Ariana Andonian quickly rose up the NBA scouting ranks.

She worked for the Memphis Grizzlies under general manager Zach Kleiman and the Houston Rockets under Daryl Morey, who is now the 76ers’ president of basketball operations.

Morey believes the 31-year-old Andonian has the potential to become an NBA lead executive. She is immersing herself in the league that exists to develop talent. One year after joining the Sixers organization as a vice president of player personnel, Andonian was named general manager of the Blue Coats.

She did not necessarily expect this path. But when Jameer Nelson was promoted to assistant general manager in May, Andonian was the natural fit to slide into his vacated role. She’s had to put in the time to carve out her career while navigating a male-dominated industry.

In 2017, she was the league’s only female scout. Now, there are enough women in various front-office roles to create a group chat. “We just continue to build each other up,” Andonian said. “Hopefully, we all continue to succeed.”

Andonian wants to continue to learn and grow in her position, and what better place to do that than in basketball’s developmental league?

— Isabella DiAmore, @phillysport, sports.daily@inquirer.com.

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❓What do the Eagles need to do to bounce back from their consecutive losses and get back in the win column? Email us back for a chance to be featured in the newsletter.

Vic Fangio said Tuesday that it “probably” would be Adoree’ Jackson starting at cornerback over Kelee Ringo on Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings. However, there’s a chance that Jackson and Ringo could both start because it “remains to be seen” whether Quinyon Mitchell will be healthy enough to play. Mitchell went down with a hamstring injury against the Giants.

Larry Andersen, 72, has broadcast Phillies games for the last 28 years, achieving immense popularity with the fans for his honesty and pull-no-punches style.

Who better, then, to join Phillies Extra this week to discuss Orion Kerkering’s miscue and where the Phillies go from here?

Sean Couturier turns 33 in December but the Flyers captain says he feels better than he’s felt in a long time, even going back before his two back surgeries in 2022.

“Now I’m getting up in the morning and feeling great,” Couturier says. “I don’t have any problems putting my socks on. It’s been going great.”

It’s hard to argue with Couturier after his two-goal, four-point performance in the home opener against the Florida Panthers. Gabriela Carroll analyzed what she saw from Couturier and two other stars in Monday’s 5-2 win.

While the veteran Couturier is off to a strong start, young Matvei Michkov hasn’t had the same type of explosion out of the gates. Why? Rick Tocchet had an interesting answer when asked about Michkov’s lack of playing time.

Tyrone Young arrives early to the baseball field at Hunting Park to pick up trash in both dugouts where teenagers gather to play in North Philadelphia’s Heritage Baseball League. The trash is what he can control. What he can’t fix are the deep holes on the base paths that make it nearly impossible to play when it rains. He believes race has something to do with the condition of his field. A new city-funded study of nearly all public sports facilities in Philadelphia confirmed his suspicions. The city is looking to find ways to change that.

Sports snapshot

Patiently waiting: Villanova’s Matthew Hodge was academically ineligible to play last season. The wait is almost over.

Man of Steel: Chester’s Shemaj Henry used to be embarrassed about his size and weight, until football helped change his life.

Temple football: The American released the Owls’ 2026 conference schedule, where it will see some new programs.

‘Anything can happen’: That’s how Penn women’s basketball is approaching this season behind a young roster.

The Eagles can’t possibly think they can win a Super Bowl this season with an offense that does not include A.J. Brown. They also can’t think it’s sensible to trade Cooper DeJean, or Cam Jurgens, or Landon Dickerson, or Jalen Hurts for Trey Hendrickson, a 30-year-old free-agent-to-be who is making $29 million. That should be the starting point for any analysis of the Eagles’ options at the NFL trade deadline on Nov. 4. The two potential moves that are generating the most buzz in Philly are moves whose odds of actually occurring are closer to zero, writes columnist David Murphy.

🧠 Trivia time answer

Who holds the record for ejections by a Phillies manager?

A) Charlie Manuel. Tom L. was first with the correct answer.

What you’re saying about the Phillies

We asked: With Rob Thomson returning, what do the Phillies need most to get over the hump next season? Among your responses:

The phillies were eliminated from the baseball playoffs because they are the baseball team with the worst fundamentals in all of baseball. you develop fundamentals through practicing over and over again, while being properly coached. obviously, this is not happening with this team. whose fault is this? it/s the manager and his coaching staff. are the starting players required to take fielding practice before games? it doesn’t appear so. the best example is the last play of the season when the pitcher didn’t know what base to throw the ball to. baserunning is terrible with players getting thrown out much too often. are they getting bad advice from their coaching or are they ignoring their coaches. who’s at fault. in either case it’s up to the manager to take charge. — Victor S.

Unload their whole outfield. Start from scratch, bring up Crawford and look for power at their corner outfield positions. — Edward M.

The Phillies need to get hitters that make contact to supplement the power that is already here. The ideal would be a right-handed bat that can slot in at the top 4 of the lineup. Turner, Harper, right-handed bat, and Schwarber should be the top of the lineup in that order. Someone, preferably a right-hander, to back up Schwarber would be ideal. 6 through 9 should include young contact hitters, aka Crawford and Miller. — Joe G.

They need to learn that in the post-season, three singles are more valuable than three long fly outs. That clutch outweighs superstar. That every decision has consequences. — Joel G

To move this team to be equal or better than the Dodgers and Brewers they will need a strong and healthy Wheeler back, and then resign their free agent players to two year extensions. Bring up Crawford, Painter, and maybe even Miller and get some youth into this team. Look how many young guys the Dodgers have. Phillies have always made bad draft choices and a less than outstanding farm system. Remember, they passed over Aaron Judge. A must is a right-handed power hitting outfielder. Bader in center is a must, and then trade Bohm, Stott, Nick, Walker, Kepler, and even Marsh if necessary to get back to actually getting through the division and championship series. If Bader had played I think he would have brought in that one run and they would have won that game. — Everett S.

Its been many years and the problem is the same. RELIEF PITCHING. Maybe we need to use younger pitchers instead of “Has Been’s” Your batting core need to realize that the playoffs are still part of what they are getting paid for. — Richard H.

We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Gina Mizell, Jeff Neiburg, Gabriela Carroll, David Murphy, Scott Lauber, Colin Schofield, Joseph Santoliquito, Colin Evans, and Sean McKeown.

By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.

As always, thanks for reading. Hope you have a great day, Philly. Kerith will be in your inbox with Thursday’s newsletter. — Bella