Roundup: Playing in NIT finals 'means the world' to Utah

It’s NIT finals time, as Utah and Penn State jump it up at 4 p.m. PT/5 p.m. MT on ESPN for all the Madison Square Garden marbles. In this Lynn Worthy article, Justin Bibbins says playing for the NIT title “means the world” to the Utes.

Former Cal guard Jason Kidd will be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2018, Adrian Wojnarowski reports.

Happy MLB opening day, everyone. To celebrate, let’s look at how Scott Kingery made the Philadelphia Phillies’ opening-day roster, courtesy of Stephen Gross of The Morning Call. The former Arizona Wildcat signed a six-year, $24 million contract just before the season started.

Graham Hays labels Arizona State softball pitcher G Juarez the espnW player of the week. In 22 innings over four appearances (all wins, mind you), Juarez allowed 10 hits and one walk against 37 strikeouts while racking up three wins and a save. I’d say that’s a pretty productive week.

Stanford gymnast Elizabeth Price was named a regular-season first-team All-American on floor, uneven bars, vault and all-around, it was announced Wednesday.

Washington men’s basketball will play in the first-ever Vancouver Showcase in 2018. Also playing in the tournament are Texas A&M, Minnesota and Santa Clara (I imagine the Broncos are in there because of Steve Nash).

Oregon women’s basketball is looking ahead to the 2018-19 season, writes Ryan Thorburn of The Register-Guard. The Ducks figure to be a Final Four favorite next year, as they return four starters and get Notre Dame transfer Erin Boley eligible after sitting out this season.

Conor Orr of Sports Illustrated writes about Sam Darnold’s podcast called “Season of Sam.” Our very own Yogi Roth was the co-pilot of said podcast.

UCLA running back Jalen Starks will transfer, he announced on social media Wednesday night. Thuc Nhi Nguyen has more details in the preceding link.

Pat Rooney features Colorado lacrosse’s Samantha Nemirov, who scored six goals at Oregon last week and is third on the team with 26 goals this season after appearing in just 22 games as a backup in her first two seasons at CU combined.

Here’s an Oregon State-Utah Pac-12 baseball series preview provided to us by The Oregonian/OregonLive. The Beavers are an incredible 76-8 since the start of the 2017 season.

Theo Lawson features Washington State defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys, who apparently has a fear of not being able to stop opposing offenses.