Double-T Nation News:
DTN Appointments: DTN's Basketball Report is going up at 10:00 a.m. while the preview and open game day thread for the Centenary game goes up at 4:00 p.m.
DTN's Top Four:
- Jerry LeVias was the first African-American scholarship player and the second to integrate the old SWC and he's still making a huge difference in young people's lives. This is a great story, but I'd encourage you to learn what kind of person LeVias is and what he had to overcome.
- Big Picture's photos of the year, Part II and Part III. Just amazing.
- ESPN Big 12 blogger Tim Griffin ranks the Big 12 players, Crabtree and Harrell are at the top.
- The Tortilla Retort looks at next year's receivers for Texas Tech.
Texas Tech Football:
It's like Don Williams is reading your minds. In today's edition of the LAJ, Williams focuses on next year's replacement at quarterback and right now junior Taylor Potts is leading the race. Here's Captain Mike Leach on the race right now:
"I think if we were to play today, Potts is ahead of all of them, experience-wise and skill-wise," Tech coach Mike Leach said Monday. "But in the past I’ve had guys go dormant and not make the most of their time and get passed up. I don’t have any idea what’s going to happen."
And Potts feels like he's gotten better between the ears:
"I think I’ve gotten better mentally," he said. "I think I’ve kind of dissected the game a little more and got smarter. I think this offseason will be a good time to work on a lot of physical stuff - a lot of throwing technique, as well as mental stuff. It’s important to build on both, but I think I’ve grown mentally."
And here's Leach on his competition, which includes fellow junior Steven Sheffield, sophomore Stefan Loucks, redshirt freshman Seth Doege and redshirt freshman Garrett Riley:
"But the thing is, in my mind, none of them have really separated themselves," he said. "I don’t think there is a clear leader (after Potts), and about the time I’m ready to write one of them off he outperforms the other guy. I would say there’s some talent there, but right now there’s not consistency."
Doege feels that it's Potts' job to lose:
"I think he’s kind of earned it," Doege said. "He’s going to be the leader of the pack right when the spring starts. Therefore, I think we’ve all got to compete for it. I think it’s going to be very competitive, and I think it’s going to be an exciting spring."
Consider this your open thread for the morning on all things quarterback.
Nice job by The Ralphie Report's irish1611 who compiled the recruiting rankings for the entire conference as of yesterday. You'll note that despite Texas Tech's improvement in recruiting, especially this year, right now Texas Tech is still sitting at 4th in the Big 12 South. I find it amazing that the conference as a whole is doing so well and makes me think that I've got another offseason project.
Texas Tech Basketball:
LAJ's Jeff Walker writes that the Red Raiders are looking for redemption against Centenary. It's a bit dramatic, but remember last year the Gents beat Texas tech 70-66 and Junior Knight says that last year's game hurt the worst:
"Any game like that, when we have a chance to win and you lose it just drives you nuts," Tech head coach Pat Knight said on Monday as the Red Raiders prepare to host the Gents today at United Spirit Arena. "Centenary was one of those games where you have it — and it’s not who you play in a game like that — but you have a chance to win a game on the road. Any chance you’ve got to win a road game … Centenary, we have a chance to win it and we don’t guard their guards and we lose it and that drives you nuts."
PK also notes that they are expecting guard Nick Okorie and forward Michael Prince for the Stanford game, on Sunday:
"I’m not even going to try and play them (against Centenary)," Knight said. "I’m going to try and hold them out for Stanford because we really need them against Stanford. That’s our last chance to get a road win against a big-time quality opponent before conference … and this gives them another week to heal."
John Werner of the Waco Tribune-Herald features Pat Knight as well as some conference rankings.