Usher shuts down rumors that he used a body double for a recent performance.
Fans began speculating that the "Yeah!" singer has been cloned following the release of footage of his Aug. 7 tour stop in New Jersey.
"AI ain't that advanced," Usher wrote on Instagram.
Reports of Usher's replication have been greatly exaggerated.
The "Yeah!" singer is the latest to be accused of using a clone to take his place for a public appearance, following his Aug. 7 tour stop at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. The absurd rumor emerged after videos circulated of Usher's performance, with social media claimers claiming the singer looked a little different than usual. This soon snowballed into suggestions that a lookalike or "clone" had performed in his place.

#singer #tour #stop #clone

Next up in the opponent preview series is the Penn State Nittany Lions. The team that Rutgers (and several other teams around the region) love to hate the most, and the team that handed the Scarlet Knights a truly bitter and heartbreaking defeat 40-36 in Piscataway a season ago. Similar to Rutgers, Penn State is going through a bit of a transition as they settle into the Matt Campbell era after letting go of longtime head coach James Franklin midseason following some surprising losses.
However, an easier Big Ten schedule might mean that the Nittany Lions gain their confidence by the time the Knights head into the Lions' den in late November. This could be Rutgers' hardest road game of the season, as the Knights will previously face Boston College, Maryland, Northwestern, and Wisconsin away from SHI Stadium. Rutgers will have had their chances at several Big Ten wins by this point, but how will the Nittany Lions look in their first year under Campbell?
The Nittany Lions will have a whole new look in 2026, with the offense featuring several former Iowa State Cyclones, including quarterback Rocco Becht, running back Carson Hansen, and wide receivers Chase Sowell and Brett Eskildsen.
The running back room will have a solid one-two punch, with Hansen rushing for 950 yards with the Cyclones while Ohio State transfer James Peoples will look to be his explosive counterpart with the ability to support the passing game from the backfield.
Penn State has often struggled lately at wide receiver, but Sowell and Eskildsen combined for over 1,000 receiving yards from Becht last year. In addition, sophomore Koby Howard flashed last season despite limited action and will likely start in the slot for the Lions.

#lions #rutgers #penn

Penn State has lacked consistent production at wide receiver for the last five seasons.
So it's no surprise that preseason magazines rank the Nittany Lions in the middle of the pack or worse in the Big Ten, even with a massive turnover at that position.
Forgive the new receivers if they feel slighted.
"I like being the underdog because that means you didn't see me coming," senior Chase Sowell said. "A lot of underdogs overcome a lot of stuff. Indiana did last year. You better look out for us."
Sowell and fellow Iowa State transfer Brett Eskildsen combined for 62 receptions, 1,026 yards and seven touchdowns last season with the Cyclones. They're likely to be the starters in an offense that will often use two tight ends.

#penn #nittany #lions #iowa

The Blue Jackets now have an ECHL affiliation, announcing Aug. 6 that a two-year agreement with the Wheeling Nailers will start with the upcoming season.
More coverage: Hockey fans, internet react to Blue Jackets radio broadcast changes
Adding the Nailers gives the Jackets a second developmental team, and being in Wheeling, West Virginia, it's a relatively short driving distance from Columbus and Cleveland, where the AHL's Monsters reside.
"Wheeling has a long tradition of both player development and organizational success, and its proximity to both Cleveland and Columbus will be advantageous on the hockey side, while providing a great opportunity to promote our organization and the game throughout the region," Blue Jackets **** istant general manager/Cleveland Monsters GM Chris Clark said in a statement.
The Nailers, who were the Pittsburgh Penguins' ECHL affiliate from 1998-2026, will compete in the ECHL's Western Conference Central Division with the Bloomington Bison, Cincinnati Cyclones, Fort Wayne Komets, Indy Fuel, Kalamazoo Wings and Toledo Walleye.

#jackets #echl #hockey

Iowa State head coach T.J. Otzelberger is leaning into a bigger, more physical frontcourt strategy as the Cyclones conclude their eight-week summer program. The focal point of this shift features sophomore Dom Pleta and Blake Buchanan playing alongside one another, a combination that Otzelberger believes mirrors the "formidable size" seen in top-tier programs like Houston and Arizona.
Pleta, who returned to his native Germany this summer to train with professional players, says he is entering his second season at his physical "peak". While he is technically a sophomore, his experience in the German pro leagues has put him ahead of a typical second-year player's developmental curve.
Blake Buchanan (23) and Dominykas Pleta (21) of the Iowa State Cyclones shake hands in the second half against the Creighton Bluejays during the Players Era Championship basketball tournament at Michelob ULTRA Arena on Nov. 25, 2025 in Las Vegas.
"We just got more physicality… more like bigger bodies on the court," Pleta said of the pairing with Buchanan. "It's a lot of new opportunities that open up that we just have to use."
Otzelberger emphasized that the two big men possess complementary skill sets. Buchanan offers defensive versatility that allows him to guard perimeter players, while Pleta is noted by Otzelberger for his "terrific hands," interior scoring, and decision-making in the short roll. The coaching staff has specifically challenged Pleta to improve his competitive endurance, providing him with a specialized stamina plan to help him play longer stretches without the foul trouble that hampered him as a freshman.

#otzelberger #buchanan

There are once again a lot of familiar quarterbacks in new places ahead of the 2026 college football season. Here are the most notable quarterbacks who changed schools during the offseason.
Arnold was Auburn's primary quarterback in 2025, but threw for just six touchdowns across 215 passing attempts in 10 games and transferred after Hugh Freeze's departure. The former highly touted Oklahoma recruit now heads west to play for former Florida coach Dan Mullen and hopes that his third school in four seasons will facilitate a breakout season.
With James Madison coach Bob Chesney now at UCLA, Barnett left for a power conference school too after leading the Dukes to the College Football Playoff in 2025. In two seasons as JMU's starter, Barnett threw for over 5,400 yards and 49 TDs to just 13 interceptions. He also rushed for 589 yards and 15 TDs in 2025.
The three-year starter at Iowa State will play his final season of college football in the Big Ten after following coach Matt Campbell to State College. Becht's stats dropped in 2025 as Iowa State won three fewer games than it did in 2024, but he tossed 64 career TDs and threw for 9,274 yards over 42 games with the Cyclones.
Boley was Kentucky's main quarterback in 2025 as the Mark Stoops era came to an ignominious end. Boley threw for 15 TDs and 12 interceptions in 2025 and now heads to Tempe as the favorite to start for coach Kenny Dillingham.

#college #coach #Football #season

Iowa State junior Rachel Van Gorp has become the first player in program history to be named to the AVCA Preseason Player of the Year Watch List, the organization announced Friday. Now in its third year, the watch list features 30 players from across the country, with Van Gorp being one of only two liberos selected.
The recognition follows a record-breaking 2025 sophomore season where Van Gorp was named the inaugural AVCA National Libero of the Year. She was also a Second Team All-American, making her the first underclassman in Cyclone history to earn a spot on the first or second team. On the conference level, she was the unanimous choice for Big 12 Libero of the Year and an All-Big 12 First Team selection.
Van Gorp's 2025 campaign included a career-high 33 digs during the first round of the NCAA Championship and a streak of 35 matches with double-figure digs. She finished the year with a .980 reception percentage on 543 attempts. This summer, she continued her success on the international stage, winning a gold medal with the U21 National Team at the Pan American Cup.
As a freshman in 2024, Van Gorp showcased her versatility by transitioning from libero to a front-row hitter to help the team manage injuries, eventually totaling 323 digs and 92 kills. She earned Big 12 Rookie of the Week honors in October of that year and recorded three double-doubles.
The AVCA plans to release a midseason update to the watch list in October, with semifinalists and finalists to be announced in November and December, respectively.

#team #national

Big Bad Wolff bites Sporting Jax: Tyler Wolff scored a hat trick and host Sacramento Republic FC punished another sloppy defensive performance from Sporting Club Jacksonville, romping to a 5-0 shutout in USL Championship men's soccer on Aug. 1 at Heart Health Park.
Miscues spoil Sporting Jax night: Wolff, the son of two-time World Cup forward Josh Wolff, scored his first goal in the seventh minute after a Sporting Jax turnover at the edge of the penalty area. He scored his second on a 40th-minute breakaway and his third in the 69th minute following another giveaway in defense.
Second-generation hat trick: It's not the Wolff family's first hat trick against Jacksonville. On July 11, 1998, Josh Wolff scored all three visiting goals for U.S. Pro-40 Select, a short-lived experimental team made up of young players from across Major League Soccer squads, in a 3-2 win over the A-League's Jacksonville Cyclones at Mandarin High School.
Big night for Rodriguez: Midfielder Memo Rodriguez supplied three ******* ists for Sacramento (7-4-5), including corner kick deliveries leading to headed goals from Jared Timmer and Lee Desmond before halftime.
Quick free kicks: Sacramento outshot Sporting Jax (1-13-5) 19-1 and controlled 66 percent of possession. … Former United States men's national team defender Ventura Alvarado made his first start for Sporting Jax, playing the first 60 minutes, and Brazilian midfielder Jean Mota appeared for the last 13 minutes in his club debut. … With Ryan Edwards out, goalkeeper Jake McGuire served as Sporting Jax captain. … Alvarado, Harvey Neville, Emil Jaaskelainen and Jordan Rossiter all received yellow cards for Sporting Jax.

#sporting #rodriguez

Iowa State's cross country teams, under the direction of director of cross country Jeremy Sudbury and women's head coach Laura Harmon, have their fall planned out, with two home meets and the 2026 Midwest Regional being highlights for the Cyclone harriers.
"Home Sweet Home!" Sudbury said in a release. "There is nothing like competing on our own home turf and getting a chance to showcase our beautiful cross country course to the nation and for the community to see how great our teams are. Both squads will benefit immensely from getting to stay home three times this fall to minimize wear and tear and to really be ready for the postseason."
The men's team finished second at both the Big 12 Championships and Midwest Regional in 2025 and third at the NCAAs.
The women, under first year head coach Laura Harmon who is in her first year in Ames after four seasons at Washington State, also finished second at the Big 12 Championships and third at the Midwest regional.
"I'm excited about the opportunities this schedule provides in my first season leading the Iowa State women's cross country program," Harmon added in a release. "It strikes a great balance for our team, giving us opportunities early in the season to gain valuable racing experience and build confidence before competing against some of the nation's top NCAA Division I programs. Those high-level competitions will not only help prepare us for championship racing but also provide an exciting opportunity to showcase a women's team that is capable of competing on the national stage."

#home #country #midwest

Big Ten-SEC narratives abound in Week 2.
This is, of course, the week of Power 5 matchups across the Big Ten as well as a VERY timely rest break for a team who really earned it in Week 1.
Ohio State Buckeyes at Texas Longhorns
Saturday, Sept. 12 | 6:30pm | ABC
"Can Arch Manning win the Heisman?" I ask, checking to make sure all the SEO is finished on the article before I walk out into traffic.
Iowa Hawkeyes vs. Iowa State Cyclones
Saturday, Sept. 12 | 6:30pm | NBC

#sept #ohio

CHICAGO – It's been a decade since Matt Campbell took over a new college football program. That was in late 2015 when he left Toledo to become the head coach at Iowa State.
But his departure from the Cyclones had some new wrinkles as he made his way to Penn State. NIL and the transfer portal are both central parts of the college football landscape, meaning recruiting has changed drastically.
[ $19.99 gets you a FULL year of On3 | Rivals national coverage ]
While putting the Penn State roster together, Campbell and the staff leaned heavily on the portal. The Nittany Lions have 38 fresh faces coming in, including 24 who will re-join Campbell from Iowa State. But in addition to navigating the portal, NIL is also front and center in the early years of the revenue-sharing era.
To Campbell, though, that part of the equation not necessarily a challenge. It could also be a way to gain a better understanding of how a player can fit within a program – in multiple ways.

#state #Football

Iowa State wrestling head coach Alli St. John announced the signing of Chloe Sanders Wednesday, the program's fourth freshman addition of the summer. Sanders, a standout from Vinton-Shellsburg High School, is slated to compete in the 138-pound weight class.
Sanders arrives at Iowa State as the winningest female high school wrestler in Iowa history, finishing her prep career with a 219-12 record. During her senior season, she recorded a perfect 58-0 record and won the Class 1A 135-pound state ******* le. Of her 219 career victories, 168 were won by fall.
In February, Sanders became the first girl from Vinton-Shellsburg to win a state wrestling championship. Her high school accolades include being named the 2026 Dan Gable 1A Ms. Wrestler of the Year, earning four WaMaC Conference ******* les and being selected as the WaMaC Wrestler of the Year twice.
At Iowa State, Sanders is expected to compete for the 138-pound position alongside William Penn transfer Esther Kolawole. The Cyclones' current roster includes 17 athletes, comprising 13 transfers and four incoming freshmen.
Signees
Jumoke Adekoye – 131 – Jun.
Molly Allen – 124 – Soph.
Kailey Benson – 131 – Soph.
Greta Brus – 145 – Fresh.
Makennah Craft – 103 – Soph.
Anaya Falcon – 110 – Soph.
Piper Fowler – 180 – Soph.
Gabriella Gomez – 124 – Soph.
Persaeus Gomez – 131 – Soph.
Esther Kolawole – 138 – Jun.
Daniella Nugent – 145 – Soph.
Christianah Ogunsanya – 117 – Jun.
Tatiana Paragas – 124 – Soph.
Avy Perez – 110 – Soph.
Brooklyn Perez – 131 – Fresh.
Alezandra Robles – 145 – Fresh.
Chloe Sanders – 138 – Fresh.

#soph #state #wrestler #pound

(NewsNation) — Wealthy biohacker Bryan Johnson, who's spending a fortune in hopes of significantly prolonging his lifespan, offers three simple tips that he uses to optimize his sleep.
The so-called longevity guru said he considers his resting heart rate before bed the most important biomarker that can help him achieve his long-term goal of living well past 100 years.
"I'll look at my heart rate and see how many times it's beating per minute. It is the best indicator of how I'm going to sleep and of my overall health," Johnson told Chris Cuomo during a televised town hall Tuesday about AI that included the topic of wellness.
Bryan Johnson says he cloned himself as a newborn to grow organs
The 48-year-old Johnson offered three examples of things he does to control the key metric: He stops eating four hours before bedtime; turns off his electronic screens 30 minutes to 60 minutes before turning in; and refrains from caffeine after noon.

#heart

Matt Campbell has a chance to become an even bigger name in college football circles after his arrival at Penn State. He was already one of the more respected head coaches in the nation thanks to his performance in his 10 seasons with Iowa State.
Campbell became the winningest coach in Cyclones history and has the best winning percentage in the school's modern history. Now, he'll be facing a much tougher challenge with the Nittany Lions, prompting people at the Big Ten's media day to question what was the motivation to leave Iowa State.
Campbell was asked about why he left for Penn State when he wouldn't even leave for the Detroit Lions' head coaching gig back in 2021. "If I were ever going to leave Iowa State, it was going to have to be a school and an institution that really fit how I believe and what I believe," said Campbell.
He clearly believes the Nittany Lions align with those ideals, telling reporters, "What Penn State football has stood for really resonated with myself… it really had to be a perfect fit."
Whatever fans may feel about former coach James Franklin — they can't say that he wasn't a man of high character who transformed the culture at Penn State during one of the most turbulent periods in school history. Now, they hold the reputation of being a stable program again with a strong culture that Campbell is looking to build and expand on.

#history #really

It was a wild and winding coaching search at Penn State last season, but it ended up with one of the most quietly successful coaches in college football in Iowa State's Matt Campbell.
The Nittany Lions made the somewhat surprising decision to fire coach James Franklin less than a year removed from a trip to the College Football Playoff semifinal, and Campbell, the winningest coach in Cyclones history, faces immediate expectations of success.
Though the pressure may be a bit higher in Happy Valley than it is in Ames, Campbell isn't changing the strategy that worked so well for him at Iowa State, where he won 11 games in 2024 and reached the Big 12 Championship Game twice.
"I'm not wavering," Campbell said at Big Ten media days, per ESPN. "I think the misnomer has been (it's) not about results. The reality is, we have chosen to focus on the process and the people, aligning those two things as good or better than anybody to be the best we truly can be, and I think it's really why we got the results at Iowa State, and I don't know any other way."
The attempt to maintain the same systems and strategies will be easier because the Nittany Lions added many of Campbell's former Iowa State players via the transfer portal — 24 of them, to be exact, headlined by quarterback Rocco Becht.

#college #results

While Tropical Storm Bertha continues to spin in the Gulf, Hurricane Fausto is churning up rough seas in the Pacific, and could impact Hawaii next week, forecasters said.
Although the center of the 80-mph hurricane is more than 1,000 miles from the U.S. West Coast, according to the National Hurricane Center, "swells generated by Fausto are affecting portions of the west coast of the Baja California Peninsula and the coast of southern California."
"These swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions," the hurricane center said.
The National Weather Service office in San Diego warned of "elevated surf" and "strong currents" for beachgoers there from Thursday through Sunday.
Next week, the weather across Hawaii "will depend on the eventual track and intensity of Tropical Cyclone Fausto," the weather service office in Honolulu said.

#fausto #hawaii #national

ETF.com President & Director of Research Dave Nadig grabbed some time with John Montgomery, Founder, CEO, and PM at Bridgeway Capital Management, while at the 2026 ICI ETF Conference. Their discussion covered everything from contrarian investing and walking the talk to the company's 50% donation of profits to charities since its inception in the early '90s.
John Montgomery has been running Bridgeway for over three decades, with a simple pitch: deep quantitative research, a focus on smaller, less-liquid stocks that bigger competitors can't touch, and a lean team where everyone knows everyone. But the real differentiator isn't the strategy but instead the why. Bridgeway funnels a share of its profits into a foundation focused on ending genocide and preventing war atrocities, working in sub-Saharan Africa and Ukraine. It's not a marketing gimmick either but instead is baked into the culture from the board room down.
The firm's move from mutual funds to ETFs is its own case study in doing things the hard way for the right reasons. Rather than sidestep the pain with a cheaper clone or share-class workaround, Bridgeway fully converted several strategies, eating short-term costs for long-term tax efficiency and lower fees. Montgomery's philosophy is if a painful transition is coming, do it early and don't wait until you're the last holdout. However, Bridgeway isn't trying to be a trailblazer either in that regard, instead waiting for at least some of the infrastructure to get built by others and jumping in once the operational kinks are worked out.
On the investing side, Montgomery's contrarian streak runs deep. His family literally trims their own personal budget to buy more stock when markets crash, putting the buy low, sell high mentality into practice. That mindset shows up in Bridgeway's small-cap value strategy, which stays disciplined even when the category falls out of favor, helped by a long partnership with Focus Partners Wealth that rebalances into the strategy precisely when everyone else is fleeing it. It's a countercyclical approach that sounds obvious on paper and is brutally hard to live by in practice. It's also the perfect case study for exactly why people need financial advisors in the first place.
Permalink | © Copyright 2026 etf.com. All rights reserved

#bridgeway #everyone #strategy #montgomery

(NewsNation) — Entrepreneur and "longevity guru" Bryan Johnson has taken a different approach to how he will manage his autoimmune disease: cloning himself.
"I just cloned myself … as a newborn," Johnson, 48, wrote to his followers on X. He added that for now, "baby Bryan" currently lives in a Petri dish.
In early July, Johnson announced he'd been diagnosed with autoimmune gastritis, an incurable condition in which the immune system attacks the stomach's acid-producing cells. According to the National Institutes of Health, it can cause iron and vitamin B12 deficiencies, leading to anemia.
He attributed his diagnosis to poor eating and being stressed as a father of three.
Men switched at birth 'hoping' for answers 38 years on

#autoimmune #according #national #institutes

Throughout his tenure with Iowa State, Matt Campbell never seemed like he could be tempted away from the Cyclones to take on a bigger job with a more prestigious program. That is, until Penn State came calling last year.
Still, even though Campbell left for new pastures, there were expectations of how Iowa State would transition. It was said that Taylor Mouser, Campbell's longtime ****** istant and offensive coordinator, would be set to ****** ume head-coaching duties. However, that did not become the case.
Instead of sticking with familiarity for the role, Iowa State went into complete reset mode with the hiring of Jimmy Rogers. While Rogers proved to have a solid year at Washington State, he is a clear step behind Mouser when it comes to experience with Iowa State's roster. It didn't even matter all that much, as 55 members of Iowa State's squad left this past transfer portal cycle. A total of 23 of them followed Campbell and Mouser to Happy Valley.
Mouser brings with him tons of experience along with an understanding of how Penn State's new-look offense will operate. He worked his way up in Ames, starting out as a grad ****** istant and working his way up to offensive coordinator over 10 years with the Cyclones program. Now, he gets a chance to run an offense competing in perhaps the best conference in college football. He has a built-in connection with new Penn State QB Rocco Becht that could flourish against better competition.
The bottom line is that Iowa State seemed too willing to take a risk, and Penn State was able to be the ultimate beneficiaries. While Year 1 of the Campbell/ Mouser regime is a huge question mark, many expect it to be much better than what Iowa State can muster up.

#mouser #campbell #cyclones #take

Tony Rojas and former Cyclone Caleb Bacon are set to lead the way at linebacker for Penn State in 2026. But who might be ready to take the leap and develop into an impact player this fall?
Alex Tatsch (So.)
Tatsch was the immediate name to come to mind as a likely breakout player. He earned meaningful playing time as a true freshman, and impressed despite his lack of experience. The rising sophomore seemed to improve each with each game as he became more noticeable and found his way to the football more and more often. Tatsch contributed 14 tackles, one TFL, and a pass defended in 2025, and those numbers should greatly increase this fall.
Tatsch should also benefit from playing under D'Anton Lynn, who has done an impressive job of developing linebackers at UCLA and USC. While he may not be a week one starter with so many veteran linebackers coming from Iowa State, don't be surprised if he snags a starting spot at some point in the season – and a very productive one at that.
Cam Smith (RS Fr.)

#tatsch #linebackers #rojas #cyclone

When Iowa State announced the impending retirement of longtime athletics director Jamie Pollard, the Cyclones gave themselves a year-long runway to make the handover.
It won't, however, apparently take nearly that long.
"As soon as they hire the new AD, I will exit stage left," Pollard said in an interview with 365 Sports on July 21. "I just believe that's the way it should be. They don't need somebody hanging around looking over their shoulder or getting in the way.
"I would envision that actually they'll get that person on board probably late fall, and maybe that will coincide with me lasting through the football season, but I won't be here during the basketball season."
When announcing the retirement on July 10, Iowa State said Pollard would retire by June 30, 2027, "or when a new athletics director is in place." Pollard's comments, though, suggest that the Cyclones will have a new boss by the end of the calendar year.

#iowa #state #director #year

Britney Spears' son Jayden James Federline is rushing to his mother's defense over the "clone theory."
The 19-year-old son of the "Toxic" singer and Kevin Federline debunked a rumor that claims his mom is not alive and has been cloned. During a July 17 livestream, he began, "I hop on TikTok and everyone on TikTok — I see this one video that has 1.2 million likes, and the caption is like, 'The biggest theory ever: Is Britney Spears still alive?'
"Like, bro, you can go to her page and see her right now," he added.
Jayden went on to say he now realizes how easily rumors can be "exaggerated and fake."
"People know how gullible people are and they use that to their advantage," he continued. "Anyone that sees it, they just see it and if it has a lot of likes, they [believe] it. They don't even research it, they're just, 'Wow, yeah, it's crazy. I believe it though.'"

Pop star Britney Spears has been the subject of rumors that she has been cloned for years. After getting her start on "The Mickey Mouse Club," the Princess of Pop went on to dominate the entertainment industry with hit songs like "Oops!… I Did It Again" and "…Baby One More Time." After her controversial 13-year conservatorship, she has largely faded from the spotlight and has repeatedly stated on Instagram that she has "retired" from the industry. That being said, she still appears in Instagram videos, often dancing in her home. Some fans have taken to social media to insist that it's not actually Britney in those videos, but a clone. Now her son, Jayden James, is speaking out about those rumors.
Britney Spears' son Jayden doesn't seem to be too happy with rumors that his mother has been cloned, although she's far from alone. Actors like Jim Carrey and Selena Gomez have also faced similar accusations that they have been replaced with clones.
"I hop on TikTok, and I see this one video that has 1.2 million likes, and the caption is like, 'The biggest theory ever: Is Britney Spears still alive?'" Jayden said during a July 17 livestream, per screen-recorded footage obtained by Us Weekly. "Like, bro, you can go to her page and see her right now."
He went on to call the accusation "ridiculous," adding, "It makes me know that a lot of the stuff on media is exaggerated and fake."
Instead of blaming fans for believing the "crazy" conspiracy theory, he put the blame on the media for taking advantage of "gullible" people.

CHICAGO — FreightWaves unveiled the winners of its 2026 AI Excellence in Supply Chain Awards during a ceremony at the Old Post Office in Chicago as part of the FreightWaves Supply Chain AI Symposium on July 15, 2026. The awards recognize companies using artificial intelligence to transform supply chain, transportation and logistics operations.
The competition this year was fierce. FreightWaves received a record 60 nominations, more than double last year's total, reflecting how quickly AI has moved from pilot projects to production systems across the industry. To capture the full picture of that shift, the 2026 awards were split into two categories: AI Solution Providers, honoring the technology companies building AI tools for the industry, and Operational AI Integration, honoring the carriers, brokers, forwarders and shippers deploying AI inside their own operations.
This year's honorees in the AI Solution Providers category are Arkestro, CloneOps.ai, Intelligent Audit, Fixefy, Augment, Eranova, Gather AI, Trimble Autonomous Procurement, Fullbay AI and Samsara. The Operational AI Integration honorees are NFI, Flexport, YMX Logistics, Uber Freight and Atlas Energy Solutions.
Honoring the technology companies building AI tools for the industry
Arkestro earned recognition for its AI-enabled predictive procurement platform, which combines artificial intelligence and game theory to let procurement teams simulate sourcing events before they happen and shape outcomes before suppliers ever submit a quote. Rather than replacing human decision-making, the platform augments it, giving suppliers AI-assisted pricing guidance and real-time feedback on how their offers compare. Customers report an average 18.8% savings on spend and sourcing cycles accelerated by up to 60%. One manufacturer identified more than $55 million in savings with a two-month ROI across 40 plants and more than 400 suppliers; an LNG operator cut high-value sourcing cycles from days to minutes while achieving 29% savings; and a global medical device manufacturer compressed logistics request-for-quote timelines from four months to six weeks, saving $2.4 million.

Dziki Warsaw has officially signed former Iowa State men's basketball player Osun Osunniyi for the 2026-27 season. Standing at 6-foot-10, Osunniyi joins the Polish OBL (first tier) after spending the last two years with MLP Academics Heidelberg in the German BBL (first tier). During his most recent season in Germany, he averaged 7.4 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks per game. He also showcased his defensive versatility in the Basketball Champions League, where he recorded 1.6 blocks and 1.1 steals per game.
Before his tenure in Germany, Osunniyi established himself as an elite professional in Belgium with Limburg United. In 2024, he helped lead his team to a Belgian Cup victory and was honored as the Eurobasket.com All-BNXT League Defensive Player of the Year. This professional success followed a storied collegiate career where he recorded 1,372 points, 1,027 rebounds and 340 blocks.
Osunniyi's reputation as a premier rim protector began at St. Bonaventure, where he finished as the program's all-time leader in blocks with 305.
He was the first player in the school's history to be named the Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year, an honor he won in both 2021 and 2022. His impact was most visible in 2021 when he anchored a defense that ranked in the top 10 nationally and was named the Atlantic 10 Championship Most Outstanding Player after leading the Bonnies to a conference ******* le. Even as a freshman, he led all NCAA Division I freshmen in blocks, signaling his immediate impact on the college game.
In his final collegiate season at Iowa State, Osunniyi continued his dominance, leading the Cyclones in both blocks (35) and dunks (32).

GitLab Inc. (NASDAQ:GTLB) is one of the 10 Best Stocks to Buy in Glen Kacher's Light Street Portfolio.
On June 10, 2026, GitLab Inc. (NASDAQ:GTLB) announced new enterprise-scale capabilities designed to optimize agent-driven software delivery. The updates aim at solving operational bottlenecks and compliance risks in addition to unpredictable costs ****** ociated with automated workflows. Key rollouts include Next Generation Source Code Management, which replaces repository clones with API access to speed up task execution by 50x while consuming fewer tokens; GitLab Orbit, which introduces a unified context graph and cuts token usage as well as reduces AI hallucinations; Governance for Agents introducing new AI auditing and compliance controls; and GitLab Flex that unifies platform seats and credits into a single, adaptable annual contract.
In a separate development, on the same day, GitLab Inc. (NASDAQ:GTLB) and Google Cloud (GOOG) have expanded their partnership to launch a managed DevSecOps platform delivered by the company-certified service providers. Building upon an April agreement, this collaboration aims to ****** ist enterprises by ensuring smooth transitions to the company's DevSecOps platform and architecture.
Founded in 2014, GitLab Inc. (NASDAQ:GTLB) is a leader in software development lifecycles. Based in California, the company provides a single, comprehensive DevSecOps platform that unifies planning, coding, security, and deployment into a streamlined workflow.
While we acknowledge the potential of GTLB as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.

POSTPONED (INCLEMENT WEATHER)
ROSTER ALERT: Syracuse Mets sent RHP Kevin Herget on a rehab ******* ignment to Brooklyn Cyclones.
BINGHAMTON 10, HARTFORD 4 (BOX)
With the score tied at 4-4 going into the later innings, Binghamton unloaded on Hartford with a six-run eighth inning.
· DH Chris Suero: 0-4, 2 R, 2 BB, K

Iowa State soccer’s fall 2026 slate was announced on Monday. The Cyclones will have 11 home matches and 19 total regular season contests.
Head coach Matt Fannon, in his seventh year at the helm of Iowa State, will have his squad open the season with an exhibition against Minnesota on Aug. 5.
The regular season starts with a road match at Omaha on Aug. 12, followed by the home opener against Kansas City on Aug. 16.
On Aug. 20, the Cyclones head south on Interstate 35 to face Drake. Following the matchup with the Bulldogs, Iowa State has four straight home matches: Aug. 23 versus Creighton, Aug. 27 versus Iowa, Aug. 30 versus UNI and Sept. 3 versus Missouri State.
Iowa State will travel to Baltimore to face the Loyola Maryland Greyhounds for the first time in school history on Sept. 10.

Like many other programs across college football, Penn State will be looking at one of its first-year players to step up and elevate an unproven receiver room. With many incoming receiver transfers and a transfer at quarterback, Penn State will need to build continuity on the fly. Quarterback Rocco Becht could build a rapport with a freshman receiver to start this season.
In a recent article, Brad Crawford ranks the top freshmen who will be productive early this season, and Penn State receiver Amarion Jackson cracks his ranking. Here is what he had to say about Jackson:
"A spring riser for the Nittany Lions, Jackson's pushing to crack the rotation at wide receiver in Happy Valley ahead of Matt Campbell's first campaign. ******* uming Penn State's starters are Iowa State transfers Chase Sowell, Brett Eskildsen and sophomore Koby Howard, Jackson hopes to crack that next tier of potential targets for new quarterback Rocco Becht, who was the Cyclones' previous starter for multiple seasons. Jackson, a three-star signee out of Omaha, Nebraska, arrived as a defensive back before quickly converting to a wideout."
This season, vs a potentially improved Trojans defense under Gary Patterson, Rocco Becht's go-to guy could very well be a 1st-year receiver. Amarion Jackson is showing great potential early, prior to camp, and with a new man under center, it is fair game for all of the receivers. In Week 8, it will be up to the Trojans to give the Penn State receiver a game to remember and Rocco Becht a warm welcome to Big Ten football.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Rocco Becht's best Penn State receiver target can't sneak up on USC

Jul. 4—Former Washington State football coach Jim Walden, who in 1981 led the Cougars to their first bowl appearance in 50 years, died Thursday in Coeur d'Alene, the school announced. He was 88.
"We are saddened to learn of the passing of Coach Walden," WSU athletic director Jon Haarlow said in a release. "He will forever be remembered as a great Coug who deeply loved Washington State. Our heart is with coach Walden's family, friends and all the former players whose lives he positively impacted."
A memorial service will be announced at a later date.
Walden, who was inducted into WSU's Hall of Fame in 2009, led the Cougars from 1978-86, compiling an overall record of 44-52-4 before moving on to the same job at Iowa State. He was named Pac-12 Coach of the Year in both 1981 and 1983, leading the Cougars to an 8-3-1 record and to the 1981 Holiday Bowl, which at the time was WSU's first postseason bowl game since the 1931 Rose Bowl.
Walden, whose WSU team went 7-4 in 1983, left for Iowa State in 1987 and compiled a 28-57-3 record over eight seasons. Much of his time with the Cyclones was impacted by scholarship reductions, some because of infractions by ISU's previous coach and others by overall reductions in Division I-A in 1988. In 1989, Walden had just 47 scholarship players when ISU traveled to Nebraska, which won 49-17.