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🗞 Headlines. How John Carroll’s Tyren Montgomery Went From Basketball to Flag Football to NFL Draft Hopeful. Four For Springfield. My Big Question About the Learfield/ TPG Sale. Your Monday Feel-Good Moment.

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🗓 What’s Happening Today. The DIII Analysis Working Group begins a two-day session in Indianapolis.

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“It's 9:59 a.m. on a sunny Monday when Tyren Montgomery walks into Trident Training Systems gymnasium, just north of Houston, for a 10 a.m. workout.

He throws his duffel bag on a nearby shelf, unzips his grey hoodie and takes a quick peek at the white board highlighting the day's exercises before greeting his trainer.

The makeshift gym, built in the back of a small church, is quiet and small. It shares a space with a soup kitchen, separated by a divider. But it has all the equipment he needs.”

» Why It Matters. “Montgomery is days away from what could be the biggest moment of his life: the NFL draft. The astonishing part about his story is that five years ago, Montgomery had never played tackle football. His mother, Tara, once told him she had a dream that he would play in the NFL one day - without ever seeing him play competitive football.”

» Of Note. “He may be drafted as early as the sixth round of the 2026 NFL draft, which starts Thursday. The Houston Texans - a team he has several connections to as a native of The Woodlands and a John Carroll alum - could even select him.”

» What They’re Saying. "If my name gets called on draft night or if it doesn't, I just know I'll hear that voice in my head like ‘I told you so,'" he said. "Like ‘I told you this was your calling in life.'"

The semifinalists for the 2026 NCAA Division III men’s volleyball championship are set after weekend regionals.

Top-ranked Springfield moved onto the Final Four with a 3-1 win against New Paltz and will tangle with Cal Lutheran, a five-set victor against MIT in a Thursday semifinal.

The other semi will pit a pair of straight-set winners in Carthage and Wittenberg. The Firebirds blitzed defending champ Southern Virginia, while the Tigers whitewashed Messiah.

The 2026 DIII men's volleyball championships wrap up on Saturday, April 25 at Blake Arena in Springfield, Mass.

» Complete Bracket

“Earlier this week, a massive business deal in college sports launched a thousand #takes. College sports mega-everything Learfield has reached an agreement to be purchased by TPG, a massive private equity company. The deal is reportedly valued at roughly $2 billion, which, in my humble opinion, is a lot of money.

To help make sense of this transaction, I have prepared a brief Q&A.”

» Court Awareness. “It’s not like Learfield was some mom-and-pop shop that just got bought out by some evil bank from a Hallmark movie or something. Learfield was already owned by private equity companies. In fact, these institutional investors have been involved in owning Learfield since at least 2016. The TPG purchase is a PE-to-PE sale. Those happen in other industries all the time.”

» Reality Check. “I do have one question for anybody looking to make a massive investment in one of the pillar companies in college sports management. Where does the new revenue come from?”

» The Final Word. “So as a consumer, or heck, as a school, I wouldn’t panic. If you want an excuse to do that, Lord knows there are plenty of other ones out there. You don’t need to worry about this one.”

» Tennis. Grinnell won its 202nd consecutive Midwest Conference match dating to 2002-03 with a 7-0 win against Cornell College. The victory wrapped up the Pioneers 22nd straight MWC regular-season title.

» Lacrosse (M). Tip ‘o the cap to Oberlin men’s lacrosse as the Yeomen defeated Denison, 13-12, for the first time since 1960. Read more about the weekend in DIII lacrosse at our sister publication, D3 Lacrosse.

» Baseball. Salute to Trinity (Texas) head coach Tim Scannell who registered the 900th victory of his career at the helm of the Tigers with an 11-6 win vs. Sewanee.

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