WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Old Dominion guard En’Dya Buford has been named Sun Belt Player of the Week.
The graduate student from Memphis, Tennessee, scored 18 points in a 65-54 victory over App State and 21 points in an 84-82 win over Marshall.
Against App State, Buford added six rebounds, two assists and two steals. Against Marshall, she contributed six assists, two rebounds and two steals.
Burford made the preseason All-Sun Belt first team and is second on the team in scoring with 12 points a game this season.
The Monarchs will visit Arkansas State at 1 p.m. Wednesday.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
UVA ranked 16th in final AP poll
The UVA football team finished ranked 16th in the final Associated Press Top 25 poll.
It’s the first time since 2004 that the Cavaliers have been ranked in the final poll and it’s their highest final ranking since 1995.
UVA won a school-record 11 games, including a 13-7 victory over Missouri in the Gator Bowl, and finished as ACC regular-season champion for the first time in program history.
Va. Tech WR Seldon picks USF
Virginia Tech wide receiver Cameron Seldon has signed with South Florida out of the transfer portal, according to CBS Sports.
The 6-1, 211-pound Browns Store, Virginia, native caught 23 passes for 165 yards and two touchdowns in his one season with the Hokies. He played for Tennessee the previous season.
COLLEGE BASEBALL
W&M postpones First Pitch Dinner
William & Mary announced on Tuesday that its baseball program’s annual First Pitch Dinner, scheduled for Saturday, will be postponed until May 9 due to the threat of a winter storm that is expected to impact the Williamsburg area this weekend.
All who have registered for the event will automatically retain their registration for the rescheduled date.
The Tribe is scheduled to open the season Feb. 13 at Virginia Tech.
UVA’s Gracia is D1 All-American
Virginia baseball player AJ Gracia has been named a Preseason All-America first-team selection by D1Baseball.
The junior outfielder from Monroe, New Jersey, played for Duke last season and hit .293 with 15 home runs, 10 doubles and 54 RBIs. He also set a program record with 57 walks.
Gracia made the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team that competed in the 45th USA vs. Japan All-Star Series over the summer.
The Cavaliers, ranked 14th in Baseball America’s preseason poll, are scheduled to open the season Feb. 13 against Wagner.
Christopher Newport senior outfielder Jake Benedict has been named a Preseason All-America third-team selection by D3baseball.com. He becomes the sixth player in program history to earn the distinction. He hit .395 with 51 runs, 13 doubles and five homers last season.
HIGH SCHOOLS
3 state coaches get national honors
Three Virginia high school coaches have been named 2024-25 National Coaches of the Year by the NFHS Coaches Association: Western Albemarle boys swimming and diving coach Dan Bledsoe, Charlotteville boys tennis coach John Neal and Douglas S. Freeman girls tennis coach Larry Parpart.
Bledsoe has led his team to nine VHSL state championships.
Neal took a struggling program that had just five players and routinely forfeited matches to one that has captured back-to-back state championships and gone 39-5 the past two years.
Parpart has a state-record 576 victories in 47 years as coach, and his teams have won five straight state championships.
COLLEGE GYMNASTICS
ECAC recognizes W&M’s Kosarikov
William & Mary men’s gymnastics standout Nicholas Kosarikov has earned ECAC Rookie of the Week honors.
The freshman from Spring, Texas, advanced to the finals on high bar (12.35) and parallel bars (13.2), finishing sixth and seventh, respectively.
https://www.dailypress.com/2026/01/20/odus-endya-buford-named-sun-belt-player-of-the-week/
