Leading Off
Yesterday was signing day for a bunch of programs, nearly all of the programs had their signing day (except for football) and I don’t think I can summarize each of their respective signings. If there’s a summary, I’m linking to it, but you can visit that respective program’s social media for more content.
Texas Tech Volleyball
Texas Tech Soccer
Head coach Tom Stone added 6 players, Hannah Anderson (TX), Penney Mulenga (Saskatchewan), Macy Schultz (CO), Haley Smith (TX), Marisa Weichel (NB), and Madison White (TX).
Texas Tech Golf
Head coach Greg Sands added Ludvig Abert (Sweeden), Garrett Martin (TX), and Alejandro Pedryc (Poland)
Texas Tech Tennis
There are some familiar faces listed in the new @ITA_Tennis rankings. 👀
🔴#WreckEm⚫️ pic.twitter.com/tS5Cubj2xe
— Texas Tech Men’s Tennis (@TexasTechMTEN) November 14, 2018
New Oracle/ITA Rankings are out.
5⃣2⃣ Felicity Maltby
3⃣8⃣ Felicity Maltby/Nell Miller#WreckEm pic.twitter.com/9DLuzFy5Ah— Texas Tech Women’s Tennis (@TexasTechWTEN) November 14, 2018
Texas Tech Softball
Lady Raider Basketball
Head coach Marlene Stollings added three recruits, Alexis Tucker (5-11; CA), Nailah Dillard (5-10; CA), and Ricka Jackson (5-8; VA).
Texas Tech Basketball
I think Chris Beard and the basketball program signed all four players as part of their 2019 class yesterday, including Khalid Thomas (6-9), Jahmius Ramsey (6-4), Russel Tchewa (7-0), and Kevin McCullar (6-5). McCullar is actually part of the 2018 class and will arrive in the spring semester and so McCullar is essentially not playing his senior year at Wagner in San Antonio. As you’ll note from my patented eligibility chart, each year you get 13 scholarships so Beard has one scholarship still available for the 2018 class. And you’ll also note that McCullar’s redshirt year I’ve placed in the 2019 season, thinking that he won’t play this year. This also means that there are still two spots left for the 2020 class and 2021 class.
| Position | Player | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guard | Matt Mooney (6-3/200) | ||||||
| Davide Moretti (6-2/175) | |||||||
| Jarrett Culver (6-5/195) | |||||||
| Kyler Edwards (6-3/200) | |||||||
| Kevin McCullar (6-5/180) | |||||||
| Jahmius Ramsey (6-4/190) | HS | ||||||
| Forward | Brandone Francis (6-5/215) | ||||||
| Deshawn Corprew (6-5/210) | |||||||
| Khavon Moore (6-7/215) | |||||||
| Josh Mballa (6-7/215) | |||||||
| Khalid Thomas (6-9/210) | JC | ||||||
| Center | Norense Odiase (6-8/250) | ||||||
| Malik Ondigo (6-10/215) | |||||||
| Tariq Owens (6-10/205) | |||||||
| Russel Tchewa (7-0/255) | HS | ||||||
| TOTALS | 12 | 11 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 0 |
Texas Tech Football
Heading north this weekend.
🔴#WreckEm⚫️ pic.twitter.com/YnW6f26XHq
— Texas Tech Football (@TexasTechFB) November 15, 2018
ESPN’s Seth Wickersham has a phenomenal piece on Patrick Mahomes. You probably read it yesterday, but if you didn’t, go get a fresh cup of coffee and settle in for a really enjoyable read. Here’s a bit:
I went to the bottom of the internet trying to understand what it’s like to have an arm like Patrick Mahomes’. I found a throw so rare that it technically doesn’t exist, erased on account of a holding penalty. November 2014. Mahomes is a 19-year-old true freshman at Texas Tech, facing Oklahoma, in only his second start. It’s third-and-10 at the Sooners’ 39-yard line. He’s been coached to look at a pair of receivers in sequence and, if they’re both covered, make a play. One, two, go. He takes the snap and is under immediate pressure — “one, go” — and he scampers left, not fast but elusive, away from the rush but into a trap. He’s within a yard of the sideline and all four Sooners defensive linemen are closing fast … until, with his weight moving left and a rusher’s helmet at his chin, Mahomes snaps his arm — in that instant, it’s his only body part in motion, as if isolated for maximum effect — and the ball assumes a trajectory that seems impossible without more of a windup, the physical expression of a metaphysical quality, a radical confidence known only by a blessed few. The ball hisses; it spirals fast and tight; it seems to alter the physics and change the possibilities of a football field — hovering low as it sails across and deep — until it sticks to a receiver’s chest in the end zone as Mahomes hits the ground. I watched that throw 20 times. I saw improvisatory football genius and sheer stones. I saw a man making calculations and assessing risks I couldn’t compute. I watched the throw until I was certain of what I was looking at.
And then I sat down with him and raved about passes like it. And he took the compliments with a dull stare, as if none of what I attributed to it ever occurred to him. It was just a throw. A throw he always makes — and has made since he first held a ball.