Schedule This Week: I worked diligently this weekend to have plenty of content up and running throughout the week. For the first three days of this week, I've got recruiting profiles for OL Le'Raven Clark, DE Kindred Evans and DB Freddie Warner. On Thursday I've got a basketball post scheduled which I am sure that you are making an appointment, and then Friday we have a 2010 opponent prospectus for the Oklahoma St. Cowboys.
Conference Realignment Leftovers: The AAS's Ralph K.M. Haurwitz and Kirk Bohls interviewed UT President William Powers. The whole thing is interesting, obviously from a UT perspective, but explains the "Tech problem' that the Ohio St. folks and Big Ten Commish mentioned:
Powers said he would. Gee then sent an e-mail to Delany telling him that Powers "would welcome a call to discuss, in Gee's words, a "Tech problem." This surfaced later when the Columbus Dispatch obtained a copy of the e-mail through an open records request.
Powers confirmed to the Statesman last week that he spoke with Gee and Delany but said he did not describe the situation as a "problem." He said he simply explained that "we have playing partners in our part of the world that we're committed to," including Tech.
"We love being in with Tech," he said. "It is a plus for us. It's a complexity for the Big Ten. We did not sit down and talk with the Big Ten."
. . . FWST's Jimmy Burch writes that it's just a matter of time before the Big 12 makes more changes . . . the Norman Transcript's John Shinn writes that the deal that saved the Big 12 is deep in inequality . . .
2012 LB David Commits: RRS.com broke the commitment of Rockdale LB Derek David, who is projected to be the #1 defensive recruit in the state of Texas for his class, which is the 2012 class. Lots of folks are speculating that this commitment won't last, and I can certainly understand this sentiment considering that signing day for David is a long ways away (February of 2012). Nevertheless, he did commit and it may be a very soft commit, but there are some things to consider.
First, his teammate and one of David's good friend, OL Le'Raven Clark committed to Texas Tech a couple of weeks ago. I think I've read the part about how Clark and David are good friends in a snippet for a pay article, but I'm guessing that Clark committed and most likely David came along with Clark for an official visit over the weekend. Clark certainly isn't a slouch, and according to Dave Campbell, he's one of the top 25 offensive linemen in the 2011 class. Just because your friend (or brother) commits, it's most likely not going to be what a player will base his final decision, but it's certainly a factor.
Second, I also found it interesting yesterday that Derek's brother, Logan, was the defensive MVP for District 24-3A, while Derek was the newcomer of the year and Clark was named to the first-team on both offense and defense. That article has this paragraph near the beginning:
Despite numerous offers from colleges, David has informed Miller he does not want to play football at the next level. It marks the third time past five years that a Rockdale player has been named the defensive player of the year.
Logan was a fairly highly ranked prospect himself (Rivals, Scout and ESPN - BTW, watch the film on Logan on the ESPN profile), but it seemed odd that Logan wouldn't want to take advantage of someone else toting the bill on your education. Logan was named to second-team All-State for his work at defensive tackle.
After a lengthy Google search, I found that Logan actually did commit to play football, not for a Division I school, but did commit for Blinn College, and apparently they have Logan at offensive line. If nothing else, I found it odd that Logan, despite being such a dominant defensive player apparently switched to the offensive side of the ball and the fact that Logan is headed to a JUCO isn't a surprise. If he knew that he didn't have the grades, then perhaps the best way for college to leave you alone is to let them know that you don't intend on playing after high school. So, Logan switches to the offensive side of the ball, at least temporarily, and what position are the Red Raiders needing some recruiting help over the next couple of years?
This may turn out to be nothing, but it may also end up being some sort of connection that leads David to Texas Tech. It's all speculation at this point, and as Red Raiders know, having your brother play for Texas Tech is not a guarantee that the more talented younger brother will also commit to Texas Tech, but this staff is getting visits from a handful of highly ranked players. More times than not, visits = commitments and getting them to Lubbock is important.