NCAA

Two Kansas high schools say they've launched an investigation after several students at a recent basketball game allegedly yelled the n-word -- while waving around a Black doll.

The incident went down Saturday -- when the Topeka H.S. boys basketball team took on Valley Center H.S. in Valley Center, KS.

During the contest, according to Topeka players, several VC students hurled racial slurs and offensive language at them. They also say some of the spectators taunted them with a Black baby figurine.

One video shot by a Topeka student shows the doll being held up by some fans in the stands as the action was unfolding on the court. Another clip appears to show students calling one of the players a "p***y."

Topeka head coach Geo Lyons said in a change.org petition that despite the "racial slurs, threats and disgusting taunts" -- Valley Center officials "did not address any of these actions while play was taking place although they were very aware."

On Tuesday, Valley Center officials said they hadn't found any evidence of racist language being used at the game ... but on Wednesday, they, along with Topeka admins, released a joint statement explaining they've launched a probe into it all -- and investigations are ongoing.

"As both districts work in a unified manner to investigate matters related to the athletic events on Saturday, we as superintendents are both committed to ensuring a safe and respectful climate at school events," the statement read.

"Incidents that occurred when individuals did not conduct themselves in ways that reflect our commitment to supporting students have been handled, and there are investigations that are ongoing. We will work together to ensure the appropriate individuals are held accountable and work together to prevent such incidents in the future."

A Deion Sanders mural at Jackson State University was defaced -- but not by the student seen in a viral video circulating online ... TMZ Sports has learned.

A rep for JSU tells us the mural depicting Coach Prime in a Jackson State hoodie and hat was recently messed with, though it's unclear when it exactly happened -- and the culprit remains unknown.

The school rep says the student seen wiping Deion's mural, which initially went up for football season/Homecoming around October, was trying to clean it up ... and received permission from the university to do so.

We're told it's unclear if police are investigating the mural's initial defacement.

The video of the student wiping the Sanders tribute made rounds on social media this week ... in the aftermath of the coach announcing over the weekend that he was leaving JSU for Colorado.

Many people are beyond pissed at Deion Sanders for leaving Jackson State -- but, Bomani Jones, despite what people think, isn't one of 'em, ... telling us he's "not even really that upset" with Coach Prime's move to the University of Colorado.

Bomani joined "TMZ Live" on Wednesday ... to discuss the backlash he's received for seemingly going in on Sanders after announcing he was bolting from JSU in favor of the Buffaloes.

"I don't think that many people are really that upset at Deion," Bomani said. "But, we are in a time where legitimate, honest criticism of a public figure somehow turns into hating or tearing this dude when all I'm saying is, 'You said this one thing, then you did this thing.'"

Jones admits that Sanders, who went 27-5 in three seasons and won back-to-back SWAC championships with the Tigers, accomplished a lot during his time at the JSU ... but some folks are upset by his move because he overpromised and under-delivered.

"That is the cause for anger from a lot of people," Bomani said. "It's simply that he sold a bill of goods that he didn't really deliver on. He did a lot while he was at Jackson, but this larger idea that he was doing this for someone else was wrong."

Bomani said he saw Prime's decision to leave JSU coming a mile away ... and that he wouldn't have an issue with it had the former NFL superstar stated his intentions upfront, instead of leading people to believe that there was a bigger plan operating at hand.

"He was in this to get to the place where he is in," Jones said. "Congratulations for getting there, but we don't have to act like its more noble than it actually is. You have to reconcile what you said with ultimately what you did."

Despite the mixed reaction Deion has been facing, Bomani doesn't believe that Black people will turn their backs on Sanders or root for him to fail at Colorado since he's no longer coaching at a Historically Black College & University (HBCU).

Video showing a deadly shoot-out between New Mexico State basketball player Mike Peake and a student from a rival school has been released ... and it's terrifying.

The surveillance footage, put out by New Mexico State Police on Tuesday, was captured on Nov. 19 on the University of New Mexico's main campus at around 3 AM.

According to cops, Peake -- a 21-year-old Aggies forward who was in town for NMSU's basketball game against UNM -- was "lured" to the area by a 17-year-old girl and several other male UNM students ... who were allegedly trying to beat him up over an incident that had happened at the UNM-NMSU football game in October.

The video, obtained by KOB 4, shows Peake initially had a gun pointed at him ... while another man ran in and hit him in the leg with a baseball bat.

As Peake turned to sprint away from his attackers, the clip shows he pulled out a firearm -- and began shooting. Cops say he and 19-year-old Brandon Travis traded gunfire ... before Travis was eventually struck and killed.

According to police, Peake was also hit by gunfire during the altercation. He's since undergone multiple surgeries, but is expected to recover.

NMSU announced earlier this week Peake -- who had started two Aggies games this season -- has been suspended from the school's basketball team indefinitely over the altercation.

Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr. and D'Sean Perry -- the three Univ. of Virginia football players who were tragically shot and killed in a terrifying incident on campus last month -- have been posthumously awarded degrees.

The school announced the honors on Monday ... with athletic director Carla Williams saying the gesture became important to her and the university after having talked with Davis' family at his funeral last month.

"He worked extremely hard for it," Williams said of Davis' degree.

Davis had majored in African American and African studies. Perry double majored in studio art and African American and African studies. Chandler, meanwhile, majored in American studies.

"It was a great honor to be a part of presenting these diplomas to the families of Devin, Lavel and D'Sean," Williams added.

As we previously reported, Davis, Chandler, and Perry all died while returning to campus from a class field trip on Nov. 13.

Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., a former UVA football player, is the man police have accused of pulling the trigger. He's since been hit with multiple charges, including three counts of second-degree murder.

Two other students, including UVA running back Mike Hollins, were also wounded in the shooting ... but both have since been released from the hospital following treatment and are expected to make a full recovery.

Punches were thrown, lots of them, in Monday night's TCU-George Washington women's basketball game ... a wild fistfight erupted, resulting in eight players being ejected.

It all went down at the Schollmaier Arena in Fort Worth, TX ... TCU forward Bella Cravens got pissed after GW guard Essence Brown pulled her hair while trying to take the ball away.

It's unclear if Brown acted with intent, but that didn't matter to Cravens ... who immediately went after Brown, sparking the WWE-style showdown on the court.

In the clip, the two women come face-to-face, and Cravens pushes Brown ... that's when things escalated, with punches being thrown from both parties.

Women from both teams tried to separate the two, but in the midst of that, a player from TCU pushes Brown in the back, and she appears to lose her balance.

TCU's head coach Raegan Pebley address the incident, saying, "We never want to be a part of anything like that. We don't ever want to be a part of anything like that."

"Whenever something like that happens right in front of a bench as opposed to the other sideline or the middle of the floor, it's super vulnerable."

Pebley said she thought the officials -- who ejected eight players, including Cravens and Brown -- did a good job of managing the chaos in that moment and throughout the game.

Jalen Kitna will not play at the Univ. of Florida again following his child porn arrest this week ... the school just dismissed the quarterback from the team.

The Gators made the decision on Friday morning -- two days after authorities said the 19-year-old sent child exploitation material over Discord, a popular social media messaging platform, in June.

After initially suspending the signal-caller following his arrest, the school called the allegations against Kitna "extremely serious charges" and behavior that it has "zero tolerance for."

UF officials have yet to make a public comment on the dismissal.

Kitna was in custody for roughly 24 hours following his arrest on Wednesday afternoon, but was released from jail on $80,000 bond on Thursday evening.

His famous father, ex-NFL star Jon Kitna, promised during testimony at Jalen's court hearing Thursday morning that he would take his son back to live with him in Texas during the pre-trial process. Jalen must not use the Internet and must not have unsupervised contact with minors as part of the conditions of his release.

Scooby Wright -- the ex-NFL linebacker and former University of Arizona football star -- is now trying his hand at a different contact sport ... auditioning to become the WWE's next big superstar!!

The wrestling org. invited the former Wildcat to attend tryouts at IMG Academy in Florida this week as part of the company's new recruitment strategy ... and, Scooby sure seemed to impress while there.

One of the 30-plus athletes -- 17 of which were former college football players -- who showed up, the 28-year-old moved around the ring just like he did on the football field.

Wright learned the fundamentals from on-site coaches, including how to absorb blows when hitting the mat. He even got some wisdom imparted to him from Matthew Jason Bloom, a veteran in the industry who wrestled under various monikers during different stints with the WWE.

No word yet on how the execs felt about the former backer ... but the dude has rarely ever disappointed in his athletic life -- so we're sure things went well.

If you need a refresher, the former two-star recruit balled out during his college career at UofA ... recording a staggering 270 total tackles, 17 sacks, five forced fumbles and an interception in 30 career games.

He went on to be picked by the Cardinals in the 7th round of the 2016 NFL Draft.

Former Nebraska Cornhuskers interim head coach Mickey Joseph was arrested for strangulation and domestic assault after an alleged altercation on Wednesday ... Lincoln Police announced.

LPD says officers responded to a domestic service call from Joseph's home in Lincoln around 2 PM ... and after an investigation, the 54-year-old was arrested at a separate location and taken to jail.

Nebraska's athletic director Trev Alberts released a statement on Joseph's arrest ... announcing he has been placed on administrative leave.

"I was made aware of the charges against Coach Joseph and given the nature of the allegations and based on University policy he has been placed on administrative leave," Alberts said. "We will have no additional comment at this time."

Joseph took the reins for the Cornhuskers after Scott Frost's firing in September 2022 ... going 3-6 as interim head coach.

Matt Rhule was announced as Frost's replacement on Saturday ... and had high praise for Joseph, who's slated to be Nebraska's wide receivers coach and associate head coach under the new regime.

Before he got into coaching, Joseph was a standout running back. He was Louisiana's Gatorade Player of the Year in 1987 and a First Team Parade All-American.

He played for legendary Nebraska coach Tom Osborne in Lincoln ... where he started 9 games, rushing for 1,091 yards and 16 touchdowns.

Florida Gators quarterback Jalen Kitna shared an image on a popular social media messaging platform of an adult male having sex with a pre-pubescent female ... this according to cops.

The Gainesville Police Department spelled out the highly disturbing allegations in an arrest report, obtained by TMZ Sports, on Thursday.

In the docs, cops say they received a tip back on June 23, claiming that a Discord user with the account name "jjkit7#8147" had uploaded the image just two days prior, on June 21.

Cops say after launching a thorough investigation, they found out the account belonged to Kitna -- and claim he had also shared another image on June 21 of a pubescent juvenile female exposing herself as well.

According to the docs, Kitna shared the photos during a chat with two separate Discord users.

During one of the alleged conversations, after sharing the image, the person on the receiving end wrote to Kitna, "Wait what. Dude. Are they under 18. Bruh. Nooo."

The docs do not say whether or not Kitna replied.

Police say they eventually executed a search warrant over it all at Kitna's Florida residence on Wednesday ... and seized his phone. According to the documents, an ensuing search of the device revealed he was in possession of three more child sexual abuse images, depicting two nude pubescent juveniles in different poses.

As we reported, Kitna was arrested and booked on five separate child pornography charges. He was granted bail on Thursday at a hearing, after his famous father -- former NFL quarterback Jon Kitna -- testified in court.

The Univ. of Florida, meanwhile, has suspended the 19-year-old from the football team in wake of the arrest, calling the allegations "extremely serious" and ones that the school has "zero tolerance" for.

Jon Kitna was in a Florida court room on Thursday morning ... guaranteeing a judge that if his son was granted bail in his child pornography case, the former NFL star would make sure the 19-year-old returned for every required hearing going forward.

Jon wore a tie and a checkered suit for the proceedings -- which went down less than 24 hours after Jalen Kitna was arrested in Gainesville for possession of child porn -- and he ensured over and over again that he and his wife would follow every rule and regulation imposed on their son if he was released from custody Thursday.

Jon, along with his wife, emphatically told the judge that Jalen would live with them in Texas ... as long as the Florida Gators quarterback was out on pre-trial release.

The former Dallas Cowboys signal-caller's testimony apparently helped his son ... as the judge ultimately set the younger Kitna's bond at $80,000. In making the ruling, the judge ordered that Jalen must not use the Internet and must not have unsupervised contact with minors.

Jalen appeared very somber during the hearing ... at times burying his head in his hands. He said little, except for when acknowledging questions from the judge.

Court records show the teenager has been formally hit with five felony charges in the case.

As we reported, Jalen has been suspended from the Florida football team following his arrest ... with the school saying in a statement, "These are extremely serious charges and the University of Florida and the UAA have zero tolerance for such behavior."

Vanderbilt head coach Jerry Stackhouse was ejected after completely going off on referees during their game on Wednesday ... so bad that he had to be escorted off the court by security!!

The former NBA star -- who started coaching Vandy in 2019 -- went berserk after his center Liam Robbins received a tech for tapping his head while celebrating a dunk in the 2nd half of their away game at VCU.

You can see Stackhouse furiously calling out the refs over the call ... receiving a tech for the blowup, which of course pissed him off even more.

That's when Stackhouse got in referee Bart Lennox's face right in the middle of the court ... and it got so intense that Vandy's coaching staff had to restrain him.

That was enough to get Stackhouse ejected ... and escorted to the locker room by security.

The 48-year-old spoke about the incident during his postgame press conference ... saying the officials need to do better overall.

"I thought tonight's game was poorly officiated," Stackhouse said.

"Kids gon make gestures during the course of the game when they have big plays. I felt like that was one that shouldn't have been called on my guy at that juncture in the game."

To make matters worse, the Commodores lost 70-65 to the Rams ... but Stackhouse isn't placing the blame at his player's feet.

"I don't think that tonight's loss was self-inflicted. I felt like this was a poorly officiated game, and they need to be better."

Florida Gators quarterback Jalen Kitna -- the son of ex-NFL star Jon Kitna -- was arrested in Florida on Wednesday, TMZ Sports has learned.

The 19-year-old was just booked into jail minutes ago -- at around 3:20 PM ET.

Further details surrounding his arrest were not made immediately available.

Jalen -- a touted recruit out of Burleson H.S. in Texas -- committed to the Gators in 2020. He joined the team in 2021, and redshirted. He saw his first on-the-field action this season, making his debut against Eastern Washington in October.

In total, he's appeared in four games for UF -- with his best performance coming against EWU, when he threw for 152 yards and a touchdown.

There had been speculation he could start the team's bowl game later this year if Anthony Richardson, a coveted NFL draft prospect, opts out of the postseason contest.

Jalen's father, Jon Kitna, played for the Cincinnati Bengals, Dallas Cowboys, Detroit Lions and Seattle Seahawks over the course of his career ... and was named the 2003 Comeback Player of the Year. He threw for nearly 30,000 yards and had 169 touchdowns in 14 seasons.

The Big Ten has fined Michigan State University $100,000 and suspended a Spartans cornerback for eight games in 2023 ... after concluding its investigation into the wild tunnel brawl at Michigan in October.

The conference handed down the punishment on Monday ... saying officials found that seven MSU players did indeed kick, hit or use a helmet to strike Wolverines players during the Oct. 29 incident.

In addition to the fine, the conference revealed MSU corner Khary Crump will have to sit out the first eight contests of next season due to his role in the brawl.

The other six players involved in the fracas were all hit with four-game bans, though they've all since served that punishment, the conference announced.

Big Ten officials also issued a public reprimand to the University of Michigan for not providing "adequate protection for personnel of both home and visiting teams when entering and leaving playing arenas."

As we reported, Crump, linebacker Tank Brown, defensive end Zion Young, safety Angelo Grose, defensive back Justin White, defensive end Brandon Wright, and pass rusher Jacoby Windmon were all hit with criminal charges from the Washtenaw County Prosecutor's Office for their roles in the brawl.

Muhammad Ali is arguably the greatest athlete of all time -- and a god amongst pugilists ... so when his grandson, Biaggio Ali Walsh, decided to enter the family business, the decision came with a whole heap of pressure!

Now, 24-year-old Ali Walsh is just days away from his PFL MMA debut (against Tom Graesser) ... and TMZ Sports talked to him about fighting as The Greatest's grandchild.

"I definitely have pressure. I even had that pressure in football, and that's a completely different sport. I'm also doing MMA which is also a completely different sport from boxing, but it's also a combat sport, so I think there's gonna be a little bit more pressure there."

FYI, Biaggio was a high school football star in Las Vegas, before playing college ball at the University of California before transferring to UNLV.

Ali Walsh understands he's getting additional attention because of his last name ... but he hopes to be able to blaze his own trail.

"At the end of the day I'm just like any other fighter who's fighting to create their own name, create their own legacy. The only difference is my grandfather is really famous, and because of that I've gotten the platform that I've got, but at the end of the day, it's how you perform in the cage."

"I definitely do have that pressure, but I feel like I'm dealing with it pretty well."

The event, the PFL World Championship, is going down at Madison Square Garden in NYC, under the same roof where Ali fought some of his most memorable fights -- including the "Fight of the Century," Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier in 1971.

We also asked Biaggio if fans might see any similarities between him and his grandfather ... something Ali Walsh says both yes and no too.

"When my grandfather boxed, I feel like it wouldn't translate that well over to MMA. He was very heavy on his lead leg, threw the jab out a lot. If I tried that in MMA, I'd just get leg kicked all day. I've tried that and I've gotten leg kicked and even taken down, so it didn't really work."

"His speed is something that I feel like I have to. I feel like his speed is passed down to me. Dealing with the big stage and the lights and all that, I feel like that's transferred down to me and my brother [Nico], and even my aunt Laila [Ali]."

A whopping SEVEN Michigan State players have been hit with criminal charges for their alleged roles in a stadium tunnel fight with Michigan players following a loss last month.

The Washtenaw County Prosecutor's Office just announced the charges ... saying they're now looking to prosecute Spartans cornerback Khary Crump, linebacker Tank Brown, defensive end Zion Young, safety Angelo Grose, defensive back Justin White, defensive end Brandon Wright, and pass rusher Jacoby Windmon over the Ann Arbor altercation.

Five of the players -- Brown, Young, Grose, White and Wright -- are facing one count of misdemeanor aggravated battery. Windmon is facing one count of assault and battery.

Crump, meanwhile, was charged with one count of felony assault.

The charges were handed down after a lengthy investigation into the Oct. 29 incident ... where multiple MSU players were seen on video roughing up a couple Wolverines after a disappointing 29-7 loss at Michigan Stadium.

One of the videos showed Spartan players punching and kicking a UM player. Another clip appeared to show Crump swinging a helmet at Wolverines defensive back Gemon Green.

According to Green's attorney, Green suffered a concussion and other injuries in the incident.

All MSU players were suspended from the team indefinitely following the altercations.