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For more than 15 years, Matt Painter assembled Purdue teams where players of all shapes and sizes could win.

From the exceptionally tall Zach Edey to the mighty-mouse scoring sparkplug Carsen Edwards. From a bulldozer like Caleb Swanigan to lithe and agile Jaden Ivey.

Painter's Boilermakers have had it all — except an elite point guard.

Postseason awards: Check out All-Big Ten teams, 2026 Player, Coach of the Year

Turns out, all he had to do was look about 50 miles southeast to find the one to change it all.

Westfield, Indiana's Braden Smith has gone from under-the-radar three-star recruit with offers from Montana and Appalachian State to Purdue's transcendent floor general. The All-American and 2025 Big Ten Player of the Year, Smith is in his final weeks with the Boilermakers. As the end approaches, he’s far from done.

NCAA history is in sight. So is that elusive national championship. Why not go for both?

Smith enters March within striking distance of Bobby Hurley's Division I assists record. To get there, he will need a few extra games. And that might mean guiding Purdue down a short drive south on I-65 to Indianapolis for the Final Four.

“We've had good point guards,” Painter told USA TODAY Sports. “But we haven't had that elite player at that position like him.”

There wasn’t much time for the 2022 Indiana Mr. Basketball to settle, thrust into the starting lineup out of the gate. It helped having Edey as the star, able to dish it to the 7-5 behemoth to dominate games. 

It molded Smith as a premier passer, with assistant coach and former Purdue guard P.J. Thompson serving as a mentor. In his sophomore season, Smith's 7.5 assists per game were the second-most in the country for the eventual national runner-up. 

But with Edey gone, Purdue needed more from Smith his junior year. He didn’t really prioritize scoring, but he would have to, all while continuing to be one of the best passers in the game.

He stepped it up. Last season, he averaged 15.8 points with 8.7 assists per game, leading to a crowded trophy case.

“You add something to your game every year. You add more maturity to your game, more polish to your game,” Painter said. “We needed him to score, we needed him each year to grow. Every year, he got better.”

This season, Smith is Purdue's leading scorer at 14.9 points per game while averaging 8.7 assists a game, second-most in the nation. It’s been a remarkable offensive season for Purdue, on pace to be one of Painter’s best-scoring team of his tenure.

Smith can dissect things in multiple ways. Painter described his approach as “take what the game presents.” If teams are taking away passing lanes, then go score. If they are defending hard, make those passes for easy buckets.

“Just instinctively play the game. That's when he's at his best,” Painter said.

There will be nights where he scores 29 points, like he did against Alabama, or others when he’s reaching double-digit assists. When he’s getting double-doubles (he has eight this season), the Boilermakers are 6-2.

“I'm going to continue to shoot,” Smith said. “You still got to produce and do what you're going to do."

Braden Smith nearing Bobby Hurley's NCAA assist record

With 141 career games played, Smith is on the cusp of NCAA history, recently becoming the fifth men’s player to reach 1,000 career assists. At 1,029 total dimes, he is just 47 away from Hurley’s all-time record of 1,076 assists set in 1990-93.

Fans in black and gold have been following that chase all season, knowing there’s a realistic chance it could be broken. There’s even a website, bradenassists.com, dedicated to tracking it.

Now in his 11th season coaching Arizona State, Hurley was made aware of the possibility before the year. He doesn't get to follow Smith heavily, but Hurley's appreciated what he's seen of him, including against his brother, Dan, and UConn in the 2024 title game.

"I've always admired how he plays and his vision and how he makes people better," Hurley told USA TODAY Sports. "Braden seems to be more of a throwback type of guard; just really unique vision and creativity with his passing and takes a lot of pride in it."

The record has stood for more than 30 years, with no real threat. North Carolina's Ed Cota (1996-2000) came closest with 1,030. Even though it hasn't really been challenged, Hurley figured "this moment would eventually happen," and "it might have happened sooner, actually."

He said he can't judge who is worthy of breaking the record, but Smith has all the traits to deserve it.

"To have someone that would take it down, he would be the type of person that I would really respect having the record," Hurley said.

Smith knows about the record. But does he care? Well, it depends, because there’s only one way it gets broken: Purdue keeps winning.

With the regular season complete, Smith and the Boilermakers are guaranteed at least two more games — one Big Ten tournament and one NCAA Tournament. Survive and advance to get 10 more games, the more chances to add assists. Hurley mentioned how playing those extra games en route to winning two national championships with Duke helped him reach his mark.

If Purdue plays the maximum 10 games left with a Big Ten final and national championship game appearance, he’ll just need to average 4.7 assists per game to break the record. The fewer amount of games played, the more assists needed per contest.

Already a guy that despises being taken out of games, don’t be surprised to see Smith play all 40 minutes, like he just did against Northwestern.

“The more he plays the game to win, the better chance he'll have to get the records,” Painter said. “The record is going to come because you get to the championship game of the Big Ten tournament, you get to the Final Four. That's when the record is gonna play out.”

Purdue needs deep March Madness run

That, of course, has been the conundrum for Purdue. Smith was a freshman on the team that became just the second No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16 seed. He got to the championship game as a sophomore. Last season, the Boilermakers lost to Houston in the Sweet 16 on a last-second backdoor basket.

With Smith back for one last run, Purdue entered the season as national title favorites, the No. 1 in USA TODAY Sports preseason men's basketball poll. For much of the season, it played the part with a 17-1 start. 

However, things have gotten off track. The Boilermakers are 6-7 since then, suddenly looking like ghosts of March past are creeping up again.

Smith has still been producing for his team, but he believes any and all struggles “starts with me.” 

“Personally, that's how I am as a competitor and a person,” Smith said after Purdue lost to UCLA on Jan. 20. “I got to be better, and I got to learn from it.”

It’s made for frustrating times, and it only is heightened with the bumps and bruises Smith takes almost routinely in games, visibly upset with it. “I'm just so used to it at this point,” he said, feeling like he gets a different treatment of physicality.

Painter understands it, but knows it’s the result of a high usage level. The more you handle the ball — and be a difference-maker with it — teams are going to hound you. That’s just the way it is.

Luckily, it gets the guard in a mindset his coach loves to see him in.

“A lot of it is that competitiveness comes out. You see him getting upset, you see him getting fiery, call it frustration,” Painter said. “But to me, I know he's dialed in. He wants to win. I'd rather calm somebody down like him than try to raise somebody else.”

That fire is what Purdue is going to need if Smith wants to end his decorated career on top. His name and number are bound to be displayed inside Mackey Arena permanently, but a championship banner is the top priority.

It pays to have experience in March, especially when that player has such high court IQ like Smith. That could be the difference from surviving and advancing or going home.

"I've seen some of his assists this year where he's able to look the defense off in such a creative way and someone's laying the ball in and the defense looks foolish," Hurley said. "That's what really great passers are able to do, just manipulate the defense and get the ball to someone where the defense or the casual fan watching goes, 'How did he see that?'

"Well, it's because he probably reads the game one or two seconds ahead of everybody else."

Record and title or not, Painter doesn’t think this is the end of the road for Smith; he believes a bright professional future is ahead for his star guard.

“Braden is a pro. I think he'll play 10 to 12 years in the NBA. I really believe that wholeheartedly,” he said.

But that’s something to look forward to in mid-April.

In an era of unrestricted player movement, Smith spent all four years with the Boilermakers, developing into a premier guard. He wants to bring glory to Purdue. 

“Our guys staying, really also had to do with unfinished business,” Painter said. “They want to win a national championship.”

The all-time assist record would just be the cherry on top.

NCAA career assists leaders

1. Bobby Hurley, Duke (1990-93): 1,076
2. Chris Corchiani, NC State (1988-91): 1,038
3. Ed Cota, North Carolina (1997-2000): 1,030
4. Braden Smith, Purdue (2023-26): 1,029
5. Jason Brickman, Long Island (2011-2014): 1,007

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Will Braden Smith break Bobby Hurley assists record? He wants more

Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown has been at odds with NBA officials all season, and his teammates have his back.

That support grew stronger after Tuesday night’s 125-116 loss to the San Antonio Spurs, when Brown was ejected for only the second time in his 10-year career before halftime.

With less than four minutes remaining in the second quarter, Brown attempted to dribble out of a double-team from Stephon Castle and Victor Wembanyama. Castle extended his hands, causing Brown to tumble courtside and lose the ball. Officials didn’t call a foul, which pushed Brown to his breaking point. He approached officiating crew chief Tyler Ford and was issued a technical foul. From a distance, referee Suyash Mehta then assessed a second technical as Brown continued pleading his case, triggering an automatic ejection.

“I understand completely where Jaylen’s coming from,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla told reporters, per NBC Sports Boston. “Absolutely. I got his back 100 percent. I think he was 100 percent right to be frustrated and to do what he did.”

Moments after leaving the floor at the Frost Bank Center, Brown took to social media, posting, “This the sh*t I be talking about” on X. He hasn’t shied away from criticizing the league’s officiating, even under the threat of fines, and this season in particular, he’s been especially outspoken about certain officials.

To start his postgame press conference, Mazzulla landed a pointed dig at Ford, pointing out that Mehta stepped in like a white knight with the whistle.

“Just give a ton of credit to my high school principal,” Mazzulla told reporters. “He had the balls to throw a student out. He didn’t leave it to the hall monitor.”

Mazzulla added: “He was a hell of a principal.”

From teammates and Mazzulla to a Celtics security guard, everyone tried to restrain Brown from reaching Mehta. Despite being on his side, they managed to de-escalate the situation, though it still left the team without its star for the final two quarters of a marquee road matchup against the second-best team in the Western Conference.

The optics alone made the decision absurd.

Mehta didn’t just hurt the Celtics by removing their best player — he also ruined the matchup fans came to see: Brown versus Wembanyama, battling until the final buzzer. By stepping in on Ford’s behalf, he took that away, which was an odd look. Superstars typically receive leniency that others don’t. It’s part of the game, and everyone accepts it. But with Brown, that leniency often seems inconsistent compared to players of his caliber.

At a time when load management and tanking dominate league storylines, Brown has done his part as a household everyday star. He’s missed just six of Boston’s 65 games and has performed at an MVP level for most of the season without Jayson Tatum. Therefore, he’s earned some leeway.

“I disagree with it,” Tatum told reporters, per NBC Sports Boston. “The NBA makes a big deal about prime-time games and stars playing and being available. He definitely got pushed. First tech, probably warranted — the emotions are high — but the second tech, you gotta understand it’s a national TV game between two of the best teams in the league. You make a big deal about stars playing, then you’re trigger-happy to throw somebody out of the game. So I disagree with it.”

In a pool report conducted by ESPN’s Michael Wright, Ford said Brown’s first technical foul was “for aggressively pointing and using profanity in response to the no-call,” while the second tech and ejection came because “he aggressively approached a game official while pointing and using profanity.” Regarding the no-call itself involving Castle, Ford said the officials observed no illegal contact.

Brown was up to eight points and seven assists when he received back-to-back technical fouls, with the Celtics holding a 51-49 lead over the Spurs.

Teammate Derrick White echoed the sentiments of Mazzulla and Tatum when asked in the locker room.

“I think he got fouled, too,” White told reporters, per NBC Sports Boston. “He definitely earned the first one. I thought the second one was bullsh*t, honestly.”

The Celtics tried to hold on without Brown, but Wembanyama’s 39-point double-double proved too much. San Antonio scored 67 points in the second half, leaving Boston scrambling. Tatum struggled, shooting 4-of-14 from three, and the bench — with the exception of Ron Harper Jr. — was largely ineffective. Harper’s career-high 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting was a bright spot, but it wasn’t enough to dig the Celtics out of their divot.

White still couldn’t wrap his head around tossing Brown in that spot.

“You can’t throw out a guy who’s done so much for us all year, and in a game like this, especially,” he told reporters. “How do you throw him out? I think that was ridiculous, and it was tough, obviously, to basically play the whole second half without him. I feel like for a lot of the game — I don’t know how much time was on the clock — but I thought that was ridiculous.”

Back on Jan. 10, when the Celtics hosted the Spurs at TD Garden, Brown was bold in vocalizing his criticisms of the officials, unconcerned about a potential fine from the league.

“I hope somebody could just pull up the clips, because it’s the same sh*t every time we play a good team,” Brown said after Boston’s loss. “It’s like, they refuse to make a call, and they call touch-fouls on the other end. That’s just extremely frustrating, bro.”

The NBA fined Brown $35,000 the following day for his comments.

PENSACOLA, FL – Why does March Madness expansion dialogue stubbornly persist? Because, power conferences want more participation ribbons.

Expansion would be a boon for power conference teams that barely finish above .500. Collect your ribbon, and head to the dance.

What, though, would growing the NCAA Tournament to 72 or 76 teams do for mid-majors?

Take it from a guy who’s spent most of his career coaching those teams.

“Tournament expansion probably ain’t going to help the Sun Belt Conference, unfortunately,” said coach Scott Cross, whose Troy Trojans are headed to the NCAA Tournament for a second straight year, after securing their conference's auto bid.

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He’s right, of course, but you probably didn’t need Cross to spell it out. You can add two plus two and know it equals Power Four.

When was the last time a college sports evolution helped the little guy? This one wouldn’t, either.

The Sun Belt wouldn’t benefit from tournament expansion. Neither would the Southland, the conference where Cross used to coach. Wouldn’t help the Horizon, either. Or the Ohio Valley. I could go on, but you get the idea.

“I think the tournament is really special the way it is,” Georgia Southern coach Charlie Henry said, “so I would probably not be in favor of expanding.”

Henry’s Eagles won five games in five days to reach the Sun Belt tournament final before falling one win short of an auto bid. They won’t sniff an at-large selection to a 68-team bracket, and they wouldn’t at 76 teams, either. Expansion efforts aren’t designed to help their kind.

Don’t misunderstand what Cross and Henry are saying. Neither coach stumped for the Sun Belt to get a second bid. In fact, both coaches admitted their conference is a one-bid league. Just don’t expect them to support an expansion designed to benefit the 10th- and 12th- and 14th-place teams from the power leagues.

Tournament expansion would “allow more teams that are average at the Power Four level to get in,” Cross said. “I think the tournament is great the way it is.”

Amen, brother.

Most fans would agree. Too bad they aren’t calling the shots.

March Madness expansion all about the Power Four dregs

Greg Sankey, Tony Petitti, Brett Yormark and Jim Phillips are like the four horsemen of the 68-team tournament apocalypse. These Power Four conference commissioners just won’t let the expansion idea go. Expansion would carve out bids for the dregs of the mega conferences these commissioners created.

When you hear talk of a 76-team NCAA Tournament, understand it’s all geared toward rescuing teams like Auburn (16-15) and Indiana (18-13) from the NIT — or, declining an NIT bid, rather — and ushering them into the main event, courtesy of their repeated losses against better teams.

True, the expanded bracket would occasionally gift an at-large bid to a mid-major from an upper-middle class conference, but that’ll come at a cost.

For every 2024 Indiana State that’ll be buoyed by tournament expansion, there will be a half-dozen bids for teams like this year’s 14-loss Oklahoma Sooners.

The real travesty of tournament expansion wouldn’t even be the addition of more 14-loss teams from power conferences. That’s not great. This is worse: In a 76-team bracket, several additional low- and mid-majors could get relegated to play-in games.

That’s right, to be assured of a spot in the Round of 64, a mid-major might need to win its conference tournament and then also survive a game in Dayton, Ohio, or some additional site picked for the play-in carnival.

This, folks, is the real sucker punch.

Imagine the case of Cross' Troy Trojans. They won the Sun Belt's regular season. They won the conference tournament. They're headed to NCAA's first round — for at least one more year, anyway. In a 76-team bracket, they could be relegated to a play-in game. That's a slap of disrespect, and for what? So that a 12th-place power conference team can get a participation ribbon.

A bigger NCAA Tournament might shift more Cinderellas to play-in games

If a team wins its conference tournament to secure an auto bid, that ought to be good for a spot in the Round of 64 — the round most of us normies consider the real start to the tournament.

One 76-team format under consideration, according to On3's reporting last fall, would slot 12 auto-bid qualifiers into play-in games, as well as 12 at-large qualifiers into the play-in round.

In other words, say goodbye to at least six potential Cinderellas before we even reach those Thursday and Friday games we love so dearly. That means fewer small-conference underdogs permitted access to the Round of 64 to try to pull off what Saint Peter’s did to Kentucky or what Princeton did to Arizona or what UMBC did to Virginia or Farleigh Dickinson did to Purdue.

“Those are my favorite two days the entire year, those first two days,” Cross said.

He’s not alone in that feeling, and we don’t love those two days for the chalk. We love them because teams like Hampton and Norfolk State and Oakland can bounce a big boy and earn their “One Shining Moment,” before the bigger brands reclaim the spotlight in the tournament’s later stages.

“It’s not broken,” Cross said of the NCAA Tournament. “It’s one of the greatest sporting events, in my opinion, anywhere. I love it the way it is.”

We love it in no small part because of the bracket-busting havoc underdogs inflict on Goliaths awash in booster bucks. If the power conferences get their expansion wishes, that'll just mean more participation ribbons, at Cinderella's expense.

Blake Toppmeyer is a columnist for the USA TODAY Network. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Cinderellas wouldn't like March Madness expansion. Here's why

It has been 16 months since he was thrown into the guilty-until-proven-innocent social media wash cycle, buried by the anonymously wicked and willfully reckless sewer of discontent.

Now here we are, a world removed from it all for Florida coach Todd Golden, and the only question is what’s more unthinkable: How quickly we’ve forgotten what he endured off the court from a four-month Title XI investigation that cleared him of any wrongdoing? 

Or how he has since built the most dominant program in college basketball. 

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“We’re playing really good basketball right now,” Golden said.

That’s the secondary now to the primary buildout of 16 months, one that has no peers in the eat-what-you-kill-world of the tenuous NIL era. 

The Gators are 61-10 over the past two seasons, including a 33-6 record against the best conference in college basketball. They won the national title last season with a revamped roster and elite player development — and did it by beating two No.1 seeds in the Final Four. 

Then started over again this season.

They lost the best backcourt in school history, three guards critical to the championship run now playing in the NBA. Lost another guard to Kentucky’s deep NIL wallet. Lost two assistant coaches to head coaching jobs. 

They’ve had to change offensive styles midseason, moving to inside-out bully ball while never wavering from Golden’s defense-first mantra. They’ve won 11 straight while beating the brakes off SEC competition, and head into next week’s NCAA Tournament as a likely No.1 seed — and the hottest team no one wants to play.

The transformation has been as remarkable as revealing. From defending himself from what he called — and an independent law firm hired by Florida later agreed — baseless allegations, to his program chasing immortality.

Only UCLA under legendary coach John Wooden has had multiple back-to-back national championships seasons. Not Duke or North Carolina, not Kansas or Kentucky or UConn. 

Florida — the football school —  is one postseason from joining UCLA as the only two-time, back-to-back national champions in the sport’s history. Which, of course, brings us to Golden’s biggest move of all. 

Surpassing the great Billy Donovan in all of four seasons.

The coach with his name on the court at the O’Connell Center. The coach who, over 19 seasons in Gainesville, changed the way they thought about basketball and became the best coach in any sport in school history. Better than Spurrier, better than Urb. 

Golden, 40, reached 100 wins at Florida in 139 games; Donovan hit the number in 154. Golden is on the verge of getting his second No.1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, Donovan had one in his career.

Donovan worked in an era of organically-developed rosters, where longstanding recruiting relationships and longterm player development bore the fruit of championship teams.

Golden works in the ever-changing, transitional now of college sports, where’s he’s constantly recruiting his own roster while adding impact pieces through the transfer portal — and mining high schools for philosophical fits who won’t leave after one season.

Every game is sold out in the 11,000-seat arena, and students camp out days in advance for tickets. Golden connects with fans and big-money booster like few do, promoting and defending this monster of a program he has built every chance he gets.

He stomps around the court, and Gator chomps after wins. He bowed up to coaching legend John Calipari last month — Golden looks like a high school cross-country runner — after a 34-point emasculation of Arkansas, and jawed with a fan at Rupp Arena after yet another statement game of who runs the best conference in college basketball. 

He’s all ball, no nonsense — which is why he doesn’t even speak to the allegations of 16 months ago. No sense in giving something that isn’t true more oxygen.

He’s not trying to please social media scavengers and headline chasers. He’s coaching ball — and doing it better than anyone right now.   

“Didn’t lose in February,” Golden said. “Got to try not to lose in March.”

Golden lost 29 games in his first two seasons at Florida, an uneasy beginning that pointed to a prove-it season in Year 3. Now he’s six NCAA Tournament wins from coaching immortality, and dealing with the same things Donovan did over two decades. 

The blue-bloods will come calling, maybe even as soon as this offseason. The Kansas, Kentucky and North Carolina jobs could be available, so will many NBA jobs. 

Who knows if he would leave? For that matter, who cares?

Nothing he could do from here out will top this remarkable 16-month run. Not even a second national title.

But since they’re staring at it, why not embrace it? Take those three SEC tournament games this week, and the six NCAA Tournament games it takes to win it all — and leave no doubt.  

“An unrealistic level of self-confidence?” Golden said. “I hope so.”

There’s your social media story, scavengers. Run with that.

Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Florida Gators coach Todd Golden's rise to top of college basketball

One of the most popular men’s basketball players in the Southeastern Conference recently bought a million-dollar lake house in North Carolina and has gotten so wealthy from his name, image and likeness he could retire from work now if we wanted, according to his father.

But this particular player isn’t a top NBA prospect like Arkansas point guard Darius Acuff or big Tennessee forward Nate Ament.

Instead, he’s a short freshman bench player on the 14^th-place team in the league.

March Madness bracketology: NCAA tournament bubble predictions, new No. 1 seed

His name is Eli Ellis, a guard for South Carolina who has more than 2.1 million followers combined on social media, ranking him No. 5 nationally in Division I men’s college basketball, more than double of any other player in the SEC, according to NIL marketplace company Opendorse.

This means he’s already made a fortune off of his NIL.

“He actually could retire now,” his father and former coach Jeremy Ellis told USA TODAY Sports. “He’s been making a lot of money since really 10^th grade. And he doesn’t spend it.”

This might even make him the business model of the future for college athletes — a social media entrepreneur who also happens to be a good player, too. He’s skilled at both. Not many are. And he’s only 20 years old heading into the SEC tournament this week in Nashville.

“Especially in my position, if you're at two million followers and you really know what you're doing, you can make seven figures,” Eli Ellis said in an interview with USA TODAY Sports.

How Eli Ellis built his social media following

Ellis by his own admission can’t dunk a basketball — or at least hasn’t in a game yet, he said. But he became such a highlight reel on the court over the years that his social media following just kept growing after getting his first iPhone in ninth grade.

Ellis traces it back to about 2021, when he and his younger brother Isaac led their Moravian Prep team in North Carolina to a win against top high school recruit Mikey Williams of Vertical Academy. The Ellis brothers combined for nearly 60 points despite being in ninth and eighth grade, raising eyeballs in the basketball world and gaining a follow from NBA star Kevin Durant.

A documentary show featuring the brothers followed in 2022 from the sports media company Overtime.

Now look at him. Ellis ranks No. 5 in men’s college basketball with 1.4 million followers on TikTok, 690,000 on Instagram and 6,400 on X, in addition to his 55,000 subscribers on YouTube.

The Top 5 most-followed men's college players

Here are the top five most-followed men’s players in Division I college basketball this season on TikTok, Instagram and X combined, according to data provided to USA TODAY Sports by Opendorse.

1. Mikey Williams, Sacramento State guard, has 5.2 million followers combined, as of March 4. Williams was a middle school and high school basketball star who grew his own following with similar basketball highlight reels.
2. Shaqir O’Neal, Sacramento State forward, has 4.26 million followers as of March 4. He is the son of NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal.
3. Hansel Enmanuel has 4.23 million followers after starting the season at Austin Peay. He has gone viral for his basketball skills despite having only one arm.
4. Bryce James, freshman guard at Arizona, has 2.9 million followers and is the son of NBA legend LeBron James.
5. Ellis, whose team plays Oklahoma Wednesday, March 11, in the SEC Tournament.

How Eli Ellis makes his NIL money

Huge social-media followings appeal to brands, who want to market themselves to that audience. Ellis has gotten paid to promote brands such as Under Armour, Fortnite and Dr. Pepper.

Such deals also come with perks. A car dealership last year gifted him a new Chevrolet Traverse before his freshman year at South Carolina. Instead of buying jewelry, his father said Eli will do a deal with a jewelry company in which he’ll get paid with jewelry and cash.

In between those paid spots, Ellis posts relatable content about basketball and everyday life. On TikTok, 95 of his posts received at least one million views, including one last year that got nine million views. The latter video shows one of his younger brothers reacting with displeasure after his other brother takes a lick from the little brother’s ice cream cone.

“In the age of NIL, collegiate athletes need to cultivate brands that are authentic and resonate with fans,” said Natasha Brison, an associate professor at South Carolina with expertise in sports marketing. “Social media is an optimal way to leverage an athlete brand, maximize fan engagement, and attract potential sponsors. Given that Eli is only a freshman, he is the epitome of what an athlete should aim to be (and do) in athlete brand development.”

Eli Ellis has three jobs

He’s not ready to retire, even if he could. He is a basketball player, social media influencer and a businessman who runs a training academy for $189 per annual subscriber for those who want to improve their basketball and social media games.

He also recently started a podcast that is produced by The College Sports Company. His first guest was Gary Vaynerchuk, an entrepreneur and author who has taken Ellis under his wing.

"He is not a typical college athlete," said Russell Wilde Jr., chief operating officer of The College Sports Company. "He is a true creator who values his audience and understands the platform he has as a college athlete to grow his personal brand."

But one job is still more important to him than the rest.

“The biggest thing I've learned is keeping the main thing the main thing, and that's basketball,” Eli Ellis said. “That's how I got here. That's how I blew up.”

Sharing the wealth with teammates

Ellis' height is listed at 6-feet, though he said on the same podcast last week he’s 5-11. He enters the SEC tournament this week as his team’s fifth-leading scorer with 8.7 points per game for the Gamecocks, who finished the regular season with a 13-18 record. He played in 27 games as a freshman, all coming off the bench as he strives to realize the potential he showed while playing in high school for the YNG Dreamerz of the Overtime Elite league in Atlanta.

He won the league’s MVP award twice after scoring more than 30 points per game in consecutive years, helping rack up social-media highlights in the meantime. One thing feeds the other.

“I need to have a good year basketball-wise, and the social media stuff will follow if I'm playing good,” Ellis said.

He previously said he posted on social media two or three times per day and now only does it about twice a week during the season, all from his one phone. He  shares certain proceeds from it sometimes with teammates — including headphones or gift cards from restaurants where he has deals.

“Involving them helps a lot, especially with (how) I get a lot of attention,” he said. “I try to let everybody feel some of the love.”

He plans to keep it going as an influencer and entrepreneur whenever his basketball career ends. In the meantime, he just wants to keep his freshman season going in Nashville this week. .

“We have the opportunity to make a run for sure,” Ellis said.

The views surely will follow if they do.

Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Eli Ellis social media following leads to NIL riches for South Carolina freshman

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Pakistan awarded ODI debuts to four players and Bangladesh won the toss and elected to field Wednesday to open the three-match series.

Sahibzada Farhan, Maaz Sadaqat, Shamyl Hussain and Abdul Samad formed the new-look Pakistan top order. Farhan was rewarded for his outstanding performance at the T20 World Cup, where he scored 383 runs.

Both teams went with three fast bowlers in a hope the wicket will suit the pacemen. Bangladesh included Nahid Rana, Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman, and Pakistan's pace trio had captain Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Wasim and Faheem Ashraf.

Bangladesh recalled Tanzid Hasan in place of Soumya Sarkar. Litton Das and Afif Hossain were included in the middle-order.

Pakistan dropped experienced Babar Azam and Saim Ayu b for the series after their disappointing T20 World Cup co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka.

Bangladesh was replaced by Scotland at the T20 World Cup after it refused to travel to India amid security concerns.

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Lineups:

Bangladesh: Saif Hassan, Tanzid Hasan, Towhid Hridoy, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Litton Das, Afif Hossain, Mehidy Hasan Miraz (captain), Rishad Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Nahid Rana, Mustafizur Rahman

Pakistan: Sahibzada Farhan, Maaz Sadaqat, Shamyl Hussain, Mohammad Rizwan, Salman Ali Agha, Hussain Talat, Abdul Samad, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), Mohammad Wasim, Abrar Ahmed.

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

LOS ANGELES — The Lakers had plenty of excuses ready if they lost to the Wolves.

Minnesota entered the night as the third-best team in the West. The Lakers entered the night without their All-Star LeBron James for the thirdstraight game as well as bigs Jaxson Hayes and Maxi Kleber.

But they still had Austin Reaves.

Behind their budding star and the superhero of the night, the Lakers earned a hard-fought 120-106 win over Minnesota.

Reaves ended the night with 31 points, seven rebounds and eight assists. It was his second consecutive strong showing after scoring 25 in a win against the Knicks.

“Really it was [that] he was able to get downhill,” Lakers head coach JJ Redick said postgame. “I mean, that’s the biggest thing. That’s when he’s at his best. He’s a fantastic shooter, but he’s at his best when he’s touching the paint.

“I thought early on, him getting into the paint, getting fouled, seeing the ball go through the hoop [was good]. And then we saw him as the half wore on, he just got into his bag and a lot of those were on paint touches and he hit those non-rim paint two.”

Reaves’ big night wasn’t so great at the start.

In the opening quarter, his jumper was cold as he went 0-3 from the field. At the halftime break, he had just one made field goal and a sensational night seemed out of reach.

However, as the third quarter began, Reaves’ jumper began to warm up. He drove to the paint and converted on a layup. He found Luka Dončić for a floater, giving the Lakers a two-possession lead.

Then, Reaves’ confidence and productivity really ratcheted up.

First, heconverted on a four-point play. He followed that up with another deep make and then drove into the paint and scored on a foater. Suddenly, a close contest became a double-digit lead for LA.

“I think he’s just a great player,” Dončić said. “He’s very talented defensively. He gets to his spots, he tricks the defense, and that’s why he’s a great player.”

Reaves’ dominance continued in the fourth. He checked in with 10:38 left to play and immediately had another four-point play. After another lob connection with Deandre Ayton and a floater, LA had put the Wolves to bed with three minutes left on the clock.

In the NBA, things can change in the blink of an eye. After their tough loss to the Nuggets a week ago, the Lakers have bounced back with three straight wins and are now fourth in the West.

While Luka has been at the center of that streak, Austin hasn’t been far behind. He showed glimpses against the Pacers before really finding his groove in the last two games.

As a result, both he and the Lakers are on an upward trend now

“It feels like we’re trending in the right direction, just got to continue to stick to the plan,” Reaves said. “And continue to get better every single day and compete at a high level.”

For the Lakers’ to be at their best, Reaves must play his best against elite teams.

On Tuesday night, he did just that.

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.

A week ago, the biggest question surrounding the Lakers was whether they were a serious team capable of beating good opponents. Fast forward a week and the answer is much clearer.

Two games do not define a team, but the Lakers beating the Knicks and Timberwolves in back-to-back contests at this time in the season should go some way in quelling the notion that they can’t hang with the top teams in each conference.

Do the teams they beat have flaws? Yes. But they largely dominated both contests, too. On Tuesday, they had one of their worst quarters of the season offensively to open the game, found their footing in the second period and took off after halftime.

The result is the Lakers winning six of their last seven games as they’re finding their groove at the right time.

So, let’s dive into the win. As always, grades are based on expectations for each player. A “B” grade represents the average performance for that player.

Marcus Smart

31 minutes, 8 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 2 fouls, 3-7 FT, 1-4 3PT, 1-1 FT, +14

Another game where Smart doesn’t shoot the ball particularly well, but he’s still fantastic. He took a pair of charges and was making all sorts of plays defensively for the second game in a row.

Grade: A-

Rui Hachimura

24 minutes, 9 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 5 fouls, 4-8 FG, 1-4 3PT, +3

Rui had the unenviable task of being the nominal big in some small ball looks the Lakers had to go to with so many of their forwards and centers out. That meant he got into foul trouble pretty quickly in the second half and didn’t have much of an impact in the final two quarters.

Grade: B-

Deandre Ayton

34 minutes, 14 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 4 fouls, 7-11 FG, 0-2 FT, +10

There’s an argument, given the opponent and the context of who wasn’t available, that this was Ayton’s best game of the season. There was a lot of pressure on him to perform because the Lakers had noone else to turn to and he responded in a huge way.

Grade: A

Austin Reaves

38 minutes, 31 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists, 1 turnover, 1 foul, 10-20 FG, 4-10 3PT, 7-9 FT, +18

Austin was very quiet in the first half and very loud in the third quarter and second half overall. He roared to life out of the locker room and started burying four-point plays and every midrange jumper possible.

Grade: A

Luka Dončić

35 minutes, 31 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 4 turnovers, 11-24 FG, 4-12 3PT, 5-6 FT, +20

Another ho-hum triple-double and a game where he has a plus-minus of +20. Nothing big here. In a race for so many in the national media to try to explain why Luka’s numbers actually aren’t that good, they seem to just be overlooking how consistently great he’s been.

Grade: A

Luke Kennard

26 minutes, 10 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 4 fouls, 5-8 FG, 0-2 3PT, +2

On a night where he was great yet again, it could have been even better. He had a three roll all the way around the rim and out and set up Ayton with a fantastic pass before he was blocked by Naz Reid.

Grade: B+

Jake LaRavia

25 minutes, 8 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 1 foul, 1-7 FG, 0-2 3PT, 6-8 FT, +13

This was a great Marcus Smart imitation from LaRavia. He could not hit a shot to save his life, but made up for it with his activity, effort, hustle and defensive playmaking. It was a great game from him despite shooting 14% from the field.

Grade: A-

Jarred Vanderbilt

15 minutes, 4 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 fouls, 2-5 FG, 0-2 3PT, -1

Vando was up to his old tricks in this one. He had some great defensive sequences by staying in front of ball handlers. But it was the stuff he did when the ball wasn’t even in play that is typical Vando with small brouhahas with Bones Hyland and Donte DiVincenzo.

As a quick aside, since we’re on the topic, I’m sure I didn’t see Hyland tell the Lakers bench to sit down after hitting a shot when his side was trailing by nearly 20 points, right? Because that would be a crazy thing to do.

Grade: B

Drew Timme, Adou Thiero, Dalton Knecht, Bronny James, Kobe Bufkin

I was a little surprised we didn’t see more Timme in this one, but Redick clearly tends to go small and space the floor when he doesn’t have centers.

JJ Redick

Even the most ardent Redick non-believers surely have to admit that he’s, again, doing a great job of getting this team playing its best basketball late in the season.

The Lakers are playing terrific defense and have navigated injuries all year long. Despite how infrequently he’s had his big three together, they are 15 games over .500 heading into the final month of the season with home court advantage well within their grasp for the playoffs.

Friday’s inactives: Jaxson Hayes, Maxi Kleber, LeBron James, Nick Smith Jr., Chris Mañon

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.