[Update]: What was already a fantastic recruiting day just got a whole lot better with the announcement from Cory Joseph. Texas regained some momentum in basketball recruiting and solidified the lead guard position until the arrival of Myck Kabongo. The three lifelong friends Cory Joseph, Kabongo, and 2010 commit Tristan Thompson will play basketball in college much like they have throughout their lives -- together. --GoBR--

It is official.  Jason Suchomel has confirmed it over on OB ($)

This is great news for the horns. Popular belief is that Avery Bradley is going to officially make the jump. This news makes that loss a little easier to take. A long with that it seems that Texas would get one or the other. Joseph is more of the prototypical point guard and seems to be the perfect fit for the Texas screen offense.

Will keep this updated as more info comes in.

Sheldon McClellan a 6'5" Guard out of Houston Bellaire became the third member of the 2011 Texas basketball recruiting class($).

"The first two visits, I went to the A&M and OU games. I liked it but didn't really tour the school", McClellan said. "The third one (this weekend) really caught my eyes. It felt like home. My mom liked the whole process, academic side and everything. we were ready to make a decision."

Oklahoma, North Carolina, Texas A&M, Baylor, UCLA, Oklahoma State, Southern Cal, Penn State and New Mexico were among the programs that were showing early interest. McClellan, who works out with John Lucas in Houston, said the time spent with the Texas players on his most recent visit was a big factor in his decision.

 

The talented guard said he has no plans to check out other programs, and he's relieved to have the decision out of the way. Bellaire head coach Bruce Glover said "McClellan potential and overall feel for the game separate him from most other players every time he takes the floor."

Guy looks like he has a lot of upside, great pick up for the horns!

Looks like Rick Barnes took a tour of UVA late Tuesday night

Not sure what to make of this becuase it is a Blog and you can never trust 100% what people say (No offense meant towards BON).

I can confirm absolutely that yes, a coach did get a tour of the John Paul Jones Arena late Tuesday night.  And by late-night, I mean, clandestine, no-witnesses LATE night.  I’ve also been told by more than one airtight source that the coach who toured JPJ is the one who has a UVa offer in hand—apparently it’s well known within the UVa basketball "family" that there is an offer already on the table.

 

My guess right now: I think whoever it was that toured JPJ on Tuesday (and I can absolutely, 100-percent guarantee it was a coaching candidate) will be the next UVa head men’s basketball coach by the beginning of next week.

The name I was given last night, by the way, that I alluded to on this site, was Rick Barnes.  That name has been floated now by two of my best-placed UVa sources, though neither actually saw him, nor can they confirm that for sure.

I would not be able to understand why Barnes would turn down Kentucky last season and then accept a coaching job at UVA. UVA does offer some things Texas does not.

• Fan Support, lets face it Texas will always be a football school. Maybe Barnes thinks he has done as much as he possibly can at Texas.
  
• ACC Country, basketball is just different the further you go east. This all goes back to being in Texas where football is king.

I would like think that the Pros of Texas out way the cons.

• Money, Barnes or Texas will never have to worry about this.
• Facilities, the Erwin Center may not be the best place for basketball but you will only have the best facilities at Texas.
• Austin, Barnes is an Austin type of guy, enjoys riding his bike and seems to be a pretty laid back guy.
• Football school, there is always a positive on the other side. Sure there is pressure to win but it seems that the fan base is satisfied with sweet 16s and close losses to Duke in the tourney. There will always be those who are disappointed but for the most part the Fans were not really too upset about this last loss.

Bumped. --PB--

Very unfortunate news ($). I hope this does not affect his commitment to Texas in anyway.

"He was kicked off the team for public insubordination," Coach Hurley told Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.

"That's the state of basketball. The kid came here as an unknown kid with potential and as an intelligent kid who is very likable. The problem in our sport now is that as kids get better and as their ranking rises, the people around these kids ruin them."

"After the incident last night, Coach Hurley felt that Tristan publicly disrespected him, and Tristan felt that Coach Hurley publicly disrespected him."

Russell reaffirmed Thompson's commitment to Texas, and said the junior prospect will finish the year at St. Benedict's and then find a new school for next year.

Jarvis Jones and Dre Kirkpatrick are set to make their picks on national signing day. 

Jarvis Jones, listed as a weakside DE on rivals will hold his press conference at 1:30 eastern time Wednesday Feb 4th. Jones will more than likely play outside linebacker if he choice Texas. Although Texas has missed out on a lot of the out of state recruits in the past, I have been hearing Texas or USC. ( I really don't have any insider information, just what I have read over at Rivals.) Florida was the early favorite, but Jarvis' Mom really likes the longhorns and feels comfortable sending him here.

Dre Kirkpatrick , a 6'3" 180 lbs cornerback is set to announce at 3 pm eastern time. I will be very suprised if Dre goes anywhere but Alabama but Texas made a big impression on him when he took his official visit a couple weeks ago.

I am not sure if any of these will be telivised, and both will announce from their respective High schools. A full list of the remaining 4 and 5 star players can be found here along with their announcement times.  

Via Scout.com

I thought this was a little more important then just a fan shot so I posted it here.

This comes a day after  UT assistants Will Muschamp, Bobby Kennedy and Oscar Giles took a visit to Pheonix. USC had sent their new DC and D-line coach to visit him earlier in the week as well. Cal is the other team in the running but are believed to be out of the race.

“I’m not rushing myself at all. I haven’t through all of this. But I’m ready to know,” he said.

Kennard maintained it’s still a three-team race between Texas, USC and Cal.

The five-star defender and his family will discuss his options again this weekend, as they’ve done over the past few months. According to Kennard’s brother, Derek, it’s an extremely difficult decision for Devon because he knows he can’t go wrong with any of his three finalists.

Devon Kennard the 6th rated prospect on Rivals.com and the number 1 overall DE prospect took this weekend to visit Texas. This was his third "Official Visit" along with visits to USC and Cal. It is thought to be a two team race between Texas and USC with the Trojans having a slight lead.

Kennard and his Brother also attended the UTEP game early in the season but were not able to talk to any of the coaches.

Devon was "chaperoned" by Brian Orakpo, Blain Irby, Chris Ogbonnaya, and Lamaar Houston. Evidently Kennard is pretty good friends with Irby and it is pretty obvious why Mack and Co. designated Orapko to the hanging out privileges.

"I talked to him a lot. We have some things in common," Kennard said. "We were just talking about things in general, where I want to take this. He's where I want to be in a few years. That alone, I look up to the guy. He's done what I hope to do at the next level."

Kennard said he will now sit back and look at the pros and cons of both USC and Texas.

"I'll be comparing things, positives and negatives, what I do and don't like about each environment," Kennard said. "I'll look at all the things that are important to me. I want to look at things as many ways as I can. It's a big decision for me. There's not really a wrong answer. USC and Texas are the same in so many ways. I need to see which way is going to be better for me, which will help me be the best player I can be and prepare me for my future."

Kennard may still take a visit to Arizona St. or UCLA before this is all said and done, but I fully expect him to make a choice between USC and Texas.

The Full article can be found here($)

#10 Rated Duncanville are playing in an interstate Matchup with #6 Lincoln, NY.

Duncanville has 4 D-1 Commits

Shawn Williams Texas

Roger Franklin- Oklahoma St

Reger Dowell- Oklahoma St.

Perry Jones- Baylor

Shawn Williams is known for his outside shooting ability. He should be able to step right in and replace AJ at the two gaurd, with his size, 6'7", he will be able to shoot over the top of anyone. Williams was the first Commit of the 2009 class along with Avery Bradley and Jordan Hamilton

The future of the Big 12 will be on display tonight.

Everything i have been hearing so far is will Texas be motivated for this game? Will they be able to get up and play after the disappointing results in the BCS. I personally find this questions absurd. Why you ask? Here are a couple reasons:

1. AP National Title.

Although it may be a long shot, if Texas comes out and dominates this game they have a chance. The media keeps saying "Texas should go over OU", just so happens those are the same people that vote for the AP.

2. This may not be motivation but this seems like "perfect match up to me".

OSU likes to pound it out on the ground. Texas has had some struggles stopping the passing game and everyone knows we have a young secondary. I expect prior to have similar game passing as Robert Griffin did. I know the players around him are 10 times better. But he has not been very effective passing the ball this year.

And the Texas D-line is one of the best in the country and should not have a problem stopping a one dimensional team. Our defensive scheme will be a lot better then it was against Oklahoma St., this brings me to my next and strongest point.

3.  Will Muschamp.

There is no way you can tell me that "Coach Boom" will not have these players ready to play and beat this team. I think the reason Texas has been so great this season is because the attitude he brings to this team.  And I Expect nothing less on Jan. 5th.

I'm pretty excited about this game and I think it is a great opportunity to show everyone in the country why Texas should have been in the National Title game.

Hook 'em!