Golf
Former Red Raider Golfer Passes Away. Via LAJ’s Don Williams notes the passing of Chris Blocker, who played on the team that brought home Texas Tech’s first Southwest Conference Championship:
Chris Blocker played on the golf team that won Texas Tech’s first Southwest Conference championship in any sport, then won the individual SWC title himself two years later.
That was just the beginning.
Blocker made it on the PGA Tour and spent the past 45 years as co-owner of a well-known golf course in Jacksonville, Florida, where he taught future tour players. Blocker died on June 26, less than three years after he was inducted into the Tech Athletic Hall of Fame. He was 76.
Baseball
Ramos to All-Star Game.
Full Story | @theajramos becomes #TexasTech‘s first ever @MLB All-Star. https://t.co/wjJu9ABPgr #WreckEm #WTT 💦🌳 pic.twitter.com/O0tsnElaho
— Texas Tech Baseball (@TTU_Baseball) July 6, 2016
McMillon to Attend Texas Tech. John McMillon, a signee with Texas Tech is forgoing playing professionally to play at Texas Tech. You can check out Texas Tech’s signing class and there are a couple of players that have chosen to go the MLB route, Dustin May being one for sure and I think there might be another. There’s a deadline for players to sign with an MLB team and we’ll dig into who remains after that date passes.
Thank you to the Rays for selecting me in the draft. However, I will officially be a Red Raider next season. #GunsUp pic.twitter.com/l7KwYIu04e
— John McMillon (@JohnnyMac_17) July 6, 2016
Basketball
Ham to Transfer. Walk-on Donovan Ham is set to transfer to Georgia Highlands College, a JUCO, most likely to get some playing time and see if he can earn a scholarship rather than walk-on. Good luck!
Former Texas Tech G Donovan Ham is transferring to Georgia Highlands College (JUCO). (HT @CoachJJ12) https://t.co/EiMFKIbKth
— Verbal Commits (@VerbalCommits) July 5, 2016
Football
Mahomes Named to Maxwell Award Watch List.
Patrick Mahomes has been named to @TheMaxwellAward watch list.
📰: https://t.co/7DaA0lXeE8 #WreckEm pic.twitter.com/fvU4f5YBGG
— Texas Tech Football (@TexasTechFB) July 5, 2016
Quarterback Rankings. Sports on Earth’s Matt Brown ranks all of the quarterbacks this year and has your Patrick Mahomes at #9:
9. Patrick Mahomes, Texas Tech. The son of former Major League pitcher Pat Mahomes, the latest prolific Texas Tech passer has become an exceptional fit for Kliff Kingsbury’s offense. The 6-foot-3, 219-pound junior can stand in the pocket and deliver strikes downfield, but he also fits Kingsbury’s version of the Air Raid that lets the quarterback run. In his first full year as starter, Mahomes completed 63.5 percent for 4,653 yards with 36 TDs and 15 INTs and ran 131 times for 456 yards and 10 TDs. While he’s still working on decision-making and becoming more accurate, Mahomes is a talented passer who is capable of moving the pocket, throwing on the run and improvising with impressive escapability. He had 21 completions of 40 yards or more and could make a push for 5,000 passing yards this season as a junior.
Steady Hands. ESPN’s Brandon Chatmon has the receivers in the Big 12 with the best hands:
What it could mean in 2016: Sadler should continue to be a mainstay in the offense, providing playmaking in key moments between the hashmarks to supplement the outside receivers on the roster. Most importantly, quarterback Patrick Mahomes enters the season with a receiver he can count on, which should help him — and the offense as a whole –overcome the void left by Grant.
The Right Skillset. RRS’ Aaron Dickens transcribed a podcast with Brady Quinn and says that Mahomes is the right kind of quarterback for the NFL:
“He’s most intriguing to me because of his skillset,” Quinn said. “He’s the most athletic and maybe has some of the best arm talent that I’ve seen coming out of this class. It’s just a matter of if he can be healthy, if he can display with a level of consistency what NFL scouts and evaluators are looking for and if he can get some help from his defense.”
This Could be Useful.
🔜🏈
Get ready for the 2016 season by downloading the #Big12FB composite schedule ➡️ https://t.co/v31ALFduLF pic.twitter.com/Ktdn1SvEv7
— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) July 6, 2016
Miscellaneous. This article by the DMN is titled Why Oklahoma is winning the recruiting battle in DFW (with Texas Tech gaining ground), but it doesn’t at all answer the question, it just lists the commitments . . . ESPN’s Brandon Chatmon predicts week 6 and has Texas Tech losing to K-State on the road . . .