U.S. President Joe Biden visited Poland on Tuesday, reaffirming his commitment to Ukraine and contending Moscow would “never” win as the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion approaches.

His remarks come a day after he made a surprise visit to Ukraine’s capital Kyiv. Biden met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and announced a new military aid package worth about $500 million.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin offered an assessment of what he calls Moscow’s “special military operation” in Ukraine, and its effect on Russia’s economy, during his state of the nation address Tuesday. Putin claimed Ukraine and the West provoked the conflict with the expansion of NATO and new European anti-rocket defense systems.

“They started the war, and we used the force in order to stop it,” Putin said, according to a translation of the speech in Moscow.

During the address, Putin also said Russia was suspending its participation in the New START treaty with the U.S. that limits the two sides’ strategic nuclear arsenals. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken later dubbed the decision “deeply unfortunate and irresponsible.”

Elsewhere, China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, is due to visit Moscow on Tuesday. He may meet with Putin, according to Russian officials.

Senior Bowl week has arrived! Coaches, scouts and executives will be traveling to Mobile, Alabama, for one of the first glimpses of comprehensive player evaluation. College football players will strive to make a mark as potential additions to NFL rosters. In 2023’s annual college all-star game with 120-plus participants, practices will be held from Jan. 31 to Feb. 2 at Hancock Whitney Stadium on the campus of the University of South Alabama. The game will be held on Saturday, Feb. 4 (2:30 p.m. ET on NFL Network).

In 2022, the Senior Bowl featured 106 prospects who were drafted last April, which represented 82 percent of the prospects who participated in the event. Additionally, the Buccaneers drafted several players who participated in the 2022 Senior Bowl, including Logan Hall, Luke Goedeke, Rachaad White, Jake Camarda and Zyon McCollum. Among the players participating this year, TCU’s Max Duggan is one of the hottest names after a sensational 2022 campaign, despite struggles in the national title game. Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker would have been a strong candidate to play in the exhibition, but he suffered a season-ending ACL tear in a loss to South Carolina in November and is currently undergoing rehab.

One of the apparent strengths of the 2023 Draft Class is pass rushers, evidenced by the group in Mobile. Among the group’s top penetrators are Texas Tech’s Tyree Wilson, Army’s Andre Carter II, Ohio State’s Zach Harrison, Notre Dame’s Isaiah Foskey, TCU’s Dylan Horton, Auburn’s Derick Hall and Tennessee’s Byron Young.

The one-on-one battles in the trenches during the all-star game always add intrigue and this year presents a promising group of young offensive tackles including Maryland’s Jaelyn Duncan, Syracuse’s Matthew Bergeron, Michigan’s Ryan Hayes, USC’s Andrew Vorhees (who also plays guard) and North Dakota State’s Cody Mauch.

The 2023 class of running backs has garnered attention, with several standouts among the compilation. Georgia’s Kenny McIntosh has a talented upside as a receiver and Illinois’ Chase Brown ranked fourth in the FBS in rush yards (1,643) this season. Kentucky’s Chris Rodriguez Jr. is a powerful rusher who averaged 6.2 yards per carry in his career and Oklahoma’s Eric Gray ran for 1,366 yards in 2022. Tulane’s Tyjae Spears finished with eight straight 100-yard rushing outings and Texas’ Roschon Johnson, who split time with star Bijan Robinson, became one of the best change-of-pace rushers.

Here is the full roster for this year’s Senior Bowl participants:
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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Big second-half performances from Dain Dainja and Matthew Mayer propelled Illinois to victory on Friday night, with the Illini taking down Michigan State, 75-66, at State Farm Center. Illinois outscored the Spartans by 13 points in the second half, while three Illini finished in double figures.

Dainja scored 12 of his team-high 20 points in the second half, while Mayer recorded 14 of his 19 points in the final 20 minutes of action.

The Illini defense was a significant factor once again, recording 10 blocks and four steals. Mayer led the way with a career-high six blocks, while Jayden Epps grabbed a team-high two steals. Illinois also held Michigan State without a 3-pointer, as the Spartans went 0-for-7 from beyond the arc.

Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 17 points in the victory, his 14th double-figure scoring performance this season. Jayden Epps added seven points off the bench and tallied a career-high five assists, and Coleman Hawkins registered nine points and eight rebounds.

Illinois also took care of the basketball, recording a season-low five turnovers.

Shannon took control on the offensive end, scoring 15 of the Illini’s 19 points through the opening 10 minutes of first-half action. Shannon got shots to fall from all over the floor, finding the basket in the paint and from beyond the arc. The Illini led by as many as five points in the opening half, but the Spartans ultimately took a 37-33 advantage into the break.

Mayer asserted himself on the defensive end of the court, making four blocks in the first half, the most he has registered in a game this season. Illinois recorded seven blocks and two steals in the opening 20 minutes of play.

Down by nine with 14 minutes to play, the Illini offense slowly started clawing its way back. Four straight points from Hawkins cut the Illinois deficit to five, and that spark was the start of a big Illini run.

Illinois used a 10-0 run to turn what was once a nine-point deficit into a five-point advantage with under eight minutes to play. Mayer was a big reason behind that stretch, scoring eight points during the momentum-swinging run to bring the State Farm Center crowd to its feet.

Michigan State responded and tied the game at 60 with under six minutes to play before a 5-0 Illinois run, which included a Hawkins triple and a Dainja second-chance layup, put the hosts ahead by five with four minutes to play.

Dainja continued his strong second-half showing by hitting a jumper to bring him up to 20 points. The Illini then thwarted the Spartan comeback bid by closing the game with an 8-2 run, giving Illinois its third consecutive Big Ten win.

Now 3-3 in conference play and 12-5 overall, Illinois travels to Minneapolis to take on Minnesota on Monday night. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. CT.

Two really good teams. Went about how those games should. I thought there were some very interesting opportunities tonight before the game going in because they can play really big, and they can play really small. We can do the same thing, so I thought there was a little chess match within the game itself.

“Obviously I loved our defense the last 10-12 minutes of the game. They told me it’s been 15 years since we have held the team without a three. It was a very big step for us coming into the game. Michigan State was 11-1 if they make more than five threes; they were 1-3 with under five. Stay home with their shooters was something we spent a lot of time talking about. The other glaring statistic, other than us getting pounded on the glass, was that they had four assists. They average 16. We were good with them shooting midrange twos all night.

“I’m really proud of Matthew. He’s got himself into shape where he can play 29 minutes. He played extremely intelligent because I had to play in the first half with two fouls, and it’s not very often that you get a perimeter player with six blocks. It wasn’t just his offensive numbers. He had six blocks tonight. Dain, I thought, was terrific. He had a few mishaps in the first half in ball-screen coverage, in our drops that he usually doesn’t make. We really challenged him at halftime because he didn’t have a defensive rebound. Most everybody in this room has seen Dain be a dominant rebounder. We need that for him. Again, I thought Coleman was tremendous on the defensive side. Four offensive rebounds, eight total. He’s playing a ton of minutes.

“We beat a really good basketball team tonight. The last thing I’ll mention is our five turnovers. That helps when you get a shot at the rim, not turn it over, and it was a big piece of tonight’s game.”

On the execution and game plan down the stretch:

“Get the ball to Matt. We literally ran one play probably 12 times, and we ran two different variations off of it. They made a little change, and then we just ran Matt into a post-up. We liked Matt with Akins on him, with that matchup. Our execution, I thought, was very good. We got a couple offensive rebounds that were huge. We found Dain in a couple of deep post-ups when those options broke down. I thought it was very, very good, and then I thought our defense was solid as well.”

Matthew Mayer

On his second-half performance:

“It felt great. I just got a good little bucket, and then Coach Underwood started running plays for me. He’s one of the best coaches I’ve seen at running plays for people that are hot. We were just running the same play every single time for like 15 straight possessions.”

On the team’s adjustments and improvements during the winning streak:

“I think it’s night and day. I think we have incredibly talented players. I think everybody knows that. It was just a matter of making a few adjustments on offense and defense. I definitely think from some of those losses, we had to look at what we were doing and change it up a little bit. I still truly believe we can win a national championship.”

On adding shot-blocking abilities to his repertoire:

“I started to figure out how to block shots last year. I have to be honest, my shot-blocking ability has completely come from Coleman Hawkins. I am not lying. In practice, I would never get my shot blocked. That was my thing with my jump shot, and Coleman blocked two of my shots in a row. I’ve learned how to block shots off one foot and time different things. I really watch Coleman, and personally I think I’m more athletic than Coleman, and when you add the two together, it’s just fireworks.”

Dain Dainja

On wearing down opposing defenders:

“I definitely felt like I wore them down a little bit. I talked with some of the coaches, and they just wanted me to get a deeper position down there. They know I’m so effective down there. The lower I am, the easier it is.”

On getting more minutes:

“As the game went on, as I was getting more looks and more touches, I got going a little bit. All the work I put in this summer, it’s definitely paid off. I feel good.”