The 2026 Major League Baseball Draft begins Saturday, and Alabama Crimson Tide shortstop Justin Lebron has consistently been touted as one of the first 10-20 overall picks among analysts’ various mock drafts.

On Friday, CBS Sports released its final mock ahead of this weekend’s festivities in Philadelphia. Analyst Mike Axisa sees Lebron going to the Texas Rangers with the 16th overall selection.

Among college players, Lebron lands between Arkansas catcher Ryder Helfrick at No. 14 and one spot above Texas A&M second baseman Chris Hacopian in CBS Sports’ final analysis.

Axisa said of the possible Rangers-Lebron fit:

“The Rangers have a thing for ‘famous’ prospects in the draft (think Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker), and Lebron is one of the most famous prospects available this summer. About 18 months ago, he was the favorite to go No. 1 overall, but some uneven performances (and Cholowsky’s breakout) cooled that talk. Lebron has some of the loudest tools in the draft class. We’re talking speed, power, athleticism, the works. Approach and plate discipline concerns have held him back, though.”

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (WBRC) – Pauline Love, the new head coach of the Alabama women’s basketball team, says her late college coach, Joye Lee-McNelis, is the reason she got into coaching.

Love played for Lee-McNelis at Southern Miss, describing her as a second mother. Lee-McNelis passed away last summer after a long battle with breast cancer.

A relationship that changed her path

Love said she once told Lee-McNelis she would never go into coaching, a conversation the two laughed about often.

“I used to tell her all the time, I would never do this. I would never put up with somebody like me or I would never work for somebody like her. I was like coach, you’re crazy. We used to laugh about it all the time and she was like you’ll see one day, you’ll see,” Love said.

Love had planned to work in the tech industry. Instead, she has spent 15 years in coaching.

“She pretty much paved the way for me. There’s no way I’d be sitting here if it wasn’t for her,” Love said.

High expectations at Alabama

Love returns to Tuscaloosa after previously serving as an assistant at Alabama. She was introduced as head coach in April, and was brought to tears when she mentioned Lee-McNelis during that introduction.

Her goals for the program are clear.

“I’m going to have a passion about it. I want to bring a Final Four to the University of Alabama and make Tuscaloosa proud,” Love said.

This year’s roster includes Spring Garden’s Ace Austin, back for her sophomore season.

Love said she wants her players to know that difficult times are part of the process.

“I can say for them, I’ve been there. I’ve done it. Just learn how to figure out and fight through hard things. You gotta do something hard and fight through it and I promise you it’s rewarding at the end of it,” Love said.

Love said she also wants to be a source of support for her players off the court, the same way Lee-McNelis was for her.

“I know we always get caught up in the money part of it, but I got a group of girls that doesn’t care about that. They want to care about making the fans happy and giving them something good to watch,” Love said.

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