Biden honors NCAA basketball champs South Carolina and UConn for historic 2024 title runs

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Biden honors NCAA basketball champs South Carolina and UConn for historic 2024 title runs

2024-09-11 03:47 Last Updated At：03:51

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden honored 2024 NCAA basketball champions South Carolina and Connecticut on Tuesday at the White House, celebrating the two powerhouse programs’ most recent national title runs.

South Carolina went 38-0 on the way to its latest women's title. It was head coach Dawn Staley's third championship with the Gamecocks since 2017. Biden cheered South Carolina for ushering in an era of surging interest in women's sports.

South Carolina's title game against Iowa drew more viewers than this year's men's championship, averaging 18.7 million viewers on ABC and ESPN and peaking at 24 million viewers.

“I think it’s fair to say everyone, everyone watches women’s sports now,” Biden said. “When new fans watch for the first time, when young girls see their idols, they see the power of your example.”

Later, at a separate celebration for the University of Connecticut men's team, Biden marveled at the success of the Huskies' squad which included four first-round picks in the latest NBA draft. UConn coach Dan Hurley's team went 37-3 in winning its second straight title.

“Clearly, you must have something in the water up there,” said Biden, who also noted that 11 athletes who competed in the this summer's Paris Olympics had UConn ties.

South Carolina's unblemished year came even after Staley lost all five starters from her 2023 team that was defeated in the Final Four. The Gamecocks were dominant throughout their historic season, leading the nation in scoring defense, margin of victory and blocked shots.

For UConn, it was the school's sixth men's national title. They joined the 2006-07 Florida Gators and the 1991-92 Duke Blue Devils as just the third team to repeat since John Wooden’s UCLA dynasty of the 1960s and ’70s.

Hurley this summer turned down an offer to coach the Los Angeles Lakers and signed a six-year, $50 million deal to remain at UConn. He said his focus is now on winning a third consecutive title. No men's program has accomplished a three-peat since UCLA won seven in a row between 1967 and 1973.

It was the first White House visit for South Carolina. Staley and the Gamecocks did not go to the White House following championships in 2017 and 2022. Vice President Kamala Harris paid a visit to the team while she was in Columbia, South Carolina, earlier this year.

Staley, a three-time Olympic gold medalist and coach of the U.S. women’s basketball team in Tokyo three years ago, recently served as a member of the presidential delegation to the Paris Olympics.

Several prominent current and former South Carolinian politicians attended Tuesday's ceremony for the Gamecocks, including Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, Democratic Rep. James Clyburn, and former Columbia mayor Steve Benjamin, who is now a senior adviser to the president.

Biden joked that the South Carolina's officeholders could have some fierce competition if the popular Staley were to give politics a try.

“All of those of you who hold public office in South Carolina, you better hope she keeps coaching and doesn't run,” Biden said of Staley.

Thieves slipped watch off Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler's arm, police say

2024-10-09 04:45 Last Updated At：04:51

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Thieves surrounded Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Walker Buehler last month outside a horse racing track in a Los Angeles suburb and slipped an expensive watch off his arm as he jostled through the crowd, police said Tuesday. It came weeks after another professional athlete in California was the victim of a brazen mugging.

Buehler was not threatened during the theft Sept. 28 at the Santa Anita Park horse racing track in Arcadia, police there said. They are investigating two similar episodes the same day that officials say were by organized groups who steal high-end watches in large crowds during events.

Buehler was at the track that day with his wife, McKenzie, and his teammate, starting pitcher Jack Flaherty, to attend the inaugural California Crown races. Buehler, a Lexington, Kentucky, native, is a major fan of the sport.

While walking from the paddock to his seat, Buehler was “unknowingly the victim of a snatch and grab robbery of his watch," his agency, Excel Sports Management, said in a statement.

“We are grateful Walker and McKenzie were not harmed and Walker is focused on the playoffs,” the agency said.

The Dodgers declined to comment and referred media to the Arcadia police.

In one of the three episodes of stolen watches being investigated that day, police arrested a 24-year-old man from Los Angeles. Police said the value of the watches stolen was $100,000 for one and $250,000 for the other. They did not say which one was Buehler's.

The theft came days after Buehler's last regular-season game and a week before the Dodgers began the National League Divisional Series against the San Diego Padres on Saturday. Buehler is slated to start Game 3 of the series against the Padres on Tuesday night in San Diego.

On Aug. 31, San Francisco 49ers rookie Ricky Pearsall was walking alone to his car after shopping at luxury stores in San Francisco's Union Square when the NFL player was robbed at gunpoint by a teenager who took his Rolex watch and other expensive jewelry, prosecutors said.

A struggle ensued, and gunfire from the teen struck both Pearsall and the suspect, who was shot in the arm. Pearsall was shot through the chest at close range, officials said. His mother, Erin Pearsall, posted on social media that the bullet went through the right side of her son’s chest and out his back without striking vital organs. He was released from the hospital a day later.

Smash-and-grab thefts have been captured on videos in cities from Los Angeles to San Francisco and gone viral, feeding widespread concern about crime in the state. Voters will decide on a ballot measure that would roll back parts of a 2014 law that made many nonviolent thefts misdemeanors instead of felonies.

Associated Press reporter Beth Harris contributed to this report.