LINCOLN, Neb. (KSNB) – Brett Sears had his mind set on becoming a professional baseball player. The right-handed pitcher admits he didn’t have a back-up career option.

“I guess I never had a Plan B,” Sears said. “I said ‘I’m just going to do that.”

Sears’ single-track focus has resulted in a major payoff. The Big Ten Pitcher of the Year signed with the Atlanta Braves this week after being drafted by the club in the 7th Round. Sears said he didn’t watch the MLB Draft and expected to be a Day 2 or 3 selection. He, in fact, was swimming with friends near his hometown when the 221st pick was made by the Braves.

“Its really a dream come true,” Sears said. “(Its) a goal of mine that I can check off.”

Sears plans to travel to Florida this weekend to begin training with the Braves. He joins three other Nebraska starting pitchers in the Braves organization (Spencer Schwellenbach, Aaron Bummer, and Shay Schanaman). During the 2024 season, Sears recorded more than 100 strikeouts while helping the Huskers reach the NCAA Tournament. His 2.16 ERA ranked fifth nationally.

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After leading Druid Hills High School to a close second-place finish at the Class 4A State Track meets the last two years, winning gold in three of the four relay events and individual medals, along with smashing state records, sisters Sanaa and Sole Frederick now set their sights on the Olympics in Paris, before heading to college in Athens and running for the Georgia Bulldogs. Kelly Price has that story.

The Atlanta Hawks got super lucky in the draft this past season. They entered the draft lottery with only a 3% chance to get the No. 1 pick, but ended jumping up from 10th to 1st. The might need similar luck if they want to land a top pick next year.

Next year’s draft is going to be interesting for the Hawks in a number of ways. First, they don’t have control of their own pick. They owe the pick to San Antonio as part of the Dejounte Murray trade with San Antonio. Atlanta is in kind of a weird spot in the Eastern Conference as well. They are not as good as some of the top teams in the East, but they are much better than the teams at the bottom (Washington, Detroit, Brooklyn, Charlotte, and Chicago). That leaves them in play-in tournament territory, where they have been in recent seasons except last year.

The Hawks could have as many as two picks in what is supposed to be a loaded draft class. Atlanta got back an unprotected Lakers 2025 pick in the Dejounte Murray trade with New Orleans and they could have the Kings first-round pick if it is not 1-12. While I don’t think the Lakers pick will be in the top five, if Atlanta could get luck and have them miss the playoffs (not impossible in the West), they could hope for more lottery luck.

There have not been many 2025 Mock Drafts (it is still very early), but one that was released today from Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman has the Hawks with the 13th (Lakers) and 15th (Kings) picks in this draft. Wasserman has the Hawks selecting UConn five-star freshman Liam McNeeley at 13 and Syracuse five-star freshman Donovan Freeman with the 15th pick.

“The Atlanta Hawks got a 2025 first-round pick by sending Dejounte Murray to the New Orleans Pelicans. After winning the 2024 lottery, the Hawks will be rooting for a down year for the Los Angeles Lakers, whose selection now goes to Atlanta.

Liam McNeeley comes to Connecticut with an attractive game to NBA teams. UConn figures to optimize his shooting, spot-up scoring and IQ.

A strong supporting cast should help McNeeley put together an efficient season with an easy-fit, complementary skill set. He’s seemingly a lock to finish with a strong three-point percentage, low turnover rate and a persuasive highlight reel of smart drives and passes.

Just being a part of the Bahamas national team for the Olympic qualifiers should have served as valuable experience for Donnie Freeman.

He’s still on the raw side, but the 18-year-old has an appealing skill set for a power forward prospect. He’s developed into a versatile scorer who’s capable of getting baskets in different ways—hitting threes and pull-ups, attacking closeouts and using touch around the post.

More progress with his shooting next season should lead to surefire NBA interest at Syracuse. The idea alone of a 6’9″ face-up weapon should keep scouts patient through any inconsistency.”

Here are scouting reports on both McNeeley and Freeman from 247Sports director of scouting Adam Finklestein:

“Liam McNeeley has one of the best combinations of skill and basketball acumen in the national class. He came up the ranks known as a shooter – and for good reason as he has clean mechanics, a compact release, and shot over 40% from behind the three-point line in both the NIBC and EYBL seasons – but he’s far more versatile than just a specialist. He’s particularly adept at coming off screens, making instinctual reads, and then attacking defenders while they are on the move. That can mean movement threes, but it can also mean curls, dribble penetration, and an ability to get downhill at times. McNeeley has a high natural feel for the game and is a good passer who can also facilitate for others around him. In fact, Montverde frequently made him the featured player of their half-court offense during his junior season and relied on his ability to make decisions with the ball in his hands, not necessarily as a primary ball-handler, but as the first domino in many of their actions. Physically, he’s not especially long or athletic, but he has legit size at over 6-foot-7 with his shoes on, a sturdy base, and increasingly strong and cut upper body. He’s made strides being able to stay in front of more athletic wings on the defensive end, in large part because he’s aware enough to be in the right spots and take the right angles. Overall, McNeeley may not have the ideal physical measurables of a prototypical five-star prospect, but he is one of the most consistently productive and reliable basketball players in the class.

There aren’t many more naturally talented four-men in the national class of 2024 than Freeman. He has a wealth of tools with good size, soft hands, touch, mobility, and athleticism, that give him the potential to be a versatile two-way player. Those gifts made him a high-profile prospect early on in his high school years, but he’s just now beginning to turn potential into production on a more consistent basis. He’s still fairly undeveloped physically with a leaner base in his lower body and an upper body that hasn’t filled out yet. He’ll need to add a significant amount of muscle mass in the coming years, but if he can do that while still maintaining his ability to run and jump with the same fluidity and agility, there is obvious physical upside. Offensively, he shows flashes of being a true three-range weapon. He’s already a bouncy finisher at the rim who is a shooting threat out to the arc, and likes to rise over contesting defenders from both the mid-post and mid-range areas. He’s not yet much of a creator off the bounce, can get knocked off his spots, and be occasionally turnover prone in the process. Defensively, he can both move laterally and get off his feet to block shots and that versatility should only continue to develop as he adds strength. He’s a solid rebounder, but could be more assertive in that area. Overall, Freeman has all the tools a developing four-man could want, it’s just a matter of him getting physically stronger, making sure the motor is always running at full throttle, and continuing to increase the total impact he makes on both ends of the floor.”

A lot of the focus is going to be on the fact that Atlanta does not have their own pick, but they could still have valuable picks depending on how the Kings and Lakers seasons go.