Johnson City native Edwards sees action in NBA Summer League

Johnson City native and former University of Tennessee recruit B.J. Edwards saw his first action for the Sacramento Kings in the California Classic portion of the NBA Summer League on Sunday night against the Golden State Warriors' Blue Team. Edwards, who played at Knox Catholic and one season at Tennessee, was signed as a free agent by Sacramento after finishing his third season at Southern Methodist. Edwards, who didn't play against the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday, scored two points in just over six minutes of action against the Warriors, and contributed two points, three rebounds and two assists in nine minutes of action against the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday. The Las Vegas portion of the NBA Summer League begins on Thursday. *Hunter Stratton is back in the big leagues. The former Sullivan East and Walters State standout was recalled from the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians on Saturday, and saw his first action on Tuesday for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Stratton, who was originally drafted by the Pirates in 2017, made his season debut for the Pirates by pitching one inning, allowing three hits and two earned runs in a 12-4 win over Colorado that was highlighted by three home runs and 10 runs batted in by Ryan O'Hearn. Stratton was recently traded from Atlanta to Pittsburgh, working in four games for Indianapolis before getting the return call to Pittsburgh. He pitched for the Pirates in 2023-25 before getting traded last summer to the Braves. *Former East Tennessee State tennis standout Sander Gille combined with doubles partner Sem Veebeek to advance to the third round of Wimbledon last week at the All England Club in London. A native of Belgium, Gille, who led the Buccaneers to four straight NCAA Tournament appearances from 2009-13, and Verbeek (Netherlands) defeated second seeded Marcel Granollers (Spain) and Horacio Zeballos (Argentina), 6-4, 7-6 (9) in the second round on Saturday. They were eliminated in the third round on Sunday by the 13th seeded French duo of Sabio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul, 7-6, 6-2. Gille, who has won eight ATP Tour doubles titles, reached the finals of the 2023 French Open with Joran Viliegen before falling to top-seeded Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek. Gille was elected to the ETSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2025. *Mac McClung will be dunking again soon. The former Gate City standout will be part of the DUNKMAN Professional Dunk League that is slated to begin on July 21, with the live qualifier to be broadcats on TNT. Spearheaded by former NBA star Shaquille O'Neal, McClung will be among 24 dunkers that will compete for $500,000 and title of World Dunk Champion. McClung won three straight NBA Slam Dunk contests from 2023-25. *Evan Carter is back with the Texas Rangers, and appears to be finding his batting stroke again. The Elizabethton native, who missed 14 games while on the 10-day injured list, returned on June 28, and has hit .294 (5-for-17) with a home run and five runs scored since then. Carter, who has raised his season average to .186, has continued to provide stellar defense in the outfield. *Science Hill graduate and former ETSU pitcher Landon Knack has appeared in three games for the Triple-A Oklahoma City Comets since coming off the injured list for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Knack has struck out 10 and walked four, posting a 3.86 ERA in seven innings for the Comets. *Former Providence Academy star Josh Owens continues to work both ways for the Texas Rangers in the Arizona Complex League. Owens, who is pitching and hitting for the Rangers, is 0-1 with 2.20 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 16 1/3 innings in nine appearances. He is batting .269 with seven home runs, 26 runs batted in, 25 runs scored and six stolen bases. *Former Tennessee High and Virginia Tech standout Gavin Cross has raised his batting average to .215 over the last two weeks with the Kansas City Royals' Triple-A affiliate in Omaha. He also has five home runs and 24 RBIs, in addition to 18 stolen bases on the season. *Former Dobyns-Bennett and Carson-Newman shooter Jack Browder continues to play well for the Perry Lakes Hawks in Australia, leading the NBA1 in scoring with 29.8 points a contest in 13 games. He is also providing 8.2 rebounds and 2.9 assists a game. *As for the pitch, former Johnson City resident Maddie Padelski has appeared in five games and tried three shots for the Portland Thorns of the National Women's Soccer League. Padelski, who was selected to the U.S. U-17 Women's Youth National Team and spent two seasons at the University of Alabama, is part of a squad that is 8-3 with three draws in 14 games. The Thorns are currently sitting in second place behind the San Diego Wave in the 16-team circuit.