Shaqir O'Neal, son of Shaq, wins college slam dunk contest: Highlights

Sacramento State forward Shaqir O'Neal– yes, the son of Shaq – won theCollege Slam Dunk Championshipon Friday, April 3, at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis before the Men's Final Four.

Shaqir O'Neal, wearing his dad's "Shaq" shoe brand, elbow-dunked over two fellow players and threw down a reverse on his final attempt to secure the win over Central Connecticut's Nico Ashley. He finished with two 50-point scores, the highest total possible on a single dunk.

REQUIRED READING:Shaqir O'Neal discusses NBA goals, HBCU hoops and choosing Sac State

"Dad, I know you're watching this," Shaqir O'Neal said after his win. "You said you have ($10,000) for me if I win this. So, hey, I'm expecting my money. Shoutout to my pops."

North Carolina Tar Heels center Henri Veesaar reacts after losing to the VCU Rams in overtime of a first round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Bon Secours Wellness Arena on March 19, 2026 in Greenville, SC.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> McNeese Cowboys guard Tyshawn Archie (8) walks off the court after losing to the Vanderbilt Commodores during a first round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Paycom Centeron March 19, 2026 in Oklahoma City.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Wisconsin Badgers guard Braeden Carrington (0) and guard John Blackwell (25) react during the second half of a first round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament against the High Point Panthers at Moda Center on March 19, 2026 in Portland, Or.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Thomas Dowd of the Troy Trojans reacts after coming out of the game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers during the second half in the first round of the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Paycom Center on March 19, 2026 in Oklahoma City, Okla.

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March Sadness hits hard in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament

North Carolina Tar Heels center Henri Veesaar reacts after losing to the VCU Rams in overtime of a first round game of the men's2026 NCAA Tournamentat Bon Secours Wellness Arena on March 19, 2026 in Greenville, SC.

DePaul's CJ Gunn won the men's 3-point contest and Kansas' Elle Evans won the women's 3-point contest. Evans also took home two more awards, winning the team shooting competition alongside Purdue's Fletcher Loyer and Portland State's Jaylin Henderson before defeating Gunn in the 3-point shootout between champions.

Shaqir O'Neal averaged 5.3 points with 3.2 rebounds per game this season at Sacramento State. The 6-foot-8 forward started his career at Texas Southern, where he held a small role off the bench for two seasons before transferring to Florida A&M in 2024-25.

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Shaqir O'Neal plays for his dad's former Sacramento Kings foe Mike Bibby, who served his first year as Sacramento State head coach this season.

"It's been an unreal experience," Shaqir O'Neal told USA TODAY Sports. "Coach Bibby and his staff, they really care about the players, just on and off the court. They made sure they built that relationship with us early in the summer. It's really been a movie with all the press and all this stuff. And haters and this and that. And the ups and downs. Us losing players to injuries, like it's been real, it's been crazy, but it's been a great learning experience."

Four of Shaquille O'Neal's children played Division I college basketball, including sons Shaqir O'Neal and Shareef O'Neal (UCLA, LSU), and daughters Amirah O'Neal, a former preferred walk-on at LSU and Me'Arah O'Neal, who averaged over 13 points per game at Florida this season.

None of Shaq's children turned out to be nearly as good as their Hall of Fame dad that won four NBA championships. But Shaqir O'Neal sure can dunk like his dad could, although no backboards were shattered.

Shaqir O'Neal college dunk contest highlights

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Shaqir O'Neal, son of Shaquille, wins college slam dunk contest

byAlex Forten

in

April 04, 2026

Shaqir O'Neal, son of Shaq, wins college slam dunk contest: Highlights

Sacramento State forward Shaqir O'Neal– yes, the son of Shaq – won theCollege Slam Dunk Championshipon Friday, April ...

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Brewers inherit 'rally tortoise' after manager Pat Murphy is told no pocket pancakes in TV interview

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — First, the Milwaukee Brewers had "pocket pancakes." Now, they have pocket turtles.

Ahem, tortoise.

This all probably needs an explanation.

During a game last August, Brewers manager Pat Murphy was caught taking a pancake from the pocket of his hoodie for a midgame bite, right in the middle of a dugout interview during a game against the Nationals. It wasn't necessarily new for Murphy, who's been known to have everything from waffles to eggs rolls close at hand should he get the munchies.

But given the game was nationally televised,the moment immediately went viral. And theBrewers even latched onto the momentum, introducing "Murph's Pocket Pancakes" as concession items for Sunday home games at American Family Field.

Back to the turtle — er, tortoise.

The Brewers were supposed to play the Royals on Friday night on Apple TV, though thegame was called 90 minutes before first pitchbecause of the rain. During a pregame interview with Apple's reporter, Tricia Whitaker, Murphy said he was informed "under no uncertain circumstances, no pocket pancakes" during their talk, so he pulled out what was supposed to be a pocket turtle.

"This is Bobby Jr.," Murphy said in presenting it to her, having named the creature after his longtime friend, Bobby Witt, and his son, Royals star Bobby Witt Jr. "I didn't want to pull out pancakes so here we are."

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Whitaker postedthe moment on social media, and fans immediately informed her that the reptile was not, in fact, a pocket turtle — or any turtle. It was a tortoise, or more specifically a Sulcata tortoise, which can live 70 years and grow to 100 pounds.

"How am I supposed to fly this home?" Whitaker asked.

Good question.

Turns out, as Whitaker laterposted on social media,American Airlines has "a strict no reptiles policy," so Bobby Jr. had to stay behind in Kansas City. The agreement, she wrote, is that the club would keep the tortoise for the time being.

Indeed, the reptile was happily living under a heat lamp in the visiting clubhouse at Kauffman Stadium on Saturday, though the plan is to find Bobby Jr. a good home soon. He won't be traveling with the club all season.

"It was suggested by one player," Whitaker said, "that they get to keep the 'rally turtle' if they win today. If they lose, I am hoping, consideration will be given to send me the tortoise."

AP MLB:https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

byAlex Forten

in

April 04, 2026

Brewers inherit 'rally tortoise' after manager Pat Murphy is told no pocket pancakes in TV interview

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — First, the Milwaukee Brewers had "pocket pancakes." Now, they have pocket turtles. ...

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Buffalo Sabres' record NHL playoff drought ends: Here's how they did it

TheBuffalo Sabresare back in the NHL playoffs, ending a league-record postseason drought of 14 seasons.

All they had to do was change the messenger.

The Sabres clinched their first playoff berth since 2010-11 with the Detroit Red Wings' loss in the afternoon on Saturday, April 4.

It was looking like the streak could hit 15 when Buffalo sat in last place in the Eastern Conference on Dec. 8. The Sabres won three in a row to get back to .500, thenfired general manager Kevyn Adamson Dec. 15 and promoted Jarmo Kekalainen to the position.

The team took off, extending its winning streak to 10 games. Entering Saturday, Buffalo has gone 32-8-4 under the former Columbus Blue Jackets GM. The Sabres have their first 100-point season since 2009-10 and are looking for their first division title since that season.

Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski (8) greets fans on the blue carpet before opening night against the New York Islanders.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Calgary Flames mascot Harvey the Hound before a game against the Winnipeg Jets.

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NHL fans and mascots cheer on their teams in 2025-26 season

Kevyn Adams' tenure

Adams, the general manager since 2020-21, brought in some of the players on this team, such as Alex Tuch, Josh Norris, Jason Zucker, Bowen Byram, Ryan McLeod and Josh Doan. He also traded away Jack Eichel (after a dispute over what type of neck surgery he should have), Sam Reinhart, Dylan Cozens and J.J. Peterka. Eichel and Reinhart won Stanley Cup titles after their trades.

Adams drew some criticism last season when he explained the difficulty of drawing free agents to Buffalo and why players often include the city on their no-trade lists.

"We don't have palm trees," he told reporters. "We have taxes in New York."

Adams last season brought back coach Lindy Ruff, who had been coach of the 2010-11 playoff team. But the Sabres continued their pattern of early-season swoons — 0-10-3 this time — and finished 12 points out of a playoff spot.

Buffalo traded No. 2 scorer Peterka to Utah in the offseason and opened the season 0-3. Fans began chanting for Adams' firing and it finally happened in December.

Jarmo Kekalainen's tenure

Teams often get a bump from a coaching change, but a front office change can also have an impact because a general manager can decide a player's future.

Kekalainen noted that his focus was going to be on work ethic, saying the team had lost some games by being outworked.

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"You've got to work, you've got to compete and you've got to be relentless," he said after being named general manager. "That's what I want the identity of the Buffalo Sabres to be."

He added that he "firmly" believed that Sabres could be a playoff team.

Kekalainen had been hired as a senior adviser in May. He had been aggressive in Columbus, hanging on to pending free agents Sergei Bobrovsky and Artemi Panarin and adding to a team that shockingly swept the No. 1 overall Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round in 2019.

After he was promoted in Buffalo, he revamped the front office and held on to Ruff. He gave a contract extension to Doan, who was acquired in the Peterka trade. But with the team surging, there was little need to change the players.

The general manager made moves at the deadline to beef up the team's depth. He traded for Colton Parayko, but it fell through when the defensemandeclined to waive his no-trade clause. He pivoted to add big, rugged defensemen Logan Stanley and Luke Schenn. He also added Sam Carrick, who's strong on faceoffs, and depth forward Tanner Pearson.

A sign that the Sabres were for real was when they defeated the Lightning 8-7 in a game thatfeatured tons of goals and penalty minutes.

What's next for the Sabres?

They will try to win the Atlantic Division title and still have a chance to be the top seed in the Eastern Conference.

There isn't a lot of playoff experience in this core because of the long drought. However, Schenn and Pearson are former Stanley Cup winners and McLeod has been to the Final. Tuch has played 66 postseason games and Zucker has played 52.

And Ruff has coached 101 playoff games, winning 57. He took the Sabres to the 1999 Final.

Who has the longest playoff drought?

The Detroit Red Wings are at nine seasons, the Anaheim Ducks are at seven and the San Jose Sharks are at six. But heading into Saturday's game, the Ducks are second in the Pacific Division, the Sharks hold the second wild-card spot in the West and the Red Wings sit one spot below the playoff line in the East.

The Chicago Blackhawks have been eliminated, and their playoff drought is at six seasons.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Sabres back in NHL playoffs after 14 seasons; how they ended drought

byAlex Forten

in

April 04, 2026

Buffalo Sabres' record NHL playoff drought ends: Here's how they did it

TheBuffalo Sabresare back in the NHL playoffs, ending a league-record postseason drought of 14 seasons. All the...

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At Easter vigil, Pope Leo urges world not to grow numb to war

By Joshua McElwee

The Easter Vigil in Saint Peter's Basilica at the Vatican

VATICAN CITY, April 4 (Reuters) - Pope Leo led the world's Catholics into Easter at a Saturday night vigil ‌Mass in St. Peter's Basilica and urged people not to ‌feel numbed by the scope of the conflicts raging across the world but to work ​for peace.

Leo, who has emerged as an outspoken critic of the Iran war, said that mistrust and fear have been allowed to "sever the bonds between us through war, injustice and the isolation of peoples and nations."

"Let ‌us not allow ourselves to ⁠be paralyzed!" the first U.S. pope exhorted in a service for the holiest night in the Catholic calendar, ⁠when the Bible says Jesus rose from the dead.

Leo did not mention any specific conflicts during the service, at which he also baptized 10 adult ​converts ​to Catholicism.

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In his homily to thousands ​in Christendom's largest church, the ‌pope urged Catholics to follow the example of saints who he said struggled for justice so that "Easter gifts of harmony and peace may grow and flourish everywhere."

Leo, who is known for choosing his words carefully, has been ramping up his criticism of the Iran war in recent ‌weeks.

The pope said last Sunday that God ​rejects the prayers of leaders who start ​wars and have "hands full of ​blood." He made a direct appeal to U.S. President ‌Donald Trump on Tuesday, urging ​the president to find ​an "off-ramp" to end the war.

The pope will conclude his Easter celebrations on Sunday morning with a Mass in St. Peter's Square ​and will deliver a ‌special blessing and message, which is usually a time when ​he makes a major international appeal.

(Reporting by Joshua McElwee in ​Vatican City; Editing by Matthew Lewis)

byAlex Forten

in

April 04, 2026

At Easter vigil, Pope Leo urges world not to grow numb to war

By Joshua McElwee The Easter Vigil in Saint Peter's Basilica at the Vatican VATICAN CITY, April 4 (Re...

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