BOB DONNAN/IMAGN IMAGES - Florida guard Walter Clayton Jr. dribbles against the defensive pressure of Houston guard Mylik Wilson during the second half of the national championship game. Gators storm back from down 12 and make a final defensive stand to capture their third national title 8 apr 2025 - The Washington Post BY CHUCK CULPEPPER SAN ANTONIO — From a game that spent its 40 minutes as tense, taut and very often terrific, Florida wrung a fresh national title Monday night. Its 65-63 win after trailing for so much of the evening also left Houston in a what-if agony sure to last the decades ahead, capped by one player kneeling in sadness while his teammates tried to console. As a frenetic night came down to a last possession for a Houston offense that dried up in the closing minutes, the bold Emanuel Sharp rose for a shot from downtown, but as he reached the air and saw Florida star Walter Clayton Jr. flying toward him, Sharp returned to the floor and let go of the ball to avoid th...

Thierry Gouvenou, le directeur de Paris-Roubaix,  a mené la troupe sur le chemin de cette nouvelle reconnaissance officielle. La reconnaissance officielle, qui lance pour de bon la semaine de ParisRoubaix, avait lieu hier. «L’Équipe» a pris la roue du directeur de l’Enfer du Nord, Thierry Gouvenou. Très tôt le matin jusqu’à tard le soir. 9 Apr 2025 - L'Équipe THOMAS PEROTTO, PHOTOS : BERNARD PAPON Les pavés ont-ils vraiment une odeur, une mémoire, une substantifique moelle qui en feraient des éléments d’un autre temps, d’une mythologie à part ? Poser la question, c’est déjà y répondre, ou alors c’est méconnaître l’histoire de Paris-Roubaix et de tout ce qui lui est accolé. Thierry Gouvenou, directeur de la course, possède un attachement particulier à cette course: septième en 2002, équipier de Greg LeMond en 1991 quand le triple vainqueur américain du Tour de France avait décidé de s’aligner sur l’Enfer du Nord (Pogacar est cette année le premier vainqueur sortant du Tour à prendre...

Au placard cet hiver, contraint de trouver une troisième équipe en treize mois et proche de raccrocher, « Pocket Rocket » s’est imposé au sprint hier, signant son retour, à 30 ans. 9 Apr 2025 - L'Équipe PIERRE MENJOT LODOSA (ESP) – Le calme avant la roquette . Après une journée à bourdonner sur de longues lignes droites au milieu des champs de fleurs et d’oliviers, tenant en laisse les cinq échappés à deux minutes à peine, le peloton s’est déchaîné dans le final, sentant arriver le fameux pont situé à 400 mètres de l’arrivée à Lodosa, cet enchaînement droite-gauche qui pouvait propulser vers la victoire au sprint. En tête aux 200 mètres, Luca Van Boven (Intermarché-Wanty) s’est alors dit « putain, je vais gagner ! Mais Ewan était largement plus rapide que moi. »Caleb Ewan dans son style particulier a fait la différence hier dans les derniers mètres à Lodosa. L’Australien a soufflé tout le monde, dans son style caractéristique qui lui vaut le surnom de « Pocket Rocket », avancé sur ...

UPINATTY LIGHT: Walter Clayton Jr. raises the NCAA championship trophy with  his Florida teammates after completing the third-largest comeback in title game history. 8 Apr 2025 - New York Post By ZACH BRAZILLER SAN ANTONIO — For two weeks, it has been a juggling act for Kevin Hovde. Balancing two jobs, his current gig as an assistant coach at Florida and his future one as the head coach at Columbia. “It’s been a whirlwind, but it’s been great,” he told The Post . “I got to actually get up to New York a week and a half ago and meet the team in person after we beat UConn in the second round. “That was really valuable. While continuing to do my job at Florida, I’m trying to develop relationships with the guys and their families. That was really helpful.” Hovde will take over a Columbia program that hasn’t gone .500 in conference play since the 2015-16 season, that hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament since 1968, and is the only Ivy League school to fail to qualify for the conference’s four...

Florida stages big rally from 12-point deficit to stun Houston for first national title in 18 years 8 Apr 2025 - New York Post By ZACH BRAZILLER zbraziller@nypost.com SAN ANTONIO — With the championship on the line, Houston couldn’t get a shot off. The horn sounded. Florida celebrated as confetti fell from the roof. The Gators, an offensive juggernaut all season, won their first national championship in 18 years with defense — against the school known for stifling its opponent. And it was Gators superstar guard, and former Iona University standout, Walter Clayton Jr. who made the play that will forever live in Final Four lore. Clayton got out on Houston guard Emanuel Sharp, interrupting his potential game-winning 3-pointer. But Sharp had already left his feet. He dropped the ball in an attempt to keep the play alive, but he couldn’t touch it, otherwise it would’ve been a traveling violation. Clayton’s teammate, Alex Condon, dove for the loose ball as precious seconds ticked away. He ha...

Walter Clayton Jr., who scored all 11 of his points after halftime as Florida erased a 12-point deficit, and coach Todd Golden (inset) celebrate after Florida’s 65-63 win over Houston,  which had reached the title game with a huge comeback over Duke. Gators take bite out of Houston with their own epic comeback 8 Apr 2025 - New York Post By ZACH BRAZILLER zbraziller@nypost.com SAN ANTONIO — Towels covered the faces of Houston’s teary-eyed players. The locker room was as silent as a library, interrupted only by a scream tinged with agony. The top-seeded Cougars’ national championship dream came up painfully short — in the final seconds of Monday night’s showdown against fellow No. 1 Florida. Twice in the final half-minute, Houston had a chance to go ahead, and both times those possessions resulted in an Emanuel Sharp turnover — two possessions that will haunt this team for years to come after this 65-63 loss at the Alamodome. “I’m just going through those last two possessions more th...

https://www.si.com/college-basketball/frantic-final-play-bounces-floridas-way-to-seal-national-title Walter Clayton Jr. capped the season with the national championship’s defining play in a career full of smart decisions to give the Gators their first title since 2007. Pat Forde SPORTS ILLUSTRATED - Tuesday, April 8, 2025 SAN ANTONIO — Once, twice, three times the Wilson Evo NXT basketball bounced, untouched, alone. The game was ending, the season was ending, it felt like the world was ending in the Alamodome—and the deciding possession was suddenly in surreal limbo. An electric and dramatic Final Four, one of the best ever , dissolved into an awkward anticlimax. The ending felt all wrong. Houston Cougars guard Emanuel Sharp needed a teammate to come get the loose ball that bounced in front of him. None could get there. Trailing the Florida Gators by two points, Sharp had risen for a three-pointer with 4.5 seconds left—except he never shot the ball. Florida star Walter Clayton Jr., wh...

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/44579969/how-walter-clayton-jr-willed-florida-title Myron Medcalf Apr 7, 2025, 11:23 PM ET SAN ANTONIO -- When Walter Clayton Jr . decided to withdraw from the NBA draft last year, he posted his announcement with a simple message on Instagram : "1 more." In 2023-24, his first season with the Florida Gators , the team finished 24-12 . The Gators had a few big wins -- notably over then-No. 10 Kentucky in January and in the SEC tournament , where they reached the championship game -- but their season ended with a first-round upset loss to 10-seed Colorado in the NCAA tournament. Clayton had unfinished business . And when he showed up for his junior season at Florida , something was different. As he entered the lobby of a Birmingham, Alabama, hotel for SEC media day, he looked to have packed on more muscle during an arduous offseason. He'd also chopped off his braids, a new style for the star who also had a new role and...