The Morning Stake | 2020.02.06

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Lubbock In The Loop. Check out Lubbock In The Loop for all of your weekend plans and activities.
Podcasts. Check out your guys, Spencer and Michael, on 23 Personnel Podcast, a Texas Tech athletics podcast where food and sports clash at the goal line, as well as Keith Patrick and Dinger Derby, the only, yes only, podcast about Texas Tech baseball.

A Tree Is Known By Its Fruit. Via Pocket through TexasMonthly:

The late afternoon of March 25, 2012, a voice crackled over the police scanners that perch on the coffee tables or hang on the belts of many residents in San Saba: an ambulance was headed out to Harkey Pecan Farms. Scanner chatter is a rich source of gossip in this tiny Central Texas city of 3,099, and ears perked up that Sunday as paramedics and law enforcement officers rushed four miles west of town to Harkeyville, where a 1927 red-brick house sat among three hundred acres of pecan orchards. The Harkeys had long been one of San Saba’s most prominent families, and their property sat next door to a stretch of pastureland owned by another notable native son, the actor Tommy Lee Jones.

Sheriff Allen Brown was already out on patrol when the 911 call came in. He sped down U.S. 190 in his white truck, passing neatly tended rows of pecan trees and the cattle auction barn, then crossed the San Saba River and rumbled down the caliche road to the two-story house. He knew the house well; since the early sixties, generations of San Sabans had attended the church suppers and cookouts hosted there by Bonnie Harkey, the family’s matriarch. Bonnie, her white puff of hair always freshly coiffed, was a fixture of San Saba’s social scene, known for never missing a Sunday school class or a meeting of the garden club. Her pecan-based desserts were legendary, often earning her first place at the county’s pecan food show and a front-page mention in the San Saba News & Star. But she was now 85 and increasingly frail; it was common knowledge that she was suffering from dementia and required the attention of a caretaker. Six months earlier, she had been diagnosed with an aortic aneurysm, and it was only a matter of time, everyone knew, before it claimed her.

National Girls and Women in Sports Day.

Texas Tech Soccer

Texas Tech Track and Field

Texas Tech Golf

Texas Tech Tennis

Texas Tech Softball

Big 12 Conference Preview. D1Softball’s Rhiannon Potkey has a nice preview of the Big 12 where Texas Tech is predicted to finish 4th, behind Oklahoma, Texas, and Oklahoma State.

The program is on the rise under head coach Adrian Gregory, who received a new five-year contract extension in July. Tech made its first NCAA regional appearance since 2012 last season, and its 42 wins tied for the second-highest in program history. The Red Raiders spent a program record 14 straight weeks ranked in the Top 25. They return the bulk of their roster, including pitchers Missy Zoch and Erin Edmoundson. Zoch, a senior right-hander, was 18-10 with a 2.71 ERA and Edmoundson, a junior lefty, was 20-15 with a 2.89 ERA. Redshirt senior Karli Hamilton, sophomore outfielder Peyton Blythe, redshirt junior outfielder Heaven Burton, junior catcher Kelcy Leach and sophomore outfielder Zoe Jones are also back. Tech added transfer Maddie Westmoreland, who batted a team-leading .315 for Indiana last season.

Lady Raider Basketball

Lady Raiders Fall to Kansas State. Texas Tech was up by 2 points at the end of the third quarter, but then gave up 31 points in the 4th to the Wildcats to their 15.

Texas Tech Baseball

Texas Tech Basketball

Recruiting Stuff. Rivals’ Corey Evans discusses whether or not Harrison Ingram or Jon Kuminga, with the thought that Ingram is a longshot despite the fact that he will take a visit, while Kuminga is more in the mix.

Texas Tech Football

Duffey Denied Admission at Central Michigan. Via Central Michigan Life’s Evan Petzold, former Texas Tech quarterback Jett Duffey was denied admission at Central Michigan. The article details three, yes three different incidents. We know about two of them, one was the sexual assault from 2017 which we knew about, and the second one was the arrest in front of the nightclub. The third one occurred in 2019, which is just this past season:

A second Title IX complaint against Duffey, which occurred while he was at Texas Tech in 2019, was a factor in CMU’s decision to end its dialog with the quarterback. A female student at the university said Duffey sexually assaulted her while she was incapacitated. The case ended in mediation, or as they described it, “voluntary resolution.” Duffey was not suspended from team activities.

Before the castle is stormed, I would very much like for Texas Tech to comment about this. When and what did they know? Also, we’re first hearing about this as a result of a student newspaper, Central Michigan Life (which is great for them, but why did no one else report this?). I’d also add that we’ve wondered why Duffey was transferring and maybe, which would be good news for me, that the University found out about the allegations and told that Duffey did not have a scholarship any longer.

Blidi Signs With Texas Tech. Rivals’ Matt Clare has the scoop on New Mexico defensive end Philip Blidi (6-4/253) as Kansas made a late push for the Portales product:

Jayhawks’ head coach Les Miles personally visited Blidi in Portales a few times and reportedly sent the standout prospect a limo to take him to the airport for his official visit to Lawrence.

The late push, the official visit and this announcement two days before signing day made things look pretty bleak for Texas Tech. The three-star prospect had visited the Texas Tech campus at least a dozen times and was a longtime commitment, so this could have been a huge blow to the coaches’ recruiting class from a defensive line and numbers standpoint.

Matt Wells and his staff continued to communicate with Blidi on a daily basis throughout the week, and ultimately convinced him to trust his instincts and sign with the Red Raiders.

Preferred Walk-On’s. RedRaiderSports’ Ben Golan has the complete list of the preferred walk-on’s. There’s videos there, but here’s the list:

1. Darryl Minor, Jr. (6-1/205) | Linebacker
2. Christian LaValle (6-0/215) | Linebacker
3. Jackson Pace (6-3/240) | Tight End
4. Wyatt Garrity (6-6/285) | Offensive Line
5. Reece Azam (6-3/288) | Offensive Line
6. Joseph Plunk (5-10/170) | Defensive Back
7. Trent Low (6-2/205) | Linebacker
8. Gage Peters (6-4/280) | Defensive Line
9. Jon King (6-2/290) | Defensive Line
10. Daniel Bailey (6-5/250) | Defensive Line
11. Joshua Rodriguez (5-11/192) | Linebacker
12. Joseph Carter (6-0/201) | Wide Receiver

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