From Ben Bolch: The bad news was just getting started when UCLA’s football recruiting staff learned that DeShaun Foster had been dismissed.
Co-workers would walk into the office of Khary Darlington, the team’s general manager, to give him one wretched update after another.
This player’s out. That player’s out. A parent just called crying and confused.
“I mean,” Darlington said, “it literally felt like walking through a landmine field.”
Once they had answered every call and met with athletic department administrators and the remaining coaches to devise a framework for a recruiting process that had just become infinitely more complicated, Darlington and assistant general manager Steven Price started writing on a whiteboard inside the Wasserman Football Center.
Across three columns, the longtime former NFL scouts detailed a plan for the retention of committed high school prospects, the rebuilding of the recruiting class and the ways they would implement changes.
As he glanced at that same whiteboard late last week, some 2½ months later, Darlington beamed.
“I’m looking at the implementation column,” he said, “and it’s nothing but red check marks. That means we completed that task.”
LAKERS
From Broderick Turner: Former Lakers center Elden Campbell, who played 8 ½ seasons of his 15-year NBA career with the Los Angeles team he watched while growing up here and attending Morningside High, has died. He was 57.
The cause of death is not known.
Former Lakers teammates and friends offered their condolences Tuesday.
The 6-foot-11 Campbell, who was drafted by the Lakers in the first round out of Clemson in 1990, averaged 10.3 points and 5.9 rebounds over his career. He won an NBA championship with the Detroit Pistons in 2004, getting his title with a win over the Lakers.
RAMS
From Gary Klein: Before this season, the Rams signed receiver Tutu Atwell to a one-year, $10-million contract.
It appeared as if coach Sean McVay was committed to fully incorporating the 2021 second-round draft pick into a receiver corps that included Puka Nacua and new arrival Davante Adams, a three-time All-Pro.
But Atwell had only four catches before he suffered a hamstring injury that landed him on injured reserve in late October, and the Rams did not activate him for Sunday’s game, a 31-28 defeat by the Carolina Panthers.
Xavier Smith, who also returns punts, filled the speedy receiver role and caught three passes for 82 yards, including one for 51 yards.
McVay indicated after the game that the decision to not activate Atwell was a roster management issue influenced heavily by personnel groupings and special teams needs that affect the 48-player game-day limit.
USC BASKETBALL
From Anthony Solorzano: The USC women’s basketball team earned a commanding 79-33 win over Saint Mary’s at Galen Center on Tuesday night.
A small, but enthusiastic crowd cheered for the defense any time the Trojans forced a turnover. USC (6-2) held the Gaels (5-4) to under 30% shooting in the paint and 15% from the three-point line.
As the Trojans prepare to face No. 5 Washington at home on Sunday to begin conference play, senior Londynn Jones scored 17 points against Saint Mary’s while going four of five from the free-throw line. Sophomore Kennedy Smith added 15 points and five rebounds. The home team led by as many as 26 points in the first half and held Saint Mary’s to four points in the second quarter.
————
Chad Baker-Mazara scored 25 points and Jacob Cofie added 17 as No. 24 USC defeated Oregon 82-77 on Tuesday night in a Big Ten Conference opener for both teams.
USC, which entered the AP Top 25 on Monday for the first time in more than two years, improved to 8-0 to continue its best start since the 2021-22 season.
Playing without leading scorer Rodney Rice due to an injury, the Trojans pulled away in the final two minutes. USC shot 50.9% from the field, including eight of 21 on three-pointers.
2026 WORLD CUP
From Kevin Baxter: For organizers of the 2026 World Cup, Friday’s tournament draw is a like the bell lap of a long-distance race, the moment when the slow slog turns into a sprint.
“This is going to be huge,” said Kathryn Schloessman, president and chief executive officer of the Los Angeles Sports and Entertainment Commission. “This is going to be a big deal.”
Schloessman has been preparing for that big deal for most of the last eight years. Together with the local host committee and civic leaders, she helped secure eight games for SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, set up fanfests throughout the region, organized public transportation, found training centers for visiting teams and worked to establish a legacy program that will ensure the tournament’s influence continues well beyond the final match.
KINGS
Anthony Beauvillier scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third period and Logan Thompson made 24 saves in the Washington Capitals’ fifth straight victory, 3-1 over the Kings on Tuesday night.
Tom Wilson scored his 16th goal and Alex Ovechkin had two assists for the Capitals, whose 8-1-0 surge since mid-November has moved them into a first-place tie atop the Metropolitan Division with Carolina, which has two games in hand.
Aliaksei Protas added an empty-net goal for Washington, which opened a California trip featuring three games in four nights by sweeping its season series with the Kings.
THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY
1943 — Notre Dame quarterback Angelo Bertelli wins the Heisman Trophy.
1946 — Army halfback Glenn Davis is named the Heisman Trophy winner.
1950 — Tom Fears of the Rams has 18 receptions against Green Bay.
1950 — Cloyce Box of the Detroit Lions has 302 yards receiving and scores four touchdowns against the Baltimore Colts.
1956 — Wilt Chamberlain scores 52 points in his collegiate debut with Kansas.
1957 — Texas A&M halfback John David Crow is named the Heisman Trophy winner.
1972 — Bobby Howfield of the New York Jets kicks six field goals against New Orleans.
1973 — Dick Anderson of the Miami Dolphins intercepts four passes, returning two for touchdowns, against Pittsburgh.
1979 — USC halfback Charles White is named the Heisman Trophy winner.
1982 — Tommy Hearns wins the WBC welterweight title with a 15-round decision over Wilfred Benitez in New Orleans.
1994 — Sixth-ranked Florida beats undefeated and third-ranked Alabama 24-23 in the first SEC Championship game played in Atlanta.
1999 — Marshall beats Western Michigan 34-30 on the last play of the MAC Championship game. Down 30-27 with four seconds left in the game, Chad Pennington throws his 100th career touchdown pass to Eric Pinkerton as time expires to give the Thundedring Herd their third consecutive MAC title.
2000 — The 200-yard rushing games by Mike Anderson, Corey Dillon, Warrick Dunn and Curtis Martin mark the first time in NFL history that four runners have 200 yards on the same day. Its never happened three times in a single day. Anderson rushes for an NFL rookie record 251 yards and four touchdowns in Denver’s 38-23 victory over New Orleans.
2004 — Bode Miller wins his fourth race of the season in the downhill at Beaver Creek, Colo., and Daron Rahlves is second to give the United States its first 1-2 finish on the World Cup circuit. The last time U.S. men went 1-2 in any elite international race was 1984, when Phil Mahre won the Olympic slalom in Sarajevo and twin brother Steve took the silver medal.
2005 — USC wins its 34th consecutive game and 16th straight against a ranked opponent, beating No. 11 UCLA 66-19. The 16 victories against Associated Press ranked teams is one better than Oklahoma, which won 15 from 1973-76.
2014 — The Philadelphia 76ers avoid tying the record for the worst start to a season in NBA history, ending their 0-17 skid with an 85-77 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
2015 — Aaron Rodgers throws a 61-yard touchdown pass to Richard Rodgers with no time left to give the Green Bay Packers a 27-23 comeback victory over the Detroit Lions. Detroit went ahead 17-0 after its first three drives and capped the opening possession of the third quarter with a field goal to go ahead 20-0.
2017 — Tom Brady continues his career-long dominance of the Buffalo Bills completing 21 of 30 for 258 yards and an interception in New England’s 23-3 victory. He improves to 27-3 against Buffalo and breaks Brett Favre’s record for wins by a quarterback against any one opponent.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.