LEAD STORY: Sam Leavitt Named to Maxwell Award Watch List
Two days before fall camp opens in Baton Rouge, LSU quarterback Sam Leavitt has landed on the preseason watch list for the Maxwell Award, one of college football's most prestigious individual honors.
Leavitt arrived at LSU as the highest-ranked player in the transfer portal this offseason, and the recognition keeps coming. Last month, he checked in with the 10th-best odds to win the Heisman Trophy — third among SEC quarterbacks. The former Arizona State signal-caller was coming off an outstanding season cut short by injury, and he now steps into an LSU offense that has fans dreaming big.
The comparison to Jayden Daniels is unavoidable. Daniels also made the move from Arizona State to LSU, and he turned that opportunity into one of the most dominant seasons ever by a Tigers quarterback, capped by a Heisman Trophy. Leavitt arrives with fewer questions than Daniels did, and the bar in Baton Rouge is set accordingly: can he lead the Tigers back to the College Football Playoff for the first time since the Joe Burrow era?
QUICK HITS
Kentucky eyes All-SEC forward Mark Mitchell. According to Ben Roberts of the Lexington Herald-Leader, Kentucky basketball is showing interest in Missouri forward Mark Mitchell, who is newly available after a court ruling granted class of 2022 players a fifth season (pending an NCAA appeal). The 6-foot-9, 230-pound wing averaged 18.3 points on 54.7% shooting (38.8% from three), 5.2 rebounds, and 3.6 assists last season, earning Second-Team All-SEC honors — and he torched the Wildcats for 32 points on 13-of-21 shooting in the SEC Tournament.
Ahmad Hardy's status for Missouri's opener remains unsettled. The All-American running back, the SEC's leading rusher a year ago, will not practice this week as he continues recovering from an injury suffered in May, though he is participating in rehab walkthroughs. Hardy has been medically cleared but remains under a return-to-play protocol, with another update expected in roughly two weeks. Mizzou opens September 3 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff before the Border War against Kansas in Week 2.
Ole Miss men's basketball soaks up Puerto Rico. The Rebels practiced Monday at the JUMP Sports Development Camp before an afternoon of Old San Juan culture, food, and volunteer work at a youth clinic at La Perla — a full day on the program's summer foreign tour.
Mississippi State softball shines in summer ball. Leila Ammon, Gretta Grassel, Kalani Sells, and Ally Supan all put together impressive campaigns with their summer league teams over the past two months.
Alabama men's golf lands five Cobalt All-America Scholars. Connor Brown, Jonathan Griz, Nick Gross, William Jennings, and Brycen Jones earned the academic honor from the Golf Coaches Association of America. Meanwhile, Vanderbilt's Ha and Rudisill tee off Tuesday at the U.S. Women's Amateur, one of the top events in amateur golf.
PORTAL WATCH
The biggest portal news of the day came on the hardwood. Tennessee landed former Vanderbilt center Jalen Washington, who committed to the Volunteers after being granted an additional year of eligibility through an injunction, per Joe Tipton of On3. The 6-foot-10, 245-pound center averaged 8.9 points and 5.6 rebounds on 56.3% shooting for the Commodores last season, adding a career-high 46 blocks — including a seven-point, seven-rebound, three-block effort in Vanderbilt's SEC Tournament win over Tennessee in March. He joins a Knoxville frontcourt that already features DeWayne Brown, Miles Rubin, Christian Fermin, and Braedan Lue, though per VolQuest, Tennessee will need to clear a roster spot to make it official.
In other news, Maurice Veney committed to Vanderbilt, adding to the Commodores' offseason haul.
RECRUITING BUZZ
No new commitments to report tonight, but with the eligibility ruling reshaping college basketball rosters across the SEC, expect the movement to continue — Kentucky's pursuit of Mark Mitchell is just the start.
GAMES TO WATCH
No games on the schedule today, but competition is right around the corner:
- Wednesday: Texas A&M soccer opens the 2026-27 Aggieland athletics calendar with an exhibition match.
- September 3: Missouri football opens the season against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
- November 3: Tennessee men's basketball tips off the season against Wofford.
Fall camps are opening across the conference this week. The 2026 season is nearly here.
