Sources confirmed to The Denver Post on Monday that the Rapids agreed to a transfer fee of $1.6 million for Israeli international center back Stav Lemkin. The deal might not be finalized until some point during the MLS secondary transfer window, which runs from July 24 to Aug. 14.

Lemkin, 22, is on loan with the Israeli Premier League’s Maccabi Tel Aviv. His contract is with Ukrainian Premier League club Shakhtar Donetsk. The loan is due to finish at the end of June, with his base contract expiring in June of 2028, according to Transfermarkt.

He has three caps for the Israeli national team, all coming in the group stage of last year’s UEFA Euro qualifying rounds. He’s played in high-level club matches, too, starting or appearing in multiple Europa League matches with Tel Aviv against recognizable clubs like FC Porto and Real Sociedad.

There isn’t much film or many stats available on Lemkin, but he’s a hair below 6-foot-3, basically a prerequisite height for Rapids center backs.

But what his potential signing signals for the Rapids could be much bigger.

Perennial starting center back Andreas Maxsø garnered reported interest from Saudi Arabian teams over the offseason this past winter, but he ended up staying in Colorado.

It’s highly unlikely the Rapids would cough up seven figures for a bench player, and it’s equally unlikely the club would move to a five-back system that includes three center backs. They could move Chidozie Awaziem or Maxsø to the bench, but Awaziem is playing well and Maxsø is well compensated ($1.15 million annually, per the MLS Players’ Association).

Essentially, it may end up being the end of Maxsø in Colorado. If there’s still mutual interest in playing in the Saudi Pro League, he could make more money in a place known for its over-the-top contracts. And at 31, the Danish international doesn’t fit into the youth development prototype the Rapids want to model.

At the price point and with the club’s philosophy, a practical like-for-like pair of transactions would make sense, especially if Colorado could sell Maxsø for around Lemkin’s price or more.

An added wrinkle: Lemkin is eligible for a U-22 Initiative slot, but the Rapids don’t currently have one open. They could, however, shift from the three-Designated Player, three-U-22 model to the new two-DP, four-U-22 setup introduced last offseason. If the club went that direction, a DP — presumably winger Kévin Cabral, who has not produced at a DP level this season and hardly starts anymore — would have to depart for that to happen.

With a pivotal transfer window coming up amid an underwhelming start for the Rapids, an expensive deal for a center back is a puzzling choice for a team struggling to score (18 goals in 17 games, eighth-worst in MLS). But it could start a chain reaction that would continue a movement toward youth and the future.

Securing a young, talented center back is smart in theory, but only if the Rapids can make moves for better attacking talent, particularly on the flanks. Ted Ku-DiPietro is turning into a fantastic signing, but there’s simply not enough threat on the outside to be a 60-goal team like Colorado was last season.

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Chubb made four Pro Bowls in seven seasons with Cleveland, but was limited by injuries the past two years. He suffered a left knee injury in Week 2 at Pittsburgh in 2023 and remained sidelined until Week 7 in 2024. He then played in eight games before breaking his foot and finished with 332 yards rushing and four touchdowns.

Broncos Mailbag: Should Denver sign JK Dobbins, Nick Chubb or another veteran running back?

Chubb could join a backfield that features Joe Mixon. The two-time Pro Bowler had 1,016 yards in his first year with Houston after seven seasons in Cincinnati. The Texas won the AFC South at 10-7 before losing at Kansas City in the divisional round of the playoffs.

The 29-year-old Chubb has run for 6,843 yards since the Browns selected him in the second round in the 2018 NFL draft. He is third on the team’s career list behind Hall of Famers Jim Brown (12,312) and Leroy Kelly (7,274).

Chubb rushed for 1,525 yards and 12 TDs in 2022. He has averaged 5.1 yards per carry during his seven seasons.

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Last month, Scottie Scheffler made mention of a trend in golf design that rubs him wrong — removing trees from courses.

This week, the world’s best player and favorite to win the U.S. Open will play a course that did just that, but didn’t become one bit easier the way some layouts do when the trees go away. Under the dark of night three decades ago, the people in charge of Oakmont Country Club started cutting down trees. They didn’t stop until some 15,000 had been removed.

The project reimagined one of America’s foremost golf cathedrals and started a trend of tree cutting that continues to this day.

While playing a round on YouTube with influencer Grant Horvat, Scheffler argued that modern pro golf — at least at most stops on the PGA Tour — has devolved into a monotonous cycle of “bomb and gouge”: Hit drive as far as possible, then gouge the ball out of the rough from a shorter distance if the tee shot is off line.

“They take out all the trees and they make the greens bigger and they typically make the fairways a little bigger, as well,” Scheffler said. “And so, the only barrier to guys just trying to hit it as far as they want to or need to, it’s trees.”

With or without trees, Oakmont has stood the test of time

Scheffler and the rest in the 156-man field that tees off Thursday should be so lucky.

While the latest Oakmont renovation, in 2023, did make greens bigger, fairways are never wide at the U.S. Open and they won’t be this week.

U.S. Open: When it starts, how to watch, what’s at stake, betting odds for golf’s next major

Tree-lined or not, Oakmont has a reputation as possibly the toughest of all the U.S. Open (or any American) courses, which helps explain why it is embarking on its record 10th time hosting it. In the two Opens held there since the tree-removal project was completed, the deep bunkers, serpentine drainage ditches and lightning-fast greens have produced winning scores of 5-over par (Angel Cabrera in 2007) and 4 under (Dustin Johnson in 2016).

In an ironic twist that eventually led to where we (and Oakmont) are today, the layout was completely lined with trees in 1973 when Johnny Miller shot 63 on Sunday to win the U.S. Open. That record stood for 50 years, and the USGA followed up with a course setup so tough in 1974 that it became known as “The Massacre at Winged Foot” -- won by Hale Irwin with a score of 7-over par.

“Everybody was telling me it was my fault,” Miller said in a look back at the ’74 Open with Golf Digest. “It was like a backhanded compliment. The USGA denied it, but years later, it started leaking out that it was in response to what I did at Oakmont. Oakmont was supposed to be the hardest course in America.”

It might still be.

In a precursor to what could come this week, Rory McIlroy and Adam Scott played practice rounds last Monday in which McIlroy said he made a 7 on the par-4 second and Scott said he hit every fairway on the front nine and still shot 3 over.

Nicklaus: Trees should only come down ‘for a reason’

While Oakmont leaned into tree removal, there are others who aren’t as enthused.

Jack Nicklaus, who added trees to the 13th hole at Muirfield Village after seeing players fly a fairway bunker on the left for a clear look at the green, said he’s OK with tree removal “if they take them down for a reason.”

“Why take a beautiful, gorgeous tree down?” he said. “Like Oakmont, for example. What’s the name of it? Oak. Mont. What’s that mean? Oaks on a mountain, sort of. And then they take them all down. I don’t like it.”

A lot of Oakmont’s members weren’t fans, either, which is why this project began under dark of night. The golf course in the 1990s was barely recognizable when set against pictures taken shortly after it opened in 1903.

Architect Henry Fownes had set out to build a links-style course. Dampening the noise and view of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, which bisects the layout, was one reason thousands of trees were planted in the 1960s and ’70s.

“We were finding that those little trees had all grown up and they were now hanging over some bunkers,” R. Banks-Smith, the chairman of Oakmont’s grounds committee when the project began, said in a 2007 interview. “And once you put a tree on either side of a bunker, you lose your bunker. So, you have to make a decision. Do you want bunkers or do you want trees?”

Oakmont went with bunkers – its renowned Church Pew Bunker between the third and fourth fairways might be the most famous in the world – and thus began a tree project that divides people as much today as it did when it started.

“I’m not always the biggest fan of mass tree removal,” Scott said. “I feel a lot of courses that aren’t links courses get framed nicely with trees, not like you’re opening it up to go play way over there.”

Too many trees, though, can pose risks.

Overgrown tree roots and too much shade provide competition for the tender grasses beneath. They hog up oxygen and sunlight and make the turf hard to maintain. They overhang fairways and bunkers and turn some shots envisioned by course architects into something completely different.

They also can be downright dangerous. In 2023 during the second round of the Masters, strong winds toppled three towering pine trees on the 17th hole, luckily missing fans who were there watching the action.

“There are lots of benefits that trees provide, but only in the right place,” said John Fech, the certified arborist at University of Nebraska who consults with the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America.

When Oakmont decided they didn’t want them at all, many great courses followed. Winged Foot, Medinah, Baltusrol and Merion are among those that have undergone removal programs.

Five years ago, Bryson DeChambeau overpowered Winged Foot, which had removed about 300 trees, simply by hitting the ball as far as he could, then taking his chances from the rough.

It’s the sort of golf Scheffler seems to be growing tired of: “When you host a championship tournament, if there’s no trees, you just hit it wherever you want, because if I miss a fairway by 10 yards, I’m in the thick rough (but) if I miss by 20, I’m in the crowd,” Scheffler told Horvat.

How well that critique applies to Oakmont will be seen this week.

___

AP Golf Writer Doug Ferguson contributed.

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OAKMONT, Pa. — The U.S. Open long has been regarded the toughest test in golf, and this year it returns to what is arguably the toughest course in America.

Oakmont Country Club outside Pittsburgh is the talk of the 125th U.S. Open, a course built in 1903 that is more about being feared than being fair. The rough is as thick as ever. The greens are as fast as any. There’s also the famous Church Pew bunkers between the third and fourth holes.

Scottie Scheffler shot 69 in his U.S. Open debut as a Texas teenager. He missed the cut the next day in 2016. Now he’s the favorite as he comes to Oakmont having won three of his last four tournaments, including the PGA Championship.

Here is a look at what you need to know leading up to the U.S. Open:

When is the US Open?

Golf’s second-oldest championship — it dates to 1895 — starts Thursday at 6:45 a.m. Players in groups of three will start on the first and 10th tees, morning and afternoon. The biggest names typically start on No. 10 in the morning or on No. 1 in the afternoon to get peak TV coverage.

The top 60 and ties make the 36-hole cut Friday and advance to the weekend.

U.S. Open ’25: Decades ago under dark of night, Oakmont began removing trees and started a golf trend

How can I watch the US Open?

NBC and its platforms get their first major of the year, and there is wall-to-wall coverage of the U.S. Open.

Thursday starts on USA Network from 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Peacock takes over until 8 p.m. Friday starts on Peacock at 6:30 a.m. until 1 p.m., and then NBC goes until 8 p.m.

Saturday has USA Network from 10 a.m. to noon, and NBC goes from noon until 8 p.m. The final round Sunday starts at 9 a.m. until noon on USA Network, and NBC takes over until the end.

Who are the betting favorites?

The odds keep getting better for Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 player in the world. BetMGM Sportsbook has him at +275. Next in line is defending U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau (+750).

Rory McIlroy was the second favorite on the BetMGM Sportsbook money line last week at +700. He missed the cut at the Canadian Open last week and goes into the U.S. Open at +1200, along with Jon Rahm. They are followed by Xander Schauffele at +2200.

Phil Mickelson needs the U.S. Open to complete the career Grand Slam and this likely is his last appearance. The 54-year-old Mickelson is at +25000.

Who are the players to watch?

Scottie Scheffler is being compared to Tiger Woods based on modern statistics. He is being compared to Jack Nicklaus for the way he plays the game from tee-to-green with minimal mistakes. He has won three of his last four starts going into Oakmont. A victory at the U.S. Open would send Scheffler to the British Open with a shot at the career Grand Slam.

Rory McIlroy is No. 2 and the Masters champion, along with becoming the latest player to complete the Grand Slam. There was thought the Masters title would give him freedom because he had gone 11 years without any major. But he missed the cut in Canada last week and said he found it hard to get motivated when he was practicing.

Xander Schauffele is coming off a year in which he won two majors. He was out with two months because of a rib injury. But he plays this major well. Schauffele has played the U.S. Open eight times and only once has finished outside the top 10.

Not to be overlooked is Bryson DeChambeau as the defending champion. He loves brute tests like Oakmont. And he was in the mix in the final round at the Masters and the PGA Championship. DeChambeau won his two U.S. Opens at Winged Foot (2020) and Pinehurst No. 2 (2024).

What’s at stake?

The U.S. Open trophy doesn’t have a name. The winner also gets the gold medal named after four-time champion Jack Nicklaus. The prize money hasn’t been announced yet, but it was $21.5 million last year, with $4.3 million going to the winner.

The champion also gets a 10-year exemption to the U.S. Open, along with a five-year exemption to the Masters, PGA Championship and British Open.

What happens in case of a playoff?

The U.S. Open has gone the longest of the four majors without a playoff. That was in 2008, when Tiger Woods famously made a 12-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole to force an 18-hole Monday playoff against Rocco Mediate at Torrey Pines. That took 19 holes for Woods to win.

Since then, the U.S. Open has gone to a two-hole aggregate playoff on the Sunday after the conclusion of regulation. That has not been used yet.

What’s the weather forecast?

There’s been a lot of rain in the last week that has softened the course. The weekday rounds should be reasonably dry. But there’s a good chance of thunderstorms on Saturday and lingering rain on Sunday.

What happened last year?

Bryson DeChambeau got up-and-down from 55 yards away in a bunker, making a 4-foot putt for a 1-over 71 and a one-shot victory over Rory McIlroy at Pinehurst No. 2. McIlroy had the lead late in the round but bogeyed three of his last four holes. That included missing a 30-inch par putt on the 16th hole and a par putt just inside 4 feet on the last hole. DeChambeau captured his second U.S. Open. McIlroy left without talking to the media.

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Until that changes, neither will anything on Nikola Jokic’s spring travel itinerary.

Another Memorial Day in Sombor. Another June with no parade. Another year closer to the end of the greatest career in Nuggets history.

So, to the next Denver general manager, especially if that’s interim Ben Tenzer, we humbly beseech three things.

First: Be heartened by the pluck and guile the Nuggets showed against the Thunder three weeks ago.

Second: Do not be fooled or charmed by it.

Third, and this is key: Do not give in to insanity. Do not do the same thing, over and over, and expect a different result.

Do not run it back. Please. For the love of Pete Williams, do not run it back.

Do not look at Thunder vs. Timberwolves or Thunder vs. Pacers and decide, in your head, that the job is mostly done. Do not settle. Do not tell yourself that rest, a coaching change and schematics are the only things between you and a return to the NBA Finals.

“You know, we took the Oklahoma City Thunder, (which) is playing some of the best basketball in the league, if not the best right now, to seven games,” Nuggets president Josh Kroenke reflected late last month. “Which, you know, is great. We took a great team to seven games. That series could have been 4-0 the other way. That series could have been 4-1 us. I don’t think we lost Game 7 during Game 7. I thought we lost Game 7 during Games 4 and 5.

“These series are very fragile things, and they come down to little moments in time and certain actions over the course of a few-minute span in games. And so while I think we were close in some ways, I don’t think it was a 4-0 sweep for Oklahoma City.”

It wasn’t. And they are close. But not “Nuggets-Thunder was the real NBA Finals!” close. You don’t hang banners for almosts.

Yes, the Nuggets took the best team in the West to seven games with their “Core Six” — the starting five plus Russell Westbrook — held together by guts, gauze and chewing gum. Michael Porter Jr. had one good shoulder. Aaron Gordon had one hamstring. Westbrook had one good hand.

The Nuggets played the underdog card as if Michael Malone, a terrier of a man who loved punching up, had never left. It was beautiful. Well, except for Game 2. And Game 7.

Ask yourself this question, and be honest: What would’ve happened to this same Nuggets team if it had sprung the upset vs. OKC and landed Minnesota in the conference finals?

Oh, you know. Anthony Edwards knows. Chris Finch knows. Russ knows. The Joker knows.

Deep down, Josh knows, too.

“We’re close,” Kroenke said, “but I don’t want to be naive in thinking of how close we are. But I don’t want to underestimate how close we were either. I mean, shoot, thinking back to the first round, I mean, we’re an Aaron Gordon tip-dunk away from perhaps coming back (to Denver) down 3-1. And then what does that series look like? Do we even have the opportunity to go out and try and chase a team as great as the Thunder? So there (are) lots of ways to kind of weigh how close we are.

“But I think that as a group, we feel confident that we can go toe to toe with a lot of teams around the league. And now we’re going to get to work seeing about how we can go toe to toe and then overtake them.”

For a start, the most impactful piece sitting next to Jamal Murray can’t be a heat pack.

The Nuggets, bless them, emptied the tank. They gave all they had. Which, by mid-May, wasn’t much. A roster that runs six deep won’t last two rounds before you throw a rod, before a timing belt snaps like a dry twig.

“I think that the way that our players responded over the last six, seven weeks or so really told the world that the Nuggets’ job, whether it’s coaching or front office, is a really special one,” Kroenke continued. “And especially where we are right now,”

Hope is fine. Delusion is the enemy of progress.

Until that bench gets addressed with more than lip service, someone’s always going to come along by Mother’s Day to steal Jokic’s Thunder. At this time of year, a first aid kit will carry you only so far before the plaster cracks.

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On Friday, district judge Claudia Wilken in Northern California approved the House v. NCAA settlement, which will allow schools around the country to directly pay student-athletes through revenue sharing beginning July 1.

The settlement is a landmark change in college athletics and one that CU is ready to embrace.

“We’re all in,” CU athletic director Rick George told BuffZone in a recent interview. “We’re going to be all in, and this is going to be a group effort. … We’re going to be very aggressive, going out and looking at revenue streams, and obviously our donations that we get from donors is an area that we’re going to emphasize.”

Schools can pay student-athletes up to $20.5 million during the 2025-26 school year, to be divided among different sports. It’s widely expected that football and men’s basketball teams — the two sports that generate the most revenue — will receive most of that money.

While schools don’t have to reach the cap (which is expected to increase every year), George said CU plans to hit the cap. George and his administrative team have been working for nearly a year to be ready for the July 1 start date, including how to earn the money and how to allocate the funds. CU is still figuring out a plan of how to allocate money to different sports.

“It’s a challenging time for our peers and for us, because you just don’t have $20.5 million lying around,” George said. “So it’s going to require some difficult decisions and we’ve just got to be willing to make them. But our goal in all of this is that we want to compete at the highest level, so we’re going to participate at the highest level.”

CU has already made some decisions, including installing artificial turf at Folsom Field this summer, which carries an upfront cost of about $1 million, but will allow CU to host more concerts at the stadium and generate revenue. Also, BuffZone reported last week that CU is eliminating the positions of long-time track and field coaches Casey and Lindsey Malone, as the Buffs plan to focus more on their distance programs going forward.

“It requires a lot, and it’s going to require us to manage our expenses,” George said. “It’s going to require us to generate more revenue. You just don’t, in a year’s time, figure out how you can be able to revenue share at that number.

“It’s going to be incumbent on our base out there, our Flatiron Society, our Buff Club donors, to get involved. And I think we’re showing them our commitment. I feel really strongly that for us to be in a great position three to five years from now, we need to participate at the highest level, and we need to make sure that it’s sustainable. I feel like we’ve got a good plan in place.”

While George acknowledges there will have to be some expense cuts, he said generating more revenue, through donors, outside events, etc., will be the priority. And, he maintained, as he has throughout his tenure at CU, that he does not want to cut from the programs that benefit the student-athletes.

“One thing that I’ve told our student athletes and I’ve told our coaches is we will continue to provide the great benefits for our student-athletes that we always have, and that’s in the areas of mental health, nutrition, sports medicine, strength and conditioning, academic support, all those things that touch our student athletes,” he said. “We’re going to make sure that we still maintain those at a very high level.”

In addition to revenue sharing, a big piece of the House settlement is roster limits.

For football, CU will remain at the previous NCAA scholarship limit of 85, but the full roster is now capped at 105. That is likely to impact other schools more than CU. On average, FBS schools have kept around 125 players on a roster, but under current head coach Deion Sanders, the Buffs opened the 2023 season with 113 and the 2024 season with 110. Unofficially, CU has 102 players slated for this year, with 77 on scholarship.

Basketball will be capped at 15 roster spots, which will potentially eliminate a couple of walk-on spots.

“We’ve had discussions about roster limits, and we’ve had discussions about scholarships and those kinds of things that we’ve had with our coaches,” George said.

The timing of the House settlement, on June 6, means CU and other schools have to make some big decisions in a hurry before the fall season begins, but George expects growing pains for a lot of schools.

“It’ll be a little clunky, I think, in year one, but then I think as we get to year two, in July of 2026, it’ll be a little smoother,” he said.

While the House settlement will bring some challenges to CU and many other schools around the country, George said the Buffs are eager to embrace the new world of college athletics. And, he’s focused on helping CU be in a great position for potential changes in the future.

“We’ve still got to operate as efficiently as we can, but at the same time, we’ve got to compete if we’re going to compete at the highest level,” he said. “And as conversations go on over the next three to five years on what’s going to happen in the future, another potential realignment, you’ve got to put yourselves in a position to be in that conversation, and that’s what we plan to do.

“We’ve been meeting every couple weeks to talk about the newest thing that comes out that we have to be ready for. I feel like we’re in a really good position. We put a lot of work in behind the scenes.”

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Yet while the Colorado men’s basketball team continues its summer program with a wide-ranging cast of new faces, there remains roster spots to fill.

Head coach Tad Boyle confirmed former Fossil Ridge High School star Nick Randall will return as a walk-on, and Boyle remains confident frontcourt help can still be found for the Buffaloes this summer.

The long-awaited House settlement, which finally was approved on Friday, caps men’s basketball rosters at 15 players. The final approval of the settlement doesn’t necessarily change anything for Boyle and his staff, which has been operating this offseason on the assumption the 15-player limit would be in play for 2025-26. The return of Randall, a 6-foot-8 forward, leaves the Buffs at 13 players, but whether Randall remains the Buffs’ lone walk-on remains to be seen.

“It’s unusual because it’s run so late, but it’s about getting the right guy,” Boyle said of the offseason recruiting process. “It’s not just about filling a spot. We could’ve filled a spot six weeks ago. We want to fill spots with the right guys, who can fit into what we’re about, what the culture’s about. And quite frankly, most of the guys that are still available are kids that are from overseas. Because you have a lot of European kids that have been playing with European clubs that now can make more money playing college basketball in America.”

With Randall set to return as a walk-on, the Buffs have begun summer workouts with 12 scholarship players — transfers Barrington Hargress and Jon Mani; freshmen Jalin Holland, Fawaz “Tacko” Ifaola, Ian Inman, Isaiah Johnson, and Josiah Sanders; and 2024-25 holdovers Andrew Crawford, Bangot Dak, Felix Kossaras, Elijah Malone and Sebastian Rancik.

Adding frontcourt help is one offseason priority that has not yet been met for the Buffs, who lost three of their most active rebounders in Andrej Jakimovski, Trevor Baskin and Assane Diop, who recently committed to San Diego. Boyle said the Buffs still intend on adding a frontcourt piece that can be capable of contributing right away.

When that happens, the Buffs will be at 14 players on the roster. After saying toward the end of last season that the program planned to remain at 13 scholarships — the limit before the House settlement became official — Boyle again hinted a 14th scholarship player could be an option, depending on the player and the fit.

“We need someone who can help us right away for sure,” Boyle said. “If we add one player, that player has to be able to help us and play some minutes for us in the frontcourt. We’re looking at frontcourt spots for both spots. And the other one can either be a depth piece or an upside guy or possibly a solid walk-on.”

Notable

The Buffs will host Grace College for an exhibition game on Oct. 19. An NAIA school in Northern Indiana, Grace is Malone’s former home. … Mani, a transfer from Denver, will join the Buffs later this summer, as he is set to compete for the Israeli national team. … The Big 12 pairings for conference play are expected to be released this week.

On Monday, CU and Payne announced that Jordynn “JoJo” Hernandez has been hired as the team’s new assistant coach. She replaces Bianca Smith, a former CU great who took a job at Michigan State in April after one year back in Boulder.

Hernandez has been an assistant coach at Stephen F. Austin the past two seasons.

“JoJo has quickly built a tremendous reputation as one of the most talented young coaches in the country,” Payne said in a press release. “Her passion for recruiting, player development and mentoring student athletes is truly exceptional. We’re confident that JoJo will make a significant impact on our program and our community. Her energy, vision and commitment to helping our students reach their full potential align perfectly with our values. We can’t wait to have her here and get things rolling.”

Hernandez helped SFA go 51-21 with two conference tournament championship game appearances in the last two years. SFA won the Southland Conference Tournament this past year to advance to the NCAA Tournament.

Hernandez coached at UT Arlington for two years before going to SFA. She was a graduate assistant in 2021-22 and was the director of player development for the 2022-23 season. The Mavericks went 20-8, won the Sun Belt tournament and reached the NCAA Tournament in 2022.

“I am truly blessed and excited to be joining the Colorado women’s basketball family,” Hernandez said in a press release. “This opportunity means so much to me – having the opportunity to work with an incredible staff and student-athletes at a place that values both excellence and community. I can’t wait to get started, building relationships and help push this program forward. Sko Buffs!”

A native of McKinney, Texas, Hernandez started her college playing career at Collin College before transferring to UT Arlington. She sat out the entire 2019-20 season due to a knee injury but returned to the court in 2020-21, when she averaged 8.0 points, 2.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.9 steals in 13 games.

In addition to hiring Hernandez, CU recently announced that assistant coach Matt Hower will now serve as the team’s basketball strategy and roster management assistant coach.

Keeler: On 20th & Bleak, we laugh to keep from crying. Staring at the Rockies for too long is like staring into the sun — brother, it burns. The Local 9 has two All-Stars, although only one will actually make the team. Love ya, Jake Bird, but the nod goes to catcher Hunter Goodman, who as of Monday morning topped all National League backstops in hits, home runs, RBIs and … (checks notes) errors. The 25-year-old Memphis Masher is the rarest of breeds in LoDo these days: A Rockies player you’d happily pay to watch.

Renck: Goodman has been the Rockies’ best player. Drew Goodman might be their most valuable, having to broadcast every game. Settling in as the everyday catcher, Goodman leads the Rockies in home runs (10) and RBIs (37). He has thumped right-handed pitching (19 extra-base hits) and earned his stats the hard way with eight of his dingers coming on the road. Jordan Beck is the only other player in the conversation, and he was already sent to Triple-A once this season. The reason Goodman really isn’t an All-Star? He is not a good defender, his erratic throwing has led to six errors. As for disappointments, how much time do you have?

Keeler: Not enough for this dumpster fire. On a team of Falling Stars, the real challenge is settling on just one. The Rockies’ “plan” was to build a lineup, a foundation, around Ezequiel Tovar at shortstop and Brenton Doyle in center field. Two problems arose, though: Tovar’s body is breaking down, and Doyle’s bat is made of Swiss cheese. Doyle’s easily the most disappointing regular. He’s what I like to call a Bill Schmidt Special: A player with three really strong tools (fielding, arm strength, speed) that are perfect for Coors Field, combined with two that are so terrible (hitting for average, hitting for power) that they absolutely bury the upside. All that good, young pitching from Rocktober 2018 is no longer young and no longer good.

Renck: Kris Bryant has been first-team Falling Star since the moment he signed. But everyone with eyes knew he was done. Doyle was supposed to be good. He has been a mess offensively, dropped from leadoff to fifth in the order. He is hitting .159 over the last month with five extra-base hits. Not even his Gold Glove defense has prevented him from posting a minus-1.0 WAR. First baseman Michael Toglia was mercifully demoted to the minors after leading the league in strikeouts, but there were suspicions about his 2024 breakout season. And Adael Amador is back with the Isotopes after posting a .146 average in 89 at-bats. His age (22) is used as an excuse. But in multiple stints with the Rockies, his lack of power makes him look a lot closer to a utility player than an everyday starter.

Keeler: With Amador, at least we’ll always have that flying glove moment against the Yankees. Me? I’m still waiting for that air-tight defense Schmidt and Dick Monfort promised. According to Statcast, the Rox’s infield ranked 19th out of 30 clubs in Outs Above Average and 19th in runs prevented. Per the Fielding Bible, Colorado’s team defense was 27th in runs saved (-30). If you build it, they will numb.

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The Tennessee commit helped lead the Lions to four state titles during a decorated career with the Parker prep power, capped by a Class 4A player of the year nod after she hit .547 with 52 RBIs and 10 home runs last fall. The shortstop also stole 10 bases and had a .933 fielding percentage in her fourth and final all-state season.

“She controls the game from her defensive position and can change it with one swing,” Riverdale Ridge head coach Ray Garza said in a release announcing the award. “And it’s not just stats. Coaches and scouts look at how she carries herself — she lifts up her team, she’s vocal, supportive and leads by example, even when things aren’t perfect.”

In addition to her work on the diamond, Barnhart has donated time to the Miracle League of Metro Denver, which offers children and adults living with intellectual or physical challenges the opportunity to play baseball, and volunteered as a nanny for a family with a terminally ill parent.

She carries a 4.0 GPA and will play on scholarship at Tennessee starting next fall.

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