North Oconee and Lovett are two of 12 girls teams, out of 16 finalists, that have won at least one state championship. Seven of those have won two or more, led by Marist with 11 and Lovett with five. Lake Oconee Academy (Class A Division II), Mount Paran Christian (2A), Cambridge (5A) and Buford (7A) are seeking their first championships. Overall, the 16 finalists have accounted for 33 championships. Four reigning state champions made their way back to the finals. They are Roswell of Class 6A, Oconee County of Class...

Impossible as it is to believe, Christopher Hitchens, the enfant terrible of Anglo-American politics and letters, would have turned 75 today, almost 13 years since his premature death from esophageal cancer in December 2011. Yet in many ways Hitchens seems more alive than ever. His name routinely crops up in contemporary debates, notwithstanding how different the political landscape looks in the Age of Donald and Elon. In the years since his passing, he has acquired a new generation of fans in the millions. His coinages (“Islamofascism”) have entered the contemporary...

New Kentucky men’s basketball coach Mark Pope has a fan in Rick Pitino. Pitino, the St. John’s head coach, declared Friday in a video posted on X that Pope will “go into greatness” and lead the Wildcats to a national title after he was hired to replace longtime coach John Calipari, who departed for Arkansas. “What a special day for the University of Kentucky, the leader the captains of the untouchables is coming home to lead the wildcats,” Pitino said in the video, naming other coaches, past and present. “A...

BYU head coach Mark Pope calls out a play during the first half of a game against Kansas State, Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024, in Manhattan, Kan. The news went over like a lead balloon in Lexington and Provo. In Lexington, they aren’t used to having their basketball coaching job turned down a myriad times and be handed to a coach who was one-and-done in the NCAA Tournament in March. In Provo, fans loved Pope, he was their man. He had personality, a dream and he could recruit. They adopted the...

Kentucky needs to hire a new basketball coach for the first time since 2009, and now, a member of its 1996 national championship team has emerged as leading a candidate to take the spot. The Wildcats are “targeting” BYU coach Mark Pope as their next head coach and a deal is expected to happen soon, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported. This came after CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein reported earlier on Thursday that Pope could replace John Calipari as the Wildcats’ next head coach. Pope, who had previously coached at Utah Valley...

Mark Pope could be on his way out of Provo. The BYU head coach interviewed with Kentucky and is a serious candidate to replace John Calipari. The two sides are closing in on a deal, according to ESPN. Pope played at Kentucky and won a national championship at the school in 1996. He was a captain under Rick Pitino and the two stayed close throughout Pope’s coaching career. Pope got his first head coaching job at Utah Valley in 2016 and took over at BYU in 2020. He authored six,...