Yahoo Sports AM: Get to know the name Cooper Flagg
In today’s edition: Cooper Flagg puts on a show, the last Americans standing, from the campaign trail to the mound, and more.
Yahoo Sports AM is our daily newsletter that keeps you up to date on all things sports. Sign up here to get it every weekday morning.
🚨 Headlines
🏀 Hurley extension: Dan Hurley is signing a six-year, $50 million extension with UConn, which is $20 million less than the six-year, $70 million offer he turned down from the Lakers.
⚾️ Running wild: All-Star Elly De La Cruz stole two more bases on Monday to reach 45 on the year, the most ever by a Red before the break and by far the most in the majors this year. No one else even has 30.
⛳️ Captain Keegan: After being snubbed for the 2023 Ryder Cup team, Keegan Bradley will captain the 2025 squad that will compete against Europe at Bethpage Black.
🏈 Sutton suspended: Steelers cornerback Cameron Sutton has been suspended for eight games following domestic battery allegations.
🎓 NIL star staying in school: LSU gymnast Livvy Dunne, who has made millions in NIL money, will return to LSU for a fifth year.
🏀 Cooper Flagg has Team USA camp buzzing
Cooper Flagg, an incoming freshman at Duke and the projected No. 1 pick in next year's NBA Draft, had Team USA camp buzzing during Monday's scrimmage.
From Yahoo Sports' Vincent Goodwill:
All Cooper Flagg had to do was show he belonged on the floor with the NBA's best. He accomplished that feat in Day 1 of the scrimmages between the U.S. Men's Olympic team and the Select Team.
But in Day 2, Flagg was making an impact during scrimmages and showing why next season could be a tankathon among the league's bottom-feeding franchises in the race to position themselves for the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.
Flagg won't turn 18 until late December, so he wasn't expected to dominate the day, and no one would say he was the best player on the floor — after all, it's not a stretch to say all 12 members of the Olympic team will make the Hall of Fame.
But there is some hope attached to him, and he probably knows it. Going into the year with the Duke pedigree will be one thing, but along with that will be the belief he could be the next American-born star to come down a pipeline that's increasingly filled by foreign players.
Worth noting: Flagg, a 6-foot-9 forward from Newport, Maine, is the first college player to participate in a Team USA training camp since Marcus Smart and Doug McDermott in 2013.
More from Team USA camp: Kevin Durant sits down with Yahoo Sports
🎾 Fritz and Paul: The last Americans standing
Taylor Fritz rallied from two sets down on Monday to upset No. 4 Alexander Zverev and reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals, where some American history awaits.
24 years later: Fritz is joined in the final eight by Tommy Paul, marking the first time since 2000 that multiple American men have made it this far at Wimbledon.
Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and Jan-Michael Gambill all made the quarters that year, with Sampras winning his fourth straight title at the All England Club.
That was the last time an American man won Wimbledon, and they've won just three other majors since (Agassi at the 2001 and 2003 Australian Open, Andy Roddick at the 2003 U.S. Open).
Coming up: No. 12 Paul plays No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz today (9:15am ET) and No. 13 Fritz plays No. 25 Lorenzo Musetti tomorrow.
🌎 The world in photos
London — A pied wagtail enjoying Wimbledon's perfectly cut grass.
New York — Argentina supporters gathered in Times Square last night on the eve of their Copa América semifinal match against Canada at MetLife Stadium.
Denver — The Fourth of July fireworks show at Coors Field. What a photo.
Sydney, Australia — I love a good rugby action shot.
⚾️ From the campaign trail to the pitcher's mound
The Sioux City Explorers, a minor league baseball team based in Sioux City, Iowa, were without a starting pitcher on Saturday night.
The solution: Give Iowa State Representative J.D. Scholten a call.
The 44-year-old pitched for the Explorers from 2003-07 before retiring and becoming a paralegal, and later a politician.
He was volunteering at a local music festival on Saturday when he got the call. Three hours later, he was walking through the tunnel to take the mound.
Scholten, who briefly played for a Dutch baseball team last year, went on to throw 6.2 innings, surrendering just a pair of runs in an 11-2 win.
What they're saying: "I've done just over 1,000 games in this league, and there's never been a story like this," said Explorers media director Dan Vaughan. "You’ve got a representative, he's 44, he's pitching in a local league, basically off the street. And to have him come in and do that … That's a first, and it's the stuff of lore for sure."
What's next: Scholten will start for the Explorers again on Thursday when they face the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks.
📆 July 9, 2006: The headbutt
18 years ago today, France's Zinedine Zidane was ejected in extra time of the World Cup Final* for headbutting Italy's Marco Materazzi in one of the most infamous moments in soccer history.
A fitting farewell? Zizou had come out of retirement to lead Les Bleus one last time, meaning the final moment of his career — triggered by Materazzi insulting his sister — wasn't a goal or assist, but rather a snapshot of the fiery, impulsive passion that made him one of soccer's all-time greats.
"If you look at the 14 red cards I had in my career, 12 of them were a result of provocation. This isn't justification, this isn't an excuse, but my passion, temper and blood made me react." — Zidane
🎾 1877: The inaugural Wimbledon Championship began at the All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club, where 22 men competed in the world's first official lawn tennis tournament.
⚾️ 1914: The Red Sox purchased the contracts of three minor leaguers from the now-defunct Baltimore Orioles for $25,000. One of the them? A 19-year-old two-way player named Babe Ruth.
*Italy triumphed: The Azzurri went on to win in a shootout in a game that had the headbutting duo's fingerprints all over it: Before their extra time scuffle, Zidane had scored a brilliant PK to put France up 1-0 and Materazzi equalized with a header for the game's only goals.
📺 Watchlist: Euro and Copa semifinals
Two of the world's best soccer players take the field today with a chance to send their team to the Euro and Copa América finals.
France vs. Spain (3pm ET, FS1): Kylian Mbappé and Les Bleus are slight underdogs (-105 at BetMGM) despite Spain (-120) losing three starters to injury in the quarterfinals.
Argentina vs. Canada (8pm, Fox): Lionel Messi's side blanked Canada, 2-0, in their opener, and the defending champs are heavily favored in this one (-550).
More to watch:
🎾 Wimbledon, Men's: No. 1 Jannik Sinner vs. No. 5 Daniil Medvedev (8:30am, ESPN); No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz vs. No. 12 Tommy Paul (9:15am, ESPN2) … Quarterfinals.
🎾 Wimbledon, Women's: Lulu Sun vs. Donna Vekić (8am, ESPN2); No. 7 Jasmine Paolini vs. No. 19 Emma Navarro (10:30am, ESPN) … Quarterfinals.
🇫🇷 Tour de France*: Stage 10 (6:30am, Peacock)
⚽️ U.S. Open Cup: Atlanta United vs. Indy Eleven (7pm, Apple); Sacramento Republic vs. Seattle Sounders (11pm, Apple) … Quarterfinals of the annual tournament featuring all levels of U.S. soccer.
⚾️ MLB: Dodgers at Phillies (6:40pm, TBS)
🏀 NBA Summer League: Grizzlies vs. 76ers (7pm, ESPN); Spurs vs. China (8pm, NBA); Thunder vs. Jazz (9pm, ESPN2); Hornets vs. Kings (10pm, NBA)
*Where it stands: As the 21-stage race nears its midpoint, two-time champion Tadej Pogačar (2020, 2021) holds a 33-second lead over Remco Evenepoel and a 75-second lead over two-time defending champion Jonas Vingegaard (2022, 2023).
🏀 Duke trivia
Duke has produced a record five No. 1 overall draft picks, and many expect Cooper Flagg to become the sixth next June.
Question: Can you name the five Blue Devils that were first overall picks?
Hint: 2022, 2019, 2011, 1999, 1963.
Answer at the bottom.
🥊 Let's take a trip back in time...
From Yahoo Sports' Ben Fowlkes: Fourth of July fight fiasco: How a Jack Dempsey title bout KO'd a tiny Montana town
If you're looking for the spot where Jack Dempsey defended the world heavyweight title against Tommy Gibbons in a fight that brought financial ruin upon an entire town on July 4, 1923, the directions are simple.
Head north on I-15. Keep going until the signs start listing the mileage to various cities in Canada. Then exit in Shelby, Montana, and follow Main Street along the railroad tracks.
You won't miss it. There behind the Pizza Hut you'll see Champions Park with the metal silhouettes of two boxers facing off in the middle. That's supposed to be them, Dempsey and Gibbons.
On one side stands one of the most famous athletes of the 1920s, a man who would have to literally run out of town by the time the fight was over. On the other side stands a guy who was only promised enough to cover his training expenses in a clash for the heavyweight title.
This park marks the spot where a hastily built arena once stood. The plaques surrounding the two metallic figures tell the story, from "the set up" to "the con," of how their Fourth of July fight 101 years ago resulted in one of the worst economic disasters in boxing history.
Trivia answer: Paolo Banchero (2022), Zion Williamson (2019), Kyrie Irving (2011), Elton Brand (1999) and Art Heyman (1963)
We hope you enjoyed this edition of Yahoo Sports AM, our daily newsletter that keeps you up to date on all things sports. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox every weekday morning.
