Leading Off

There are 19 track and field student-athletes are in Eugene, Oregon, readying for the NCAA Championships starting today and running through the 9th (TexasTech. Times of when each of these athletes are participating is in the link.

Texas Tech Baseball

It took less than 12 hours to sell out this weekend’s Super Regional as Texas Tech hosts Duke (TexasTech). The sereis starts on Saturday and runs through Monday (possibly).

Three Texas Tech pitchers were selected yesterday, Steven Gingery was selected in the 4th round by the St. Louis Cardinals, Ryan Shetter was picked in the 9th round by the Atlanta Braves and Jose Quezada was picked by the San Diego Padres in the 10th round (TexasTech). I’d imagine that they are all going to go, but I could be wrong (Quezada is a senior so he’s on his way regardless).

Texas Tech Basketball

CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander has his first 2018 NBA mock draft and has Zhaire Smith going to Phoenix at #16:

It was a huge March for Smith, who made it to the Elite Eight with the Red Raiders. Remember how Zach LaVine popped in the draft a few years back? Smith has a lot of similar attributes. He can’t create his own shot yet, but won’t be asked to do that in Phoenix.

It’s so funny to see Zhaire in this setting, a professional setting. A lot of coaches don’t let freshmen speak to the media, but I’m guessing that Zhaire is happy that Chris Beard let Zhaire speak to the media in Lubbock and get his feet wet in that regard.

Texas Tech Football

I thought it was a bit odd that it was officially announced that Texas Tech has added Rice defensive tackle Preston Gordon and Oregon State receiver Seth Collins (TexasTech). It’s odd because there was an announcement, but maybe it shoudln’t be? I’m not sure. I was all but sure that head coach Kliff Kingsbury had talked about Collins and Gordon to an extent during the spring. Regardless, I’m really glad these guys are here.

“We are glad to have both Preston and Seth on campus now along with our freshman class,” Kingsbury said. “They will add significant experience to our roster this season, and we are fortunate they have chosen to join our program.”

I also really like how the freshmen and transfers show up on Monday and by Tuesday, they’re working their tails off. I would imagine that all of those freshmen have slept their best night of sleep in a long time last night.

Looks like it’s that time again. 😤 #WreckEm pic.twitter.com/X5FnWxNTqB

— Texas Tech Football (@TexasTechFB) June 6, 2018

Midland Reporter-Telegram’s Will Korn reports on Kliff Kingsbury and offensive coordinator Kevin Johns in Midland yesterday (there’s a lot more there):

While Kingsbury and Johns work to sort out what they expect to be a versatile supporting cast, they know they can rely on the cornerstone of this year’s offensive returners — the linemen. Johns said having that structure in place up front is something that will help any quarterback and skill player that starts. It’s something he had at Western Michigan and Indiana and he’s excited to now have in Lubbock.

“It’s huge. Anytime you can run the ball and protect the quarterback, you’re going to have a chance to be successful,” Johns said. “We lost four wide receivers, a running back and a quarterback, so for us to be able to lean on our offensive line is going to be absolutely huge for us this year. We’re expecting good things.”