What’s it worth to shut up a supposed partner?

That’s not rhetorical. It’s a real question the ACC must consider — especially now, after news broke late Tuesday night that the league and its noisiest two schools, Florida State and Clemson, are discussing a proposal wherein both universities would drop their lawsuits against the conference. All the ACC has to do to make that so?

Oh, you know. Nothing too wild. Just adjust its revenue formula (again), embrace another unequal distribution model and funnel as many dollars as possible to its schools 1) with the biggest brand values and 2) that drive the most television viewership …

Aka, the two schools actively suing the league.

During a regularly scheduled meeting of ACC presidents and chancellors on Tuesday, there were discussions (among other topics) about alternate revenue models, a person briefed on the meeting confirmed. Hours after that meeting, ESPN and Yahoo! Sports both reported that FSU and Clemson would be open to staying in the league if financial adjustments — more like concessions — are made. Gee, how kind of them.

Then there’s the second part to Clemson and FSU’s supposed pitch, reported by ESPN: potentially shortening the league’s grant of rights, possibly to 2030, which aligns with the expiration…

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…

Former Virginia Tech guard Georgia Amoore is transferring to Kentucky, she announced on social media Thursday, following former Hokies women’s basketball coach Kenny Brooks, who accepted the coaching job with the Wildcats on March 26.

Amoore entered the transfer portal Monday and had a “do not contact,” meaning she did not want coaches to reach out to her. That implied that Amoore likely already knew where she wanted to go or had a few finalists.

The news of Amoore heading to Kentucky comes a day after Virginia Tech announced it hired Megan Duffy as its next women’s basketball coach. Duffy spent the past five years coaching Marquette, taking the Golden Eagles to the NCAA Tournament three times.

Amoore started 124 of 126 games over her four-year tenure with the Hokies. She averaged 18.8 points, 6.8 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 0.9 steals on 41.2 percent shooting this season, leading the team in assists and steals. Her points, assists and field goal percentage were all career highs. She has career averages of 14.7 points, 5.2 assists and 2.6 rebounds.

The Victoria, Australia, native had a storied career with the program, initially being named to the ACC All-Freshman team after the 2020-21 season. She continued to stack accolades from there. They include being named an AP…

Virginia Tech is hiring Megan Duffy as its next women’s basketball coach, the school announced Wednesday.

Duffy hails from Marquette, where she spent the past five years at the helm, taking the Golden Eagles to the NCAA Tournament three times. She accumulated a 110-46 record there, including a 64-30 mark in the Big East, and was the fastest coach in program history to 100 wins. Duffy also garnered the most road wins and most home wins in a single season in program history.

Duffy will be trusted to guide Virginia Tech through a rebuild after the program lost its trusty coach Kenny Brooks to Kentucky this offseason.

Brooks came to Virginia Tech in 2016 to take over a program that hadn’t won more than six games in more than a decade. In a relatively short period of time, Brooks moved the Hokies into the middle of the ACC, and with the 2019 recruiting class — highlighted by Elizabeth Kitley and Cayla King — he built a powerhouse. Virginia Tech won its first ACC Tournament title in 2023 and made the program’s first-ever Final Four. This season, the Hokies won the ACC regular season title, but fell to a No. 4 seed in the tournament after Kitley, the All-American center, suffered a season-ending injury. The Hokies lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

With Brooks’…

By Chantel Jennings, Sabreena Merchant and Hunter Patterson

Virginia Tech star guard Georgia Amoore has entered the transfer portal, a source with access to the transfer portal confirmed Monday.

Amoore has marked “do not contact,” meaning that she does not want coaches to reach out to her. That implies that Amoore likely already knows where she wants to go or has a few finalists. Her decision comes on the heels of former Hokies women’s basketball coach Kenny Brooks leaving to accept the coaching job at Kentucky.

Amoore started 124 of 126 games over her four-year tenure at Virginia Tech. She averaged 18.8 points, 6.8 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 0.9 steals on 41.2 percent shooting this season, leading the Hokies in assists and steals. Her points, assists and field goal percentage were all career highs.

Amoore has career averages of 14.7 points, 5.2 assists and 2.6 rebounds.

The Victoria, Australia, native had a storied career at Virginia Tech, initially being named to the ACC All-Freshman team after the 2020-21 season. She continued to stack accolades from there. They include being named an AP All-American, two-time All-ACC, two-time All-ACC tournament and the ACC tournament MVP in 2023.

The Hokies lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to Baylor this season.

What this…

Last year’s WNBA season featured a historic MVP race between frontcourt players. Breanna Stewart, A’ja Wilson and Alyssa Thomas were separated by only 13 points, with Stewart winning despite not having the most first-place votes. A frontcourt player has won the award every year since 2014, with bigs playing significant importance in the modern WNBA. The frontcourt class in the upcoming 2024 WNBA Draft has the potential to impact the league immediately, with plenty of eyeballs watching to see who goes where.

GO DEEPER

WNBA 2024 mock draft: Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers and Cameron Brink headline

The draft is less than three weeks away on April 15 in Brooklyn, just eight days after the national championship. In anticipation of the event, eight general managers shared their thoughts with The Athletic before the NCAA Tournament about the upcoming class. They were granted anonymity to allow them to speak openly. On Wednesday, we published their assessments on eligible guards, such as Caitlin Clark, Georgia Amoore and Jacy Sheldon. Now, they’re sharing their unvarnished takes on forwards such as Cameron Brink, Rickea Jackson and Angel Reese.

GO DEEPER

Anonymous WNBA GMs scout guard prospects: Caitlin Clark will be ‘backbone of a franchise’

Following the tournament, we’ll release…

Caitlin Clark will headline the 2024 WNBA Draft, but she is far from the only impact guard who will make her way into the league. As the professional game modernizes, franchises are looking for more playmakers on the perimeter in an effort to improve the pace and spacing of their offenses. Clark is the most prolific and recognizable guard in this group, and she is joined by a deep class — including several international prospects — of shooters, pure points and combo guards who are eager to make their impact at the next level.

The draft is less than three weeks away, taking place April 15 in Brooklyn, N.Y., just eight days after the national championship. In anticipation of the event, eight WNBA general managers shared their candid opinions about the upcoming draft class with The Athletic before the NCAA Tournament. They were granted anonymity to allow them to speak openly. Thursday, we’ll run another installment that includes their unvarnished takes on frontcourt players such as Cameron Brink, Kamilla Cardoso and Angel Reese.

GO DEEPER

WNBA Mock Draft: Where will Angel Reese land? Who will be picked after Caitlin Clark?

After the tournament, we’ll release our final mock draft and a GM scout of the potential picks in the 2025 WNBA Draft.

Players are listed in alphabetical…

Kentucky has hired Virginia Tech women’s basketball coach Kenny Brooks, Virginia Tech announced Tuesday. The deal is for five years, according to a person briefed on the matter.

Brooks was a big swing for Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart, who understood the importance of investing in a women’s basketball coach during this time of significant growth of the sport. Kentucky is also in the process of completing an $82 million renovation of the Memorial Coliseum, where the UK women’s team plays its home games, which is expected to be finished ahead of the 2024-25 season.

The Wildcats are expected to make Brooks the third-highest-paid coach in the SEC behind LSU’s Kim Mulkey ($3.15 million per year) and South Carolina’s Dawn Staley ($3.1 million per year). While the exact dollar amount is not known, the contract will be more than the $1.1 million a year that Brooks was making at Virginia Tech. After leading the Hokies to their first ACC tournament title and Final Four appearance last season, Brooks signed a contract extension with Virginia Tech last July that would’ve kept him in Blacksburg through the 2028-29 season.

Brooks will replace Kyra Elzy, who was fired after four seasons on March 11 after the Wildcats finished this season 12-20 and failed to make the…

Eight teams have already punched their tickets to Albany and Portland for the Super Regionals.

South Carolina, after only managing a close road win over the Tar Heels earlier this season, rolled to an 88-41 second-round victory against North Carolina with the majority of its starting five receiving some rest. Reserves such as MiLaysia Fulwiley, Tessa Johnson and Chloe Kitts took center stage against the Tar Heels, combining for 43 points.

Elsewhere, the Pac-12 continued to make the most of its swan song. No. 5 seed Colorado beat No. 4 seed Kansas State, No. 3 seed Oregon State took down No. 6 seed Nebraska and No. 2 seed Stanford beat No. 7 seed Iowa State in an overtime thriller. The conference now waits on USC, UCLA and Utah — who all play on Monday — to see if the Pac-12 can own six spots in the Sweet 16, with Arizona as the lone conference team that didn’t advance to the third round of the tournament.

Here’s what else you need to know from a jam-packed Sunday of women’s March Madness.

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What’s next for Virginia Tech after unfair ending?

On Feb. 29, the Hokies were celebrating an outright ACC regular-season title, the first such crown in program history, and were riding a 10-game winning streak. A repeat run to the Final Four wasn’t the expectation but seemed fully…

(Editor’s note: This is part of the Bracket Central Series, an inside look at the run-up to the men’s and women’s NCAA Tournaments, along with analysis and picks during the tournaments.)

This season has been so beautiful, and the NCAA Tournament is a welcome extension of that so far. In a sport that’s defined ever more by speed, pace and efficiency, it’s crucial to stop every so often to soak in how excellent the game is.

Iowa State’s Audi Crooks, a true freshman, dropped 40 points in her first tournament appearance. She did that while shooting 18 of 20 and leading the Cyclones back from a 20-point deficit against Maryland to advance to the second round.

We saw other freshmen ascend to terrific heights, too. JuJu Watkins has propelled USC back to levels the Trojans haven’t been to in decades. Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo seems to break a record every day. Texas’ Madison Booker has stepped up. MiLaysia Fulwiley’s stardom and impact continues to grow. Crooks and the four other freshmen in Iowa State’s self-proclaimed Fab Five have the Cyclones dancing in what was expected to be a rebuild year.

This video from from former Gonzaga and current Long Beach State men’s coach Dan Monson struck a chord. It’s a good reminder to fully appreciate what’s happening in…