I apologize in advance for the montster basketball post that will take up quite a bit of the page most of the day.

DTN's Top Four:

1. Remember the Thayer Evans story re. Jamarcus McFarland and the wild parties at Texas? Not so much.
2. BOTC with more Big 12 Outlook for this week's games.
3. ESPN Big 12 blogger Tim Griffin ranks the Big 12 draft defections.
4. Football Outsiders with the final FEI Rankings and defense wins championships.

Two New Commits

LAJ's Don Williams writes that Texas Tech received two more verbal commitments over the weekend. Killeen Shoemaker's Derrick Mays (5'11"/168) and Dallas Carter quarterback Jarvis Phillips (6'0"/190) bring the current list of commits to 20 and yes, I realize I need to update the left side of the blog.

Here's Mays, who projects to be a receiver, on why the Texas Tech coaches offered him a scholarship:

"They came down before my state track meet and told me about how they needed some speed and all,’’ Mays said. "After the (Cotton Bowl) against Ole Miss, they told me they needed a speed receiver. (The Rebels) were manning them up, and (Tech receivers) couldn’t get off of it. They needed a guy to (run underneath routes), and they thought I was the guy.’’

And Mays' high school coach feels that he's a complete football player:

"He’s real fast,’’ Shoemaker coach Ken Gray said. "He has good hands, though. What separates him from other people is he’s a physical kid. He’s not just a track kid that plays football. He’s a football player. He’s the complete package. He does a great job blocking.’’

Williams notes that Phillips was not available for the story, but has a little more on the Carter signal caller:

Tech also picked up a commitment Sunday from Jarvis Phillips (6-0, 190), who played quarterback for Dallas Carter but will switch positions in college. Phillips led his team to a 12-1 season in 2008, rushing for 884 yards and 10 touchdowns and passing for 904 yards and eight TDs.

If you want to see some video of Phillips then this is the link to click.

Harrell in the Senior Bowl

AL.com's Tommy Hicks writes that Graham Harrell wants to separate himself from his Big 12 rivals in this week's Senior Bowl game. Harrell takes on the "system" stereotype:

Some have suggested Harrell is more a product of Texas Tech's system than a player who makes plays on his own. Others have said having played in the Red Raiders' spread offense, he isn't suited for the pro-style offense he will be asked to direct in the NFL.

"I want to erase those stereotypes," Harrell said. "I want to show that I can take a snap from under center, that I don't have to be in the shotgun, and I want to show that I can be a drop-back passer, that I can throw from the drop."

Junior Knight Not Giving Up

LAJ's Jeff Walker writes that Pat Knight is not giving up and is continuing to work on the fundamentals:

"All we can do is work. I’m not going to quit. We’ve still got 14 more games," Knight said. "We’re going back to square one. … We’ve got to work on everything. If you come by practice, we’re going to work on our stance, help-side (defense), rebounding, everything. From an offensive standpoint, our cutting and moving and screening. We’ve just got a lot of work to do."

And Knight may change up the starting lineup:

"This is the most frustrated I’ve been in basketball, honestly," Knight said. "We’ve just got to figure out a way and the only way I know how is to practice. So, we’ll see what happens."