ODDS AND ENDS | Animated GIF's for January!!

CONFERENCE REALIGNMENT | Good friends at Big East Coast Bias note that West Virginia and the Big East have reached a conditional settlement:

According to Mike Casazza and Jared Hunt of the Charleston (WV) Daily Mail, the Big East and West Virginia have reached a conditional settlement that would end their competing lawsuits and send West Virginia to the Big 12 in 2012. The settlement is for a total of $20 million, with West Virginia paying $11 million and the Big 12 Conference paying the other $9 million.

The deal, however, is no longer dependent upon Boise State being able to leave the Mountain West Conference and play football in the Big East as West Virginia's replacement in 2012. According to Casazza and Hunt, the Big East will still try and possibly take Boise State in 2012, but either way will take the $20 million and use it however it sees fit. Apparently, prior to this agreement, the Big East was unwilling to settle without a replacement, but now is willing to settle and take the payout from West Virginia without necessarily having a 2012 replacement in hand.

In other conference realignment news, NewsOK's Berry Tramel answers a bunch of Big 12 expansion questions, including a lot of thoughts on BYU.

RED RAIDER SOFTBALL | The Red Raiders beat San Diego St. 5-4 yesterday. Congrats!

RED RAIDER BASKETBALL | I'm not going to get a chance to preview tomorrow's game against Oklahoma today, but I'll have something up tomorrow. The game is in Lubbock and tip-off is at 7:00 pm. LAJ's Nick Kosmider writes about all of the problem numbers for Texas Tech and David Just also has some Lady Raider stuff. The Lady Raiders take on Iowa St. on Sunday, also in Lubbock, and the game will be on ESPN2.

TEXAS TECH BASEBALL | Baseball America has come out with their Big 12 preview and is picking Texas Tech to finish 7th. CF Barrett Barnes is listed as having the best raw power in the Big 12 and Jamodrick McGruder is the best base runner. Like it does every year, this team is going to make the NCAA Tournament as long as the pitching comes through.

Yesterday I didn't realize that Mike Graham's DMN story about DH Scott LeJeune and his anxiety disorder that kept him out all of last year was free on RRS.com and there's a lot more there at RRS.com, so go check it out. Also, LAJ's George Watson (beware video auto play) has a bit on yesterday's ribbon cutting ceremony at the newly renovated Rip Griffin Park. Head coach Dan Spencer seems incredibly happy:

"You see it going up and you don’t know if they’re every going to get to a point of it being built," Tech head coach Dan Spencer said. "But it’s built and we’re a week away from getting to play in it and it’s very emotional. The things it’s done for this year’s club and for future clubs is huge, there’s no other way to describe it. It’s big, and we’re extremely grateful and excited."

TEXAS TECH FOOTBALL | I don't really know if it's news that the football schedule will come out today, but when AD Kirby Hocutt spoke at yesterday's ribbon cutting ceremony, again, per LAJ's George Watson, he said that the football schedule would come out today:

"It’s time for the schedule to come out," Hocutt said Thursday, "but at the same time, even up until 7:30 (Wednesday) night we were having conversations about various adjustments within the schedule. It is going to come out (today) and I’m pleased with the end result. I think it will be one of the best home schedules we’ve possibly had in program history, or at least in quite some time. Unfortunately, given the circumstances we’ve faced, it’s a lot later than anyone wanted. But it will come out (today) and I think we’ll be pleased with the end results."

Good enough.

In searching through Twitter this morning, I ran across some things about some current students, most likely as walk-ons, making the football team. The ones I ran across were Miakel Williams who is from El Paso, apparently initially went to Air Force, played RB/DB/ST and I guess now is at Texas Tech (YouTube), and Xavier Henry who is from Snyder and played receiver (YouTube).

LAJ's Don Williams writes that OC Neal Brown wants players like Bradley Marquez, Javares McRoy and Sadale Foster to be a hybrid player:

"We want to create kind of a hybrid position," Tech offensive coordinator Neal Brown said. "How Oregon used De’Anthony Thomas this year, we think Javares and Bradley, maybe SaDale, could kind of be an inside receiver, slash running back."

OC Brown also talked about RB Kenny Williams and RB Ronnie Daniels:

"I really think Kenny Williams will be one of our most improved players in the spring," Brown said. "I thought he showed some good signs in the Missouri and Baylor games. Ronnie has been great in our winter workouts so far. Coming off the suspension, he came back in great shape. He’s a guy that can really help us at that spot."

And OC Brown also had some telling things about RB Ben McRoy:

"We’d like to use his speed (at running back)," Brown said, "but he’s got to improve. He’s got to eliminate mental mistakes and get his run reads and be more disciplined overall."

Last, but not least, OC Brown said that RB Eric Stephens and RB DeAndre Washington could redshirt next year, if necessary. I'm okay with that.

This is most likely the last 2012 Texas Tech football recruiting post. The rest of the winter and summer months will focus on spring practice, which will start later this month and the Red vs. Black Spring Game. I haven't mentioned each and every player, but I've done that in each profile that I've done. You can find the 2012 football recruiting page here and keep in mind that DTN has a section that was solely devoted to the 2012 class.

Handling It the Right Way

It's always nice when players don't flip on National Signing Day and for Texas Tech, they had a pleasant surprise in ATH Casey Gladney flipping from Alabama to Texas Tech, but I very much preferred the way that things happened at Texas Tech for the most part. Texas Tech did lose three commits, but it happened earlier in the year and there were concerns as to whether or not this would cause the class to fall apart. Halapoulivaati Vaitai flipped to TCU, Christian Okafor flipped to California and Marcus Johnson flipped to Texas, but it all happened in December and I'm thankful that it happened this way.

I appreciate the fact that these players decided what was best for them, even if it wasn't with Texas Tech, well before National Signing Day. It allows the staff to use that scholarship on another player and it also allows the staff to not just hand out a scholarship on NSD when a player flips at the last minute. It allows all parties to recover. It also means that Okafor, Vaitai and Johnson weren't about creating some sort of NSD drama and I appreciate that they were mature enough to give the staff notice of their de-commitment.

This is the way it should be and NSD shouldn't be full of drama.

Size at Cornerback

I mentioned this in Casey Gladney's recruiting profile, which is the thought that I like having 6-1/180 sized cornerbacks with the speed combination as there weren't really any of those types of cornerbacks on the roster. Tre' Porter is the only cornerback currently on the roster over 6-0 and that's not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, if you take a look at the two JUCO cornerbacks, they're both under 6-0 and they're going to be expected to play right now. Olaoluwa Falemi is 5-11 and Bruce Jones is 5-9, but at the very least they have experience on their side. With Thierry Nguema (6-0/175), La'Darius Newbold (6-1/180) and most likely Casey Gladney (6-1/180) you have three good-sized cornerbacks that should help in going against some of the bigger receivers in the conference.

I was actually concerned prior to signing day about the overall lack of depth at defensive back considering how much this team struggled defending the pass and now there are some options. I'm not necessarily expecting Nguema, Newbold or Gladney to start or even play this year and Tuberville commented about Gladney that he has the measurables to play immediately and I think that's true of Newbold and Nguema. They all probably lack a bit of technique to play right away, which is why the staff signed Jones and Falemi. They're the ones that are most likely going to get immediate playing time.

I'd also add that I thought that the defensive back situation was fairly loaded and there were a lot of returning players that we haven't even see the field. I think I really liked what I saw with Cornelius Douglas and Happiness Osunde, but just about everyone else struggled, including Porter, who seemed disinterested more times than not. Cornerback is a position of need.

Shoring Up At Least One Linebacker

Another dismal part of the 2011 defense was the linebackers. There were bright spots as Sam Eugovoen and Blake Dees both saw time last year, but they were true freshmen and I think they were overwhelmed. With a year of conditioning, I think that will help tremendously, but they weren't ready. It didn't help that the defensive line wasn't taking care of their job, but either way, Dees and Eugovoen weren't ready. Cqulin Hubert and Daniel Cobb were incredibly hit or miss. There was little consistency to what they offered on the field.

With a guy like Will Smith I think Texas Tech is getting a three-down linebacker, a guy that shouldn't have to come off the field. Smith was part of an excellent linebacker trio (one linebacker signed with Nebraska and the other signed with Baylor) in the JUCO ranks, but he offers good size and good speed according to his film.

Chris Payne offers a hybrid type of player, but that was understandable considering his size. Payne is obviously undersized, but he produces and I think it's a tough thing to say that a player has a certain intangible, but this is a situation where Payne did produce on the JUCO level and he excelled. I don't know that Payne starts, but he'll play because I think he'll be needed for third downs because he offers some range, size and speed that I don't think that other players on this team offers.

So much more after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

ODDS AND ENDS | SB Nation had a bad morning yesterday morning and as you'll note, the FanPosts still aren't there (they're supposed to be restored shortly). You can still find FanPosts here, but they're just not on the front page right now.

LAJ's David Just has a good article on Marsha Sharp and her new role with the athletic department, who was named associate athletic director in charge of professional development and community engagement by Kirby Hocutt and I am very thankful that she is more involved in the athletic department. Here's Hocutt:

"I see her affection and I see her commitment to not only our university but to our regents and to our city," Hocutt said. "And I see someone who has built tremendous relationships and someone who has demonstrated that you can win at the highest level at Texas Tech. She has committed her entire career to Texas Tech University and to West Texas."

CONFERENCE REALIGNMENT | CBS Sports Brett McMurphy reports that West Virginia and the Big East are close to a settlement and a buyout of $20 million, but that's contingent upon WVU finding a 7th football team. No problem . . . in other conference realignment news, Mountain West Connection notes that the MWC and Conference USA will merge going forward. Next year, what will have the better football conference, the merged C-USA/MWC or the Big East?

RED RAIDER SOFTBALL | The LAJ (beware auto-play video) and the DT preview the softball team. Because I hate auto-play videos, here's a bit from the DT:

A big reason for the Big 12’s recent success is the stellar pitching it brings. The conference features three pitchers who were on the 2011 USA Softball Women’s National team, and another who was on the 2010 USA National Futures Team.

"You better have some good arms that can keep you close in the games and put some zeros up," coach Hays said. "Not only do these teams in the Big 12 have great pitching staffs, they have great lineups as well. I think the Big 12 is the big conference in the country this year and our pitching proves that."

Opposing batters going against the Red Raiders will face returning starters Kelsey Dennis and Brittany Talley. The two left-handed pitchers tallied a combined record of 27-12 and a 2.81 ERA.

RED RAIDER BASEBALL | DMN's Mike Graham has a bit on DH Scott LeJeune. LeJeune missed all of last year for "personal reasons" and now LeJeune is back and says that the reason he missed last year was because he has general anxiety disorder. Glad that he's back and hope he has his life back.

TTURed has some more detailed photos of the Rip Griffin Park renovation. Excellent as always . . . the official site notes that three Red Raiders were named All-Big 12 by Perfect Game, CF Barrett Barnes, 2B Jamodrick McGruder and UTIL David Paiz. Congrats to the three of them! . . . the official site has your 2012 media supplement.

TEXAS TECH BASKETBALL | LAJ's Nick Kosmider writes about the injury situation and I am waiting for someone to blame the strength and conditioning coach. Right now, Toddrick Gotcher and Kevin Wagner are out for the year and Javarez Willis could all be out on Saturday. Gotcher has been out for quite some time, but losing Wagner hurts right now. Here's head coach Billy Gillispie:

"The best way to beat pressure defense is by penetration, and we definitely weren’t able to get around their guards," Tech coach Billy Gillispie said. "Wagner was able to get around them the first time we played, and he’s out with an injury. Then (Willis) going down early, he’s a guy that can usually get into the gaps a little bit, so that definitely hurt us. But we still can’t turn the ball over like that like we did.

"We have to do a better job of screening for each other and passing the ball. We had some opportunities for high-low (passes) and we threw the ball out of bounds. When we did get opportunites, we didn’t finish plays close to the basket."

TEXAS TECH FOOTBALL | Another preferred walk-on! Per the Abilene Reporter's Marc David, Cisco College RB Jamal Nero will be a preferred walk-on at Texas Tech (Rivals | Scout | YouTube | Hudl). For last year, Nero had 680 rushing yards on 146 carries for a 4.65 average and 5 touchdowns to lead Cisco. JCFootball.com had an update on Cisco players in December and had this on Nero:

RB Jamal Nero - "Through five games when he was a freshman back in 2010, he was leading the nation in rushing, but then he injured his knee and he was out for the rest of the year. He still had a great year, but there were times when you could see he wasn't fully back to 100% health and that is probably why some teams haven't offered him yet. I know that the Texas Tech coaches have talked to him and there are a few other schools looking at him, but he can move on right now and we want to find him a place where he can help someone out right away."

LAJ's Don Williams has your updated spring depth chart for the receivers. I'll make you go to the LAJ for the full depth chart, but here is offensive coordinator Neal Brown on IR Javarez McRoy:

"Javares has great straight-line speed," Brown said, "but his best attribute is his ability to make people miss in open space. He’s a dynamic guy, probably unlike any inside receiver we’ve had since I’ve been here. He’ll stick his foot in the ground, make the first defender miss and he’s really versatile in that he can play receiver and also go in the backfield."

And OC Brown on IR Tyson Williams:

"He was very productive at WT, and he gives us a confidence at that position, a little bit of bravado," Brown said. "He’s a talented kid and he’s hungry to show he can compete and produce at the highest level. ... He’s a tough, physical guy."

And WR Javon Bell:

"We want Javon to push for that starting spot," Brown said. "We thought he was the best junior college receiver last year, a kid we recruited for about a year and a half. He averaged 26 yards per catch in a fast JC league. I fully expect him to compete for immediate playing time. He’ll push Darrin Moore."

Go Lady Raiders!!!

RAIDER !!!! POWER!!!!

Game: Lady Raiders vs. Oklahoma State Cowgirls

Date: Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Time: 7:00pm CST

Location: Stillwater,OK at the USA

Gametracker: www.texastech.com/gametracker and www.okstate.com/gametracker

Radio: Texas Tech Sports Network - 97.3 FM (Lubbock) and KGFY 105.5 FM (Stillwater, OK)