Oregon
Former Oregon QB Marcus Mariota joins the Commanders ready to play or mentor younger player
Marcus Mariota’s hair is grayer now than when he entered the NFL as a highly touted prospect and a potential face of a franchise.
He believes everything he has gone through since has set him up to be ready for anything in his next opportunity with the Washington Commanders.
After signing a one-year contract Thursday, Mariota said he’s prepared to play if called upon while also serving as a mentor to the young quarterback who could be coming with the second pick in the draft.
“Whatever this staff, whatever this team needs of me, I’m going to do it to the best of my abilities,” Mariota said on a video call with reporters.
“I’ve dealt with a lot of different things throughout my career. I’ve been a starter, won a playoff game. I’ve also been cut, I’ve also been injured, I’ve also been benched. So, I think all those experiences create value and also creates opportunities for me to build relationships with guys.”
One of those guys could be a rookie at football’s most important position. Washington is in place to select LSU’s Heisman Trophy winner, Jayden Daniels, or North Carolina’s Drake Maye if Chicago selects USC’s Caleb Williams first, as expected.
It doesn’t hurt that Mariota was the No. 2 pick in the 2015 draft out of Oregon to the Tennessee Titans. Now 30 and with 90 games and 74 pro starts under his belt, he remembers what that was like and could be the perfect person to provide some perspective.
“That expectation for you to be the quote-unquote ‘savior’ and all that is a lot,” Mariota said. “If that’s the way we go, I can provide a little bit of comfort knowing that: Just be your best version of yourself, don’t worry about everything else, don’t worry about the expectations, just go out there and try to get better every single day and the rest of it will fall into place.”
Hours after Mariota signed his contract, with a base salary of $6 million that could be worth up to $10 million, the Commanders traded 2023 starter Sam Howell to Seattle in a swap of draft picks. It’s the latest in new general manager Adam Peters’ flurry of moves to turn over the roster that may have only a dozen or so returnees next season.
New linebacker Frankie Luvu, one of many free agent signings, said he’s blessed to now be teammates with Mariota after playing against him for several years.
“Just excited to be on the same side as him,” Luvu said. “I’ve seen him grow a lot. … Just the amount he’s grown and the leadership he’s taken — guys listen to him when he steps in the room and taking control when time is on the clock.”
Mariota said he was willing to “wait and see” about possibly being the starter, which could easily be a placeholder job from Week 1 until a young QB is ready. On his fifth stop after Tennessee, Las Vegas, Atlanta and most recently Philadelphia as Jalen Hurts’ backup, he sounds at peace with whatever his role may be.
“For all of us that are in kind of this position, you always want to be a starter,” Mariota said. “You always want to be a guy that’s leading a franchise out there. That’s why you play. That’s why you do it. But I’ll never let my own ego get in the way of what’s most important for the team.”
NOTES: The Commanders resigned defensive end Efe Obada, making him the third player back from the previous regime along with safety and 2022 All-Pro special teams player Jeremy Reaves and punt returner Jamison Crowder. … The team also added free agent linebacker Anthony Pittman.
Players to watch in the 2026 Women’s NCAA March Madness Tournament
USAT’s Sam Cardona-Norberg and Meghan Hall give a few of their favorite players they will be keeping an eye on in the women’s March Madness tournament.
Sports Seriously
AUSTIN — Save your gripes about NCAA referees. Oregon women’s basketball guard Katie Fiso contended with much more hostile officiating conditions in her driveway.
Fiso grew up playing one-on-one against her twin brother in games so competitive that punches were sometimes thrown. As referee, their dad swallowed his whistle.
The family motto? “You don’t see no blood, there’s no foul,” Fiso said with a grin.
As Fiso stood outside Oregon’s locker room on Thursday and reminisced on those driveway battles, she admitted she never thought she’d be here: Putting together a breakout sophomore season and leading the No. 8 seed Ducks into a first-round NCAA Tournament game against No. 9 seed Virginia Tech on Friday.
It’s a bittersweet moment for Fiso, whose eyes fill with tears when she thinks of two people who aren’t here to witness it. Last winter, in the middle of Fiso’s freshman season at Oregon, her dad and her grandfather died within two weeks of each other.
Their memories will inspire Fiso when she takes the court for the Ducks this week.
“Basketball has always been an outlet for me, kind of like (to) get away from all this reality. When I step off the court, it’s like I step into the reality and realize he’s not here no more,” Fiso said. “I have a lot of passion for this game because I love it so much, so that’s where I get my love from. I do it for my dad, I do it for my grandpa, I do it for all these people, I do it for my family. So it’s very intentional when I’m on the court. I don’t take any moment for granted.”
Her father, Joseph Fiso was the one who taught Katie and her five siblings the value of hard work and grittiness on the basketball court. He woke them up at 6 a.m. every Saturday to go to the YMCA, where Katie played against boys much older than her and learned to stand her ground.
“I would always get pushed around, I would always get crowded so hard and my dad was like, ‘Hey, go harder at her!’” Fiso recalled. “Like, I would be in here getting D’d up by these old men. But I didn’t realize that it actually was helping me over time, in the long run.”
On Dec. 4, 2025, Joseph was in Eugene to attend Katie’s game. The morning of Oregon’s matchup against Washington State, Joseph Fiso died in his sleep at the hotel.
Grief threatened to swallow Katie whole. Basketball was a reminder of everything she and her dad shared.
Almost immediately after she found out about his death, Fiso got back in the gym to shoot hoops and clear her mind. She bawled her eyes out. Being on the court was at once painful and a relief, but Fiso learned to use the sport to tap into her emotions instead of to escape from them.
“I was definitely second-guessing myself and my worth,” Fiso said. “My mind was all over the place. Trying to be in the game and also dealing with life stuff was definitely difficult. So I took it upon myself over the summer to work on myself and not keep all those feelings inside, actually feel them. So that’s when I tapped in a lot to my faith and it gave me that confidence, that my worth is not in this basketball because it’s so fleeting and up and down, but it’s in someone who is always gonna love me and say ‘It’s OK, you’re always perfect in my eyes.’”
After playing 9.7 minutes per game and averaging 3.1 points off the bench for Oregon as a freshman, Fiso is now a full-time starter who leads Oregon in average minutes (32), points (15.3) and assists (6.3).
She’s playing with new confidence that accentuates the Ducks’ depth and allows her to feel free on the court. When she makes a mistake, she brushes it off and realizes that it doesn’t determine who she is as a basketball player.
“It’s a blessing to be here in this spot,” Fiso said. “Not a lot of people get this opportunity to be at this stage and play at this high level, so I’m thankful. I feel like all those days I was playing with my brothers and playing with my siblings, it helped me prepare for moments like this.”
Oregon coach Kelly Graves has known Fiso since her older brother was a practice player for Graves’ Gonzaga team. Graves followed Fiso’s career at Garfield High School in Seattle, where she won three state championships – a fourth was in reach before the pandemic prematurely ended the season – and was voted Washington state’s Gatorade Player of the Year.
Graves already knew Fiso’s potential when she arrived in Eugene, but he didn’t fully see it emerge until a breakout game at the end of her freshman season. In the 2025 NCAA Tournament, Fiso shot 4-of-6 from the field and scored eight points in 19 minutes in Oregon’s first-round win against Vanderbilt.
From there, Fiso only continued to build.
“I think once she realized, ‘Hey, this is kind of my team,’ you saw how she embraced that role,” Graves said. “Even though she’s just a sophomore, she’s the one that’s leading the group. She’s leading the huddles, leading practice, and that’ s not easy for someone her age, but she’s got it in her.”
Fiso is one of several Oregon players who adjusted to new roles this season. Sophomore forward Ehis Etute, the nation’s No. 2 offensive rebounder, and junior guard Ari Long both stepped into the starting lineup after coming off the bench last season. So did junior guard Sofia Bell, who spent last season getting her rhythm back after an injury curtailed her freshman season. Senior forward Mia Long, a transfer from Fresno State, is new to the program but provides a veteran presence.
“Our players have done a pretty good job of not just accepting their roles necessarily, because they can evolve and change, but executing them,” Graves said. “These are homegrown kids that again, didn’t play much. You look at Katie and Ehis, they had very small roles last year. Ari, a supportive role. Sofia Bell to some degree. And that’s four of our five starters so I’m proud of that. They have developed, they have gotten better, they figured out what they need to do to get playing time and they’re making the most of it.”
Fiso deftly balances her scoring responsibilities with slinging dart passes to her teammates. She ranked second nationally with seven points-assists double-doubles this season, the most by a Duck since Sabrina Ionescu in 2019-20.
“I would say I’m more of a finesse, get downhill type of girl, but I’m also a playmaker,” Fiso said. “I got a little swag in my game.”
Graves said Fiso shares intangibles with two of the prolific point guards he’s coached, Ionescu and Courtney Vandersloot.
“She’s got that same mentality and I think that’s why you’re seeing her succeed now,” Graves said. “But she’s still a work in progress. She’s got a long ways to go and she’s going to continue to get better and better, but she’s going to have a great pro future, I think.”
ESTACADA Ore. (KPTV) – According to Governor Tina Kotek, 100% of Oregon school districts have adopted a cell phone ban. On Wednesday, Kotek visited Estacada High School (EHS) to see her policy in action.
“Research tells us that constant cell phone use distracts from learning and can create mental health issues,” Kotek said. “For our students to thrive, we have to make every hour of class time as high-value as possible. Getting rid of distractions like cell phones is one way we can prioritize student success and transform our education system to get better results.”
Last summer, Kotek issued Executive Order 2509, which bans Oregon public school students from using their cell phones at school. The policy officially went into effect on Jan. 1.
According to Superintendent Ryan Carpenter, the Estacada School District has approximately 2,100 students, with 51% under the poverty line and 18% qualify for special education services. Carpenter said the majority of school districts in Oregon have these same statistics, making EHS a great spot for Kotek to see her policy in action.
Kotek visited two classrooms at EHS and received feedback from students about the cell phone ban. While some students said the ban has made it harder to research certain assignments in class or to coordinate after-school plans, overall, students said they’ve noticed positive impacts.
“At first, I wasn’t the biggest fan, but as the semester has gone on, I’ve found a lot more positivity in it,” said Sophia Morales-Meraz, a sophomore at EHS. “I find myself reaching less for my phone, having stronger connections and talking more to my classmates, and spending more time just really enjoying the moment.”
“I’m definitely more engaged in lessons with my teachers because I’m able to focus on what they’re saying…” said Cooper Skroch, a junior at EHS. “My attention span has gotten a lot better now that I don’t have to use my phone during the day.”
EHS teachers said they have noticed improvements, too. In addition to seeing more engagement from their students, language arts teacher Jeff Mellema said the policy has brought joy back to his career.
“I got into this profession because I like the one-on-one with kids, I like interacting with students,” Mellema said. “I like helping them along the process of their learning and this policy’s made that part easier.”
Without cell phones in schools, Carpenter said parents raised concerns about contacting their child in case of an emergency. But Kotek said school staff are prepared to bridge that communication gap and connect students with their parents, if needed.
Carpenter said the cell phone ban has not only resulted in higher attendance and graduation rates, but it’s also established a stronger sense of community at EHS.
“A lot of great things are happening,” Carpenter said. “We’re experiencing barriers in every child’s life and to remove cell phones is just one barrier to help us continue to get kids to be successful.”
After receiving feedback from students, Kotek told FOX 12 that she does not plan to make any changes to the policy moving forward.
Copyright 2026 KPTV-KPDX. All rights reserved.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) — Opponents of Oregon’s proposed gas tax hike are not giving up in their efforts to force the courts to intervene before voters’ pamphlets are sent out for the May primary.
Former state lawmaker and attorney Julie Parrish, along with Thomas Rask, filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Portland.
The suit was filed on behalf of the Right to Vote on the Gas Tax political action committee and several individuals and names Secretary of State Tobias Read as the defendant.
The suit requests an emergency hearing to consider a temporary restraining order.
The plaintiffs allege that shortening the timeline Oregonians had to submit arguments for or against the measure violated the rights of disabled voters.
Under Oregon law, residents must either collect 500 signatures or pay a $1,200 fee to submit an argument.
They also point out that Secretary of State Read warned lawmakers in a letter earlier this year that they were jeopardizing timelines by blowing past deadlines to pass the legislation.
A Marion County judge already ruled against the plaintiffs earlier this year, although a federal judge did issue a temporary restraining order.
PAST COVERAGE | Rulings on Oregon’s Gas Tax Referendum
Oregon lawmakers passed SB 1599 along party lines, moving the referendum from the November general election ballot to the May primary.
Democratic lawmakers contend that moving the referendum to an earlier date gives the state more time to consider budget cuts.
The gas tax hikes are widely expected to be rejected by voters regardless of when they are held.
No court date has been set for the latest lawsuit. KATU will continue to track developments.
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