McClung dunks for title; Owens promoted to Hickory

GATE CITY — Mac McClung dunks for a world championship on Tuesday night in Atlanta. McClung will be one of eight dunkers to compete in the final stage of the Dunkman World Championship. McClung, who hosted his sixth annual basketball camp at Gate City Middle School on Aug. 14-15, has been in Spain preparing for the upcoming season with the Marc Gasol-owned Basquet Girona professional basketball club. Tonight's winner earns the title of world champion dunker and the $500K grand prize. Dunkman will be televised on Tuesday at 8 p.m. on TNT, MAX and truTV. *Providence Academy graduate Josh Owens, who recently completed his season with the Texas Rangers in the Arizona Complex League, has been promoted to the Hickory (NC) Crawdads, the Rangers' Single-A team in the Carolina League. Owens had played in four games with Hickory through Sunday, going 2-for-7 at the plate with an RBI and one run scored. He also started one game on the mound, allowing three hits and no runs in two innings for the Crawdads. Owens, a third round draft choice by the Rangers in 2025, batted .257 with nine home runs, 37 RBI and four doubles in the ACL, and was 0-2 with a 3.48 ERA, striking out 24 in 20 2/3 innings in 12 appearances on the mound. Owens played in eight games — including pitching in two — in Hickory last season after being drafted by the Rangers. *Former Dobyns-Bennett and Carson-Newman standout Jack Browder's first season with the Perry Lakes Hawks in the NBA1 in Australia was a rousing success, leading the league in scoring (30.7), rebounds (9.1), steals (1.0) and blocked shots (0.8), while placing second in assists (2.8) in 18 games for the Hawks. Browder might not be done with college basketball yet. He was one of several players that received a fifth year of Division I college eligibility as part of a temporary injunction against the NCAA, and recently tweeted that he has received interest from schools "from Pac 12, Big 12, ACC, Big West, CAA, SoCon and others." Johnson City native B.J. Edwards also received a similar injunction and recently committed for one final college season at Oklahoma. *Both Emory & Henry (at Valdosta State) and the University of Virginia's College at Wise (at Presbyterian) will open the 2026 football season with road games on Thursday. Tusculum will host Bluefield State on the same night. Several players from schools in the Six Rivers Media coverage area are on the rosters. Sophomore OL Gavin Commerford (Dobyns-Bennett) and WR Jacob Brooks (Cherokee) play for the Wasps, along with redshirt freshman RB Trent Dowdell (Tennessee High) and a trio of freshmen in OL Keegan Stonesifer, OL Dillon Sifford (Unicoi County) and TE Brayden Austin (Science Hill). Keegan Light from Gate City is a freshman linebacker for the Highland Cavaliers, while Union is represented by RB Keith Chandler and DL Carlos Anderson. Tusculum's roster includes junior QB Ty Engle (Unicoi County), sophomore K Max Turan (Science Hill) and OL Hunter Riddell (Daniel Boone), along with freshman DL Braylon Fugate (Dobyns-Bennett). Former ETSU defensive coordinator Billy Taylor is the head coach at Tusculum, while former Dobyns-Bennett and Tennessee Volunteers' star Teddy Gaines is the defensive coordinator for the Pioneers. *Sanders Gille (ETSU) will join Joran Vliegen in doubles competition at the U.S. Open beginning on Thursday in New York. Gille and Vliegen will make their sixth appearance in New York, finishing in the quarterfinals in 2020. The duo has enjoyed a memorable season, reaching the quarterfinals in the French Open and earning a win in the Summer Olympics. *Parker Hughes (Elizabethton, Middle Tennessee State) has been placed on injured reserve by the Jacksonville Jaguars, which will leave the two-time state champion with the Cyclones sidelined for the entire 2026 season. *Jaden Keller (Tennessee High, Virginia Tech) was tied for third in tackles with five in the New York Jets' 17-0 preseason victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers last Friday. *Jacob Saylors (ETSU) ran for 32 yards on six carries in the Detroit Lions' 17-13 preseason victory over the Washington Commanders last Saturday. *James Mitchell (Union, Virginia Tech) caught one pass for 10 yards and recorded a tackle in the Carolina Panthers' 34-17 preseason victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars last Friday. *Hunter Stratton (Sullivan East, Walters State) has posted an 0.00 ERA in seven appearances for the El Paso Chihuahuas, the Triple-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. Stratton, who was traded to the Padres from Pittsburgh on Aug. 3, has allowed five hits, while striking out 10 and walking five with one save in 9 1/3 innings on the mound. *Landon Knack (Science Hill, ETSU) has returned to the Triple-A Oklahoma City Comets in the International League. Knack recorded an eight-out save for the pitching-heavy Los Angeles Dodgers on Aug. 12 and was optioned back to the Comets the following day. *Kassie Estep (Daniel Boone) had an assist for the ETSU women's soccer team in their 2-0 win over North Carolina-Asheville last Sunday. Her assist to Reagan Fitzgerald found Estep after a free kick by Johnson City native Addison Yelton, who played at Baylor School, and previously played at Ole Miss and Tennessee. *ETSU junior Makayla Bays (Gate City), who was the Southern Conference player of the year last season, and the Buccaneers will open the volleyball season with the Buccaneer Classic on Friday at Brooks Gym against Akron and Auburn, followed by a match with Liberty on Saturday. *Baylor Hayes, who began his college football career at ETSU before transferring to Tulsa with former Buccaneers' head coach Tre Lamb, will be the starting quarterback for a second season with the Golden Hurricane when the season opens on Sept. 5 against Oklahoma State. Ray Coney, who also followed Lamb to Tulsa, has since transferred and is projected as a starting linebacker at Texas A&M. Jaylen George, who played defensive line for Lamb at ETSU, is projected to start at defensive tackle for Tulsa.