Vanderbilt Baseball took two out of three from Florida last weekend. We got some stellar pitching from Bryce Cunningham Thursday and Carter Holton on Friday. We smacked four home runs Thursday, and lost a tough one Saturday when Florida Coach Kevin O’Sullivan protested that our pitcher, JD Thompson, was using a foreign substance on his arm. JD was ejected, unbelievably, and we lost in shocking fashion. Hope to see Florida and O’Sullivan again in the SEC Tournament. JD disposed of them in the semifinals last season on our way to the SEC Championship.

We’ve got UT Martin today at 6 PM at the Hawk and Mississippi State Friday through Sunday at home. Friday Night’s game versus State is at 6 CT, Saturday is 2 PM CT., and Sunday is 1 PM CT. All games will be broadcast by SEC Network+.

Need a good week. Playing pretty solid baseball. Just need to keep progressing forward. We’re now 29-11 overall and 10-8 in the SEC. We’re third in the eastern division behind Kentucky (15-3, 32-7) and Tennessee (12-6, 33-7). Georgia is 9-9 and 29-10 overall. In the west, Arkansas leads at 14-4, 34-6 overall. A&M is 13-5 and 35-5 and State is 10-8 and 26-14. We are ranked No.11 in the D-1 Baseball.com Rankings. A&M is still No.1, Arkansas is No.2, UT is No.3, and Kentucky is No.4. Wow, what a conference. Clemson is No.5, and Duke is No.6. Alabama is No.23 and South Carolina is No.24. Our remaining SEC series after State are @Georgia Friday, 5/3-Sunday, 5/5, vs. Tennessee, Friday, 5/10-Sunday, 5/12, and @Kentucky, Thursday, 5/16-Saturday, 5/18. We’ll play Louisville in our rivalry game with them on Tuesday, 5/7, at the Hawk. Will have those times and TV coming up in a later column. 

The SEC Tournament commences Tuesday, May 21st with the top 12 teams competing for the SEC Tournament Championship, which will transpire on Sunday, May 26th at 2 PM CT at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover, Alabama on ESPN2. The top 12 out of 14 teams compete in the SEC Tournament as always.

Vanderbilt Men’s Golf plays in the SEC Championships in Sea Island starting Wednesday with the Championship Match set for Sunday, April 28th. Gordon Sargent is coming back for his senior season, which shows an amazing amount of maturity and integrity. Love what GS can do in this postseason along with fellow junior Jackson Van Paris, senior Cole Sherwood, graduate Matthew Riedel and graduate William Moll. Gordon wrote a column in Golf Digest where he explained he wanted to compete with his teammates this season and next season and try to win championships, improve as a player for the next level and get a degree. I hear ya, Gordo. I know he gets some NIL funds, but just a really mature decision.

Wednesday through Friday are three days of stroke play with 18 hole rounds each day. The top eight  scoring teams from the 14 team field will qualify for the Match Play beginning Saturday.

The quarterfinals will commence on Saturday morning and the semis will take place Saturday afternoon at 2 with SEC Network+ broadcasting. The SEC Network will televise the Championship match on Sunday starting at 7 AM CT.

So, huge week for the team as “Championship Season” begins. Will keep you informed on our guys’ progress. Auburn is ranked No.1 in the Scoreboard Men’s National Golf Rankings and we’re No.2.

Football concluded spring drills and had a really nice scrimmage on Saturday. The offense did well as quarterback Nate Johnson did a nice job leading the offense. Nate, Diego Pavia, who’s coming in June, Drew Dickey and Blaze Berlowitz will be competing for the QB 1 job in August. Johnson transferred from Utah and Pavia and Berlowitz have come from  New Mexico State. Dickey has been on the team since his freshman year. The defense has looked stellar. The secondary could be superb, and I like our linebackers and our guys up front.

The O line has played through some injuries this spring, but there will be key guys coming back and we just added a couple of 300+ pounders in the transfer portal last Friday. Will try to get maybe a couple of more linemen, and a few more wide receivers in the portal from the intel I’m gathering.

Quincy Skinner has looked spectacular at wide receiver and Cole Spence, back from injury, and Kam Johnson are looking stellar at tight end. Like what Sed Alexander, AJ Newberry and Diego Benson can do for us running the ball. One player that has stood out, particularly on defense, is inside linebacker Prince Kollie. Listened to interviews with Prince, Nate and fellow inside linebacker Langston Patterson and they all sounded super and pumped. Those will be three key players for us this season. I’m not counting out Pavia, Dickey or Berlowitz at QB though.

Also, love what CJ Taylor can do on the edge rushing the passer and wreaking havoc. CJ forces and recovers fumbles. He’s a game changer. Really looking forward to seeing what sophomore corner Martel Hight can do this season. He’s aiming for a terrific year. And our high four star freshman, Dontae Carter, is turning heads at safety. Our secondary is stacked with game changers. 

Love what Clark can do with the defense and the team, and what offensive coordinator Tim Beck, who came over from New Mexico State where he had major success, can do with that side of the ball. 

VA Tech game 1 Saturday, August 31st @ FirstBank Stadium in Vegas. That’s Nashvegas, the real Veg
 

The National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League have already commenced their respective playoffs as NBA and NHL teams compete for the Larry O’Brien and Lord Stanley Cup Trophies, respectively.

Can Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets repeat and capture the Larry O’Brien Trophy as the world champion in the NBA once again? Can the Vegas Golden Knights repeat in the NHL as the Stanley Cup Champions? Here’s a look at both postseasons and White’s World’s predictions for which teams I like to hoist their respective trophies in June.

NBA Playoffs

There has already been some terrific action. Last night the New York “Knickerbockers” as an announcer called them, first time I’ve heard of that nickname in a while, came back from 6 points down to the Philly 76ers in the final minute to win by three, 104-101, fueled by a trifectas from Jalen Brunson and Donte DiVincenzo, who were both key parts of the Villanova National Championship teams in 2016 and 2018. Jay Wright had some superb teams in Philly. It was a spectacle last night as the great Joel Embid (Kansas) scored 34 and pulled down 10 rebounds on a bad wheel, and Tyrese Maxey, from (where else?) Kentucky, poured in 35 and added 9 boards. Quite a contest.

So what about moving forward. Which teams will advance and which team will ultimately capture the O’Brien Trophy.

TV

ESPN, ABC, TNT and NBA TV are covering all the action.

ABC will carry the Finals.

Finals

Game 1, Thursday, June 6th

Game 2, Sunday, 6/9

Game 3, Wednesday, 6/12

Game 4, Friday, 6/14

Game 5, if necessary, Monday, June 17th

Game 6, if necessary, Thursday, June 20th

Game 7, if necessary, Sunday, June 23rd.

Game times are 7:30 PM CT all days except Sundays, which will tip at 7 PM CT.

Predictions

Eastern Conference Semifinals

Boston Celtics over Cleveland Cavaliers in 5

Knicks over Milwaukee Bucks in 6

Eastern Conference Finals

Celtics over Knicks in 7

Western Conference Semis

Oklahoma City Thunder over Dallas Mavericks in 7

Denver Nuggets over Minnesota Timberwolves in 6

Conference Finals

Nuggets over OKC in 7

NIkola Jokic just gets over the top over the great 7’1” Chet Holmgren (Gonzaga) and another MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Thunder. (SGA is from Kentucky).The third MVP candidate is Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks). The Most Valuable Player Award winner will be announced later this week. Jokic is a two time Most Valuable Player from the 2021 and 2022 seasons, and could very well win it again this year. Joel Embid won it in 2023.Holmgren is a future MVP as is SGA. SGA might win it this year. Should be a classic.

NBA Championship

Celtics vs. Nuggets

It’s hard to go against the basketball “Joker,” Jamal Murray (Kentucky) and the Nuggets, but I like the Celtics with their greats’ Jayson Tatum (26.9 ppg, 8.1 boards, 4.9 assists reg season, Duke), Jaylen Brown (23 ppg, 5.5 boards, 3.6 assists Cal-Berkeley) and Kristaps Porzingis (20.1, 7.2 boards, no college, Euro from Latvia) to help raise the banner in TD Garden for the first time since 2008 when Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce brought the Larry O’Brien Trophy home to Boston.

I also like their great veteran, Al Horford, at 37 years old to secure his first championship ring in his illustrious career in the NBA. He was a national champion at Florida in 2006 and 2007 under Billy Donovan, and has been a stellar player and person in the National Basketball Association throughout his career. Brad Stevens, of Butler University fame, where he took the Bulldogs to the national championship games in 2010 and 2011 against Duke and UConn respectively, which was quite a feat even though his teams fell just short, is the Celtics president and has done a phenomenal job building and developing the roster. Tatum has been a Celtic for 7 years and Brown for 8 years and they’ve been heartbroken along with all the Celtics fans for the last several years, barely coming up short. Will they get over the top this time. That is the $64,000 question.

The Celtics have captured 17 NBA Championships in their remarkable history and second year coach Joe Mazzulla, Tatum and Brown clear that very high hurdle and capture banner number 18 for the C’s over Joker, Murray and the Nuggets. It won’t be easy, however. The Nuggets will not go down without an intense fight.

Celtics over the Nuggets in 7

Finals MVP: Jayson Tatum

Stanley Cup Predictions

These teams are prolific in the National Hockey League Playoffs and the Stanley Cup Playoffs are as stellar as it gets. Who will capture Lord Stanley’s Cup? Lord Stanley was the Governor of Canada and donated the award to the top ranking amateur ice hockey club in Canada. It became the trophy for the NHL in 1910, the oldest trophy in professional sports.

TV: ESPN, ESPN 2, TNT televises the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

ABC will televise the Stanley Cup Finals. All times 7 PM CT

Game 1, Saturday, June 8th

Game 2, Monday, June 10th

Game 3, Thursday, June 13th

Game 4, Saturday, June 15th

Game 5, if necessary, Tuesday, June 18th

Game 6, if necessary, Friday June 21st

Game 7, if necessary, Monday June 24th.

Eastern Conference Semifinals

Florida Panthers over Toronto Maple Leafs in 7

New York Rangers over Carolina Hurricanes in 7

Both series will be all out wars.

Eastern Conference Finals

New York Rangers versus Florida Panthers

In another classic series, give me the President’s Trophy winner (best record in the regular season). Home ice advantage is the differnece.

Rangers over Panthers in 7

Western Conference Semis

Edmonton Oilers over Vancouver Canucks in 6

Dallas Stars over Winnipeg Jets in 7

Conference Finals

Oilers over Stars in 7

Stanley Cup Finals

Rangers versus Oilers

Twenty seven year old Connor McDavid finished with 132 points individually this season (goals and assists combined points) and led the league with 100 assists from his center position. But I think it’s the New Yawk Rangers’ year. Thirty-two year old Artemi Panarin, from Korkine, Russia, not my favorite country, but it produces some tremendous hockey players, and the Rangers capture their first Cup since 1994 when the great Mark Messier played for that stellar team. Interestingly, the President’s Trophy winner, or the team with the best record in the regular season, has not won the Stanley Cup since the Chicago Blackhawks did it in 2012-13. I like Panarin, 31 year old Mika Zibanejad from Sweden, and 32 year old Chris Kreider from Boxford, Mass. to lead their team to the championship. Igor Shesterkin, the Rangers’ 28 year old goalkeeper from Moscow?, gets the job done tending the net.

Rangers over Oilers in 6, Home ice prevails again

Conn Smythe Trophy Winner. Most Valuable Player in the Stanley Cup Playoffs

Artemi Panarin