Denise Ilitch was tired of being told no.

For the last few years, she had been championing the idea of varsity women’s hockey to the University of Michigan administration. Because while the school is known as a men’s hockey powerhouse — with nine national championships, the second most all-time — Michigan has never iced a women’s Division I hockey team.

Ilitch — a regent at the University and the daughter of Marian and the late Mike Ilitch, who bought the Detroit Red Wings in 1982 — had been told repeatedly that it couldn’t be done. The reason? It was too expensive, though Ilitch had never been given any specific figures to back up the rejection.

“I had not heard a good enough reason on why we couldn’t have women’s hockey DI at Michigan,” Ilitch told The Athletic.

So, during the March regents meeting, Ilitch went public with her pitch: It’s time for the University of Michigan to launch a varsity women’s hockey program.

The women’s club team will be in its 30th year when the puck drops for the 2024-25 season on Thursday. And the appetite for women’s hockey in the State was apparent when a Professional Women’s Hockey League game at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit drew a record crowd for a game back in March.

“Part of our mission statement at the…

In a nod to its four West Coast newcomers, the Big Ten will hold its men’s and women’s basketball tournaments in Las Vegas one time each in the next four years, the league office announced Wednesday.

The news comes eight days after Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti announced that Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium will remain as host of the Big Ten football championship game through 2028.

Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena will host the 2027 women’s and the 2028 men’s basketball tournament. The Pac-12, the former home of new Big Ten members USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington, staged its men’s basketball tournament at T-Mobile Arena from 2017 to 2024; its women’s tournament had been held at other Las Vegas venues since 2019.

Other men’s basketball tournament future sites includes Indianapolis’ Gainbridge Fieldhouse in 2025 and ’27 and Chicago’s United Center in ’26. Gainbridge Fieldhouse also will stage the ’25 and ’26 women’s basketball tournaments, while Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena will host for the first time during the 2028 tournament.

“I’ve been really pleased in the interest from cities across, not just from the football side, but men’s and women’s basketball was just really good,” Petitti told The Athletic last week.

It’s a similar move to the…

Oregon women’s volleyball coach Matt Ulmer admits he was nervous but hopeful when the Big Ten announced the upcoming volleyball schedule.

“I had no idea what it was going to look like for the four West schools,” Ulmer said. “But at least at the end of the day, I think they did a really good job of keeping in mind not missing class.”

With Oregon, Washington, USC and UCLA entering the Big Ten in August, the 18-team Big Ten stretches from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans and across four time zones. Strategic scheduling and travel were more imperative this year than ever before for the Big Ten staff, especially for Olympic sports like women’s volleyball, of which each school has 20 conference matches.

To ensure the West Coast members avoid hardships beyond on-floor competition, the Big Ten office solicited feedback from its coaches on double-play opponents. In collaboration across the athletic departments, there was a goal to bunch together as many trips as possible and limit missed class time.

2024 #B1G Conference Volleyball Schedule Announced https://t.co/2hgUQ9gdq2

— Big Ten Volleyball (@B1GVolleyball) June 12, 2024

The West Coast schools all face one another home-and-home and split matches with the other 14 schools home or away. Those seven road trips east are…

On Jan. 19, two days after he became the most coveted football player in the NCAA’s transfer portal, and mere hours after he welcomed Ohio State coaches for a recruiting visit, Caleb Downs announced his change-of-address plans. The freshman safety who’d earned second-team All-America honors at Alabama committed to the Buckeyes. Not long after, Downs and his father began relocating to Columbus.

Getting there was simple enough. Getting around was another matter.

Some wheels needed to be put in motion.

“I get a call from someone on the coaching staff and they said, ‘Hey, I’m here with Caleb and his dad now. Are you looking to add somebody else to your team?’” says Rick Ricart, the CEO and owner of Ricart Automotive Group in Columbus. “Would you be willing to do a car deal for him?’”

For decades, these were shifty conversations. Local car dealerships had long been conduits for the whispered inducements coaches or boosters promised talented players. When discovered, scandal erupted. Repercussions were often stark. Then came the seismic summer of 2021, when changes to Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) rules allowed college athletes to earn money without fear of NCAA sanctions.

Car dealers nationwide quickly exchanged leases and keys for players boasting about their new…

RANCHOS VERDES, Calif. — Palm trees, a Pacific Ocean view and courtyard dinners at the Terranea Resort provided the backdrop this week for one of the Big Ten’s most important group of meetings in the league’s 128-year history.

More than 100 administrators, university leaders, faculty representatives and head coaches from the Big Ten’s 18 members and league office gathered at this plush, picturesque location to discuss an upcoming legal settlement that fundamentally will change college athletics. Those officials were sequestered with security for every function, ranging from outdoor meals to friendly mixers.

The topics weren’t limited to what’s known as the House v. NCAA case, which will cost the NCAA and its member schools $2.7 billion should it be approved. The league added a four-school West Coast wing starting this year, and the spring meetings were as much of a networking event as an opportunity to explore a path forward as a league and an industry.

“I think that we have a chance at this moment right now in college athletics to really reshape the model in the most meaningful way in our lifetimes and maybe the most meaningful way that has ever been,” said Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman, the new Division I Council chair. “How can we build this new…

The college basketball season might be over, but transfer portal season is here and it shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

Our first ranking came out three weeks ago, and since then, much has changed in the sport’s landscape. We’ve crowned a national champion. Tara VanDerveer has retired. Tennessee hired Kim Caldwell. On the players’ front, it’s hard to imagine we won’t see more big names jump into the portal over the next week or so, and because of that, we’ll keep the updates coming. Until then, here’s a look at the top 15 prospects in the portal:

1. Raegan Beers

Oregon State sophomore forward

Key stats: 17.5 PPG, 10.3 RPG, 66 FG%

With multiple Beavers in the portal, it felt like only a matter of time for Beers to enter, too. As a first-team All-Pac-12 selection and former Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and conference Sixth Player of the Year, she’s going to hear from a lot of programs. She’s an elite offensive talent and an excellent defender who could be a foundational player for almost any program in the country. She shoots 69 percent at the rim, according to Pivot Analysis, and has a Mackenzie Holmes-like game, except Beers is only a sophomore. The loss of the Pac-12 is a loss for every women’s basketball fan. Because she was playing in the Pac-12…

The college basketball season might be over, but transfer portal season is here and it shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

Our first ranking came out three weeks ago, and since then, much has changed in the sport’s landscape. We’ve crowned a national champion. Tara VanDerveer has retired. Tennessee hired Kim Caldwell. On the players’ front, it’s hard to imagine we won’t see more big names jump into the portal over the next week or so, and because of that, we’ll keep the updates coming. Until then, here’s a look at the top 15 prospects in the portal:

Stanford junior forward

Key stats: 19.4 PPG, 11.0 RPG, 2.3 APG, 55 FG %

Iriafen is on the move after three seasons on The Farm. She has a “do not contact” tag, which means she likely already knows where she wants to go. Whichever team lands Iriafen — even though it would only get her for a year — will receive an immediate boost in terms of potential next season. Individually, she can elevate any team. The reigning winner of the Katrina McClain Award (an honor for college basketball’s top forward) is one of the best rebounders in the country, and she’s one of the nation’s most efficient scorers. Her passing improved significantly with more playing time this season. Through last season she drew…