
I think I like these better divided by a category, so you'll have to indulge me.
FOOTBALL
Twitter / @Neal Brown
Woot! It will be interesting to see the names that trickle in as far as who has made their grades. This applies to just about any team, but obviously most of the news will be focused on the football and men's basketball teams.
Today is the 1st day of summer school and summer workouts for our guys, good to have them back!
Michael Starts Announcement Set For Tomorrow | Recruitocosm and Michael Starts Announcement Thursday - Burnt Orange Nation
I don't keep track of who is thinking about committing as I have a hard enough time to keep track of who has actually committed. With that being said, there was quite a bit of news yesterday as Michael Starts (6-5/285, La Vega, Waco, TX) will announce his commitment today at 10:00 a.m. You can check out Starts' profiles (Rivals, Scout, ESPN & 24/7) and apparently Starts will be attending the Texas Tech camp this weekend in Rockwall, which is just right up the road from where I live, and leads folks to think that Starts will commit to Texas Tech. Starts is an elite athlete and the two links above make it sound as if UT has only offered on the offensive line and that if Starts wants to play defense, he'll commit to Texas Tech, but if its the offense then there are other teams in the mix. This seems like flawed thinking, which is a coach can promise a commitment where he'll play, but I just wonder how much weight that holds as the coach could simply change his mind once the player arrives on campus. I don't know. Anyway, Starts also went to the Ft. Worth Nike camp and ESPN had this to say about Starts (you can see one play with Starts at about the 2:30 mark):
Superstar -- Michael Starts, OT, La Vega (Waco, Texas)
Starts was the only OL in attendance with multiple offers (aside from Texas Commit Curtis Riser, who did not participate), and was very impressive all day. He certainly looks the part, standing 6-foot-4 and weighing a rock solid 281 pounds. Starts was easily the most talented OL in attendance. He’s big, strong and athletic and had great effort through all the SPARQ and position drills. Starts is very raw. He seemed to be learning a lot, which only makes him a more desirable prospect as his potential is through the roof. He looked good during one-on-ones, with an athletic pass set and a solid punch. He also displayed fantastic balance. He was easily the closest to being able to block DL MVP Hassan Ridgeway, and probably would have come home with the MVP award had he taken more reps.
Fingers crossed!
So much more stuff after the jump.
Scout.com: The Elite 18 - No. 15 Mickey Okafor
I think I've missed No. 16, but I'm too lazy to look for it. The more I started thinking about it, I think that K Donnie Carona was the No. 17 elite player, which now doesn't make any sense. He may be the #17 most important player, but he's not the 17th most elite player. Anyway, I do agree that Okafor is an important and elite player for Texas Tech this year and here's what Yeager had to say about Okafor:
He is a solid run-blocking tackle, but pass protection is his specialty. An athletic six-foot-six and 305 pounds, and with a good high school basketball background to boot, Okafor uses his quickness, footwork and wingspan to neutralize speedy pass rushers.
With first-year starter Seth Doege in the saddle at quarterback, veteran offensive linemen, and particularly those who can provide pass protection, will be critical. If Mickey Okafor can turn in a first team All Big 12 performance in 2011, he will be a better friend to Doege than perhaps any receiver on the team.
CBSSports.com College Football 100: 60-51 - CBSSports.com
I just started following the CBS Sports college football and basketball blogs and it's good stuff. Anyway, the college football blog is running down the top 100 most influential players, coaches, administrators, etc. and Texas Tech head coach Tommy Tuberville makes the list at #51 and here's a snippet:
The problem -- as is normally the case in Lubbock -- was a defense that allowed over 30 points a contest. Tuberville got to where he is as a head coach by coaching defense, and as he enters his second season in Lubbock, we should start to see the defense improve. And if that starts to happen, fans may have to adjust to a less active scoreboard, but they may start seeing a lot more wins as well. Tuberville's track record at Texas A&M, Miami, Ole Miss and Auburn shows that Tech is going to be a better team long-term with him at the helm, a difference the Raiders should start seeing in 2011.
BIG 12 MEETINGS (the first handful of links are a hat-tip to Rock M Nation)
Big 12 meets amid much less turmoil than last year | Longhorns | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle and Big 12 meets, absent 2010's turmoil | Tulsa World and Ohio State problems are hot topic at Big 12 meetings and With a half-dozen media members in tow, Big 12 opens expansion-free spring meetings | CollegeFootballTalk and New attitude evident at Big 12 meetings - Big 12 Blog - ESPN and Helping athletes hits snag at Big 12 meetings | Longhorns | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle and Bigger slices of pie for Big 12 teams
I don't know that I have much to add to any of these articles other than just letting you know that the Big 12 Meetings are happening and I was completely unaware of them happening until I saw the links from RMN yesterday morning.
MISCELLANEOUS
Neill, Gibbs Earn Big 12 Postgraduate Scholarships - TEXAS TECH OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE and Big 12 Names Postgraduate Scholarship Recipients - Big 12 Conference - Official Athletic Site
Congrats to footballer David Neill and track and fielder Jessica Gibbs for earning the 2010-11 Dr. Prentice Gautt Postgraduate Scholarships! Awesome work!
Which offensive players can become elite? - NFC West Blog - ESPN
Former Red Raider Michael Crabtree is making news in San Francisco as the players are putting together voluntary workouts (this is happening across the NFL) and there are questions about whether or not he'll show up or even has an invitation to join the group. Odd.
Calvin, Hobbes And Comic Book Biology : Krulwich Wonders… : NPR
For those of you who love/loved Calvin & Hobbes as a kid then you should check this out as someone tried to do Calvin as an adult.
Videos Posted by CBS 3 Springfield: Jun 1, 2011 3:59pm (1)
This is a Facebook link, but there was a tornado in downtown Springfield, Massachusetts and this is footage of a tornado going over a river in Springfield and it's scary to see how that water gets churned by the tornado.
Focus should be on OSU, Big Ten brass, not Pryor - College Football - Rivals.com
Good stuff from Yahoo! Sports Dan Wetzel.
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