Recruiting Nation scoured every league and named the recruiter of the year in each conference. Who landed the honor in the Big 12? Bo Davis of Texas. Writes Recruiting Nation: Bo Davis settled right in for the Longhorns and did very well in his first season as a recruiter for Mack Brown and Texas. His impact was immediate as ESPNU 150 defensive end Torshiro Davis (Shreveport, La./Woodlawn) signed with Texas on signing day instead of LSU, where he had been a longtime commit.
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Who is the Big 12 recruiter of the year?
Filed under Football by on Feb 3rd, 2012. Comment. 
National signing day has come and gone, and as with any game week, we’ll provide a proper wrap-up of the events of the week. Time to hand out a few superlatives. Top class: Texas The Longhorns did what the Longhorns do once again: Dominate a state with a talent pool as rich as any in America. The flagship school in the state of Texas reeled in 12 ESPNU 150 signees, seven more than any school in the Big 12, and finished the day at No. 3 in ESPN Recruiting’s class rankings, the only Big 12 team in the top five.
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Wrapping up signing day in the Big 12
Filed under Football by on Feb 2nd, 2012. Comment.
So, the season gets, you know, kind of crazy. It’s unrelenting, and recruiting plummets in priority. Thus, we haven’t had a recruiting update since before the season. Time to update. Signing Day is less than two months away, and here’s where each Big 12 team sits as we hit the recruiting home stretch before the big day in February. All commit totals, rankings and stars via ESPN Recruiting. 1. Texas Longhorns National ranking: No. 1 Total commits: 25 ESPNU 150 commits: 10 Key commits: RB Johnathan Gray, DT Malcom Brown, WR Cayleb Jones, QB Connor Brewer Class notes: Four of Texas’ top five commits are skill position players, a huge need for the Longhorns.
Filed under Football by on Dec 20th, 2011. Comment.
Texas A&M recruits had mixed reactions about their future coach, Mike Sherman, being dismissed on Thursday. ESPN Recruiting analyst Damon Sayles contacted several of Texas A&M’s committed players, like four-star athlete Bralon Addison and four-star tackle German Ifedi for their thoughts on the move. Some were stuck at a loss for words. Quarterback commit Matt Davis, who spoke with Sherman after he was fired, called him “a great man.” Two players decommitted after Sherman’s firing, reassessing their options.
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Texas A&M recruits talk Sherman’s firing
Filed under Football by on Dec 2nd, 2011. Comment.
Missouri officially announced its departure to the SEC on Sunday, and on Monday, coaches across the Big 12 weighed in with their thoughts. Here’s what they had to say: Texas coach Mack Brown: “I felt like each school should do what’s best for them. It’s their right, and the rules were in place that you could choose the conference you wanted, so congratulations to Missouri and I’m excited that there will be a Big 12 moving forward, but I have not been a person who is angry at somebody who is doing something that they feel like is best for them. At Texas, we do what’s best for us, and I think it’s great for Missouri to get their wish and move forward.” Yes, Texas most definitely does do what’s best for it. Fortunately for the Big 12, that’s kept the league alive in recent years. Missouri’s exit, though, doesn’t have much effect on the Longhorns in any way, really. Kansas coach Turner Gill, asked simply for his thoughts, went out of his way to make a statement. I would just kind of make one little statement. I don’t see us playing them in the future. I think the rivalry for Kansas and Missouri is something that belongs in the Big 12 Conference. Call it petty if you must, but I can’t blame Gill for falling in line with what KU has said all along. It’s what he should do at this point. He’ll earn a few points from the fan base for the strong stance, and Texas already set this precedent for doing the exact same thing to Texas A&M. Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops: Best of luck, and we’ve got two good teams right now and maybe more that are on their way in. So, we’ll keep playing ball here, too. I wouldn’t read too much into Stoops’ comments regarding future expansion. I think he’s just referencing the fact that you can’t rule out future expansion and a move from 10 teams to 12 for the Big 12. Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy: “I hate to see anybody leave our league. I’ve been a pretty strong proponent of the Big 12 for months now, since conference realignment has started. I hate to see anything that’s been a part of tradition and history in the Big 12 and what would be Big Eight football go away. But I don’t think it makes any difference at this point. It’s obviously history with those two schools. We have to be excited about TCU and West Virginia and the future of the Big 12.” Gundy, an Oklahoma State lifer from the Big Eight era, has been among the most nostalgic about Mizzou’s exit since it first became a possibility. That’s not changing any time soon. He’s played and coached against Mizzou for a long time. It looks like that’s coming to an end. Only one man has been more nostalgic than Gundy, and that’s Kansas State coach Bill Snyder. It’s disappointing. I’m a traditionalist, appreciated the fact they were with us for so long. Disturbed, I guess, might be somewhat of an appropriate word. Each school has to do what they feel is in their very best interest, but I’m disappointed that they will not with us, but the bottom line is you have to move on. Sheesh. Hearing Snyder talk in hushed tones about Missouri leaving the league is only slightly less depressing than an Elliot Smith album. Missouri coach Gary Pinkel, an outspoken critic of the Big 12, declined to make any significant comment about the move. “Our administration and university leadership, they made a decision that was in the best interest of the University of Missouri and state of Missouri long-term, which I fully support and we’re excited about. At the end of the season, I’ll be happy to discuss it further. For now, the focus is everything on Texas.” Texas Tech coach Tommy Tuberville, on the addition of West Virginia: “I would have much rather Missouri stayed in. I think they fit more of what all of us are about in terms of the region, just better watercooler talk when you’re playing fans of teams that are a little bit closer to you. But West Virginia will be fine, TCU I think is a good addition.” So, how will the Tigers do in their new league? “They’ll be able to compete. You hear all this about how strong the league is, but every year in every league, you’re going to have 4-5 very good teams, and you’re going to have a rotation of teams losing seniors, losing guys and they’re not going to be as strong. In the SEC, there’s 3-4 teams every year that’s going to be strong. I think you can pretty much nail those. The rest of them, you try to work your recruiting around trying to hit that one year when you’re going to be able to compete for a championship, or two years in a row. But over there, it’s just so hard to compete year in, year out because recruiting is so tough. But they’ll be able to compete. They’ll be in the upper echelon of that league. Just watching, I’ve heard a lot of people say that they won’t, but they will be. Them and A&M both will be very competitive and will be very successful in the SEC.” Do you agree?
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Big 12 coaches weigh in on MU, expansion
Filed under Football by on Nov 7th, 2011. Comment.
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — What’s one implication of playing Wake Forest inside 31,500-seat BB&T Field, almost 50,000 seats fewer than Notre Dame Stadium? How about exposure. No, Notre Dame doesn’t lack for drama or attention, but maybe the Carolinas do. And the Irish have made it a point of making their presence felt in that area. Just take a look at these numbers: Seven current Notre Dame players hail from North Carolina or South Carolina. Three more, Mark Harrell and Romeo Okwara (both North Carolina) and Chris Brown (South Carolina), have committed to play for the Irish next season. Eight ESPNU 150 players hail from either North Carolina or South Carolina, which, together, puts the area sixth behind Florida, Texas, California, Georgia and Alabama. “It’s started to grow in terms of its significance in the recruiting grand scheme of things — even when I was at Cincinnati we started to get in there because the high school football was growing and that population growth in that area, as you know, made that the reason for it,” Brian Kelly said Sunday. “So it’s been on our radar. We’ve just really worked hard at it, and we’ve obviously got some players from that area that have allowed us to continue to build those relationships.” “Yeah, North Carolina, South Carolina has been an area now that we’ve had a number of coaches on our staff, it’s not just one coach, that are in there recruiting it hard. So getting down and playing Wake Forest, you know, obviously we’re gonna be able to have a number of kids come up — they won’t be our guests obviously, but they’re certainly gonna check us out.” Irish cornerback Robert Blanton, from Matthews, N.C., said he will have a dozen family members in attendance. “It’s about an hour and 15 minutes [northeast] of Charlotte, and it takes about 45 minutes if you drive fast,” Blanton said of his hometown, laughing. Linebacker Prince Shembo, from Charlotte, will get to see his father, Maurice, in the stands for just the second time since the elder Shembo suffered a brain aneurysm Sept. 16. On Tuesday, Kelly again cited population growth for the number of recruitable football players in the Carolinas, a place he said he recruited wide receivers and defensive backs from while at Central Michigan from 2004-06. In addition to Blanton, Kelly’s other starting cornerback Saturday, Gary Gray, hails from the area, having played high school ball at Richland Northeast in Columbia, S.C. “Just have always felt that that’s been — when I was at Central and Cincinnati — kind of an under-the-radar state or states,” Kelly said. “It’s not that anymore. So I’ve always felt the importance of it because it was a big growth area demographically. And then I think Notre Dame has always been in that area, and we’ve just kind of carried that on from my beliefs that it’s a very good football state.”
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Irish make presence felt in Carolinas
Filed under Football by on Nov 4th, 2011. Comment.
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Kevin Foster isn’t exactly trying to hide his secret to 3-point success. After all, the word “dedication” is tattooed on the right arm of the Santa Clara guard who has hoisted up more shots from long range and made more of them than anyone in the nation. “It’s after practice shooting rep after rep,” Foster said. “It’s all about repetition for me, just getting in the gym after and before practice and taking and making as many shots as I can because I know I’m taking a lot of shots in the game.” Twenty-five years after the NCAA established a universal 3-point line to forever change college basketball, Foster is defining his college career by making his living from beyond the arc. To put his numbers into context, compare them with those of recent NBA draft picks Jimmer Fredette, Klay Thompson and Andrew Goudelock, who were regarded as some of the top shooters in the nation last season. Thompson, whose picture-perfect form made him a star at Washington State, attempted 246 3-pointers. Goudelock, whose shoot-first mentality nearly carried Charleston to the NCAA tournament, attempted 322. Fredette, the national player of the year who hit daggers from all over the floor for BYU, attempted 313. Foster blew them all away by attempting a whopping 380 shots from way downtown, leading the nation with 140 makes.
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Santa Clara’s Foster shoots free from 3
Filed under Basketball by on Nov 3rd, 2011. Comment.
Seth Doege had just polished off a performance that would land him national player of the week honors. He and his Texas Tech teammates rushed to the corner of the field to sing their fight song, the first visiting team to do so in victory at Oklahoma’s Owen Field in more than six years. As they got there, Doege spotted a familiar face: his dad. Their eyes met, and Randy Doege pumped a fist. No words necessary. We did it. “I’ll always remember that,” Seth Doege said. This relationship between Doege and Texas Tech has been give-and-take forever. All of Doege’s West Texas family are Texas Tech fans. He grew up watching Kliff Kingsbury, whose single-game NCAA completion percentage record Doege broke this season against New Mexico. When Tech offered him a scholarship early in his high school career, he took it and essentially ended the recruiting process. Doege missed his final two seasons of high school football, but Texas Tech stayed committed to him. Doege got a chance to play for Tech back in 2009, but he was benched in his first start and didn’t see any meaningful action until becoming the starter this season. Transfer? Ha. Now as a junior, he’s largely responsible for the biggest win at Texas Tech in a long time. After the win at Oklahoma, coach Tommy Tuberville told his team it may have been the best of his coaching career, which included more than a decade in the SEC at Ole Miss and Auburn. “It’s something I’ll never forget. It’s something you dream about as a kid, playing the No. 1 team in the nation and coming out with the victory,” Doege said. “It’s something every kid wants to do.” A dream in the sense that he always hoped it would happen, but not that he never thought it could. Texas Tech must not have heard that it was expected to lose by four touchdowns on Saturday. “We expected to win that game. It was special, but at the same time, we weren’t surprised,” Doege said. “We felt like we were a good football team. We felt like in our two losses, we had opportunities to win those games, and we felt like if we just went in there and played really well, that we would give ourselves the opportunity to win the game, which we did. It’s just one of those things where, we were confident.” Doege especially had reason to be confident. His passing numbers were competitive with anyone in the country, and after Saturday’s win, his 22 touchdown passes are fourth nationally and tied for the Big 12 lead. Only Houston’s Case Keenum has topped his 2,608 passing yards. “Seth’s had a lot of success this year, not just in that game. He’s emerged as one of the best quarterbacks in the country and he’s been consistent with it,” Tuberville said. “All the hype of a game like that, going in and being able to play that well at our quarterback position is going to give him a lot of confidence. They did a lot of different things in the secondary, they gave him a lot of different looks, and he was able to handle all of them.” Doege sat on the sidelines while quarterbacks before him like Graham Harrell and Taylor Potts endured lopsided beatings in the same stadium. No Tech team had won in Norman since beating 3-8 Oklahoma under first-year coach John Blake back in 1996. “We were physical, we weren’t scared and we were there to win the game, not play the game,” Doege said. “I don’t think anybody on the team was intimidated at all. We went into that game really confident and we expected to win. I don’t think anything about OU really intimidated us. We knew this was a great football team, but we also knew that we were a great football team, too, and we’d put in as much work as anybody.” “It was a party in the locker room,” Doege added. The party’s over. A special night can evolve into a special season. That continues Saturday against Iowa State. “Now we know how good we can be,” Doege said.
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Tech’s Doege gives his team a special night
Filed under Football by on Oct 26th, 2011. Comment.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Here are some observations after spending Thursday at Big 12 media day: 1. Texas freshman Myck Kabongo is going to be successful. How do I know without seeing him play a single college game? Just call it a hunch. Kabongo was introducing himself in such a polite and engaging manner Wednesday night and then again Thursday. He had such a presence about him, answered his questions and even avoided some about other players in the Big 12 without sounding disrespectful. He might be one of the most impressive freshmen I’ve seen at a media day in terms of the way he carried himself. Kabongo understands the importance of a first impression. 2. If Kansas wins the Big 12 yet again this season, it could go down as one of Bill Self’s most impressive coaching performances. The Jayhawks legitimately don’t have a star or a stud on this roster that you can guarantee will be a first-team all-league player or an NBA first-round pick. But Self is relishing this roster. This is a collection of players who are just like him, players who have to earn their keep and will need to win by ensuring they are one team with one agenda. 3. Kansas State’s media guide cover may go down as one of the best I’ve ever seen. You can’t watch Frank Martin on the sidelines and not be drawn to his facial expressions. So the KSU marketing department captured the many faces of Frank from the scowl, to the growl, to the shock, to the euphoria. K-State wrestled with what to do and whether or not to put a player on the cover. They ended up picking Martin and thankfully he went along with it. 4. Texas Tech coach Billy Gillispie has had quite a run, from Self’s bench at Illinois to head-coaching gigs at UTEP and Texas A&M to the tumultuous time at Kentucky to some personal failings to dealing with the recent death of his mother. Gillispie can be quirky and hard to read. But he was genuinely in as good a mood Thursday as I’ve ever seen him at this point in the season. He does seem to be at peace with his position. We’ll see if that lasts. But he is embracing this latest second chance. 5. I’ve seen Missouri coach Frank Haith twice in the past week — once in New York and again in Kansas City — and he’s handled himself quite well dealing with the speculation of the Tigers’ conference affiliation, the Laurence Bowers ACL injury and of course the NCAA investigation into an allegation that he knew of a $10,000 payment to the family of Miami’s DeQuan Jones . Haith has lost weight, but no longer sounds as stressed as he did when the story first broke. He’s locked into making this season work. He was essentially popped by the Yahoo! Sports report and was staggered by the news flow from the story.
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10 observations from Big 12 Media Day
Filed under Basketball, Football, News by on Oct 21st, 2011. Comment.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Here are some observations after spending Thursday at Big 12 media day: 1. Texas freshman Myck Kabongo is going to be successful. How do I know without seeing him play a single college game? Just call it a hunch. Kabongo was introducing himself in such a polite and engaging manner Wednesday night and then again Thursday. He had such a presence about him, answered his questions and even avoided some about other players in the Big 12 without sounding disrespectful. He might be one of the most impressive freshmen I’ve seen at a media day in terms of the way he carried himself. Kabongo understands the importance of a first impression. 2. If Kansas wins the Big 12 yet again this season, it could go down as one of Bill Self’s most impressive coaching performances. The Jayhawks legitimately don’t have a star or a stud on this roster that you can guarantee will be a first-team all-league player or an NBA first-round pick. But Self is relishing this roster. This is a collection of players who are just like him, players who have to earn their keep and will need to win by ensuring they are one team with one agenda.
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10 observations from Big 12 Media Day
Filed under Basketball, Football, News by on Oct 21st, 2011. Comment.
