What a Tuesday we just had! We had the Frisco Bowl, the NBA Cup Finals, a big moment for Virginia Women’s Basketball, TNT’s The Match, and a BENCHING IN ATLANTA! Yeah, I know that was a lot. Take a second, have another sip of your morning Cup of Joe, and then get ready to dive into another Stump! Let’s do this thing!

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Today’s Trivia🧠

(answer at the bottom of the Stump)

On This Day…

⚽️ On this day in 2022, the EPIC FIFA World Cup Final between Argentina and France! Live from Lusail Stadium, Qatar, Lionel Messi vs Kylian Mbappe.

Argentina beat France, 4-2 in a penalty shootout after teams were locked 3-3 after extra time. Mbappe scored a hat trick for France and Messi scored 2, including the game-winner in the penalty shootout.

Today’s Stump Story…

🏀 UVA Women’s Basketball Meets Reddit

Every year we continue to see big name investors come into the fold across the college athletics NIL landscape. This time, it’s at UVA.

The University of Virginia women’s basketball program was an absolute force during the 1990s, never losing more than eight games in a season from 1989 to 1997. Dawn Staley, who is now a legendary coach at South Carolina, starred for Virginia at it’s peak. The program has not posted a winning record since 2016-17.

In steps Alexis Ohanian.

Ever heard of him? Maybe not. What about Serena Williams? Maybe… Reddit? Ohanian, a graduate of UVA, started Reddit with his college roommate in their UVA dorm room and eventually sold the company. Ohanian is now worth $150 million dollars, and is married to and shares two children with tennis legend and women’s sports icon Serena Williams.

Ohanian has committed a $776,000 per year pledge over the next 4 years to “bring the nation’s best hoops talent to Charlottesville and win some championships in the next four years”. The yearly pledge amount is in reference to Seven Seven Six, the venture capital firm Ohanian founded in 2020. The name is a nod to 776 B.C.E., the year the Olympics started.

Virginia reported $214,000 in women’s basketball ticket sales in 2022-23, while Ohanian’s total donation is about 15x the team’s annual ticket haul. This will not only support current players of the program through investments in things like equipment, travel, nutrition, coaching, team building, and other varied services, it’ll also surely aid in attracting top talent to Charlottesville to enjoy such luxuries.

An important note here is that Ohanian directly donated the money to the Women’s Basketball program through the university, and not a collective or NIL fund. Those are still separate entities under current NCAA law. Colleges can begin to incorporate student-athletes in revenue-sharing programs as soon as 2025-26, but that’s a whole different matter of itself. It is unlikely that Ohanian’s donation will be given to players via NIL.

This trend of high-profile investors stepping into the alma maters and creating significant change quickly is surely not going to stop anytime soon. As sports and pop culture continue to be more and more intertwined, people like Ohanian will keep coming out of the woodwork.

Quick Hitters

🏀 NBA Cup Finals: In 6 months we very well could be seeing this matchup but in a 7 game series! The Bucks have started off the season slow, but yesterday…they WON THE NBA CUP! The Bucks defeated the OKC Thunder, 97-81 to win the second-ever NBA Cup! Giannis and Dame led the fellas to victory in what could be a turnaround point for them this season. Assistant coach Darvin Ham suggested that they stay focused and not celebrate too much after what he saw happen to his Lakers team just last year! Say what you want about the NBA Cup but I think it’s a nice little wrinkle in the season to add some excitement in December!

🏈 My oh my, could Aidan Hutchinson make a return to football this season? The Detroit Lions superstar defensive end said on “The Squeeze” podcast that he’s on track to return from his fractured tibia and fibula in early February. That leaves Hutchinson with potential availability for just one game: The Super Bowl. 

⛳️ TNT The Match: Rory and Scottie (representing the PGA Tour) cruise to a victory over Brooks and Bryson (representing the LIV Tour). The match featured a mix style of best ball, alternate shot, and match play, which Rory and Scottie swept. Sooooo does this mean the PGA owns LIV now?

🔥 MMA legend and all-time fighter Conor McGregor announced yesterday that he’ll put his MMA return on hold, but will instead jump into the boxing ring to face Logan Paul in an exhibition fight. McGregor has not fought since he broke his leg in a June 2021 loss to Dustin Poirier. He was supposed to fight Michael Chandler at UFC 303 in June, but withdrew due to an injured foot. This will be Youtuber Logan Paul’s fourth exhibition fight as he had become more of a WWE superstar in recent years.

🤯 The Falcons are benching Kirk Cousins, it’s Michael Penix time. Cousins has nine interceptions compared to ONE touchdown in the last 5 games, woof. Penix was the Falcons first round pick this year despite signing Kirk Cousins to a major deal this past offseason. The Falcons currently sit at 7-7 and still have a shot to make the playoffs.

🤑 WNBA star and league MVP A’ja Wilson agreed to a six-year contract extension with Nike in one of the richest shoe deals for a women’s basketball player in history. The three-time league MVP broke the league’s single-season scoring and rebounding records in 2024 and became the first woman to break 1,000 total points in a single campaign. A’ja’s signature shoe, the “A’One”, will be released in spring 2025 prior to the WNBA season.

Other News:

• ⚾️ Yankees stay busy, add former NL MVP

• 🏀 New NBA All-Star Game format announced

• 💸 Tampa Bay’s $1.3B new stadium approved

• 🔥 Budda Baker gets paid

• ⛳️ No. 1 golfer in high school skipping college, turning pro

• ⚽️ European Super League relaunched as 96-team “Unify League”

Top Performers:

• 🏀 Devin Royal (OSU): 31 points, 10 assists

• 🏀 UConn Women: 3 players with more than 27 points!

• 🏀 Giannis (MIL): 26 points, 19 rebounds, 10 assists

• 🏒 Patrik Laine (MTL): HAT TRICKKKKK!

Stump Favorites

🔥 BANK is OPEN to force OT

🏈 We’ve got the FRISCO BOWL COFFEE DUMP!

🏀 This Dame corner three is toooooo nice

🏒 Good lord this makes hockey look too easy

💯 Full Scoreboards: MLB, Soccer, PGA, NFL, WNBA, NCAAF, NHL

Today’s Slate

*All times are ET*

🏈 Boca Raton Bowl: WKU vs JMU (5:30 PM on ESPN) ; Art of Sport LA Bowl: Cal vs UNLV (9:00 PM on ESPN)

🏀 NBA: Off day in the association, full schedule

🏀 NCAAM: Xavier @ (11) UConn (7:00 PM on FS1), (21) Memphis @ UVA (7:00 PM), Toledo @ (15) Houston (8:00 PM), (6) Alabama @ North Dakota (9:00 PM), Butler @ (9) Marquette (9:00 PM), (14) Oklahoma vs (24) Michigan (9:00 PM on ESPN2), full schedule

🏀 NCAAW: (19) North Carolina @ Florida (6:30 PM), Wofford @ (9) Duke (7:30 PM), (18) Tennessee @ Memphis (8:30 PM), full schedule

🏒 NHL: Flyers @ Red Wings (7:00 PM on TNT), Maple Leafs @ Stars (7:30 PM), Panthers @ Wild (9:30 PM on TNT), Canucks @ Utah (10:00 PM), Jets @ Ducks (10:00 PM), full schedule

⚽️ FIFA Intercontinental Cup: Real Madrid vs Pachuca (12:00 PM) ; English Carabao Cup: Arsenal vs Crystal Palace (2:30 PM). Newcastle vs Brentford (2:45 PM on CBSSN), full schedule

Trivia Answer:

C. Pip!

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