Texas Tech Wednesday Morning Notes - Thanks For 500,000

500,000 Visitors and Counting

That's right, sometime this afternoon Double-T Nation is going to surpass 500,000 visitors (we passed 1,000,000 page views sometime last month). Thanks to each and every one of you for making DTN your place to talk Texas Tech sports.

Emory Blake Update

Now this is what a blog is for, Don Williams' Raider Rants is helping ease our concerns about Emory Blake's decision about whether to sign with Texas Tech, Colorado and now Auburn and Blake says that initially his only concern was whether Leach was going to stay:

"My only concern that I had is about Coach Leach, but since he’s not going to leave anymore, it’s not a concern."

Blake said he had gotten assurances from Tech’s staff that Leach is going to remain in place, so the fear that Leach will leave Lubbock was less of a concern in his mind. Or, in his words, no longer a concern.

A Second Look at Derrick Mays

A second blog post from Don Williams in Raider Rants where he acknowledges some Red Raider fans head-scratching with the commitment of Killeen Shoemaker receiver/sprinter Derrick Mays, but compares Mays to a number of former Red Raider sprinters who have gone on to great things at Texas Tech:

A lot of Texas Tech followers seemed underwhelmed Sunday when Killeen Shoemaker’s Derrick Mays committed to Tech. Something about him not having enough stars next to his name and not enough schools recruiting him. As for the latter, Darrell Royal’s credited with once saying, Don’t be afraid to recruit a player no one else is. Make your own evaluation and trust your own judgment.

Snip

So the Red Raiders are giving a scholarship to a guy known as much for his impressive background in track as for his football. Which is exactly what they did by signing Carlos Francis in 1998. And Lemuel Stinson in 1984. And Carl Carter in 1982. All were super speed guys. None was a blue-chip football recruit. Carter wound up spending seven years as an NFL cornerback, Stinson five as an NFL cornerback, and Francis is one of four Tech receivers with 3,000-plus yards in career receiving. Carlos had a cup of coffee in the NFL, too.

Graham Harrell and Senior Bowl Updates

DraftGuys have a blurb about quarterback Graham Harrell struggling a bit yesterday in Senior Bowl practices with his out routes and fumbling the ball, but don't entirely blame him:

Graham Harrell (Texas Tech) Graham Harrell struggled with putting zip on his out routes. He fumbled the snap a couple of times, and tripped over a lineman’s legs once. Of course, that was the play where B.J. Raji collapsed the pocket so it’s not entirely his fault.

The San Francisco 49ers have an area scout at the practices, Todd Brunner, and he checks in on Harrell as well:

Graham Harrell, the Texas Tech quarterback, is playing down here as well. I’ve seen him practice twice already and he’s a pro. Coming from that offense that they run, a spread offense, they throw the ball a lot. He’s got some adjustments to make as far as taking a snap from under center. That sounds easy, but when you don’t do it very often, you have to get used to it again. That’s especially important in this game because you’re working with center that you don’t know. Last year Joe Flacco was the same way. Delaware used a shotgun and it took him some time to get used to taking a snap from under center.

Meanwhile, DraftBoardInsider has a complete practice update with along with a mention about Harrell making a nice deep throw:

Texas Tech’s Harrell, by contrast, made a beautiful NFL throw on a deep out to TE John Phillips of Virginia, well-timed and over the outside shoulder, Phillips to his own credit made an excellent catch and run.

SportingNews' Russ Lande says that Harrell's accurate, but lacks zip:

Graham Harrell, QB, Texas Tech. He did not show a strong arm but did throw accurately. His passes lacked zip, but almost all had a tight spiral and were on target. He even hit two nice deep throws with good touch.

Singletary and Texas Tech Defeat the Buffs

LAJ's Jeff Walker, DT's Alex Ybarra and the AP story from the DMN all look back at last night's 63-55 win over the Colorado Buffaloes. Sophomore forward Mike Singletary was the hero of last night's game:

"Pat's been talking to me since day one," Singletary said. "Telling me that I gotta play better. I just gotta voice because that's what I do. I'm an energetic guy. He feels like I could be the leader of this team and I could be the voice of this team. I take that personal."

And Junior Knight seems pleased with Singletary's work last night:

"I think he (played his game) tonight," Knight said. "He's very good at driving the ball. He's good at mid-range. He hit some pull-up shots in the paint.

"I told him, 'You work on the outside shot, the three in practice, then when you come in and prove you can do it. Then you start doing it in a game. You just gotta do the things you can do.'"