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Thursday Special…March 27, 2025.
Okay, here’s your list of running backs coaches who came in to see Ashton Jeanty at Boise State’s Pro Day Wednesday, according to B.J. Rains of Bronco Nation News: New Orleans Saints, Denver Broncos, Pittsburgh Steelers, Minnesota Vikings, New York Giants and Las Vegas Raiders. That’s Raiders with a capital L.V., as they spent some extra private time with Jeanty after Pro Day. Vegas picks sixth overall next month, and numerous mock drafts have Jeanty going there.
Oh, and center Mason Randolph has made good on his bet with Jeanty: a tattoo that says “2,601 yards” with an Ashton autograph. They showed it off together in a post by Jeanty on X. The two had wagered before the season when Jeanty predicted he’d rush for 2.000 yards. Randolph promised he’d get the tattoo if Jeanty did it. Ashton promised Randolph he’d cut off his dreads if he didn’t.
PRO DAY NOTEBOOK
Jeanty, toiling without a shirt and looking as sculpted as he’s ever been, wowed ‘em in the position drills he ran, but he didn’t run the 40-yard dash (scouts can watch tape of last year’s explosive runs and figure it out). “I’m obviously highly-touted now,” Jeanty joked with Prater & The Ball Game. NFL personnel seemed especially dialed in on Jeanty’s pass-catching ability. He didn’t do as much of that last season as he did in 2023—23 catches for 138 yards and one touchdown as a junior versus 43 receptions for 569 yards and five TDs as a sophomore.
Ahmed Hassanein recorded a personal-best 34 reps on the bench press (officially he was given 32) after hitting 27 at the NFL Combine. The 32 matched the top mark at the Combine by Oklahoma’s Ethan Downs. And Jonah Dalmas nailed a 63-yard field goal for scouts on the blue turf—no pads, no holder, no rush, but it was right down the middle with room to spare. Now the countdown to the NFL Draft is on. It starts with the first round (Jeanty’s round, you would think) on April 24.
WHO IS GEORGE WASHINGTON?
Boise State hoops is still four days away from its postseason experience. But it’s not too soon to look at what first-round foe George Washington does well. One of them is bad news for the Broncos. The Revolutionaries, who are 21-12, are No. 1 in the Atlantic 10 at defending the three-pointer, holding opponents to just under 31 percent. That’s what Boise State shoots from three. On the other hand, GW isn’t great from beyond the arc itself, hitting under 32 percent.
Individually, the Broncos will have to figure out how to go up, over and around 6-11 center Rafael Castro, a redshirt junior who leads George Washington with 14 points and nine rebounds per game. Castro shoots 63 percent from the field. He’s renowned for being very good on defense. Will he blanket Tyson Degenhart—or just protect the rim from all the others?
BLAINE DESERVES BIGGER, BUT HE’S HAPPY
Is there a bigger job awaiting Colby Blaine after he captured a second NAIA national championship in three years with College of Idaho? On Prater & The Ballgame Wednesday, Blaine was in “never say never” mode while proclaiming how thoroughly happy he is coaching the Yotes. Minimal NIL issues—minimal transfer portal issues. Blaine is still on a high after the way his Yotes dominated the title game over Oklahoma Wesleyan Tuesday night. It has been suggested that the Boise native, who is 205-30 in his seven seasons in Caldwell, could serve an apprenticeship of sorts on a Division I staff and become a “coach in waiting.” Hmmm…
QUICK COACHES CAROUSEL
Two of the Mountain West’s best coaches have gone the greener pastures route. Mark Coyle struck the Mountain West first. Coyle, the former Boise State athletic director who is now the AD at Minnesota, hired Colorado State’s Niko Medved to be the Gophers’ new coach, one day after CSU fell to Maryland in the NCAA round of 32. It makes sense, as Medved is a native of Minneapolis, he’s a Minnesota grad, and he did a really, really good job with the Rams. Colorado State has replaced him with assistant coach Ali Farokhmanesh, who gained fame at Northern Iowa with a three-pointer that sunk No. 1 overall seed Kansas in the 2010 NCAA Tournament.
One-time Gophers coach Richard Pitino has departed New Mexico for Xavier, which feels kind of like a lateral move. Maybe Pitino doesn’t like the new look of the Mountain West two years from now? And UNLV has replaced the fired Kevin Kruger with Josh Pastner, most recently the coach at Georgia Tech. There’s some debate as to whether that’s a good hire.
This Day In Sports…brought to you by MCCAULEY GROUNDSKEEPING…let your landscape and lawn worries be gone!
March 27, 1917: In just the third year the Stanley Cup was awarded to a professional team—it had been part of amateur hockey for its first 21 years of existence—the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey Association fall to….the Seattle Metropolitans. Yes, Seattle of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association was among the first professional Stanley Cup champions. The NHL, without Seattle, officially began play later that year. Now Seattle is an NHL city, with the Kraken coming down the home stretch of their fourth season.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)
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