SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA REGIONALS

Thursday’s Results
Semifinals

Division I
Loyola d. Corona del Mar, 25-22, 25-16, 25-18
Mira Costa d. Torrey Pines, 25-16, 25-18, 25-18

Division II
St. Margaret’s d. San Clemente, 25-19, 27-25, 21-25, 25-20
Redondo Union d. Carlsbad, 25-19, 25-20, 30-28

Division III
La Costa Canyon d. Sage Creek, 19-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-19
West Ranch d. Mission Vista, 23-25, 25-21, 32-30, 25-17

Division IV
Arroyo Grande d. Foothills Christian, 24-26, 25-21, 25-20, 22-25, 18-16
Grant d. High Tech San Diego, 25-22, 25-16, 21-25, 20-25, 19-17

Saturday’s Schedule
(All matches at 6 p.m. unless noted)

Finals

Division I
#2 Mira Costa (37-4) at #1 Loyola (31-1-1)

Division II
#5 St. Margaret’s (34-4) at #2 Redondo Union (31-8)

Division III
#4 La Costa Canyon (17-19) at #2 West Ranch (27-11)

Division IV
#2 Grant (33-8-2) at #1 Arroyo Grande (21-12)

This July, there will be a lot of sports fans tapping back into their childhood.

Earlier this year, EA Sports announced that its College Football video game series will return this year after last being released in 2013.

On Thursday, the brand announced that the game will be available for play on July 19.

This year’s video game features three athletes headlining the cover: Texas’ Quinn Ewers, Colorado’s Travis Hunter and Michigan’s Donovan Edwards, the latter of whom had two rushing touchdowns en route to winning the national championship.

Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe and Carson Beck of Georgia can also be seen, as can Ohio State’s Quinshon Judkins.

The series began in 1993 with the release of Bill Walsh College Football, and the game was released under the legendary coach’s name for two years.

The name changed to College Football USA for the 1996 and 1997 seasons before changing to NCAA Football from 1998 to 2014.

The game was on hiatus for a while due to disputes among EA, the NCAA and college athletes. Each installment since the 1997 version featured a cover athlete as video games normally do. However, the cover athlete wasn’t permitted to be paid for his image and likeness. 

A shot of the College Football 25 cover. (EA Sports)

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Plus, in each installment, game players were unable to see the names of the athletes when controlling them. Instead, Reggie Bush, for example, would be listed as “HB No. 5” and Tim Tebow as “QB No. 15.”

But now, with name, image and likeness running rampant, game players will know exactly who is on the field, rather than just a position and number.

EA Sports announced a return of the game three years ago and even said a game would be released last summer, but it did not happen.

(Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)

The last cover athlete was Denard Robinson of the Michigan Wolverines.

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As the Lakers continued meeting with prospects in the final days of the NBA draft combine, their coaching search continued to be a strong topic of conversation among rival scouts and executives.

Internally, Lakers sources not authorized to speak publicly have tried to describe their coaching search as being a “wide-open” process, with things still in the early stages.

Following the dismissal of Darvin Ham, the team began researching a batch of candidates that included top assistants, former head coaches and, yes, broadcaster/podcaster JJ Redick.

Candidate interviews are close, but as of now, anything being discussed with certainty has been called “hypothetical” by candidates involved in the process.

But despite what the Lakers are saying, many around the league view Redick is the favorite and offered varying levels of approval.

Some see Redick as a bright, analytically driven basketball mind with a top understanding of the game and excellent communication and presentation skills.

Some wonder if Redick’s business relationship with LeBron James would poison his ability to connect with the rest of the locker room, an opinion prominently voiced on television by Udonis Haslam.

Others see nothing but inexperience and view the Lakers’ job as a disaster waiting to happen for even experienced coaches, never mind someone moving from the broadcast booth to his first coaching job.

Part of what’s driving the expectation Redick will get the Lakers job is a belief that he’ll have incredibly strong interviews, according to sources discouraged from discussing personnel moves for competitive reasons.

The reality is, at this stage, no one can say for sure.

New Orleans assistant James Borrego does have strong support in his candidacy and has been highly valued by New Orleans staffers and executives who spoke with the Times.

Boston’s Sam Cassell, an NBA assistant since 2009 after a 15-season NBA career, is expected to interview soon and has real support from others around the NBA.

The same can be said for candidates like Miami’s Chris Quinn, Minnesota’s Micah Nori and Denver’s David Adelman.

The race is seemingly open enough that anyone with a direct or second-hand connection to candidates was comfortable making their pitch in Chicago.

The Lakers’ offseason plans, and to some degree their coaching plans, also hinge on LeBron James and his future with the organization.

James’ courtside appearance in Cleveland on Monday night definitely raised suspicions around the league regarding his future intentions. Sources largely believe the Lakers will ultimately re-sign James, with the 39-year-old star merely working through different scenarios for the terms of the contract.

There were also discussions about the Lakers and their interest in Cleveland guard Donovan Mitchell, which does exist according to sources.

The Lakers’ best offer in any blockbuster trade looks somewhat similar, with the team able to offer their first-round pick in the year’s draft — No. 17 — in addition to first-round picks in 2029 and 2031. Their best young player, Austin Reaves, is still regarded highly within the organization on two fronts — as a prospect for their future and a player on a team-friendly contract.

The team’s willingness to push all in on Mitchell or any other player is still unclear. Other options include using draft picks in smaller deals to try to improve around the margins, with Dallas’ acquisitions of Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington providing real-time examples of how small transactions can make a meaningful and immediate impact.

Other players commonly mentioned as potential trade targets this offseason include New Orleans’ Brandon Ingram, Atlanta’s Trae Young and DeJounte Murray and Chicago’s Zach LaVine — none seriously linked to the Lakers at the combine.

In terms of the draft, the Lakers seem like they’ll be the draft floor for Bronny James at pick 55, a player the team conducted an interview with in Chicago, according to sources not authorized to publicly discuss draft strategy.

James undeniably boosted his stock in Chicago with strong interviews, impressive athletic testing and strong play in a scrimmage on Wednesday, helping counteract the bad feelings after measuring 6-feet 1 ½ inches in socks.

Some other players who helped themselves in scrimmages, according to scouts, included Houston’s Jamal Shead, UCLA’s Adem Bona, Marquette’s Oso Ighodaro and Colorado’s KJ Simpson.

The Lakers’ first round pick at 17 is near the middle of the draft’s second tier, some scouts believe. That tier includes players like Ja’Kobe Walter, Terrence Shannon, Tidjane Salaun, Jared McCain, Devin Carter, Yves Missi, Kyle Filipowski, Tyler Smith and Tristan da Silva.