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In my week-long research for the Star’s high school softball Quarter-Century All-Star Team (2000-25), I was almost overwhelmed by the number of players deserving of mention. With 38 state championship teams in 25 years, it seemed like 50 to 75 players were worthy. My fear was that I would omit someone obviously deserving. That fear came true last week when I realized that I did not include Empire High School pitcher Kendall Freidinger, who pitched the Ravens to 2024 and 2025 state championships. Freidinger went 66-4 in her career, with 853 strikeouts in 407 innings. Big miss on my part.

– Here’s how fragile it is for those attempting to make NBA rosters. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥â€™s Caleb Love has been terrific in the NBA Summer League, playing a team-high in minutes, 28 per game, averaging 17 points and even grabbing 12 rebounds in a game last week. Yet as Love’s name began to circulate in the NBA, his team, the Portland Trail Blazers, signed many-time All-Star Damian Lillard for three years and $42 million. Lillard and Love play the same position, shooting guard. They also signed highly-regarded ex-Boston Celtic guard Jrue Holiday in recent weeks. At least Love has a $598,000 two-way contract this year with Portland, giving him a chance to show his skills to other teams.

– Former ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ associate athletic director Mark Harlan, the AD at Utah since 2018, last week said the words many college sports fans have been waiting to hear: “Collectives in the form they’ve been the last three years — paying athletes directly from those contributions as an inducement to attend their school — is going to be a thing of the past. It’s what we always hoped with NIL, that it wasn’t created to promise an athlete money to come and play for a school.â€� Schools like Utah and ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ still have to figure out a way to keep up with SEC and Big Ten schools financially. Oklahoma last week announced its athletic department raised $113 million from boosters last year, and had 72 gifts of $1 million or more. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ would have difficulty matching those figures over five years.

– As I reviewed the comments made by ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ football coach Brent Brennan in the recent Big 12 Media Days, I couldn’t get past this one: “I think when we get to December, everybody in the conference and maybe everybody in America is going to be talking about (UA quarterback) Noah Fifita.â€� Wow. Over the last 40 years, an ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ coach has never said anything close to that about a QB. Not Nick Foles, not Willie Tuitama, not Khalil Tate, not Keith Smith, not Tom Tunnicliffe. Fifita was so average (if that) last season that it’s hard to comprehend what Brennan has seen that we have not. If Brennan is correct, the ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ are bowl-bound and ticket sales at ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Stadium might reach 50,000 per game.