Not a lot of time this morning.
CONDOLENCES | Thoughts and prayers to Texas A&M offensive lineman Joe Villavisencio, who died in a car accident yesterday. RIP.
RED RAIDER BASKETBALL | I didn't get to watch the game, but it apparently wasn't very pretty or very close as Texas Tech lost to Oral Roberts 72-56 (boxscore and quotes) and the only player that had a good game was PF Jordan Tolbert, who scored 21 and grabbed 9 boards. PG Ty Nurse and SG Toddrick Gotcher didn't play and SF Jaye Crockett played, but apparently he's not playing enough as he played only 7 minutes. LAJ's Nick Kosmider had this bit:
"They just whipped us," Tech coach Billy Gillispie said. "There's no two ways to explain it. ... We didn’t help each other enough, especially defensively. And then to have 16 turnovers in a half, that's not going to cut it."
LADY RAIDER BASKETBALL | LAJ's David Just writes that the Lady Raiders want to keep that underdog mentality, despite being ranked. Head coach Kristy Curry said this:
"We’ve got to make sure we don’t take anything for granted," Curry said. "We have a target on our back and the transition of us learning how to handle that is a lot different than being the underdog. ... We still feel like we’re the underdog and we’ve got to go with the same mentality we’ve had."
TEXAS TECH FOOTBALL | Nothing new to report on the defensive coordinator situation. Maybe there's not a situation at all. I don't know.
In other off-the-field stuff, per LAJ's Don Williams, CB Bruce Jones has committed to Texas Tech and is the fourth player from Riverside C.C. to sign with Texas Tech, the other three being DE Lee Adams, LB Will Smith and WR Sadale Foster. Here's Jones:
"The (Tech) coaches, I liked the feeling they gave me talking to them," said Jones, who will have three years to play two seasons for the Red Raiders. "I didn’t feel like just another player. I felt like I was part of a family.
"My coaches at RCC really knew how to get the best out of me. I think that translates over to these (Tech) coaches."
If you want to get a jump on things, you can check out some video on Hudl of Jones and I think I like what I see. Very athletic cornerback, has good closing speed and plenty of athleticism. In finding the video of Jones on Hudl (Hudl is a recruiting website that hosts player profiles and videos), I also found some very recent film of LB Will Smith and DE Lee Adams. I also updated both of their recruiting profiles. I'll say this, but I'm very encouraged by what Jones, Smith and Adams will hopefully bring to the defensive side of the field. Add FS Austin Stewart and LB Chris Payne, and I could conceivably see four or five new starters on the defense next year.