Pittsburgh Pirates

Then there’s the Pirates, whose window of contention seems to be as open as it’s been in some time due to their young, electrifying starting rotation led by NL Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes.

Now it becomes a matter of ensuring the rest of their active roster can live up to the immense hype the rotation has set, and the offense could do with some reassurance.

The Pirates bats ranked tied for 27th in baseball in wRC+ and 27th in OPS in 2024, with their outfielders being a big contributor to those low rankings; their outfield sat last in wRC+ and 29th in OPS.

Bryan Reynolds remained a solid bat with a .791 OPS and 118 wRC+. What’s more, Oneil Cruz manning center for a full season in 2025, after posting a .773 OPS and 110 wRC+ in 2024, should help shore up Pittsburgh’s outfield offense. Still, the Pirates must answer the question of who they will deploy in right field.

Thomas would undoubtedly be a better option than anyone the Pirates threw out there this past year and would constitute a value acquisition for a small market team looking to make a push toward postseason contention now while the Skenes era is still alive and well in the Steel City.

New York Yankees

To round things off, we head to the Bronx, where it’s no secret that the Yankees will be in the market for an outfielder after Juan Soto signed the most lucrative deal in MLB history with their in-state rivals, the Mets.

Georgia Tech is known for producing NBA talent such as Kenny Anderson, Stephon Marbury and John Salley.

According to CHATGPT, the best player to wear a Yellow Jackets uniform played for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Mark Price topped the all-time list of those to play at Georgia Tech. Price acknowledged the honor via a social media post.

Here’s what he wrote on X: “Shoutout to CHATGPT! An honor to be listed with such great ⁦⁩ players over the years!”

Behind Price, the list went: Salley, Marbury, Dennis Scott, Chris Bosh, Matt Harpring, Tom Hammonds, Kenny Anderson, Jarrett Jack and Thaddeus Young. Bosh is the only one in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

MGRADY BECOMES MINORITY OWNER

Former NBA star Tracy McGrady is ready to see the game from a different level.

Last week, he announced he was joining the Buffalo Bills as a minority owner. He delivered the news via social media.

“I’m excited to share that I’ve joined the Buffalo Bills organization as a minority owner — a dream come true for me and my family,” McGrady said in an Instagram post. “Sports have been a lifelong passion, and the chance to contribute to such a top-tier organization is a true honor.

McGrady was a seven-time All-Star during his career, playing with the Toronto Raptors, Orlando Magic, Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs. He had his years with the Magic, where he became one of the league’s top five players at one point. The only thing that slowed him down was a back injury with the Rockets.

Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Back In The Day Hoops On SI. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com

Follow our updates on Facebook

X: @BackInTheDayNBA

CLEVELAND – In her return home to the Cleveland, Ohio area Friday evening, Bethune-Cookman junior forward Asianae Nicholson picked up her fourth double-double of the season while the Wildcats fell 78-59 to Cleveland State in a women’s basketball game inside Woodling Gymnasium.
 

FIRST QUARTER
Bethune-Cookman (2-7) shot 50 percent from three-point range in the opening quarter performing a 3-for-6 shooting touch from beyond the arc. After falling behind, 7-2 just over two minutes into the game, the Wildcats answered on the strength of a 10-2 run to claim a 12-9 advantage with 4:35 remaining in the quarter.
 
Shomari Phillips opened and closed the run for the Cats with bookend three-pointers, coupled with a layup from center Kayla Clark. Freshman Mya Johnson’s successful layup made it 14-13 in favor of the Wildcats before Cleveland State responded with a 7-3 run of its own as Mya Moore’s layup put the Vikings back on the positive end, 15-14. Mickayla Perdue scored the final six points of the period for the Vikings to give the hosts a 20-17 edge at the close of the period.
 
SECOND QUARTER
CSU’s Kali Howard gave her side its largest lead of the opening half at 22-17 with 7:59 remaining.
 
Asianae Nicholson kicked off a 9-0 B-CU run with a layup off the pass of junior guard Daimoni Dorsey. Fellow Cleveland native and senior Kayla White –making her first return back to Ohio as a collegiate student-athlete, laid a pass into Dorsey for a jumper at the top of the key before Nicholson stepped to the line to connect on 1 of 2 and tie the game at 22-22. Janessa Kelley added a basket to put the Cats back on top, while Phillips closed the run with a spinning layup and a 26-22 lead with 4:26 left.
 
Karianna Woods hit a pair of free throws to put the visitors up 28-26, but the Vikings got baskets from Perdue and Sara Guerreiro to close the half and give CSU a 34-30 lead at the break.
 
B-CU held CSU without a three-pointer in the first half, forcing the Vikings into a 0-for-7 mark from long range.
 
THIRD QUARTER
The free throw line was the key to CSU stretching the lead in the third quarter as the Vikings finished 7 of 9 at the line for the stanza. In all, the Vikings outscored the Cats 21-12 in order to burst out to a double-digit lead at 55-42 at the end of the period.
 
CSU went on a 15-5 run to open the quarter beginning with Guerreiro’s putback layup, as well as one of the team’s leading three-point specialists in Destiny Leo, as she was fouled by Johnson while attempting a corner three. She connected on all three attempts, and teammate Jordan Reisma – finishing 11 of 13 from the field and shooting more than 70 percent from the field on the season, collected the rebound on one end and finished it on the other for a 46-35 Vikings lead. Reisma added another basket moments later to extend the lead, 49-35.
 
Jordan Brooks, a freshman point guard from Atlanta, Georgia, recorded her fifth three-pointer of the season just a minute before the close of the quarter. But it was a Macey Fegan layup off the assist of Guerreiro stopping a potential B-CU run. Nicholson stole a Perdue pass and raced to the basket for a buzzer-beating layup.
 
FOURTH QUARTER
CSU shot 67 percent in the fourth quarter – adding two (2) three-pointers), while managing a 9 of 11 showing at the charity stripe in the final quarter. Meanwhile, B-CU was limited to just 5-for-13 in the period using a pair of baskets from Nicholson. Three different Vikings were perfect from the field including Reisma and Fegan with 2-for-2 mirror performances. The Cats did manage to out-rebound the Vikings at a 7-4 edge and convert those into seven second chance points.
 

CSU was sparked by a career-high 25 points from Reisma, while teammate Perdue added 22 points and four assists. Fegan had 11 points to finish in double figures as well, also passing out a game-high five assists.
 
B-CU was led in scoring by Nicholson with 14 points, as she also pulled down 12 rebounds (six offensive) to go along with two steals and two assists. Kayla Clark had 10 points and three assists.
 

Bethune-Cookman stays in Volusia County traveling to Stetson for the Hatter Classic taking place December 19-20, at Insight Credit Union Arena at Edmunds Center. Once in DeLand, the Cats will take on Bradley (Dec. 19) to open the event, followed by South Alabama (Dec. 20).
 
Follow Bethune-Cookman Women’s Basketball on X/Twitter (@BCUWBB) and Instagram (@BCU_WBB) for all of the latest news and updates. For all Bethune-Cookman Athletics news, follow us on Twitter (@BCUAthletics), Instagram (@BCU_Athletics) and BCUathletics.com.