Odds and Ends
Tier One Bill Chubbing Along
I haven't changed the title to this article one bit "Tech's tier-one bill not killed by chubbing". In other words, Texas Tech's Tier One bill is still alive and FYI, "chubbing" which is not what you think, is excessive talking that some lawmakers used to kill the voter ID bill. Lubbock senator Robert Duncan is confident the bill will pass:
"Hope is still alive," Duncan said. "There is still a lot of parliamentary work but House Bill 51 is in pretty good and I am very confident that it'll pass as we sent it out from the Senate."
Pretty cool story about Kevin Laue, Manhattan College's one-armed basketball player. Good sports stories make me happy.
Bring On The Cats is outraged at the three-way tiebreaker with last weekend's Big 12 baseball tournament. Genius.
Texas Tech Football
Stefan Loucks Leaves Program
Tech Talks's Chris Level and Robert Giovenetti broke the news that RS freshman QB Stefan Loucks has decided to leave the program (hat-tip to TT4EVER). You always hate it when a player leaves, but Loucks saw the writing on the wall and that Seth Doege had passed him on the depth chart and I'll always side with the player that simply wants to play football and not sit on the sideline. I hope Loucks finds playing time somewhere.
Big 12 Revenue Sharing
ESPN Big 12 blogger Tim Griffin breaks down how each team fared in the revenue sharing for each team. Here's the breakdown:
1. Texas: $10.2 million
2. Oklahoma: $9.8 million
3. Kansas: $9.24 million
4. Texas A&M: $9.22 million
5. Nebraska: $9.1 million
6. Missouri: $8.4 million
7. Texas Tech: $8.23 million
8. Kansas State: $8.21 million
9. Oklahoma State: $8.1 million
10. Colorado: $8.0 million
11. Iowa State: $7.4 million
12. Baylor: $7.1 million
And keep in mind that this is how the money is divided:
The Big 12 schools divvy up all money equally except that which is generated from television.Half of the TV money is divided evenly. The other half goes into an appearance pool. The schools that earn the most money are the ones who appear for football TV games and basketball nonconference games. Credits also are issued for NCAA tournament appearances.
Terry McDaniel #23
RRS.com's Aaron Dickens is ranking the top 25 Red Raiders and as mentioned in yesterday's Diatribe, DTN favorite and redshirt freshman LT Terry McDaniel checks in at #23:
HE IS RANKED TOO HIGH BECAUSE...: It is possible that Chris Olson, not McDaniel, will start at left tackle. Though McDaniel did run with the first-team offense for much of the spring, his relative inexperience was evident at times. There were times during simulated scrimmage periods where he struggled against the Red Raiders' pass rush.
I too am a little worried as to whether or not McDaniel is going to be able to step-in immediately, especially at left tackle. There's no doubt that he has the physical talent to do it, but that it may be a technique thing with McDaniel. I've got high hopes.
Texas Tech Basketball
Recruiting News
ESPN's Reggie Rankin takes a look at the Big 12 recruiting classes (hat-tip to DTN reader Phil for emailing the link). As you would expect, Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma are at the top of the class, but incoming freshman guard Aaron-Mike Davis was the sleeper recruit for the entire Big 12:
Sleeper recruit: Aaron-Mike Davis
Davis (Houston/Wheatley) is a 6-2 shooting guard who is strong and physical. He should adjust to the college game and Tech's system rather quickly because he plays with urgency on both ends of the floor. He can get to the rim and finish through contact or slide to the open area and knock down the open 3; he's best from the deep corners. He is a good ball handler and passer with the ability to help at the point. Defensively, Davis applies great ball pressure and has a good basketball IQ.
Cheating and Winning
The story broke last night that the NCAA alleges that Memphis had some serious violations, which in turns implicates Kentucky's new head coach John Calipari. I've asked this before and I'll ask this again (perhaps I need to do this in its own post), which is how far are you willing to go with a head coach that cheats or has cheated before or has been implicated in cheating versus a coach or staff who has never had their names so much as even mentioned with words "NCAA violations"? Say what you will about Pat Knight or Bobby Knight, but they have never cheated. I'm always curious as to how much that means to you.