College Confidential

Texas Tech signs hoops MVP

The Texas Tech Red Raiders signed guard David Tairu to a national letter of intent on Thursday.

This past season for South Plains College,Tairu averaged 17.5 points and 4.4 rebounds per game and was named to the National Junior College third-team All-American squad. He also was voted the Most Valuable Player in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference.

A 6-1, 180-pounder, Tairu will be a junior next fall. In addition, he joins four other players who have already signed national letters of intent with Texas Tech, including junior college transfers Brad Reese (Gulf Coast Community College, Panama City, Fla.) and Theron Jenkins (Itawamba Community College Fulton, Miss.).

Those three players will be joined by incoming freshmen Mike Davis (Houston Wheatley) and Jaye Crockett (Clovis, N.M.).

In his two college seasons, Tairu helped South Plains to an impressive 57-9 record, including a 27-4 mark this past season.

_ Dwain Price

 

Richland's Dennis signs with Baylor

Richland High School shooting guard Nolan Dennis has signed a letter of intent to play basketball at Baylor, the program announced Thursday.

Dennis had recently indicated he was leaning toward either Oklahoma or Connecticut.

Rated as high as No. 44 in the nation currently in the ESPNU 100, the 6-foot-5, 185-pound guard was rated No. 15 at his position nationally by Rivals.com in the fall and No. 58 overall in the Class of 2009.

Dennis originally signed a National Letter of Intent to attend Memphis but was granted his full release earlier this month.

"We have recruited Nolan for some time and have developed a great deal of trust and respect for Carol and the Dennis family," coach Scott Drew said. "We are very excited to have them as a part of our Baylor family."

Dennis led the 2009 Richland Rebels to a third-place tie in District 3-5A and a 15-15 record overall as a senior. He garnered District MVP honors, averaging a league-leading 21.4 points and 10.1 rebounds, while also ranking second in blocks (1.6), third in assists (3.5) and fourth in 3-point field goals per game (1.1). As a junior in 2007-08, he led the league in scoring (21.0) and rebounds (10.0), while dishing out 3.0 assists per contest.

"Nolan is one of the elite players in the state of Texas and the nation," Drew said. "Baylor fans are going to love his versatility and basketball talents. In addition, the Baylor community is really going to enjoy getting to know Nolan as a person as he is an outstanding young man.

Dennis, ranked No. 2 on the 2009 Websider Hoops Top 10 on Rivals.com, joins three members from Baylor's early signing period class in November - Givon Crump, a 6-7 small forward from Wolfeboro, N.H.; Cory Jefferson, a 6-9 power forward from Killeen, Texas; and A.J. Walton, a 6-1 guard from Little Rock, Ark.

NFL Draft has boosted recruiting for UT's Mack Brown

If Texas coach Mack Brown ever has a problem recruiting players, all he has to do is point to his NFL track record.

Since most high school football players have a penchant for one day playing in the NFL, Brown is one of the best at getting them there. And that bodes well as far as recruiting goes.

"We feel like the NFL Draft gives you great publicity when you have high draft choices,'' Brown said during Tuesday's Big 12 Conference call. "I think we've had 37 drafted since we've been here and 32 are still playing.

"Young guys in high school want to play in the NFL, and if you're producing NFL players and those guys are being successful across the board, we think it's a great boost for recruiting, Not only with the high school coach, but the young man and his family.''

Speaking of recruiting, most recruiting sites have UT already with 20 verbal commitments for the 2010 class. How does Brown get that many commitments so early?

"There's a great passion for football in the state of Texas, there's 20 million people here, there's between 1200-1300 high schools that play football, and we've had really good continuity with our staff,'' Brown said. "Most of our coaches have been here and the young guys that are committing for the 2010 class were five years old when we got here, so this is what they know. This is Texas football.

"And then they come to spring games each year, and they come to spring practice, because they can drive very easily.''

Brown, who took over the coaching chores at UT in 1998, said low turnover on his own staff has also been beneficial when it comes to recruiting.

"Because we've had continuity of staff we know where (the good players) are, so we can identify them earlier than a newer staff or newer coaches coming in,'' Brown said. "Our coaches have been in the same recruiting areas, maybe some of them for 12 years.

"So you get a great relationship with the high school coaches, and they've been great to us, and the same with the players. They get to come in and get to know that coach, and then they get to know him over a five or six year period.''

UT will have several players taken in this weekend's NFL Draft, including defensive end Brian Orakpo, who could be a Top 10 pick.

_ Dwain Price

Baylor's Robert Griffin won't run track this year

Baylor freshman Robert Griffin won a track and field gold medal last spring by finishing first in the Big 12 Conference 400-meter hurdles. Grififn's time of 49.22 was the third-fastest in school history.

Griffin, however, won't be defending his title this spring. That's because he also excels as Baylor's starting quarterback and has decided to forego track so he can concentrate on football.

Baylor coach Art Briles said Griffin plans to increase his playing weight from the 200 pounds he played with last year to around 210 pounds this year.

"So he's chosen, at this point, not to run track this spring so he can continue to progress as a football player and add some weight to his frame and become as explosive a football player as he can possibly be,'' Briles said during Tuesday's Big 12 Conference call. "So that to me shows a lot of vision for Robert _ a lot of focus _ and then a lot of team togetherness, because what he's doing is sacrificing an opportunity to defend his Big 12 title in the 400 hurdles for this football team and for the other players on this team.

"So that's part of being a great leader and that's what makes Robert what he is. He is a person that has vision, has focus and has the respect of our players by his leadership.''

After enrolling at Baylor in January of 2008, Griffin finished third at the NCAA Outdoor Championships last spring in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 49.55. That bronze medal helped him earned Track and Field All-American status.

Griffin also excelled on the football field last year and was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year and gained first-team Freshman All-American honors after he completed 160-of-267 passes for 2,091 yards and 15 touchdowns. But Briles believes the best is yet to come from the Copperas Cove native.

"He's a completely different player now than he was going into the Wake Forest (season-opening) game a year ago,'' Briles said. "A year ago we were kind of hoping and wondering and wishing, and this year we know we have a good percentage of the outcome of what's going to happen with Robert with his production on this play in this situation.

"He's so much stronger physically. Without a doubt we're going to see plays made this year that might not have been made a year ago, just on his physical presence and physical strength.''

Briles added that the additional weight will also be a bonus to Griffin in other areas.

"The thing about adding weight with strength is that you maintain your speed and your power and your explosiveness, and that's what Robert's going to do,'' Briles said. "So we feel real comfortable where he's at with his body.''

Briles also said Griffin is on target to graduate after his junior year. But he hopes to convince him to stay at Baylor longer.

"We want him to stay here a long time and get his Master's (degree) after he graduates as a junior,'' Briles said. "The thing that makes Robert special is that Robert's got a plan. He doesn't wake up every day and wonder what's going to happen. He set out a plan, he's following it nicely, and part of that plan that he's on right now is to add weight to his frame.

"Robert's always been a smart person, and he understands the game. But there's a couple of things money can't buy, and that's health and experience. He's got great experience coming into this season and that's going to make for a tremendous benefit for him.''

_ Dwain Price

Josh Freeman has improved his draft stock

Bill Snyder didn't coach Josh Freeman at Kansas State, but he believes the talented quarterback made the right decision to forego his final college season and declare for the NFL Draft.

"There's several schools of thought to it,'' Snyder, who now coaches the Wildcats, said during Tuesday's Big 12 Conference call. "Would he be able to move himself up had he stayed (at K-State)? That will always be a debatable question.''

In three seasons with the Wildcats, Freeman completed 680-of-1,151 passes for 8,078 yards and 44 touchdowns and 34 interceptions. Last year he was 224-of-382 for 2,945 yards and 20 touchdowns with eight interceptions, while also rushing for 404 yards and 14 touchdowns.

But the 6-6, 250-pounder apparently increaased his draft stock with superb showings at the NFL Combines and during individual workouts.

"I do believe that he has helped himself with the information that was shared with me,'' Snyder said. "I visited with Josh (Monday) and the information that he was getting was that he might go somewhere between the 10th and the 20th pick, which I think would indicate that he has helped himself in his workouts and the testing that has been done.

"And if indeed that's the case, then that's what he and his family were looking for, then I would say it would have been a good choice (to entry the draft).''

_ Dwain Price

Mike Leach said most NFL teams run the spread offense

A strong proponent of the spread offense, Texas Tech coach Mike Leach doesn't understand why NFL personnel are so critical of the high-powered offensive scheme.

"Most of the league runs spread offenses and yet they'll be critical of them,'' Leach said during Tuesday's Big 12 Conference call. "At some point you've got to wonder how many of those guys from the NFL even know what a spread offense is _ or maybe their definition's different.

"But you look at New England, that's a spread offense. You look at the Arizona Cardinals, that's a spread offense. You look at the Green Bay Packers, that's a spread offense. The Seattle Seahawks _ a spread offense. And I can definitely go on.''

Leach has used the spread offense to take the Red Raiders to a bowl game in all nine of his seasons coaching at Tech. And that offense is always ranked among the top in the nation.

Yet, Leach constantly hears the disdain for his offense from the NFL.

"Just like a whole lot of stuff they do up there, I don't fully understand it,'' Leach said. "But certainly not everybody in the NFL is guilty of that. So maybe it's just a bunch of dumb draft prognosticators.''

Leach mostly hears that he turns his quarterbacks into "system'' quarterbacks who are never prepared for the NFL. That includes QB Graham Harrell, who set a lot of records at Tech and will be drafted at some point this weekend.

"My favorite of all is when they say, "Well, they don't think the (QB) can snap from under center,' '' Leach said. "So you'll have somebody _ whether it's their GM or a scout or whoever he is _ and that guy will be ages 30-to-75, and he doesn't think that he can teach a world-class athlete to do something that he can probably do himself.

"It's just a bunch of mindless yambering. I know that in some circles it's sacrilegious to scrutinize anything that's bad on the NFL, but I don't happen to be one of those people.''

_ Dwain Price

Three Longhorn football players undergo surgeries

Three Texas football players, including backup quarterback Sherrod Harris, have undergone successful arthroscopic surgeries to repair injuries suffered during spring drills, team trainers announced today.

The list includes Harris (left knee), an Arlington Bowie graduate; safety Blake Gideon (right shoulder) and linebacker Jared Norton (right shoulder). All three players are expected to participate when the team reports Aug. 8 for fall drills.

_ Jimmy Burch

Brad Hastings nominated for Tech's Hall of Honor

His selection is not a slam-dunk, but at least the late Brad Hastings has been nominated to be inducted into the Texas Tech Hall of Honor this year.

"Brad has been nominated in the past and is nominated again this year,'' Double T Association representative Mike Gustafson wrote Monday via e-mail. "The letterwinners will vote on the '09 class in the next month or so.''

Good. At least that's a start.

A former middle linebacker, Hastings died Apr. 6 of heart failure, but should have lived to see the day when Tech officials inducted him into the Hall of Honor.

While Hastings didn't play one of the glamour offensive positions at Tech like quarterback, running back or wide receiver, he still had a very large impact with the Red Raiders. From 1984-'86 at Tech, Hastings was a three-time all-Southwest Conference pick while being one of the best linebackers in the entire country.

By all acocunts, only recurring knee problems prevented him from having a stellar career in the NFL.

By the time he left Tech in 1987, Hastings was the school's all-time leader in tackles with 480. And, some 22 years later, he still is No. 2 on that list.

Can you say Texas Tech Hall of Honor?

Hastings also played in the 1986 Blue-Gray All-Star game _ a game that's specifically for the nation's top seniors. And the coaches who coached Hastings at Tech, Jerry Moore and Spike Dykes, always continuously speak highly of the 1983 Arlington Bowie graduate.

Hey, if that's not enough to get you inducted into the Texas Tech Hall of Honor, I'm not sure what is.

TT letterwinners, you somehow missed inducting Brad Hastings into the Hall of Honor the first time around. Please don't miss it this time.

If anyone is deserving of this honor, it's Brad Hastings.

_ Dwain Price

It's official with Willie

Oklahoma freshman guard Willie Warren and coach Jeff Capel will be available to the media late-afternoon Saturday to officially--hopefully for the very last time--confirm that the former North Crowley star will pass on this year's NBA draft and return to play with the Sooners next season.

Warren on Thursday through text messages re-confirmed to several media outlets--including the Star-Telegram--that he was going to remain at OU, though he had previously been definitive about his intention several times. But one national online.com apparently thought this was breaking news two days ago and sparked a flurry of re-confirmations. which OU would not officially stamp. Warren and his mother met with Capel Saturday, however, and this  apparently proved the final answer to a question that seemingly would not die. We breathlessly await the absolute last word.--Mike Jones. 

Texas A&M spring game to be played as scheduled today

Texas A&M officials say today's Maroon-White spring football scrimmage at 2 p.m. at Kyle Field will be played as originally scheduled, despite some strong overnight thunderstorms in the area. The heaviest rains have moved out of the area, with light rain reported at 10 a.m. The forecast is for showers to move out of the area this afternoon.

_ Jimmy Burch