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Spears a Sportsperson of the Year Nominee. Congrats to G Minta Spears for be nominated as a 2013-14 female sportsperson of the year for the Big 12 Conference!
Bussey Offered. I don't normally do notes about players that are offered, but this was a bit different (and I'm am stealing Mike's bit a bit) which is that New Orleans RB Kendall Bussey was offered by Texas Tech yesterday. Bussey is a Nebraska commit. This is really only news coming off of the heels of some being a bit worried about the coaching staff and if they would be waiting on Corey Dauphine to make a decision or go find some more running backs. I think you have your answer.
Dusek Ready to Play. Quick little story about freshman LHP Dylan Dusek, who was told to be ready to play as a true freshman when he signed with Texas Tech:
"One of the main things coach told me when he recruited me was to be ready because we were going to be in the College World Series," Dusek said. "Once we got into the NCAA Tournament he said all we needed was five wins to get to the big show. It became a reality to us."
Relentless. I feel like a lot of this stuff we've reviewed after the end of the season, but here it is again. Lots of quotes from QB Davis Webb about not starting when he arrived at Texas Tech to playing the bowl game. You've read a lot of these quotes, but if you've been in a cave, here you go:
Kingsbury was asked to describe Webb in just one word, and used one that almost everyone around the Quarterback would agree with: "Relentless". With one season under his belt, Webb has undoubtedly changed for the better since last spring.
"It's night and day," Webb said. "I'm a more vocal leader, I'm stronger, and I feel like it's my team. I feel like I have the tools to help this team win the Big 12."
Players at Ronald McDonald Charities. A group of players and two coaches, Kevin Curtis and Mike Smith, went to visit some sick kiddos at the Ronald McDonald house in Lubbock.
Big 12 Things. Some of you have mentioned the sad situation regarding Baylor C Isaiah Austin, who was diagnosed with Marfan Syndrome just a few days ago, which is leading up to the NBA Draft tomorrow. Again, I like to avoid sad stories if I can, and I do hope Austin the best. It's heart-breaking to be told that you can't do what you've trained your whole life to do and Austin seems like a good guy. One thing I wondered about is if he took out an insurance policy and this appears to be the case, so that is some silver lining in a sad situation. In other Big 12 news, West Virginia head coach Dana Holgorsen named Clint Trickett as the starting quarterback heading into the season against Alabama.
More on Kravic Receiving Invite for Serbian National Team. Last week, we dropped the note that Texas Tech's Dejan Kravic will receive an invite to play for the Serbian National Team, and the LAJ is following up with another article, where Kravic drops this nugget about the team two years ago:
"Coach (Tubby) Smith helped me out a lot after the season ended," Kravic said. "He told me if I ever need anything to let him know. He helped me a lot and taught me how to play the game a lot smarter. My junior season, the team was all over the place. It was more about individuals than the team. With Coach Smith, we learned how to play as a team."
Taylor's Pro Career. We haven't really read anything about assistant coach Vince Taylor, other than him being named the Coppin State head coach by some folks in the media only to have that recanted a few days later, and the LAJ talks with Taylor about his professional basketball career:
"You've got to have a burning desire to be a professional player," Taylor said. "You have to believe in yourself because there are going to be people telling you that you can't. You have to be strong mentally where you can say ‘Yes I can and I will do that.'"
