Basketball
UPI Photo, Aaron M. Sprecher.
Rumors all around. The University of Kentucky fired head coach Billy Gillispie and several names keep coming up in the job search. One of those is Rick Barnes.
Rick Barnes - The Texas coach was one of the top choices last time around, maybe he's changed his mind and realized that basketball will always be No. 3 (behind fall football and spring football) in Austin.
Mike DeCourcey, Sporting News, summed up the job at Texas pretty well:
Rick Barnes, Texas. He's got the best job in college basketball--elite talent all over his backyard, money flowing like water from a spigot and little pressure. Sometimes, he forgets that.
Kirk Bohls, Austin-American Statesman, says Rick Barnes is not leaving.
Haven’t heard this from the horse’s mouth, but I would be shocked if Rick Barnes took the Kentucky job or even listened to overtures from the Blue.
Actually kidded the Texas coach in Greensboro, N.C., last weekend about the chances Kentucky would come after him after it fires Billy Gillispie. He laughed it off.
It says here that Barnes could probably have the Kentucky job if he wanted it. I believe Barnes could have had it two years ago before the Wildcats offered it to Gillispie.
He’s not leaving.
Former UT basketball coach Abe Lemons (deceased) was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame. The word funny does not do Abe justice.
Football
Here is your football fix for the day. Roommates.
System quarterbacks are not expected to do well in the NFL draft. How do things look for Colt McCoy?
Texas would be wise to stick Colt McCoy under center more than have him operate exclusively out of the shotgun. Neither Vince Young nor Chris Simms has held onto a starting job in the NFL, in part because of their shallow experience behind center at Texas.
McCoy did take seven snaps under center in the Fiesta Bowl win over Ohio State. That's a start. He has been working there more during spring drills, a good sign.
By doing that, he will increase his comfort level and improve the drop-back ability that the NFL so prizes, and it wouldn't hurt the Longhorns' running attack either. Green Bay Packers general manager Ted Thompson, who was on hand Wednesday for Texas' pro timing day, said working under center makes quarterbacks more ready for the NFL.
Heisman watch. Olin Buchanan looks at next year's race and history is on Colt McCoy's side.
Making history is a rare accomplishment. Duplicating it can be difficult.
But that's what Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford and Florida quarterback Tim Tebow will seek to do this fall.
As for my early pick for this fall's Heisman, I'd rate Tebow as the early favorite, followed by McCoy and then Bradford, though I wouldn't be surprised if California running back Jahvid Best had a big year and won it.
Frankly, I think it's going to be difficult for Bradford to match last season's production playing behind a line that lost four starters, each of whom earned all-conference recognition.
If you believe in historic trends, the pick probably should be McCoy. Four Heisman runners-up have gone on to win the following year -- Michigan's Tom Harmon in 1940, Army's Davis in '46, USC's O.J. Simpson in '68 and Georgia's Herschel Walker in '82.
John Chiles is settling in to the role of wide receiver.
"I think John’s going to be a real positive for us," said Bobby Kennedy, Texas’ receivers coach. "He shows flashes of really good ball skills at times, but he’s still learning the position."
Chiles said: "Playing receiver is not as tough as playing quarterback. I have a lot less pressure, a lot less responsibility. I just go out there and make plays ... I’ve got to get used to catching, but it’ll come around."
Who has the top recruiting programs in the country? You know we made the list. This sums up UT's recruiting program pretty well:
Texas doesn't so much recruit these days, as they choose the guys they want at their annual Junior Days in February. Texas is typically done recruiting by the time the spring evaluation period rolls around.
Cody Johnson has a hamstring injury that could put him out of the rest of spring practice.
ESPN's Tim Griffin lists UT's versatile Cris Hall among the Big 12's best players.
Griffin has the Big 12 South's flagship programs. Guess what was listed for Texas? (Football is also listed as the Aggie's flagship program. Someone should tell them.)
Congratulations are in order for Casey Hampton. The former Longhorn had his high school jersey retired. (Should we continue to say former? Is anyone ever a former Longhorn?)
For those of you with an IPhone, this may just make your day. TeamView: Texas Fan app is here.
TeamView is a must-have application for every Texas Longhorns Football fan! 2009 Schedule, Searchable Roster (by name, number, or position), Staff, and the latest college football news are all at your fingertips.
And finally...
Does the athletic department really need more money? The innovative fund raisers in the AD's office are selling 12-inch by 12-inch squares of the grass at DKR after the scrimmage in April. Barking Carnival sums it all up: Dodds Sells Grass. Corn Nation is also having a good time with this one. (I'm shocked that I Am The 12th Man and Crimson and Cream Machine haven't posted anything.)
Did you know Reveille has her own cell phone?
Mike Sherman isn't asking for a lot. He just needs speed and simplicity.
Sherman's spring roster has all the marks of a 4-8 squad very much a work in progress — and progress is what A&M fans hope to see most in his second season following the Aggies' awful finish last fall.
"We looked back at everything we did and how we did it," Sherman said of the season's aftermath. "And how we can do things better."
Sherman addressed a few roster moves that he hopes will help turn 4-8 into 8-4, starting with the move of linebacker Matt Featherston to defensive end. Sort of.
"We're trying to get more speed on the field," Sherman said.
JohnsonUT summed up this article well: Sometimes Aggie jokes just write themselves.
Texas A&M cranked up spring practice on Thursday and in the process began dialing down the coaches’ vocabulary with its quarterbacks.
"We’ve tried to limit our terminology from what it was last year," Aggies coach Mike Sherman said following practice. "The West Coast offense has a lot of verbiage, and so we’re trying to take things down to one word — almost one-syllable words — as much as possible."
Is this part of the simplification process? Coach Mike Sherman is switching people around. He's moving Lucas Patterson from defensive tackle to offensive tackle, Jordan Pugh from cornerback to safety, Chris Caflisch from receiver to safety and Matt Featherston to defensive end.
Running back Keondra Smith is leaving the football team to concentrate on school and graduation.
Aggies give back to the community. The Aggies did not practice on Saturday. Student-athletes participated in a student-run service project. Several players got out of the event because they participated in a football physics program at the George Bush Presidential Library. This? Shouldn't Aggies know all this by now?
OU beat Syracuse, but lost to North Carolina, one game short of making the Final Four this year.
Things never work out quite the way we plan. Jeff Capel vowed he would never coach, watching his father's stressful career.
Blake Griffin is taking his place in college basketball hisitory as one of the best. Has anyone noticed?
Griffin is the best college player to come around in a long, long time.
The problem is no one truly recognizes how special the 6-foot-10, 250-pound Griffin truly is.
For some reason, fans don't appreciate Griffin in the same manner as Durant, Beasley or even Hansbrough. Maybe it's because he can't step out and drain 3-pointers with ease as Durant was able to do, or doesn't have the versatile inside-out game like Beasley or doesn't call Chapel Hill home like Hansbrough.
But there are times when it appears as though Griffin's feet are coming off a trampoline. He's a freak athlete who rarely takes a play off, is unselfish and passes out of the double-team — and he rarely loses his temper.
Yet somehow, Griffin still manages to be overlooked and underappreciated.
Shame on you, Boren. Sooner women's basketball star Courtney Paris offered to pay back her scholarship if the team did not win the national championship. Oklahoma president David Boren has said he would be willing to accept her offer.
Basketball
Missouri took away an early UConn 11-point lead to take the lead in the second half, but ended up losing 82-75.
The Fort Worth Star Telegram looks at Billy Gillispie 's nightmare, otherwise known as every basketball coach's dream job.
We keep telling everyone that we are more than just a football conference. Maybe they will finally believe us? The Big 12 had the second highest number of teams in the Elite Eight.
Football
Newsday.com looks at Big 12 quarterbacks. Even with the departure of Chase Daniel, Graham Harrell, Josh Freeman and Stephen McGee, the conference is loaded with talent.
Colorado coach Dan Hawkins isn't backing off his pledge of 10 wins in 2009.
This is not good news for the Jayhawks. Kansas University wide receiver Dezmon Briscoe and defensive tackle Jamal Greene have been suspended.
Kansas State loses two players, Deon Murphy and Edward Prince.
Mike Leach at it again. Wide receiver Edward Britton has not kept up with his classwork or tutoring. Leach decided to teach him a lesson.
FoxSports' Jason Whitlock looks at the Adrian Wojnarowski, Dan Wetzel and Yahoo Sports investigation into a basketball agent and a former Connecticut recruit. (More on that investigation here.) Is the NCAA interested in cleaning up the corruption?
Texan Jimmy Johnson wants to cut ties with his home state.
''I was born in south Texas and went to the University of Arkansas, but I want to make it very clear -- South Florida is my home, and the University of Miami is my team,'' the former UM coach said. ``I consider myself alumni. The best five years of my life and career are right here.''
The NFL Draft
Rhett Bomar cannot wait to get drafted and Javorskie Lane probably won't get drafted at all.
Rhett Bomar: "It just feels like this process has been so long," Bomar said in a telephone interview. "It’s also gone by kind of fast. I’m just ready to find out where I’m going; I’m ready to find one team that likes me, and they’ll take me, and I’ll know where I’m going, and then I can just move on. There’s just so much uncertainty right now. I’m living out of my car."
Javorskie Lane: Texas A&M fullback Jorvorskie Lane drew 15 scouts to his workout at a high school in Lufkin last week. But the scouts didn’t like what they saw.
Lane weighed 297 pounds, 27 heavier than the A&M media guide listed his weight last season and 32 pounds heavier than Aggies coach Mike Sherman wanted him to weigh.
Lane didn’t break 5.0 in the 40-yard dash and had only 17 reps on the 225-pound bench press. Some at A&M question Lane’s commitment to football.
Once projected as a possible NFL Star, Lane is not expected to be drafted.
Following the gravy train of college sports... money.
With the national economy in disarray, the race to fund college athletics and academic endowment funds are tightening. Kansas University is feeling the punch.
It is always good to do some research before you cash the check. The Big 12 has dropped a sponsorship deal with Corr-Jensen Labs, which makes Training Day, a muscle-building supplement with creatin. Creatin is banned not able to be distributed by coaches, according the NCAA.