition, our newest word game Group sports terms that share a common thread. A new puzzle is available each day.

Do you play Connections: Sports Edition? Do you even know it exists? If you do, I'd love your feedback. Just be kind to @markcooperjr.bsky.social, the brilliant puzzle maker behind the game.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, I encourage you to play: www.nytimes.com/athletic/con...