RED RAIDER BASKETBALL | Sigh. Another loss and only scoring 38 points for the game is troubling, but I suppose that it's not any more troubling than any other loss at this point in what has been a long season. Texas Tech lost to Texas A&M, 38-47 (box score | quotes). Head coach Billy Gillispie really only played 5 players, Robert Lewandowski, Jaye Crockett, Ty Nurse, Javarez Willis and Luke Adams, while Jordan Tolbert only played 8 minutes. If you wanted an indication as to who is going to be back next year, then look no further than that list of players. TAMU killed Texas Tech on the boards, 23-41, and Texas Tech shot only two free throws for the entire game, both misses by Adams. BCG takes the blame for this loss:

"Tough disappointing loss. We had some moments where we played really well, we didn’t play good enough for 40 minutes. They definitely started hitting some shots and playing better. When it got right down to it we weren’t tough enough in the lane to beat them."

LAJ's Nick Kosmider and DT's Chois Woodman have their game stories (Kosmider also has a notebook).

LADY RAIDER BASKETBALL | Don't forget that the Lady Raiders tip off at 7:00 pm and you can watch the game exclusively on the Longhorn Network. LAJ's David Just and DT's Chois Woodman preview the game the Lady Raiders could really use this game, but they haven't won in Austin since 2006 (from Just's article):

Austin has been anything but hospitable for the Lady Raiders in recent history, and Tech coach Kristy Curry owns an 0-5 record at the Frank Erwin Center. Tech hasn’t won at the Drum since 2006 — Marsha Sharp’s final season.

So what gives with the Austin slump?

"You know, that’s a great question," senior forward Jordan Barncastle said. "I have no idea. It’s not that there’s a brutal crowd. I don’t know. At some point it just gets a little mental. But we’re definitely ready to make a change and not repeat the last couple of years."

TEXAS TECH BASEBALL | DT's Brett Winegarner writes about DH's Scotty LeJeune's return to the diamond as he sat out all of last year with generalized anxiety disorder, but you know that LeJeune is back because the mustache is back (see link for photo). Here's LeJeune:

"At that time, I didn’t know exactly what was going on — sometimes I still don’t," he said. "It wasn’t even dealing with baseball. It was just a time in my life when I couldn’t control what I was doing. I had a lot of questions that had no answers. As much as I hated to say it, I really needed to step away from the game and just look at my life. That was the most important thing — baseball was a second issue."

And teammate CF Barrett Barnes:

"It’s awesome," Barnes said. "It’s a blessing. He overcame some very difficult situations and things like that, and overall as a team we’re just glad to have him back. He’s a big part of our lineup, he’s one of our family members, he’s a brother of mine and we’re just really happy he’s back with us this year."

TEXAS TECH FOOTBALL | LAJ's Don Williams talked with the two newest commits, DB Tavares Gardner and WR Devin Lauderdale, who also happen to be cousins. I'll have profiles on them a bit later.

Head coach Tommy Tuberville was on Galloway & Co., 103.3 ESPN in Dallas, and talked a bit about the schedule. The LAJ also had this article, and it was the only quote I could find from Tuberville on the release of yesterday's schedule:

"We are going to have the opportunity to host probably three top 10 teams at Jones AT&T Stadium, and I don’t think any other school in the country can say that," Tech coach Tommy Tuberville said. "With Texas, Oklahoma and West Virginia all coming to Jones AT&T Stadium, we couldn’t ask for a better home schedule. The Big 12 Conference is as challenging and difficult as it gets. Our coaches and players are excited for the challenges that this schedule presents, and we are ready to get back on the field for spring practice to begin our preparations."

Date | February 14, 2012
Time | 6:00 pm
Location | Lubbock, TX
TV | ESPN2
Radio | Affiliates

Ty Nurse (6-1/180) | 7.9 PPG | 3.3 RPG
Javarez Willis (5-11/171) | 7.9 PPG | 1.7 APG
Luke Adams (5-9/150) | 4.2 PPG | 1.0 APG
Jordan Tolbert (6-7/210) | 11.7 PPG | 6.0 RPG
Robert Lewandowski (6-10/256) | 7.3 PPG | 3.7 RPG

Jordan Green (6-4/180) | 3.3 PPG | 1.2 APG
Naji Hibbert (6-5/195) | 4.3 PPG | 2.1 RPG
Elston Turner (6-5/220) | 14.5 PPG | 3.5 RPG
Daniel Alexander (6-9/215) | 3.0 PPG | 2.6 RPG
David Loubeau (6-8/235) | 11.0 PPG | 4.4 RPG

It's been one of those mornings so I apologize for not being around when the schedule was released. You can find the official Texas Tech release as well as super-fancy PDF version if you want to make sure I've got everything correct. Looks like 12-0 from where I sit.

September 1, 2012: Northwestern St. Demons
September 8, 2012: @ Texas St. Bobcats
September 15, 2012: New Mexico Lobos
September 22, 2012: BYE
September 29, 2012: @ Iowa St. Cyclones
October 6, 2012: Oklahoma Sooners
October 13, 2012: West Virginia Mountaineers
October 20, 2012: @ TCU Horned Frogs
October 27, 2012: @ Kansas St. Wildcats
November 3, 2012: Texas Longhorns
November 10, 2012: Kansas Jayhawks
November 17, 2012: @ Oklahoma St. Cowboys
November 24, 2012: Baylor Bears

NEWSPAPER LINKS

• Tech, A&M set for final Big 12 hoops matchup | LAJ's Nick Kosmider
• Tech looks to build off first conference win, hosts A&M | DT's Chois Woodman
• Luke Adams: Not the typical Division I basketball player | DT's Chois Woodman

WHAT TO EXPECT

IT FEELS SO GOOD TO GET THAT FIRST ONE | It's just one game, but winning against Oklahoma felt really good and since TAMU has started to become more injured than healthy and been an overall disappointment, I'm thinking that this is a fairly winnable game. With Texas Tech, nothing is guaranteed, but I think that Kris Middleton and Dash Harris will both be out for this game and they're two of the better players for the Aggies. One other note is that the Aggies have really leveled off to similar stats to Texas Tech. The difference is that Texas Tech was nevera top 25 team. TAMU at a 62.0 PPG rate, while Texas Tech is scoring 61.2. Texas Tech is allowing about 7 more points a game than they are averaging, while TAMU is less than 1 point better than their per game average. But that's the sign of a bad team, which is a low or negative point differential.

LEARNING TO WIN | Winning is contagious and the win against Oklahoma could do wonders for this team moving forward. Head Coach Billy Gillisipie said after the OU game that there is still a lot of basketball to be played and a lot can happen. I don't think that Gillispie is thinking that his team is going to make any sort of post-season, but I do think he wants his team continually getting better. DT's Chois Woodman notes that Gillispie said that Texas Tech must continue to get better:

"We played a very complete game the other night," he said. "We made mistakes just like we always do, just like every team does, but we can do a lot better screening. We can do a lot better as far as the pace of the offense. It was still too slow as far as the pace goes, but we did a lot of really, really good things."

I mentioned this above, but there truly is not much that much difference between TAMU and Texas Tech, at least statistically. I think the difference between these two programs is about expectations, while Texas Tech wasn't expected to do much, if anything this year, the Aggies could definitely be a bit down after losing their last four games as well as losing three of their last nine games.

KEY MATCHUPS

TURNER VS. WILLIS | Who else thinks that Willis may have been a bit motivated of the challenge of taking the opposing team's best player. Javerez, meet Mr. Turner. Turner is the leading scorer on the team right now and he's got the size and athleticism to really give Texas Tech problems as they have few players that can matchup with Turner, but Willis can be a problem to cover as well. So long as he takes good shots, the shots that he talked about after the OU game, then I think he'll be fine. It helps to have a player like Adams that can create a bit in terms of creating for space for Willis to find some open spots, but for Willis to be effective, he has to be under control, not force shots and he'll be fine.

TOLBERT VS. LOUBEAU | With Middleton out, I'm guessing that Tolbert will get the call against Loubeau and I think this is the matchup that I'd enjoy watching more as Loubeau is a clone of Tolbert. A bit undersized, but Loubeau is tough and hard-nosed and although he's not a terrific offensive player, he's not bad. I'd love to see Tolbert be more well-rounded offensively than Loubeau, but Tolbert has more than exceeded my freshman expectations.

LADY RAIDER BASKETBALL | This is from ESPN and I think this accurately describes the Lady Raiders' current tournament situation:

Texas Tech: The Lady Raiders were fading and about to play themselves out of the field. The only wins they've managed since Jan. 7 were over lowly Missouri and even faster-fading Texas. Tech couldn't let Iowa State get of Lubbock with a win. It didn't, even on a day when the ball and the basket did not meet very often. Chynna Brown scored 19 points in her first start of the season and Texas Tech used defense and second-chance points to win 51-41. Nothing about the game looks that impressive, except the Lady Raiders had to have it. Why? Four of Tech's final six games are on the road and all except a visit from Texas on Wednesday are against teams ahead of Tech in the standings. The Lady Raiders survived as a winner this Sunday but might need to win on a few more Sundays before this race is over.

I get the feeling that they need to do more.

Per LAJ's David Just and DT's Chois Woodman, the United Spirit Arena will be hosting first and second round games in 2013. This is obviously fantastic for Lubbock and hopefully Texas Tech will be hosting this program.

RED RAIDER SOFTBALL | DT's Matt Villanueva details the 4 game losing streak with the softball team and will be traveling to Las Vegas for a weekend tournament.

RED RAIDER BASEBALL | Per the official site, CF Barrett Barnes and RHP John Neely are earning some All-American recognition without having played a game. Neely was named 2nd team All-American and Barnes was named honorable mention for College Baseball Insider. You can also check out CBI's Big 12 preview, which I found interesting that new assistant coach Tim Tadlock was named assistant coach that was most ready for a head coaching job.

RED RAIDER BASKETBALL | I've got a Texas A&M and Texas Tech preview coming up later this morning as well as links to this morning's articles. I did want to point out that per Ridiculous Upside, Andre Emmett will sign to play with the New Jersey Nets. Congrats to Andre!

TEXAS TECH FOOTBALL | DTN is your home for finding out about preferred walk-ons via Twitter. Searching again this morning, I ran across a tweet from Israel Iheanacho, a 5-11/212 athlete that was previously attending City College of San Francisco, but attended high school at Alief Taylor in Houston (Rivals and ESPN), where he said that he would be transferring to Texas Tech.

Dave Campbell's Texas Football had a bit on WR Reginald Davis and named him the offensive player of the year for 1A:

If you go back and read the liveblog from the Class 1A Division II state championship game between Tenaha and Munday, you’ll read how I feel about Tenaha’s Davis. He was, quite simply, the most breathtaking player I saw this season, and his speed is something to behold. His top-line speed helped him run for 1,915 yards and 36 touchdowns…and his savvy passing game led him to 2,015 yards and 26 touchdowns through the air. Davis was simply sublime, and with all due respect to players like Mason RB David Mora and Stamford QB Hagen Hutchinson, I think the TWSA nailed it. It’s also why we made Davis our 1A Player of the Year.

Per Scout's Greg Powers, Texas Tech now has two commitments for the 2013 class, DB Tavares Garner (Rivals | YouTube) and WR Devin Lauderdale (Rivals | YouTube). Lauderdale is already rated as a 4-star receiver while Garner doesn't have a rating just yet. The staff is getting off to a quick start and more than likely, I am going to wait on doing some profiles on any commits until there's a bit more data, although I will start converting the sidebar to the 2013 class.

I don't know why (maybe I shouldn't care) but LAJ's Don Williams has an article with former Red Raider Ryan Aycock.

Per the official site, Chris Thomsen was officially named the offensive line coach.

I figured that since I had done profiles on the other two preferred walk-ons (OL Connor Grooms and FB Michael Pearson) that I should go ahead and prepare one for Nero as well. Last week, I ran across this note in the Abilene Reporter about how Cisco RB Jamal Nero would be a preferred walk-on at Texas Tech and for a preferred walk-on, this isn't a bad get.

I'm not thinking that this is going to be a huge deal, but I do think that this is a fairly talented player that has had some injuries issues, but because of those injuries, this may have cost Nero an opportunity at a four year university. First things first, I thought I'd shed a little bit about Nero's history. Nero was named 1st team all district in 4-5A in 2008, which would have been Nero's senior year. As you'll note in his Rivals profile which is from high school (as is his ESPN profile), his statistics don't jump off the page, a bit over 1,000 yards as a junior and a bit under 1,000 yards as a senior.

He was interested in a handful of schools, but you would think that he'd get some sort of scholarship offer, but that never happened. I think I've been doing this long enough to know that if a player is reasonably talented, but doesn't get an offer from a school, the problem is most likely grades. Really, really bad grades. The other one interesting note was that Nero was included in the recruiting pamphlet provided by recruiting guru Will Lyles. I don't think this means anything other than Nero was included in a pamphlet.

The Player Speaks

I haven't been able to find anything, so you're out of luck.

Scouting Report

Nero's highlight film (you can also watch him in high school) doesn't necessarily stand out to me. He's okay. Not great, just not a lot of shake in the bake if you know what I mean. He's fine catching the ball out of the backfield and he looks fluid doing that. He can be a hard runner and I do like his size. I did find this bit from December from JCFootball, which had this about Nero, which includes an injury in 2010 and that it has taken him some time to get back:

RB Jamal Nero - "Through five games when he was a freshman back in 2010, he was leading the nation in rushing, but then he injured his knee and he was out for the rest of the year. He still had a great year, but there were times when you could see he wasn't fully back to 100% health and that is probably why some teams haven't offered him yet. I know that the Texas Tech coaches have talked to him and there are a few other schools looking at him, but he can move on right now and we want to find him a place where he can help someone out right away."

I've got two different clips in his profile, but the 2nd clip is from Nero's Hudl profile and much better video. If you're going to watch it, then that's where I would go.

Nero averaged about 75 yards rushing a game on only 16 carries and he essentially did this two years in a row. He led Cisco in rushing and there really wasn't any other competition while he was at Cisco. If Nero did have grade issues, then I'm glad that he took advantage of an opportunity to work on his grades at Cisco and then get an opportunity at Texas Tech, where there will be an opportunity to get some carries this spring.

Jamal, welcome to Texas Tech and Git Your Guns Up!

The offseason is filled with questions, especially this year. Rather than ask those questions and not offer any solutions, I thought it would be interesting to offer theorems, i.e. all right angles are congruent, and you tell me if you think they're true or not. Here are your previous Texas Tech Football Offseason Theorems:

• All Players Need to Contribute | Finding a Tight End and Utilizing Roster Spots
• Do Not Expect a True Freshman to Make an Immediate Impact | Reworking the Defensive Line

Theorem: Dynamic Offensive Playmakers Make a Difference, Part I

This is truly the definition of a working theorem, so it's something that I don't think is an absolute, but rather something that's been kicking around in my mind for a while. The thought is that dynamic playmakers on offense can elevate a team to significantly higher rankings even though the rest of the team may be somewhat mediocre. The best examples that come to mind is Texas Tech from 2008, where Crabtree and Harrell led an incredible offensive attack, and you can see similar results in the Big 12 this year with Baylor and QB Robert Griffin, III and WR Kendall Wright as well as Oklahoma St. and QB Brandon Weeden and WR Justin Blackmon. You could also thinkt that Oklahoma was a dynamic offensive team until the injury to WR Ryan Broyles, who made QB Landry Jones a better player. You can find a lot of examples all over the place, and again, this is a working theorem, but it seems to hold some water.

My thought with this current team is that they may have thought the same thing and made attempts to secure players that might be able to make a difference. Granted, the book hasn't been written about guys like Bradley Marquez, Eric Ward, Kenny Williams DeAndre Washington, Ben McRoy, Derek Edwards, Ronnie Daniels (hopefully), Jace Amaro or any other player that still has at least two years in front of them to develop as a player.

But I think that there was a thought that this offense needed the injection of a player that could force opposing defenses to a double-team. I wonder if the staff thought that Alex Torres may be perpetually dinged, or Darrin Moore may be able to put up numbers against bad competition, or Austin Zouzalik may continue to level off, or Marcus Kennard may be good for an occasional catch, but isn't consistent enough to be a significant threat? Again, I don't know that they're thinking this, but what if the thought is that this team needed players who might be able to make a difference, while the other players may be good, they may also just be what they are.

And I go back to the thought that in 2007, Crabtree and Danny Amendola were two players that produced incredibly well, Crabs had over 1,900 receiving yards and Amendola had almost 1,250 yards. Crabtree's 1,100 yards in 2008 was incredible for most receivers, but Texas Tech hasn't had a 1,000 yard receiver since 2008. I think that some of that is that the talent was somewhat maximized. Detron Lewis, Ed Britton and Lyle Leong were all good, but not dynamic receivers and that's what I'm getting at, which is that the offense was good, but not great, and some of that can be and should be attributed to the thought that an offense, really any offense, that wants to be great and an offense that can truly cause a defense to have coverage problems must have some playmakers and there must be some options.

One last thing before we get into the options, who on the current roster do you think is a game-changing receiver on a game-to-game basis? Not your occasional good game, but a player that causes defenses to adjust and perhaps require some double-team coverage? Is it just Ward that has that potential? Do you think that Moore is a player that requires a double-team from opposing defenses? If you are an opposing defensive coordinator, who on this team scares you?

One other item, which is that this theorem just focuses on receivers as dynamic playmakers and blame and/or credit goes to the quarterback, the running back, the offensive line, the play-calling, etc., but I was trying to limit this discussion to the receivers. We'll get to other positions later in the offseason.

Transfer and JUCO possibilities are after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

THOMSEN BEING WATCHED | The subject line actually sounds creepy, but head coach Tommy Tuberville was at the The Big Country Celebrity Ultimate Hunt in Abilene on Friday night and had this to say about new offensive line coach Chris Thomsen, who was the former head coach at Abilene Christian. Per the Abilene Reporter-News:

"Chris was on our watchlist the last few years," Tuberville said. "Finally the opportunity came up, but unfortunately he had left and gone to Arizona State.

"He wanted to come home. He's a West Texas guy and he loves it out here."

And:

"He'll do a great job with our football program and be a great recruiter and a good ambassador for West Texas," Tuberville said. "He knows a lot of high school guys, so it's a perfect fit for him and me.

"He had a very good recruiting month for Arizona State in Texas. We didn't recruit against him (for specific players), but he got a couple for Arizona State from the Dallas area. He's going to be a huge help by name recognition, the high school coaches knowing who he is."

INJURIES, COACHING AND TALENT | The topic of injuries has come up a couple of times the last couple of days, the question being to what effect did the injuries on this team in particular late in the season where Texas Tech suffered some of their worst losses. And of course, the topic of injuries isn't being discussed in a vacuum, but rather, this is a question of injuries and coaching and I still think that talent should be part of the equation, but I think I'm in the minority here. I think last year's 5-7 mark is a combination of all three things, poor coaching, what seems like a bunch of injuries and young or not very good talent on the field.

The LAJ's Don Williams has in the title of his article that says that there were 24 long-term injuries. These are just the players mentioned in the article:

RB Eric Stephens (knee), RB DeAndre Washington (knee), WR Alex Torres (knee), CB Happiness Osunde (knee), S Chris Yeakey (knee), S/LB Terrance Bullitt (shoulder), CB Shawn Corker (shoulder), S Desmond Martin (knee), LB Zach Winbush (broken foot), WR Darrin Moore (ankle, knee), IR Aaron Fisher (knee), IR Austin Zouzalik (concussion), S/LB Pete Robertson (shoulder), S Tre Porter (concussion), and C Tony Morales (shoulder).

I know there were others, like DE Leon Mackey, who missed 4 games, and C Justin Keown, who I don't think missed any games, but that still seems like an inordinate amount. I don't know how to quantify how important a player like Stephens is to a team, but I think it's safe to say that he was most likely the best player on the offensive side of the ball last year, with runner-ups being WR Eric Ward and QB Seth Doege with apologies to the entire offensive line.

I'd also say that the coaching regressed as well otherwise there wouldn't be a turnover of just about the entire defensive staff, save Robert Prunty. The offensive side of the ball regressed, but overall didn't perform at near the level that the defense performed. There is no doubt in my mind that the coaching could have been better in all facets of the game.

And I know that I tend to be dismissed when I argue that I just didn't think that last year's team had all that much talent and I've made a connection between how the NFL isn't knocking down the door to draft any of the seniors in 2011 other than Baron Batch and that no player has been invited to the 2012 draft. And before anyone brings up what Texas A&M did or didn't do with all of their top recruiting talent, that's irrelevant to this argument. If you want to discuss the success and failure of TAMU, then that's a separate discussion about the Aggies and you can have that all day long with Beergut. I don't want to have talented players that aren't developed either, but that's not the discussion right now.

And for me, this isn't a discussion about which players have caught on with other teams (i.e. Bront Bird), it's about what the NFL views as being part of the talent pool.

More after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

Box Score | Post Game Quotes

THIS POST IS DIFFERENT | Finally, this post game thoughts are different. I don't get to writ about how this team turned the ball over more than the opposing team and I don't get to write about how this team couldn't create any offense and I don't get to write about how the opposing team was better. I can't remember exactly when I came to the realization that this team wasn't very good, but that's a hard thing to compartmentalize for me, to openly admit that a team that I root for isn't very good, but I don't like being dishonest about a team either.

But last night, life was good and I'm going to celebrate a win. I won't be posting any news from any other sports this morning, despite having some news about football and a ton of baseball news. We'll get to it tomorrow. It sounds ridiculous to think that a win is so important and if it's important to my Texas Tech frame of mind, I can only imagine how important it is to this group.

I would also encourage you to watch the post-game press conference. Head coach Billy Gillispie gets emotional about his team and the fans and Lew and Bean may be the most appreciative people on the planet right now.

Jararez Willis | When Willis shoots the ball well and doesn't turn the ball over, he's not a liability. Just 1 assist and 1 turnover for the game, but Willis' box-and-1 defense against Pledger was critical, just as much was Willis' 8 of 12 from the field.

Ty Nurse | Nurse is an over-dribbler and I think that's his biggest problem. He dominates the ball sometimes and that creates a lull in the offense and makes it difficult to create something. Nurse didn't shoot particularly well, 2 of 10, but he did have 7 assists and 0 turnovers being such a primary ball-handler, that's what you need. Had a real pretty alley-oop to Tolbert.

Luke Adams | Wasn't asked to do too much, but he played 35 minutes. He wasn't really a positive or a negative offensively and he played good defense. Amazingly, the only three guards that played were Adams, Nurse and Willis. No other guard came off the bench.

Jordan Tolbert | Missed just about all of his short jump-shots, but continues to display the athleticism that you know will eventually translate when he has a summer to improve his game. Finished with 9 points, 6 boards, 1 assist, 2 turnovers, 2 blocks and 3 steals. Busy night.

Robert Lewandowski | Lew was 1 of 7 from the field in the first half and 7 of 12 from the field in the second half. Seemed like he just couldn't miss later in the second half. Finished with 16 points and 6 boards.

Jaye Crockett | Much like Adams, Crockett was relatively quiet offensively, finishing with just 4 points, but he did have 6 boards, 2 turnovers, 3 blocks and 1 steal. He was the only player that played significant minutes off the bench.

Clark Lammert | Minimal minutes.

Date | February 11, 2012
Time | 7:00 pm
Location | Lubbock, TX
TV | TTSN
Radio | Affiliates

Luke Adams (5-9/150) | 4.1 PPG | 1.0 APG
Ty Nurse (6-1/180) | 8.7 PPG | 1.7 RPG
Terran Petteway (6-6/185) | 3.9 PPG | 2.0 RPG
Jordan Tolbert (6-7/210) | 13.5 PPG | 6.2 RPG
Robert Lewandowski (6-10/256) | 7.0 PPG | 3.6 RPG

Sam Grooms (6-1/203) | 6.5 PPG | 5.9 APG
Cameron Clark (6-6/198) | 7.7 PPG | 3.9 RPG
Steven Pledger (6-4/221) | 17.8 PPG | 4.0 RPG
Romero Osby (6-8/237) | 12.3 PPG | 7.7 RPG
Andrew Fitzgerald (6-8/243) | 13.4 PPG | 5.0 RPG

ODDS AND ENDS | This is essentially going to be an audio edition of the DTN DD. I'm also not going to get to do any sort of preview for tonight's basketball game, but I will have an open thread going up at 6:00 pm.

SB Nation's Jeff Sullivan has extreme home runs. If you like baseball, you will like this (am looking directly at KWash and Tech92).

TEXAS TECH BASEBALL | You can listen to head coach Dan Spencer with 104.3's The Morning Drive. I enjoyed this. LAJ's George Watson writes about some of the newcomers on the baseball team and the annual alumni game and old-timers game are today (official site details). Watson notes that there will be at least two newcomers, at shortstop and in right field and here's head coach Dan Spencer:

Spencer has veterans throughout his lineup, in the field and on the pitching staff, so today becomes a chance to evaluate the newcomers on the team, particularly at shortstop and right field.

Tech will start one of three freshmen at shortstop and likely play all three extensively early in the season, and Spencer has numerous options in right field, depending on the pitching matchup.

"Those two spots in particular," Spencer said. "We’ll probably play a couple of guys at short and a couple of guys in right, and everything else is a known quantity. It’s exciting. We’re going to try to make it as game-like as we can and get one under our belts before we get going next week."

TEXAS TECH SOFTBALL | Sad face. Texas Tech lost two games yesterday, the first game to Northwestern 6-14 and to Tennessee 0-1.

TEXAS TECH BASKETBALL | Very much enjoyed this Raider Power segment on head coach Billy Gillispie. Watch this.

I also enjoyed 104.3's The Bottom Line's interview with assistant coach Bubba Jennings.

The Big 12 site has a running blog by announcer Dave Anderson (he does color for the television Big 12 broadcasts) and talks a bit about Luke Adams. Anderson's father had to have the same procedure that Adams had and it was also really nice to see Kansas St. John Currie write about what it meant for Adams to visit a young kid with the same hearing issues that Adams has:

Too often in the heat of competitive athletics we overlook the character of the people who play the games and the obstacles they overcome to succeed. Texas Tech's Luke Adams is a special athlete whom I greatly admire. Luke, who suffers from a hearing impairment that requires him to wear cochlear implants,took time during the team's trip to Manhattan earlier this week to meet with young local Wildcat fan Brandt Carlgren, who experiences the same hearing issues. What a thrill for Brandt! (click here for a photo) This is a great example of Big 12 camaraderie and sportsmanship that is present all throughout our league institutions. By the way, Luke went out and led the Red Raiders with 15 points in the Cats' 65-46 win.

LAJ's Nick Kosmider previews tonight's game and writes about how this team battles with mistakes. Here's PG Luke Adams:

"We kind of had a bad start when we played them at their place," said guard Luke Adams, who scored a team-high 15 points in Tech’s loss to Kansas State on Tuesday. "We fought back, so we know we can beat them. We’re more confident and we’re expecting to win."

TEXAS TECH FOOTBALL | The Williams and Hyatt Show has a free segment with the great former Red Raider James Gray. I told you this was going to be an audio-heavy DTN DD and I really recommend this as well.

LAJ's Don Williams previews the quarterbacks and offensive coordinator Neal Brown talks about his two scholarship quarterbacks, Seth Doege and Michael Brewer. OC Brown sounds excited about Doege, and I think he should be. Doege didn't have the best year ever, but he wasn't awful and I think he'll be better this year. Here's OC Brown:

"I thought he played very well," Brown said. "What happened to Seth down the stretch ... our inability to run the ball and we weren’t playing very well on defense, so a lot of the pressure went to Seth."

I think this is accurate. There are a lot of quotes on Brewer and OC Brown isn't worried about Brewer's inexperience. Here's just a bit:

"He’s a winner," Brown said. "He’s got a little bit of the ‘it’ factor. He’s been the leader within that freshman class. That leadership role is starting to grow with the upperclassmen as well, and our guys have a lot of confidence in him.

"I think it’s big that he comes from a football family, comes from a successful high school program. He understands what it takes to win. Every week last year, even redshirting, he prepared like he was going to play that game, and I thought that showed a lot of maturity."

ODDS AND ENDS | Animated GIF's for January!!

CONFERENCE REALIGNMENT | Good friends at Big East Coast Bias note that West Virginia and the Big East have reached a conditional settlement:

According to Mike Casazza and Jared Hunt of the Charleston (WV) Daily Mail, the Big East and West Virginia have reached a conditional settlement that would end their competing lawsuits and send West Virginia to the Big 12 in 2012. The settlement is for a total of $20 million, with West Virginia paying $11 million and the Big 12 Conference paying the other $9 million.

The deal, however, is no longer dependent upon Boise State being able to leave the Mountain West Conference and play football in the Big East as West Virginia's replacement in 2012. According to Casazza and Hunt, the Big East will still try and possibly take Boise State in 2012, but either way will take the $20 million and use it however it sees fit. Apparently, prior to this agreement, the Big East was unwilling to settle without a replacement, but now is willing to settle and take the payout from West Virginia without necessarily having a 2012 replacement in hand.

In other conference realignment news, NewsOK's Berry Tramel answers a bunch of Big 12 expansion questions, including a lot of thoughts on BYU.

RED RAIDER SOFTBALL | The Red Raiders beat San Diego St. 5-4 yesterday. Congrats!

RED RAIDER BASKETBALL | I'm not going to get a chance to preview tomorrow's game against Oklahoma today, but I'll have something up tomorrow. The game is in Lubbock and tip-off is at 7:00 pm. LAJ's Nick Kosmider writes about all of the problem numbers for Texas Tech and David Just also has some Lady Raider stuff. The Lady Raiders take on Iowa St. on Sunday, also in Lubbock, and the game will be on ESPN2.

TEXAS TECH BASEBALL | Baseball America has come out with their Big 12 preview and is picking Texas Tech to finish 7th. CF Barrett Barnes is listed as having the best raw power in the Big 12 and Jamodrick McGruder is the best base runner. Like it does every year, this team is going to make the NCAA Tournament as long as the pitching comes through.

Yesterday I didn't realize that Mike Graham's DMN story about DH Scott LeJeune and his anxiety disorder that kept him out all of last year was free on RRS.com and there's a lot more there at RRS.com, so go check it out. Also, LAJ's George Watson (beware video auto play) has a bit on yesterday's ribbon cutting ceremony at the newly renovated Rip Griffin Park. Head coach Dan Spencer seems incredibly happy:

"You see it going up and you don’t know if they’re every going to get to a point of it being built," Tech head coach Dan Spencer said. "But it’s built and we’re a week away from getting to play in it and it’s very emotional. The things it’s done for this year’s club and for future clubs is huge, there’s no other way to describe it. It’s big, and we’re extremely grateful and excited."

TEXAS TECH FOOTBALL | I don't really know if it's news that the football schedule will come out today, but when AD Kirby Hocutt spoke at yesterday's ribbon cutting ceremony, again, per LAJ's George Watson, he said that the football schedule would come out today:

"It’s time for the schedule to come out," Hocutt said Thursday, "but at the same time, even up until 7:30 (Wednesday) night we were having conversations about various adjustments within the schedule. It is going to come out (today) and I’m pleased with the end result. I think it will be one of the best home schedules we’ve possibly had in program history, or at least in quite some time. Unfortunately, given the circumstances we’ve faced, it’s a lot later than anyone wanted. But it will come out (today) and I think we’ll be pleased with the end results."

Good enough.

In searching through Twitter this morning, I ran across some things about some current students, most likely as walk-ons, making the football team. The ones I ran across were Miakel Williams who is from El Paso, apparently initially went to Air Force, played RB/DB/ST and I guess now is at Texas Tech (YouTube), and Xavier Henry who is from Snyder and played receiver (YouTube).

LAJ's Don Williams writes that OC Neal Brown wants players like Bradley Marquez, Javares McRoy and Sadale Foster to be a hybrid player:

"We want to create kind of a hybrid position," Tech offensive coordinator Neal Brown said. "How Oregon used De’Anthony Thomas this year, we think Javares and Bradley, maybe SaDale, could kind of be an inside receiver, slash running back."

OC Brown also talked about RB Kenny Williams and RB Ronnie Daniels:

"I really think Kenny Williams will be one of our most improved players in the spring," Brown said. "I thought he showed some good signs in the Missouri and Baylor games. Ronnie has been great in our winter workouts so far. Coming off the suspension, he came back in great shape. He’s a guy that can really help us at that spot."

And OC Brown also had some telling things about RB Ben McRoy:

"We’d like to use his speed (at running back)," Brown said, "but he’s got to improve. He’s got to eliminate mental mistakes and get his run reads and be more disciplined overall."

Last, but not least, OC Brown said that RB Eric Stephens and RB DeAndre Washington could redshirt next year, if necessary. I'm okay with that.

This is most likely the last 2012 Texas Tech football recruiting post. The rest of the winter and summer months will focus on spring practice, which will start later this month and the Red vs. Black Spring Game. I haven't mentioned each and every player, but I've done that in each profile that I've done. You can find the 2012 football recruiting page here and keep in mind that DTN has a section that was solely devoted to the 2012 class.

Handling It the Right Way

It's always nice when players don't flip on National Signing Day and for Texas Tech, they had a pleasant surprise in ATH Casey Gladney flipping from Alabama to Texas Tech, but I very much preferred the way that things happened at Texas Tech for the most part. Texas Tech did lose three commits, but it happened earlier in the year and there were concerns as to whether or not this would cause the class to fall apart. Halapoulivaati Vaitai flipped to TCU, Christian Okafor flipped to California and Marcus Johnson flipped to Texas, but it all happened in December and I'm thankful that it happened this way.

I appreciate the fact that these players decided what was best for them, even if it wasn't with Texas Tech, well before National Signing Day. It allows the staff to use that scholarship on another player and it also allows the staff to not just hand out a scholarship on NSD when a player flips at the last minute. It allows all parties to recover. It also means that Okafor, Vaitai and Johnson weren't about creating some sort of NSD drama and I appreciate that they were mature enough to give the staff notice of their de-commitment.

This is the way it should be and NSD shouldn't be full of drama.

Size at Cornerback

I mentioned this in Casey Gladney's recruiting profile, which is the thought that I like having 6-1/180 sized cornerbacks with the speed combination as there weren't really any of those types of cornerbacks on the roster. Tre' Porter is the only cornerback currently on the roster over 6-0 and that's not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, if you take a look at the two JUCO cornerbacks, they're both under 6-0 and they're going to be expected to play right now. Olaoluwa Falemi is 5-11 and Bruce Jones is 5-9, but at the very least they have experience on their side. With Thierry Nguema (6-0/175), La'Darius Newbold (6-1/180) and most likely Casey Gladney (6-1/180) you have three good-sized cornerbacks that should help in going against some of the bigger receivers in the conference.

I was actually concerned prior to signing day about the overall lack of depth at defensive back considering how much this team struggled defending the pass and now there are some options. I'm not necessarily expecting Nguema, Newbold or Gladney to start or even play this year and Tuberville commented about Gladney that he has the measurables to play immediately and I think that's true of Newbold and Nguema. They all probably lack a bit of technique to play right away, which is why the staff signed Jones and Falemi. They're the ones that are most likely going to get immediate playing time.

I'd also add that I thought that the defensive back situation was fairly loaded and there were a lot of returning players that we haven't even see the field. I think I really liked what I saw with Cornelius Douglas and Happiness Osunde, but just about everyone else struggled, including Porter, who seemed disinterested more times than not. Cornerback is a position of need.

Shoring Up At Least One Linebacker

Another dismal part of the 2011 defense was the linebackers. There were bright spots as Sam Eugovoen and Blake Dees both saw time last year, but they were true freshmen and I think they were overwhelmed. With a year of conditioning, I think that will help tremendously, but they weren't ready. It didn't help that the defensive line wasn't taking care of their job, but either way, Dees and Eugovoen weren't ready. Cqulin Hubert and Daniel Cobb were incredibly hit or miss. There was little consistency to what they offered on the field.

With a guy like Will Smith I think Texas Tech is getting a three-down linebacker, a guy that shouldn't have to come off the field. Smith was part of an excellent linebacker trio (one linebacker signed with Nebraska and the other signed with Baylor) in the JUCO ranks, but he offers good size and good speed according to his film.

Chris Payne offers a hybrid type of player, but that was understandable considering his size. Payne is obviously undersized, but he produces and I think it's a tough thing to say that a player has a certain intangible, but this is a situation where Payne did produce on the JUCO level and he excelled. I don't know that Payne starts, but he'll play because I think he'll be needed for third downs because he offers some range, size and speed that I don't think that other players on this team offers.

So much more after the jump.

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ODDS AND ENDS | SB Nation had a bad morning yesterday morning and as you'll note, the FanPosts still aren't there (they're supposed to be restored shortly). You can still find FanPosts here, but they're just not on the front page right now.

LAJ's David Just has a good article on Marsha Sharp and her new role with the athletic department, who was named associate athletic director in charge of professional development and community engagement by Kirby Hocutt and I am very thankful that she is more involved in the athletic department. Here's Hocutt:

"I see her affection and I see her commitment to not only our university but to our regents and to our city," Hocutt said. "And I see someone who has built tremendous relationships and someone who has demonstrated that you can win at the highest level at Texas Tech. She has committed her entire career to Texas Tech University and to West Texas."

CONFERENCE REALIGNMENT | CBS Sports Brett McMurphy reports that West Virginia and the Big East are close to a settlement and a buyout of $20 million, but that's contingent upon WVU finding a 7th football team. No problem . . . in other conference realignment news, Mountain West Connection notes that the MWC and Conference USA will merge going forward. Next year, what will have the better football conference, the merged C-USA/MWC or the Big East?

RED RAIDER SOFTBALL | The LAJ (beware auto-play video) and the DT preview the softball team. Because I hate auto-play videos, here's a bit from the DT:

A big reason for the Big 12’s recent success is the stellar pitching it brings. The conference features three pitchers who were on the 2011 USA Softball Women’s National team, and another who was on the 2010 USA National Futures Team.

"You better have some good arms that can keep you close in the games and put some zeros up," coach Hays said. "Not only do these teams in the Big 12 have great pitching staffs, they have great lineups as well. I think the Big 12 is the big conference in the country this year and our pitching proves that."

Opposing batters going against the Red Raiders will face returning starters Kelsey Dennis and Brittany Talley. The two left-handed pitchers tallied a combined record of 27-12 and a 2.81 ERA.

RED RAIDER BASEBALL | DMN's Mike Graham has a bit on DH Scott LeJeune. LeJeune missed all of last year for "personal reasons" and now LeJeune is back and says that the reason he missed last year was because he has general anxiety disorder. Glad that he's back and hope he has his life back.

TTURed has some more detailed photos of the Rip Griffin Park renovation. Excellent as always . . . the official site notes that three Red Raiders were named All-Big 12 by Perfect Game, CF Barrett Barnes, 2B Jamodrick McGruder and UTIL David Paiz. Congrats to the three of them! . . . the official site has your 2012 media supplement.

TEXAS TECH BASKETBALL | LAJ's Nick Kosmider writes about the injury situation and I am waiting for someone to blame the strength and conditioning coach. Right now, Toddrick Gotcher and Kevin Wagner are out for the year and Javarez Willis could all be out on Saturday. Gotcher has been out for quite some time, but losing Wagner hurts right now. Here's head coach Billy Gillispie:

"The best way to beat pressure defense is by penetration, and we definitely weren’t able to get around their guards," Tech coach Billy Gillispie said. "Wagner was able to get around them the first time we played, and he’s out with an injury. Then (Willis) going down early, he’s a guy that can usually get into the gaps a little bit, so that definitely hurt us. But we still can’t turn the ball over like that like we did.

"We have to do a better job of screening for each other and passing the ball. We had some opportunities for high-low (passes) and we threw the ball out of bounds. When we did get opportunites, we didn’t finish plays close to the basket."

TEXAS TECH FOOTBALL | Another preferred walk-on! Per the Abilene Reporter's Marc David, Cisco College RB Jamal Nero will be a preferred walk-on at Texas Tech (Rivals | Scout | YouTube | Hudl). For last year, Nero had 680 rushing yards on 146 carries for a 4.65 average and 5 touchdowns to lead Cisco. JCFootball.com had an update on Cisco players in December and had this on Nero:

RB Jamal Nero - "Through five games when he was a freshman back in 2010, he was leading the nation in rushing, but then he injured his knee and he was out for the rest of the year. He still had a great year, but there were times when you could see he wasn't fully back to 100% health and that is probably why some teams haven't offered him yet. I know that the Texas Tech coaches have talked to him and there are a few other schools looking at him, but he can move on right now and we want to find him a place where he can help someone out right away."

LAJ's Don Williams has your updated spring depth chart for the receivers. I'll make you go to the LAJ for the full depth chart, but here is offensive coordinator Neal Brown on IR Javarez McRoy:

"Javares has great straight-line speed," Brown said, "but his best attribute is his ability to make people miss in open space. He’s a dynamic guy, probably unlike any inside receiver we’ve had since I’ve been here. He’ll stick his foot in the ground, make the first defender miss and he’s really versatile in that he can play receiver and also go in the backfield."

And OC Brown on IR Tyson Williams:

"He was very productive at WT, and he gives us a confidence at that position, a little bit of bravado," Brown said. "He’s a talented kid and he’s hungry to show he can compete and produce at the highest level. ... He’s a tough, physical guy."

And WR Javon Bell:

"We want Javon to push for that starting spot," Brown said. "We thought he was the best junior college receiver last year, a kid we recruited for about a year and a half. He averaged 26 yards per catch in a fast JC league. I fully expect him to compete for immediate playing time. He’ll push Darrin Moore."

Per LAJ's Don Williams, there will be some movement along the offensive line and some position changes:

• Left Tackle: LaAdrian Waddle will battle December signee Rashad Fortenberry.
• Left Guard: Beau Carpenter is penciled in as the starter with Alfredo Morales as the backup.
• Center: Deveric Gallington will move to center with Tony Morales and then Jared Kaster.
• Right Guard: Terry McDaniel is the starter and then James Polk and Kyle Clark.
• Right Tackle: LeRaven Clark is the starter with Matt Wilson as the backup.

Offensive coordinator Neal Brown said that this is the year that Waddle needs to perform and I'd agree in that he has an opportunity to be a player in the NFL. OC Brown also talked about Clark:

"He got up to 275 (pounds), and we started recruiting him heavy," Brown said. "We got him on a visit and he liked it, and I think he’ll come in and compete. If he can’t beat out Waddle, we’ll flip him over and give him a chance at right tackle."

As you may recall, McDaniel played right tackle for a good part of last year and I'm guessing that Brown and Thomsen want a more athletic right tackle. I thought McDaniel was fine at right tackle, but he is most likely more limited athletically than Clark and Fortenberry, although I honestly haven't seen Clark of Fortenberry in live-action.

OC Brown also talked about Clark:

"We’re excited about him," Brown said. "He performed at a high level during preseason camp. In our Sunday night redshirt games, he played at a high level, and I think he’s ready to play. He’s a redshirt freshman, but he’s got the ability, and he’s got the size. We’re going to give him first crack at right tackle."

Not much has already been written about new offensive line coach Chris Thomsen and because I'm a Texas Tech addict, I went to the internets and came up with a couple of interesting things that I thought you might enjoy.

I had previously heard offensive coordinator Neal Brown talk a bit about the fact that Abilene Christian (ACU) had success rushing and passing the ball and that OC Brown wanted the type of success that ACU had over the past few years. I think OC Brown mentioned that ACU averaged 300 yards passing and 200 yards rushing. I was curious about the numbers themselves, so I decided to take a look. ACU was pretty darned good and decided to just take a look at the past two years, 2011 and 2010 and take a look at ACU's basic rushing numbers.

So much more after the jump, including the most informative table in the history of ever.

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RED RAIDER BASKETBALL | Another game and another 19 point loss, although this game was relatively close, within 10 points, with a shade over 2 minutes left to play, but lost to Kansas State, 65 - 46 (box score). Overall, Texas Tech was just awful offensively for the most part, the brightest spot being G Luke Adams who finished with 15 points. It was the same thing that we've seen before, which is just 6 assists for the entire team and 22 turnovers. Again, it's just abysmal right now. Part of the problem is that prior to the game, we found out that PG Kevin Wagner didn't travel with the team and this morning we learn, per LAJ's Nick Kosmider, Wagner is likely out for the year. Then, within the first 5 minutes of the game, PG Javarez Willis injured his ankle never returned, which meant that the only real options in the backcourt were Adams and Ty Nurse.

Still, this team did not give up, despite playing basketball for almost the entirety of the game. F Jordan Tolbert had 11 points and 8 rebounds while F Jaye Crockett had 9 points and 8 rebounds. Again, this team didn't quit despite being just awful at times. LAJ's Nick Kosmider has a game recap with some quotes from head coach Billy Gillispie:

"We played as physical as we could possibly play against a very physical team," Gillispie said. "We just had too many turnovers. No matter what the situation is we just kept turning the ball over, but I’m real proud of our guys as far as their effort goes.

"That’s about as tough as we’ve played all year long."

One more thing from yesterday. Adams went to go visit a young boy who also wears cochlear implants like Adams does. Adams catches more crap on Twitter than just about any player I've ever seen and most people on Twitter are mean and don't give one flip about Adams' story, but from all accounts, he's a good kid and he's taking advantage of an opportunity at Texas Tech. I cannot imagine this particular team without Adams.

I wanted to supplement yesterday's news of Texas Tech's newest 2013 commitment, F Blake Danielak. I mentioned yesterday that D1Nation broke the story and I'm pretty sure that coach Max Ivany is reading DTN as he has a follow up to his initial story. Here's Ivany from yesterday (the initial story was posted on Sunday evening):

I’ve seen the Red Raider message board comments. One moderator wasn’t sure he could print the offer because there was such "thin evidence" that it was accurate…duh. Another comment was that the kid is only a 3A player. Throw that one out the window too folks.

A couple of things. TallMike posted a FanShot that linked to Level and Graham's twitter exchange and not this story and TallMike comment was that this appeared to be thin evidence, i.e. Level's and Graham's tweets seemed flimsy and truthfully, they should have linked to Ivany's story from Sunday night and not just referenced Danielak's facebook page. Whatever. Ivany assumes that the "thin evidence" is in reference to his story and I don't think that's what TallMike was implying. Ivany also says that the thought that Danielak is just a 3A player is irrelevant, in reference to some comments made in yesterday's DTN DD. I can say that I know of Ivany and he does know basketball players and is well-respected as a talent evaluator of high school players. You can take that for what it's worth, but I think that's an accurate statement.

In any event, Ivany has this to say about Danielak:

2013 F 6’7 Blake Danielak shows great maturity for a 16 year old. He can shoot it, he passes well out of the post and rebounds well. He’s bouncy and runs the floor extremely well. Look for BCG to pack some pounds on him and make him a stretch four man for the Red Raiders when the time comes. Expect him to be 6’9?-6’10? when he arrives on campus in the summer of 2013.

Not to pressure him too much but I feel I’m qualified to say the following. I’ve had the pleasure of coaching some pretty good players at the same point in their careers. John Henson (North Carolina), Cameron Moore (Alabama-Birmingham), Andre Roberson (Colorado), Daniel Alexander (Texas A&M), Cory Jefferson (Baylor), J.J. Avila (Navy) and Connor Lammert (Texas signee) to name a few. I believe Danielak belongs in that company. He’s not as long as Henson, not as tough defensively as Jefferson, or as tenacious as Roberson. BUT, the tools are there. He’s a better shooter from all areas on the floor at this point as a 16 year old than any of them. Of course he’s got close to two years of hard work ahead of him to meet those lofty standards of where the aforementioned kids elevated their games.

LADY RAIDER BASKETBALL | The Lady Raiders take on Oklahoma St. tonight, in Stillwater and the game starts at 7:00 pm. LAJ's David Just and DT's Chois Woodman both preview the game. Just notes that this is an important game as the Lady Raiders are tied with both Oklahoma St. and Iowa St. in the standings:

This is a critical week for the Lady Raiders, who are in a three-way tie for sixth place in the Big 12 Conference with a 4-6 record. Tech’s next two opponents — Oklahoma State and Iowa State — are the two teams it’s tied with.

"It’s obviously a great opportunity to separate yourself," said Tech coach Kristy Curry, who expects the top seven teams in the conference to get at-large NCAA invites.

And from Woodman:

"If you don’t play in February, you’re not going to have March," she said. "And there is no one across the country that’s in the tournament right now because it’s the first week of February. That’s where resumes are made and I think our kids understand that. We’ve certainly tried to educate them February is important."

LADY RAIDER SOFTBALL | DT's Matt Villanueva profiles SS Raven Richardson and talks about her getting a second chance at Texas Tech. This is a good story and hopefully Richardson can keep things on the straight and narrow. Here's her head coach, Shanon Hays:

"She’s a more mature hitter and now looks for her pitch," Hays said. "As a person, she is settled and is more comfortable. She always shows up ready to work and is consistent."

TEXAS TECH FOOTBALL | LAJ's Don Williams has the latest on some offensive line changes. I've done a more detailed write-up on these moves as well as some comparisons to Abilene Christian's offense and Texas Tech's offense as I wanted to know how the offenses compare.

Rivals.com recognized the best recruiters from each school and Robert Prunty continues to receive praise:

Robert Prunty, Texas Tech
Buzz:The Red Raider defensive end coach was last year's Rivals.com Big 12 Recruiter of the Year and he showed no signs of letting up in the class of 2012. Prunty was the lead recruiter for U.S. Army All-American Michael Starts and beat out the likes of Michigan, Notre Dame, Texas and Texas A&M for his services. He also held onto cornerback La'Darius Newbold late when other schools made a hard run at him. Texas Tech went heavy on the junior college ranks this year and Prunty was the lead recruiter for most of them as well.

I'd agree, but I'd also say that Tommy Mainord is 1B to Prunty being 1A. I noticed that in a lot of the conversations that I've heard from recruits, Mainord's name was mentioned quite often. I also wanted to add that TechTalk spoke with Prunty yesterday and the two things that I thought were interesting was that the team and the staff sense some urgency in 2012 and he also said that DE Branden Jackson is 6-5.5/252 and DE Kindred Evans is 6-5/240 and praised S&C coach Joe Walker. That means that both Jackson and Evans have added about 20 to 30 pounds from their freshmen years.

Spring practices start next Friday (I think).

Date | February 7, 2012
Time | 7:00 pm
Location | Manhattan, KS
TV | Big 12 Network
Radio | Affiliates

Kevin Wagner (5-8/145) | 2.5 PPG | 1.5 RPG
Javarez Willis (5-11/171) | 7.7 PPG | 1.8 APG
Terran Petteway (6-6/185) | 3.8 PPG | 2.0 RPG
Jordan Tolbert (6-7/210) | 11.9 PPG | 6.0 RPG
Robert Lewandowski (6-10/256) | 7.2 PPG | 3.7 RPG

Angel Rodriguez (5-11/180) | 7.4 PPG | 2.5 APG
Will Spradling (6-2/180) | 10.4 PPG | 2.8 APG
Rodney McGruder (6-4/205) | 15.0 PPG | 5.2 RPG
Jamar Samuels (6-7/230) | 10.4 PPG | 6.4 RPG
Thomas Gipson (6-7/275) | 8.5 PPG | 5.5 RPG

RECRUITING ON THE HIGH PLAINS Measurables MICHAEL PEARSON Position: FB Ht: 5'11" | Wt: 255 lbs | Forty: 4.70 JUCO: Pierce C.C. (Woodland Hills, CA) DTN Profile Video: Clip 1 Rivals | Scout N/A | ESPN | 24/7 Sports N/A Cumulative Ranking: INC Rankings Rivals | , 5.3 Rivals Rating Scout | N/R ESPN | N/R 24/7 Sports | N/R

This is an interesting pick-up, especially for a team that lacks a true fullback, other than Omar Ontiveros, who I thought did a pretty good job when asked to play. As you'll note from the scouting report and the video below, I'm pretty sure that the height and weight listed are accurate, which means that he's an absolute ton of bricks and seeing his special teams play, that's an accurate statement.

This isn't a need, and given the fact that Pearson is a preferred walk-on, there's little to no risk as he doesn't take a roster spot and he apparently loves to play special teams. Those are pluses in my book as special teams is often overlooked (insert jokes here).

The biggest problem with Pearson is that he's very much an unknown, other than the Rivals profile, with a rating of 5.3, which means that he's essentially a role player and that's probably accurate, but teams need role players that do their job..

The Player Speaks

I've already posted this once, but I'll post this again, Pearson was on with Level and Dickens on Double T 104.3 and he's got an interesting story. Pearson is a very motivated individual and he's also a guy that probably appreciates the value of a scholarship. Pearson was a team captain for his Pierce C.C. team last year and he's also 22 years old according to his video. That means that he's probably more mature than most kids coming from the JUCO ranks and he's well thought of by his teammates. One other thing is that his height and weight reminds me of a comic book character, Juggernaut. At the end of the video, he says his nickname is "The Animal", but I kinda like Juggernaut. And yes, my wife thinks its sad that I'm familiar with comic book characters.

Scouting Report

Pearson seemingly plays on every special teams squad, although his film is mainly made up of kickoff and punt coverage. I don't know that there's much for me to add other than what the video offers. There is one play where he's lined up on the line of scrimmage and the opposing team is punting. He sprints through the line of scrimmage and takes on the three defenders in front of the opposing punter and moves all three of them backwards. There are just a few plays where he's playing fullback and again, he is always moving the opponent in a positive direction. I do really like how Pearson is excitable and I think that's an incredibly important part of the game.

MIKE PEARSON LA PIERCE COLLEGE 2011 HIGHLIGHTS (via JERZBUL33)

Mike, welcome to Texas Tech and Git Your Guns Up!

The 2012 Class

Everything is after the jump. Cumulative ranking explanation here. Cumulative ranking data here. Quick and easy explanation:

The idea is to take all of the data from all of the recruiting services and put it into just one number. Thus, the idea is that a grade of 68 or 69 is a thee-star player, while a ranking of 83 or 84 is a four-star player. Anything in between those numbers or lower means that the player most likely has a lower grade with one service or another. For example, Quinton White is thought of by all the recruiting experts as a solid three-star player. While a player like Clayton Nicholas is mostly a three-star player but ESPN does give him a four-star grade, so his grade is a bit higher.

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WHAT TO EXPECT

I'M SO SCARED BABY, PART II | Last time I did this, I was scared and Texas Tech lost by 19 while playing in the United Spirit Arena. I can't imagine what's going to happen at Bramlage Coliseum and if you were at all curious, the current line is 18. Strangely, K-State is in about the same spot in terms of the Big 12 as they were the last time. Previously, K-State was 3-3 before playing Texas Tech and are now 5-5, so I'm expecting that K-State will notch a win tonight. K-State continues to be pretty darned good defensively and are holding opponents to 10 points below (63 PPG) their own scoring average (73 PPG) and are also holding opponents to 39.9% from the field.

NO LONGER SURE WHAT TO WRITE | I think that I'm at the point where I'm struggling as to what to write at this point in the year. There are still 8 conference games remaining and, unfortunately, this team isn't showing any sort of ability to win a conference game. Like a lot of you, I'm at the point where I'm trying to find positives in each game and I think that Texas Tech came away with some positves the last time they played K-State as Wagner scored 16, Tolbert had 18 and Crockett had 9. As you might expect, I'm reaching here because I think I know, no matter how good I think Gillispie is as a head coach, there's only so much magic that I think he can create and I'm simply not seeing a conference win this year and that's depressing. As most of you know, I'm more of a glass-half-full person, but I'm also realistic and it's amazing how devoid of talent there is on this team. I think that Gillispie is bringing a bit of this on himself in not playing certain players more often, but even if the 5 best players had 30 minutes, I still don't think this team wins a conference game. Sad face.

KEY MATCHUPS

IRVING VS. CROCKETT | Martavious Irving (6-1/180) scored 16 points off the bench, going 6 of 10 from the field and had 4 assists for the night. I never expecting Irving to explode for 16 points (he's averaging just over 6) and this again goes to some of the issues that this team has defensively, which is that this team has a tough time keeping guards off the scoring ledger. Crockett had 9 points and 5 boards in the last game and would hope that he continues to get more minutes rather than the up-and-down affair that a handful of players are experiencing. Crockett and Irving will most likely not face each other, but if they bench is as important as it was the last game for K-State, 38 of their 69 points off the bench, the depth for Texas Tech is going to have to be better.

TOLBERT VS. SAMUELS | I'm going to highlight this again because, as mentioned above, was a true bright spot for this team as Tolbert had 18 points, 8 rebounds 2 blocks and just 2 turnovers. It was nice to see Tolbert break out of his slump and score some points. Add to this equation the fact that Samuels didn't score a point the last time these two teams met or even grabbed a rebound. I'm betting that Frank Martin is going to let Samuels know how bad he was out-played the last game and would expect a better effort.

ODDS AND ENDS | Totally Texas Tech's TTURed has already posted a FanShot with panoramic view of Rip Griffin Park and it's pretty cool to see it nearly complete. TTURed also posted a handful of new photos on his site with additional photos. This will be the last time that I do this, but there are photos of the Hance Chapel and like I said a couple of weeks ago, TTURed is documenting the construction history at Texas Tech. All of it.

Per LAJ's Don Williams, the future of playing Texas A&M is an all-or-nothing proposition, i.e. TAMU and TTU play between all sports:

"We discussed it with all our head coaches," Hocutt said, "and that’s something we as an athletic department and we as a group of coaches feel strongly about at this time."

I'm okay with that.

This article by Alligator's Army's Andy Hutchins is a bit dated (summer of 2011), but thought it was interesting to the extent that some schools hire their own in-house writers and also want to control information. I know that we tend to think that this sort of thing only happens at Texas Tech, but it doesn't, it happens everywhere, even to extent of asking that a person delete a re-tweet.

RED RAIDER BASKETBALL | There was this neat RaiderPower episode where the players talk about being in public and what it means to autograph for little kids and the importance of being a good role model.

This news was actually broken by D1 Nation, so give them a click, but Texas Tech has their first commit of the 2013 class in Liberty Hill F Blake Danielak:

At only 16, Danielak is 6’7". He’s athletic, can step out and hit the three, put it on the floor some and has nice timing as a shot blocker. He’s constantly working on his game away from the bright lights and is dedicated to his sport specific strength and agility training under the guidance of T.J. Garza of Speed Killz.

LAJ's Nick Kosmider talked with Danielak, who is averaging 16 PPG, 7 RPG and 5 BPG, talked about playing for head coach Billy Gillispie:

"The good thing is that it’s a Big 12 school," Danielak said. "Coach Gillispie is known for turning programs around. He did it at UTEP and at Texas A&M, and I really wanted to be a part of that."

I won't have any sort of profile on Danielak until there are some profiles that I can find. I also have not been able to find any video, so I really don't know what type of player he actually is.

I've got a preview coming up later today, but there's a game tonight against K-State, tip-off at 7:00 pm on the Big 12 Network. LAJ's Nick Kosmider has a preview and writes that the defense must be better. Here's Coach Gillispie:

"We have to be much better defensively," Tech coach Billy Gillispie said. "In the past we have had teams that have been very physical and very defensive oriented and we scored off our defense. We didn’t really let anybody get any offensive rebounds, and we’re totally opposite of that right now. But that’s what we’re working toward."

TEXAS TECH BASEBALL | DT's Brett Winegarner has the story on the three-way race for the shortstop position as the team will need to replace the Kelby Tomlinson, who only played last year at Texas Tech, but was darned good:

The trio of freshman shortstops consists of Tim Proudfoot, Matt Eureste and Bryant Burleson. Although opening day is Feb. 17, head coach Dan Spencer said the battle for the position is still ongoing and all three remain in the running to win the starting job.

"I think it’s pretty even because they all have strengths and they’re different from each other," Spencer said. "So I would hate to say there’s a frontrunner because if the guy doesn’t get the job then he thinks he did something not to get it."

TEXAS TECH FOOTBALL | Per Scout, defensive ends coach Robert Prunty was named the Midlands Recruiter of the Year as well as the Big 12 Recruiter of the Year in the Big 12. Congrats!

DMN's Mike Graham writes that QB Michael Brewer has gained 25 pounds and maybe added a bit of height:

"He looks a lot better," Texas Tech offensive coordinator Neal Brown told RedRaiderSports.com. "(Strength and conditioning coach) Joe Walker has done a good job and his staff has done a good job. He's put on 25 pounds since he's been here and I think he's grown a little bit also.

"He's ready. He's ready to push Doege and ready to prove that he's the next guy."

There were a couple of nice stories on two of the newest signees, DT Michael Starts and WR Reginald Davis. We'll start with Starts, and I think this is the school newspaper, so please throw your journalistic expectations out the window:

"My parents are behind me 100% whatever decision I make, and I felt comfortable with Tech, so I took an official visit and really liked how the whole town is behind the team," Starts said. "I’ll be playing strong-side defensive end and am looking forward to heading to Tech June 7 and settling into the freshmen dorm just down from Jones Stadium."

And from Piney Woods Sports, Davis apparently would have received an academic scholarship, but knows how important academics is:

"Even if I wouldn't have gotten an athletic scholarship I would have gotten an academic scholarship," said Davis, who is currently ranked No.4 in his class. "But this is getting to do something I like to do.

"The most important thing in all of this is getting a degree. If you get a degree you can do whatever you want to do, and getting it paid for by playing football is a great opportunity for me."

Love it.

ESPN's David Ubben I think attended the recruiting review and had some leftover thoughts in talking to head coach Tommy Tuberville.

And last, but not least per the DMN, QB Scotty Young is mulling a transfer to UNT.

I need some help. I was asked by the folks that run the Iowa blog, Black Heart Gold Pants, if I could run the numbers on the players that have left the program prior to graduation. In this bidness, we call it attrition, and so over the weekend, I put together a few tables, but I wanted to make sure that the information was reasonably correct.

I didn't look anything up, I just did this off of memory as I was running short on time and was curious if you all could be my fact-checkers. I pulled these lists from Rivals. You can feel free to ask about different things, but more than anything else, I want to make sure that this is somewhat accurate. I did want to point out a couple of things, the first being that I didn't know how to classify Jacob Karam as he didn't finish at Texas Tech, but he did receive his undergraduate degree. I'd hate to consider a player that graduated as being part of the attrition column, but I will if that's how everyone else feels.

I've also made assumptions about some players and the fact that they graduated. I don't really know if a player graduated, but it was my way of stating that they finished their careers at Texas Tech. I was also unsure as to how to deal with a player that never even qualified, but signed a LOI. Was curious if they should be considered as part of the attrition rate even though they were never on campus?

All of the tables are after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

RECRUITING ON THE HIGH PLAINS Measurables CASEY GLADNEY Position: ATH Ht: 6'1" | Wt: 180 lbs | Forty: 4.45 High School: Columbia (Columbia, SC) DTN Profile Video: Clip 1 | Clip 2 Rivals | Scout | ESPN | 24/7 Sports Cumulative Ranking: 74.2 Rankings Rivals | , 5.5 Rivals Rating Scout | ESPN | , 80 Grade 24/7 Sports | , 89 Rating

This was the surprise commitment from Wednesday and it's one of those pleasant surprises, but there's a reason why Gladney flipped from Alabama to Texas Tech. When Gladney initially committed to Alabama, it was with the caveat that Gladney would need to work in order to qualify. That is apparently still the case, and there's certainly nothing wrong with taking a chance on a kid might qualify. Add to this situation and the SEC is now limiting their recruiting classes to 25 and I'm guessing that a school like Alabama cannot take a chance on signing a player that has a very good chance of not qualifying academically. Texas Tech, obviously still can, and the mere fact that Alabama thought that Gladney had value very early is a nice indicator of his potential. I wouldn't expect any news on Gladney qualifying until after summer school.

As you'll note, I've listed Gladney as an athlete as he played both receiver and defensive back in high school. On NSD, OC Neal Brown talked a bit about what he could do on offense and then Tuberville talked about him on defense. And don't chalk this up to confusion on the staff's part, at least that's not what I think, but rather I think that he has that sort of potential to be an impact athlete on either side of the ball.

The Player Speaks

When Gladney committed, per the St. Andrews Patch, he said that he has a chance to qualify:

"Gladney said he expects to be on the field in his first season at Texas Tech.

'I've got a positive chance to qualify and I'm ready to go,' he said. "

Like a lot of kids, he said he expects to be on the field, but there's a long list of players that are in front of him. Gladney also admitted that he knew he has faults:

"I know I'm going to have my downfalls," he said, "but I'm going to play hard on the field and study hard in the classroom."

Scouting Report

Per the LAJ, I thought I'd offer up what OC Neal Brown had to say on NSD:

"He was committed to Alabama through the whole process," Brown said, "versatile athlete, can play either side of the ball. If we get to use him, which hopefully we can, he’s a long kid who plays outside receiver, has got really good ball skills and really good speed for his size. He’s explosive. So a guy that can make a lot of plays in our system."

And also per the LAJ, Tuberville thinks highly of Gladney:

Tuberville called Gladney "an exact replica" of San Francisco 49ers Pro Bowl cornerback Carlos Rogers, whom he coached at Auburn.

"Gladney is one of those same guys," Tuberville said. "He could probably come in tomorrow and be a starter or backup for us at corner with his athletic ability and his height."

I think that Gladney represents really good value (I hate talking about a human being like this, but I'll continue) as he has the same types of measurables as guys like LaDarius Newbold and Thierry Nguema, around 6-1/180 and can run a 4.40 (obviously a fake 40-yard dash time, but that's what's reported). Newbold was considered one of the players that needed to sign with Texas Tech to be considered a successful class and I think it's encouraging that Gladney is a similar player in terms of size and speed. The size and speed combination are not necessarily common qualities for cornerbacks, at least for Texas Tech and as I think back on the current roster, the only cornerback that is over six feet is Tre Porter. Now, there are potentially three cornerbacks with some height. Gladney is a long athlete and he does have a long stride on the video that makes me think that Tuberville's assessment is accurate:

Casey Gladney (via mansfief100)

And when Tuberville says that he can be a starter, I think that Tuberville is saying is that he has the athletic ability to start right now, which I think he does, but I don't think that he probably has the technique to start. Not only that, with a kid that struggles with grades, I've somewhat thought that it might take a bit of time to adjust to the college life and it might be smart to just focus on academics for a while.

Casey, welcome to Texas Tech and Git Your Guns Up!

The 2012 Class

After the jump.

Continue reading this post »

ODDS AND ENDS | Not a lot of content today, although I will finish up with recruiting profiles on ATH Casey Gladney and FB Michal Pearson today and tomorrow with some concluding recruiting thoughts on Wednesday.

LADY RAIDER BASKETBALL | The LAJ's David Just and the DT's Chois Woodman both have articles (beware, the LAJ is auto-play video) and here's head coach Kristy Curry after the win:

"We’re in the Big 12," she said, "and we’ve got to understand that consistency and all the little things — from our free throw shooting tonight to how hard we played on the defensive end, I thought our focus was good. We’ve got to be consistent with our focus. It’s not what’s across the other team’s chest, it’s what’s across ours and how we need to play the game."

TEXAS TECH BASEBALL | LAJ's George Watson profiles OF Barrett Barnes and here's head coach Dan Spencer on Barnes:

"I’m expecting a big year out of Barrett, but I think Barrett just needs to be Barrett Barnes and do his job and not try to do someone else’s job," Spencer said. "He’ll have good players around him. He’s a great player and I expect Barrett to be a great player, and he will have a good year. Whether or not he had a great year, he could, and he’s certainly capable of that, but he doesn’t have to be great. We just need a very good year from him."

TEXAS TECH FOOTBALL | LAJ's Don Williams has an article on James Gray and the difference when he was recruited to Texas Tech and his son's commitment to UT:

"It’s apples to oranges, the way everything is now with Internet and social media," Gray said. "It’s almost to the point where it’s like the NFL draft with kids deciding on ESPN where they go to school."

True, there are more outlets pumping more information on more prospects than ever, but the recruiting process for the two Grays differed in another respect. Whereas James Gray had scholarship offers from two programs — Texas Tech and the University of Texas-Arlington — there might not have been two schools in America that wouldn’t have taken Johnathan. The son rushed for just short of 11,000 yards while setting a national high school record with 205 touchdowns, all while leading Aledo to three state championships in a row.

I thought this was humorous, the Abilene Reporter-News had this on new offensive line coach Chris Thomsen:

Texas Tech could name former Abilene Christian University head coach Chris Thomsen as its offensive line coach today, according to a Red Raiders' website.

Double-T Nation reported Wednesday that sources close to the Tech program confirmed that Thomsen will replace Jim Turner as the Red Raiders offensive line coach.

We are finally in print folks, that's big-time. To be fair, FootballScoop was the site that had the news and I just posted it as a FanShot. I'll still take the free publicity.

Consider this your open thread for the game. For all of your Superbowl XLVI coverage, make sure and check out SB Nation's page:

Super Bowl XLVI Coverage: News And Other Updates Leading Up To Pats-Giants.

This is the last game for a while, so enjoy it and have good and get give.

Date | February 4, 2012
Time | 6:00 pm
Location | Austin, TX
TV | Big 12 Network
Radio | Affiliates

Kevin Wagner (5-8/145) | 2.6 PPG | 1.5 APG
Javarez Willis (5-11/171) | 8.0 PPG | 1.9 APG
Terran Petteway (6-6/182) | 4.4 PPG | 2.1 RPG
Jordan Tolbert (6-7/210) | 11.9 PPG | 6.0 RPG
Robert Lewandowski (6-10/256) | 7.2 PPG | 3.7 RPG

Myck Kabongo (6-1/169) | 9.9 PPG | 5.3 APG
J'Covan Brown (6-1/197) | 19.7 PPG | 3.9 APG
Julien Lewis (6-3/190) | 8.2 PPG | 3.8 RPG
Alexis Wangmene (6-7/241) | 4.5 PPG | 4.5 RPG
Clint Chapman (6-10/245) | 6.9 PPG | 5.6 RPG