Iowa State hires Washington State coach Jimmy Rogers to replace Matt Campbell

Iowa State didn't wait around to find Matt Campbell's replacement.

Just minutesafter Yahoo Sports reported Campbell had finalized a dealwith Penn State to be the Nittany Lions' next coach, the Cyclones announced they were hiring Washington State coach Jimmy Rogers.

His hire was officially announced by the school before Penn State announced Campbell's hire. It's the second time this coaching cycle that has happened. On Sunday, Ole Miss announced defensive coordinator Pete Golding was Lane Kiffin's replacement before Kiffin was officially revealed as LSU's coach.

"Jimmy Rogers is a rising star in college athletics who has very strong ties to the Midwest both as a player and as a coach," Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard said in a statement. "He has been on my short-list ever since the first time I met him. He immediately impressed me with his interest in Iowa State University and told me during our first visit several years ago that he wanted to be the next head coach at Iowa State.

"Since our initial meeting, I have stayed in close contact with him and have been very impressed with his work ethic and understanding of what it takes to be successful at Iowa State," he added. "He is a proven winner who has demonstrated throughout his career that he will fit our culture."

Rogers led Washington State to a 6-6 record in his first season with the Cougars in 2025.

While that record may not seem exceptional, both Washington State and Oregon State have been at a significant disadvantage since the Pac-12 dissolved at the end of the 2023 season. The two schools were left behind as every other team in the league bolted for either the Big Ten, Big 12 or found a home in the ACC.

Without a real conference for the last two seasons, the two schools have barnstormed all over the country while playing each other twice this season.

Rogers, 38, was the head coach at South Dakota State for two seasons before taking the Washington State job. The Jackrabbits went 15-0 and won the FCS title in 2023 before going 12-3 and losing in the semifinals in 2024.

A former South Dakota State linebacker, Rogers was a defensive assistant with the school for a decade before he became the team's head coach. He was associate head coach and defensive coordinator before he was promoted to head coach.

Rogers has incredible familiarity with the upper midwest as South Dakota State is less than five hours from Ames, Iowa, by car. The Cyclones have 50 players from the state of Iowa on their 2025 roster.

Rogers also takes over for the most successful coach in Iowa State history. Campbell's teams won 72 games in his decade in charge. No other Iowa State coach has more than 56 wins. Iowa State had eight winning seasons in Campbell's tenure and won 11 games in 2024. Iowa State went 11-3 a season ago and lost to Arizona State in the Big 12 championship game.

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December 05, 2025

Iowa State hires Washington State coach Jimmy Rogers to replace Matt Campbell

Iowa State didn't wait around to find Matt Campbell's replacement. Just minutesafter Yahoo Sports reported Campbell had finalized...

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Bucks coach Doc Rivers says he anticipates Giannis Antetokounmpo missing about 4 weeks

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Milwaukee Bucks coach Doc Rivers says he anticipates Giannis Antetokounmpo missing about a month as the two-time MVP recovers from astrained right calf.

Initial reports indicated Antetokounmpo would be out two to four weeks. Rivers suggested Friday that it would likely be on the higher end of that timeline.

"Let's hope he's back sooner, but I'm going to guess it's more in the four-week range," Rivers said before the Bucks' game with the Philadelphia 76ers.

Rivers emphasized the importance of caution with calf issues to avoid the risk of a player getting hurt more severely.

"And so that may take longer than we want," Rivers said. "That even may make Giannis frustrated over it. But we've just got to try to get that right."

Antetokounmpo injured his calf in the opening minutes of a113-109 victoryover the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday.

He had just assisted on AJ Green's layup less than three minutes into the game when he headed back up the court and slipped in the painted area. Antetokounmpo went down, clutched his right leg and eventually was helped up before walking to the locker room.

Rivers said after that game that he believed Antetokounmpo's injury may have stemmed from contact he made with a Detroit player while driving along the baseline just before passing to Green.

Antetokounmpo entered Friday ranked seventh in the NBA in scoring (28.9), ninth in rebounding (10.1) and 19th in assists (6.1).

His injury looked similar to a calf strain that ended Antetokounmpo's 2023-24 season prematurely. Antetokounmpo was heading up the court during an April 9 victory over the Boston Celtics that season when he grabbed his left calf and took a seat on the floor before being helped off the court.

Antetokounmpo went on to miss the Bucks' final three regular-season games as well as their entire six-game loss to the Indiana Pacers in the opening round of the playoffs that season.

This latest calf injury comes after Antetokounmpo missed four games last month with a left adductor strain. The Bucks lost all four of those games.

Rivers noted that Milwaukee guard Kevin Porter Jr. also didn't play in any of those games while recovering from a knee injury. Porter returned Nov. 29 and is averaging 19.8 points and 5 assists this season.

"Now we have 'Scoot' (Porter) andRyan (Rollins)together," Rivers said. "It's a different team than it was even three weeks ago or four weeks ago."

The Bucks entered Friday having gone 1-5 in games Antetokounmpo has missed this season. The only win came in their first game without Antetokounmpo, a120-110 home victoryover the Golden State Warriors on Oct. 30.

But they did rally from an 18-point deficit Wednesday against the Eastern Conference-leading Pistons with Antetokounmpo only playing the first three minutes.

This injury occurred the same day ESPN reported that Antetokounmpo and his agent, Alex Saratsis, had started speaking with the Bucks about the nine-time all-NBA forward's future and whether he's best suited to stay in Milwaukee or play elsewhere.Rivers disputedthe report and said that "Giannis has never asked to be traded – ever. I can't make that more clear."

AP NBA:https://apnews.com/hub/NBA

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December 05, 2025

Bucks coach Doc Rivers says he anticipates Giannis Antetokounmpo missing about 4 weeks

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Milwaukee Bucks coach Doc Rivers says he anticipates Giannis Antetokounmpo missing about a month as the...

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Former NASCAR driver Michael Annett dies at 39

Former NASCAR driver Michael Annett has died. He was 39.

JR Motorsports announced Annett's death in a social media post Friday evening. Annett drove for the team in the Xfinity Series for five seasons from 2017-21.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the entire Annett family with the passing of our friend Michael Annett. Michael was a key member of JRM from 2017 until he retired in 2021 and was an important part in turning us into the four-car organization we remain today.https://t.co/oZdMymjBz6pic.twitter.com/PUsCZHkXEg

— JR Motorsports (@JRMotorsports)December 6, 2025

Annett made over 100 starts in NASCAR's Cup Series and over 300 starts in NASCAR's second-tier Xfinity Series. Annett's lone Xfinity Series win came in 2019, when he won the season-opening race at Daytona. He went on to have five more top-five finishes and finished ninth in the points standings that season.

His best season in the Xfinity Series came in 2012 when he drove for Richard Petty Motorsports. Annett had six top-five finishes and 17 top-10 finishes and finished fifth in the points standings.

At JR Motorsports, he never finished outside the top 15 in the points standings.

Annett competed in 106 Cup Series races over the 2014, 2015 and 2016 seasons. He drove for underfunded teams Tommy Baldwin Racing and HScott Racing during his time at NASCAR's top level and had just six top-20 finishes in his Cup Series career. His best finish came in 2015 when he was 13th at the Daytona 500.

Annett retired after the 2021 season after he dealt with a stress fracture in his right leg for much of the season. He missed seven races that year. He also missed races during the 2013 season after he suffered a fractured and dislocated sternum in a crash at Daytona when his car slammed head-on into the wall.

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December 05, 2025

Former NASCAR driver Michael Annett dies at 39

Former NASCAR driver Michael Annett has died. He was 39. JR Motorsports announced Annett's death in a social media post Friday evenin...

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Michael Jordan testifies in NASCAR lawsuit, calling the racing body an unfair monopoly

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — NASCAR's management structure is unfair to its teams and drivers, with money and power in the hands of people who don't risk life and limb on the oval, basketball legend Michael Jordan told a court on Friday.

Testimony from Jordan and the daughter-in-law ofPro Football Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbshighlighted courtroom action Friday, in a federalantitrust case, accusingNASCAR of operating as monopolistic bullies.

"Someone had to step forward to challenge NASCAR," said Jordan, a co-owner of 23XI Racing.

Jordan explained that NASCAR needs to be run more like the NBA, with a mutually beneficial partnership between the league and its teams.

"If you share responsibility, the healthiness of the sport can grow," he said. "It needed to be looked at from a whole different perspective. That's why we're here."

Drivers are risking their lives to race with no insurance or union protections, according tothe former North Carolina Tar Heel,whowon six NBA championshipswith the Chicago Bulls.

"I never saw(NASCAR CEO) Jim Francedrive a car and risk his life," Jordan said.

Even though 13 of 15 NASCAR Cup Series teams have signed the 2025-2031 charter agreement extension, those organizations had no real choice, according to Heather Gibbs, chief operating officer of Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR).

Before Jordan took the stand, Gibbs told the court that signing was the only option in what amounted to a "take-it-or-leave-it" situation.

"As if you have a gun to your head,"Gibbs said of her team's decision to sign.

Even though JGR is on one of the sport's most storied organizations, Gibbs said profits have been hit-and-miss under the current NASCAR system.

"Some years, not every year," she told a NASCAR attorney asking if JGR is a money maker.

Three ofNASCAR's top five drivers, No. 2 andthree-time Daytona 500 winnerDenny Hamlin, No. 3 Chase Briscoe and No. 5 Christopher Bell, race out of the JGR stable.

Despite the massive stakes on the table and the occasional tough words, both sides were remarkably cordial to one another in court on Friday.

When a NASCAR attorney finished his cross-examination of Jordan, he told the all-time basketball great: "My 9-year-old thinks I'm pretty cool today."

Jorden joked that the NASCAR attorney should've been laced up in the former player's famed hight tops in court.

"You're not wearing your Jordans today," Jordan quipped.

Charlie Gile reported from Charlotte, N.C., and David K. Li from New York City.

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December 05, 2025

Michael Jordan testifies in NASCAR lawsuit, calling the racing body an unfair monopoly

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — NASCAR's management structure is unfair to its teams and drivers, with money and power in the hand...

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Grading the hire: Matt Campbell finally leaves Iowa State, will fit Penn State's brand

Our long, national nightmare is over.Penn State footballhas found its head coach.

TheNittany Lionsare finalizing an agreementwith Iowa State's Matt Campbellto replace James Franklin,per a report by ESPN.

Campbell, 46, has coached the Cyclones for 10 seasons and became the winningest coach in school history with a 72-55 record, including 8-4 in 2025.

HAYES:Penn State must hire Matt Campbell to avoid blowing CFB coaching carousel

Here's how we grade the hire:

Grade: B+

Penn State took a circuitous route to making a solid hire, if not a home run.

Even after whiffing on Brigham Young's Kalani Sitake,athletic director Pat Kraftmanaged to land a proven coach, one who was named the Big 12 coach of the year three times.

Campbell's name has appeared on candidate lists for prime jobs for many years, but he repeatedly remained loyal toIowa State. Now, finally, he saw an opportunity good enough to make a move. An Ohio native, the 46-year-old Campbell has spent his entire career in the Midwest. He'll fit Penn State's brand.

Campbell departs Iowa State as the best coach in program history, producing a winning record eight times in 10 seasons there. He's headed to a program with superior resources — and more demanding expectations than Campbell has ever encountered in his career.

Campbell's resume is not superior to that of the coach Penn State fired, but it always seemed unlikely the Nittany Lions would hire a more accomplished coach than James Franklin.

Campbell's known more for being a player developer than an ace recruiter. He'll need to prove he can win blue-chip recruiting battles to get Penn State onto Ohio State's level, or even to keep it at the level Franklin had Penn State operating at in most seasons before this one.

At Iowa State, Campbell could be counted on to assemble one of the Big 12's stingiest defenses, year after year. That'll translate well at Penn State. Can Campbell develop quarterbacks that'll allow Penn State to stand toe-to-toe with the best Big Ten programs?

As good as Campbell's Cyclones defenses usually were, his offenses were more middle of the pack or even toward the bottom of the Big 12. Maybe, that'll elevate with higher-caliber athletes at Penn State. Campbell only ever had one Iowa State quarterback selected in the NFL Draft. That was Brock Purdy, a four-year starter selected in the seventh round in 2022.

An 8-4 season at Iowa State would go down in the good-season column. At Penn State, that won't cut it anymore. Welcome to the big leagues.

Campbell is a steady hand who now must show he's ready to perform to the level Penn State demands.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Penn State football hires Matt Campbell as coach. Expert grades for move

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December 05, 2025

Grading the hire: Matt Campbell finally leaves Iowa State, will fit Penn State's brand

Our long, national nightmare is over.Penn State footballhas found its head coach. TheNittany Lionsare finalizi...

Read More