How Eric Dailey Jr. arrived at UCLA well-rounded in basketball and life

Photo Cred: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

The light switch in IMG Academy’s gym is layered with his family’s fingerprints. No janitor had to worry about turning them on. No coach had to unlock the ball closet. Because Eric Dailey Jr. and his dad had beaten them all there. Every morning.

They’d wake up before 6 a.m. Take Mom’s keys to the Bradenton, Florida, facility. Open the doors, turn on the lights and uncork an echoing howl.

“Ain’t nobody in the gym, E!”

“Ain’t nobody in the gym, Dad!”

And then they’d get to work.

Rams’ Ernest Jones earns respect with his play and leadership

Photo Cred: AP Lindsey Wasson

Ernest Jones’ Jeep Trackhawk parks two cars to the right of Aaron Donald, its engine roaring to life as he revs his way out of the Rams’ facility each afternoon. The fastest car on the team, or so he claims – thanks to its souped-up machinery – is usually stationed in its reserved spot that bookends the row of captains’ spaces.

Earlier this season, those white lines were occupied by Jones’ Kia, the same one he had when he was in college at South Carolina. Rewind to 2021, it was a rookie linebacker and that out-of-place Kia scouring for a home each morning.

Now, in Jones’ first year as a team captain, his car’s consistent presence in the center of the Rams parking lot mirrors the attention he demands on the field and in the locker room.

How Natalie Nakase believed in herself to become a WNBA head coach

Photo Cred: AP Jeff Chiu

Natalie Nakase beat the sunrise.

It’s not because she couldn’t sleep. It’s not because she didn’t have time to rest on this March morning. After all, the start of the WNBA season was two months away. And, yet, Nakase was tormenting herself – waking up at 5 a.m. one morning, and going to bed after midnight the next evening.

“I’m training myself,” she says, “to sustain positive energy and mental focus through exhaustion.”

This was her way, she explains, of preparing for the inconsistency of the WNBA schedule. Nobody asked her to do this. None of the esteemed coaches – Doc Rivers, Tyronn Lue, Becky Hammon – who mentored her taught her this strategy. No, she’s just crazy, she says.

UCLA’s Sebastian Mack sticks with Mick Cronin

Photo Cred: Harry How/Getty Images

Jeff Kaufman and Mick Cronin fall into the same healthy debate when the two reconvene. The Coronado High head coach has built a strong reputation of developing offensively gifted guards, while the UCLA men’s basketball head coach builds teams that hang their hats on defense. Their visions might clash, but they wholeheartedly respect one another’s opinions.

About three years ago, Kaufman approached Cronin with the idea of selling him on his senior guard, Sebastian Mack.

“If you’re in a fight,” he told Cronin, “this is the kid you want on your side.”

UCLA’s Charisma Osborne balances leadership on and off the court

Photo Cred: AP Marcio Jose Sanchez

It’s 10 minutes after UCLA’s practice on the Wednesday before its penultimate regular-season home game against Utah. Swinging afrobeats and the soul of Keyshia Cole’s “Love” serenade the Bruins as they shoot around.

Charisma Osborne sways loosely to the playlist.

The fifth-year senior, enjoying one of the few guaranteed instances she and a Bruins team that won its first 14 games, only to be disrupted by midseason uncertainties, have left together.

How Matthew Stafford has lifted the Rams with his toughness, durability

Photo Cred: Brynn Kleinke

The push for an NFC wild card berth has become a war of attrition. The teams vying for playoff spots forced to sift through injuries at football’s most crucial position as the margin for error grows thinner.

That’s why, in a year when quarterback Matthew Stafford has thrown for 3,648 yards and 23 touchdowns, it’s his availability – Stafford has started 14 of 15 games, to this point – that has given the Rams the edge over their opponents as they hold the No. 6 seed with two weeks left in the regular season.

“Matthew’s the ultimate competitor,” offensive tackle Rob Havenstein said Wednesday. “He wants to be out there whether he’s banged up, feeling good, whatever.”

Sparks’ Rickea Jackson is managing the rookie grind

Photo Cred: Keith Birmingham

Rickea Jackson was reluctant to acknowledge the question Dearica Hamby had posed – a veteran trying to coax an admission out of a rookie. So, Hamby repeated herself, phrasing the statement as a command.

“Tell them what you ate for breakfast,” she said to Jackson, during the Sparks’ press conference following a loss to the Connecticut Sun.

Sheepishly, Jackson confessed that she had eaten chicken and waffles that morning, while head coach Curt Miller shook his head in chagrin.

“Don’t ask me about her diet,” Miller quipped.

“It’s getting better,” Jackson said. “Sometimes, I have a little salad.”

Breakfast is Jackson’s sanctuary, her escape from the grueling WNBA schedule that, in her first season, has taught her improvement rarely comes without sacrifice. Jackson has embraced this idea of balance, but she has yet to give up her daily cheat meal.

Navigating Life Like a Heptathlete

Photo Cred: Bob Williams

Breanna Raven forces her mind to go blank for just a split second. It’s in this moment where she seeks peace amid the bustling nature of the Midwestern League Championships, before she accelerates down the long jump runway.  

She tunes out the conversations of her fellow competitors — their prom date drama can wait. It’s as if the echoing bangs of the pole vaulters to her left, who’s poles slam against the bar after failed jumps, disappears. Her thoughts of having to compete in the 200-meter preliminary round 18 minutes after her third long jump attempt, are blocked out.

When her eyes open she bends down to touch her toes. One more stretch before her flight.