Texas Tech Tuesday Morning Notes - Hays Retirement Edition

by Seth C on Jun 3, 2008 6:07 AM CDT

Double-T Nation News:

In no particular order, DTN's Top Seven:

The Double-A Zone has a nice primer on understanding athletic scholarships.
A monster Fulmer Cup update, thanks to the folks at Sports Argument Wiki.
JQ at Rock Chalk Talk breaks down the Big 12 in the NCAA Baseball Tournament.
SMQ takes a look at Texas Tech opponent, SMU uber coach, June Jones.
I don't ever remember getting up this high while doing the long jump.
Barking Carnival with Part I and Part II of College Football Recruiting Cheating.
Statistically Speaking asks whether or not Sam Bradford's incredible freshman season can be replicated his sophomore year

Texas Tech Football:

The Coach's Hot Seat is a wonderful website and they're predicing a pretty nice year for Captain Leach. In fact, CHS is predicting a 10-2 record for the Captain and Texas Tech. Good stuff.

NFL Draft guru Gil Brandt takes a look at the top 64 players in the 2009 NFL Draft and you very own Graham Harrell made the list:

Graham Harrell, Texas Tech (6-2 ½, 205): Has 14 career 400-yard games; passed for 646 yards in a game against Oklahoma State last season.

Harrell was one of only 5 quarterbacks listed, although I'm just not very impressed with the list, which includes Chase Daniel, Curtis Painter, Pat White and John Parker Wilson. Do any of those guys really excite you?

Texas Tech Baseball:

via grfx.cstv.com

LAJ's George Watson gives an excellent recap of yesterday's press conference of the Hays retirement and Hays talks about improving the baseball facilities even more:

That energy will now be put into securing the funding to renovate an aging Dan Law Field. Hays still has a year left on his contract and will serve in the Tech athletic department for an additional three years after that in an effort to bring Tech's home up to the standards set by most other programs in the Big 12 Conference.

"My goal is for us to do what we did one day here in Lubbock when we said we needed a basketball arena, and what happened?" Hays said in reference to United Spirit Arena, which opened in 1999. "United Supermarkets stepped up and we got it done because we made the decision we wanted a basketball arena we could be proud of. Lubbock can do it and Texas Tech can do it because we made the decision to do it. I'd like to see us make that same decision to go out here and have a baseball stadium. My goal is to see if we can get something done."

Watson also talks with a number of former players and coaches under Hays and thought this exchange with current Oklahoma State coach, Frank Anderson, was telling:

No head coach in the conference - perhaps in the country - had closer ties to Hays than former Tech assistant and current Oklahoma State head coach Frank Anderson, who led his Cowboys to a second-place finish in the Big 12 this year. Anderson said Hays' lessons went far beyond the field.

"I really don't know what to say," Anderson said. "I look up to him so much not just from a baseball side but for what he did for me and my family, and the example he set for me and my family. I just hate that I'm not going to have that contact with him (on the field). He's not only a great baseball person but it extends beyond that."

Anderson cited the example of how Hays prioritized his life, putting family first and baseball farther down the line. Anderson recalls when he first started how Hays would devote time each week specifically for each of his five children and never deviated from that.

"I was so wanting to be a baseball coach and have success, and sometimes maybe that comes at the expense of your family," Anderson said. "I always thought that he showed me (family) was the most important thing."

Fox34 has a story on Hays' retirement, this would be a good place to start if you don't want to watch the full press conference, as well as a look at Hays by the numbers.

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Big 12 Conference Preview

Following up on the Coaches’ Hot Seat predictions, The Rivalry Esq. just posted a Big 12 Conference preview. See what you think about where they put Tech.

http://therivalryesq.blogspot.com/

by FranzJM on Jun 3, 2008 9:30 AM CDT reply actions

Another Draft preview that doesn’t account for underclassmen.

I haven’t seen a single pass that Painter has thrown, but given the type of hype around him, I’m guessing that he’ll be this year’s Matt Ryan: overrated quarterback with mediocre stats that, for whatever reason, all the talking heads fall in love with. I could be wrong, though.

After all is said and done, more is said than done.

by ayleein on Jun 3, 2008 11:41 AM CDT reply actions