SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Sam Leavitt hit a few shots into the simulator and handed the club back to the fitting specialist. After a few tweaks, Leavitt took the club back and hit a few more shots, repeating the process over and over.
When it got down to the driver — Leavitt's least-favorite club — he hit a few wild shots before striping a few down the animated fairway with a club better suited to his swing.
“It's been super cool figuring out stuff about my swing, hitting different shafts, seeing how all the different weights come off and how the ball feels,” Leavitt said from PXG's flagship store. “Seeing the spin rate and all the metrics has been a really cool experience.”
Leavitt's abilities on a football field have helped create a cool experience for Arizona State fans.
A year after winning three games in an injury-plagued first season under coach Kenny Dillingham, the Sun Devils rode a whirlwind of momentum back into national prominence in 2024. With Leavitt leading the offense, Arizona State had its best season since reaching the 1996 Rose Bowl, matching a school record with 11 wins while reaching the College Football Playoff for the first time.
The Sun Devils came up just short after a memorable comeback against Texas in the Peach Bowl, but created a buzz in the desert and beyond that's carried into spring football.
Arizona State's run has ratcheted up expectations while creating some Heisman Trophy buzz for its quarterback.
“What often happens in your second year is you kind of downshift in your rig and everything gets a little slower,” Arizona State offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo told reporters recently. “Because of that, we're going to add a little more to his plate.”
The plate off the field has been overflowing since the Sun Devils' improbable run to the CFP last season.
Leavitt has cashed in on the NIL era, landing deals with the Cold Beer and Cheeseburgers restaurant chain, a car dealership and with Arizona State's in-house Sun Angel Collective. He is donating all of his merchandise royalties from the Sun Angel Collective back to the football program.
Leavitt's newfound fame also has led to some unique opportunities.
He had front row seats to a Phoenix Suns game earlier this season and joined coach Kenny Dillingham with three teammates to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at an Arizona Diamondbacks game — an exciting experience even if the pitch didn't go as planned.
“They didn't give me a warmup and it sailed on me,” Leavitt said.
Leavitt likes to play golf with buddies to relax a little away from the fast-paced world of college football. He took a break from practice for the PXG fitting, but has primarily been focused on making himself and his team better in preparation for next season.
Once spring football ends, Leavitt plans to head back to his hometown of West Linn, Oregon, to host a football camp for kids and is working on a trip to Florida with a handful of teammates for some intense offseason workouts.
The opportunities — financial and otherwise — will likely continue to arise for Arizona State's most high-profile player and he plans to take full advantage.
“Now I’m in a position where I get connected with all these people who are really successful and the more you’re around successful people, that’s what you tend to do for yourself,” Leavitt said. “So it’s been a blessing for me, not only as a football player, but as a person.”
Leavitt — the person and the player — has been a key reason the Sun Devils are rising and he's doing his best to keep it going.
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FILE - Arizona State quarterback Sam Leavitt (10) rns out of the pocket against Texas during the first half in the quarterfinals of a College Football Playoff, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)
ST. LOUIS (AP) — World champions Ilia Malinin and the ice dance duo of Madison Chock and Evan Bates will anchor one of the strongest U.S. Figure Skating teams in history when they head to Italy for the Milan Cortina Olympics in less than a month.
Malinin, fresh off his fourth straight national title, will be the prohibitive favorite to follow in the footsteps of Nathan Chen by delivering another men's gold medal for the American squad when he steps on the ice at the Milano Ice Skating Arena.
Chock and Bates, who won their record-setting seventh U.S. title Saturday night, also will be among the Olympic favorites, as will world champion Alysa Liu and women's teammate Amber Glenn, fresh off her third consecutive national title.
U.S. Figure Skating announced its full squad of 16 athletes for the Winter Games during a made-for-TV celebration Sunday.
"I'm just so excited for the Olympic spirit, the Olympic environment," Malinin said. “Hopefully go for that Olympic gold.”
Malinin will be joined on the men's side by Andrew Torgashev, the all-or-nothing 24-year-old from Coral Springs, Florida, and Maxim Naumov, the 24-year-old from Simsbury, Connecticut, who fulfilled the hopes of his late parents by making the Olympic team.
Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova were returning from a talent camp in Kansas when their American Airlines flight collided with a military helicopter and crashed into the icy Potomac River in January 2025. One of the last conversations they had with their son was about what it would take for him to follow in their footsteps by becoming an Olympian.
“We absolutely did it,” Naumov said. “Every day, year after year, we talked about the Olympics. It means so much in our family. It's what I've been thinking about since I was 5 years old, before I even know what to think. I can't put this into words.”
Chock and Bates helped the Americans win team gold at the Beijing Games four years ago, but they finished fourth — one spot out of the medals — in the ice dance competition. They have hardly finished anywhere but first in the years since, winning three consecutive world championships and the gold medal at three straight Grand Prix Finals.
U.S. silver medalists Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik also made the dance team, as did the Canadian-born Christina Carreira, who became eligible for the Olympics in November when her American citizenship came through, and Anthony Ponomarenko.
Liu was picked for her second Olympic team after briefly retiring following the Beijing Games. She had been burned out by years of practice and competing, but stepping away seemed to rejuvenate the 20-year-old from Clovis, California, and she returned to win the first world title by an American since Kimmie Meissner stood atop the podium two decades ago.
Now, the avant-garde Liu will be trying to help the U.S. win its first women's medal since Sasha Cohen in Turin in 2006, and perhaps the first gold medal since Sarah Hughes triumphed four years earlier at the Salt Lake City Games.
Her biggest competition, besides a powerful Japanese contingent, could come from her own teammates: Glenn, a first-time Olympian, has been nearly unbeatable the past two years, while 18-year-old Isabeau Levito is a former world silver medalist.
"This was my goal and my dream and it just feels so special that it came true,” said Levito, whose mother is originally from Milan.
The two pairs spots went to Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea, the U.S. silver medalists, and the team of Emily Chan and Spencer Howe.
The top American pairs team, two-time reigning U.S. champions Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, were hoping that the Finnish-born Efimova would get her citizenship approved in time to compete in Italy. But despite efforts by the Skating Club of Boston, where they train, and the help of their U.S. senators, she did not receive her passport by the selection deadline.
“The importance and magnitude of selecting an Olympic team is one of the most important milestones in an athlete's life,” U.S. Figure Skating CEO Matt Farrell said, "and it has such an impact, and while there are sometimes rules, there is also a human element to this that we really have to take into account as we make decisions and what's best going forward from a selection process.
“Sometimes these aren't easy," Farrell said, “and this is not the fun part.”
The fun is just beginning, though, for the 16 athletes picked for the powerful American team.
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Amber Glenn competes during the women's free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Alysa Liu skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Maxim Naumov skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Madison Chock and Evan Bates skate during the "Making the Team" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Gold medalist Ilia Malinin arrives for the metal ceremony after the men's free skate competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
