hoopsandhorses

Love of hoops, hunting, fishing, betting on ponies, wife and kids.... not in that order.

[hoopsandhorses @TimDamon1]

@fatbaldguyracin $1200, oof, seems light.

[hoopsandhorses @TimDamon1]

@fatbaldguyracin 😬

[hoopsandhorses @TimDamon1]

@fatbaldguyracin Cool, hope your buddy is wrong, lol. I have 278910,11,12 to the 6

[CantaLoupe @CantALoupe_FF]

Cayden Boozer explaining his critical turnover in the final seconds:

[Kendal Damon #5 @kendaldamon5]

Grateful to have been selected as SEC Defensive MVP! Such a talented conference!! @FLGirlsHoops

[Prep Girls Hoops Minnesota @PGHMinnesota]

Welcome to the 2025-26 Hard Hat All-Star Team

@b_whynott_bball
@amyra_mahik
@emma_hanson29
@AnnaSmelser11
@lstolzenberg27
@annikakieser
@HopkinGBB
@EllaKnutson2026
@Avabrynteson1
@kendaldamon5

Click to view the article!📝(FREE):
https://t.co/ay6P1VRLA2

[Vince Langman @LangmanVince]

We need more coaches like Rick Pitino!

[hoopsandhorses @TimDamon1]

@SaloShowcase @ross_hultman @AubreeHultman @dakotastate_wbb Awesome moment and shot, well deserved! Go Rangers!

[Dave Peaslee @DavePeaslee]

@mchooyah

[Thad Brown @thadbrown7]

What if the game winning shot... never came down?

Exactly what happened to Mercy.
Down 2 in the final seconds against Canandaigua.
And the shot just died on the rim.

Can't remember seeing a ball just stop.
And not being stuck. Let alone in a buzzer beating situation.

[Radius Athletics @RadiusAthletics]

High School Basketball Officials checking for untucked jerseys

[The Next Round @NextRoundLive]

Following Texas' loss at Kentucky, Sean Miller dropped an early candidate for soundbite of the year:

"We have a virus called fouling... We will foul the living 💩 out of you... You describe the foul and the team that I'm coaching will commit it."

[DK🇺🇸🦅🇺🇸 @1Nicdar]

130 schools said no.
He led the losingest program in college football history to a national championship anyway.
Fernando Mendoza was a 2-star recruit from Miami.

He tried to walk on at his hometown school. They passed.
So did FIU.
So did FAU.
So did everyone else.

At 17, he was sitting in his bedroom, crying over a silent recruiting inbox—after driving to 18 camps with his dad and sending highlights to more than 100 programs.
Not one FBS offer.
His only option? Yale. No scholarship. No NFL path.

Everyone told him to be “realistic.”
“Know your place.”
“Be grateful.”
He didn’t listen.
Because Mendoza understood something most people miss:
The worst outcome isn’t failing.
It’s never getting the chance to try.

Two weeks before signing day in 2022, his phone rang.
Cal needed a body. One offer. Out of 134 schools.
He took it.
He arrived as the third-string quarterback.
Spent a year on the scout team.
Lost his first four starts.
Got sacked 41 times behind a broken offensive line.

Still got up. Every time.
Then Cal brought in a transfer instead of building around him.
So Mendoza left the only school that had ever said yes.
He transferred to Indiana—the losingest program in college football history.

People laughed.
“Career suicide.”
“Graveyard program.”
“Nobody wins there.”
One coach told him something different:
“I’m going to make you the best Fernando Mendoza possible.”
That was enough.
Mendoza wasn’t just playing for football.
His mother has battled multiple sclerosis for 18 years.

Before every snap, he thought of her.
“My mother is my why.”
Indiana went 16–0.
Beat six Top-10 teams.
Won their first Big Ten title since 1945.
Mendoza threw 41 touchdowns.
Won the Heisman—first in school history.
First Cuban-American to ever do it.

Then came the title game.
Miami. Near his hometown.
Fourth-and-4. Season on the line.
Quarterback draw.
The kid 134 schools rejected spun through defenders and dove into the end zone.

Game over.
Indiana—national champions.
The losingest program became the best team in America.
All because a 17-year-old refused to believe “no” was the end.

Rankings don’t decide your ceiling.
Gatekeepers don’t write your ending.
Being overlooked isn’t a verdict—it’s a starting point.

Sometimes all you need is one shot…
and the courage to bet on yourself when nobody else will.
Don’t quit.

Credit: Barclay Mullins

[DC @davecama]

I have just invested into a racehorse and I’m very excited ! #MagicMillions