Stuff
I have been really short on time, largely because my wife is the testing coordinator at the junior high for her job (in addition to being in charge of the ESL program as well) and that takes up a lot of time, which means I’ve been doing dinners and practices so she can work late or get home and relax. Those big testing dates are today and Wednesday.
SI’s Ross Dellenger reports on the latest NIL news (he’s a very good follow on Twitter) where he reports that the NCAA approved the new NIL guidelines.
Despite the clarity coming 10 months into the NIL era, the guidelines are meant to be retroactive. According to the guidelines, the NCAA enforcement staff is given the freedom to investigate those who egregiously violated bylaws in the past.
The guidance’s primary purpose is eliminating a booster’s involvement in recruiting, members of an NCAA NIL working group said last week. Officials say boosters and booster-led collectives are using NIL-disguised transactions to induce prospects to sign with their school or convince current players to remain on their school’s roster, something SI detailed last Monday.
Any booster or booster-led collective that has been found to have associated with a prospect about recruiting—on another college team or in high school—will be found to have violated NCAA rules, and the booster’s school is at risk of sanctions, Colorado athletic director Rick George told SI last week. George serves on the NCAA NIL working group.
A booster, or booster-run collective, “cannot communicate with a student-athlete or others affiliated with a student-athlete to encourage them to remain enrolled or attend an institution,” George said, citing the guidelines.
“What’s happening now—I only know what I hear—is the inducements violate rules,” Ohio State AD Gene Smith, also a member of the working group, told SI last week from Big Ten meetings in Scottsdale, Ariz. “Hopefully this passes Monday and will give more clarity and guidelines. But then, [NCAA] enforcement has to enforce. The schools need to enforce as well. That’s the other part. At the end of the day, you have an institutional responsibility to enforce.”
So, for example, if, and this is a big “IF”, boosters of Texas A&M decided to offer players a certain amount of money in order to sign a handful of 5-star players, essentially inducing them to sign with TAMU with the promise of a payday is considered illegal and apparently always was illegal. Now, enforcement is going to be incredibly tough.
Basketball
Good to see Bryson Williams and Kevin McCullar invited to the NBA G League Elite Camp, which will help both of them potentially get drafted.
.@Bwillington11, @Kevin_McCullar invited to @nbagleague Elite Camp
— Texas Tech Basketball (@TexasTechMBB) May 9, 2022
Football
Dallas Morning News’ Ryan Mainville has his 5 reasons to be optimistic about the 2022 season. Here’s one of those reasons.
Stout Secondary
This is not a joke — Texas Tech’s secondary may be one of the strongest position groups in the Big 12. The Red Raiders’ tallied 10 interceptions. Six of those were by players that will be on next season’s roster. Dadrion Taylor-Demerson is coming off a three interceptions season where he played like the best secondary piece on the roster. Reggie Pearson Jr. was a nightmare for opposing offenses in the run game. Adrian Frye is one of the Big 12′s more reliable pass coverage guys. Marquis Waters went down early last year with an injury, but was one of the most proven safety’s in the country during his time at Duke. The hesitation to be bullish on a Texas Tech defense is understandable, but it’s hard to imagine this group will be the Achilles heel.
Red Raider Sports’ Ben Golan continues his Q&A’s with incoming recruits and up next is offensive lineman Seth Martin.
What was the biggest reason you picked Texas Tech?
“The biggest reason is because of the coaching staff. They made me feel wanted from day one. Even while they were at Baylor they still kept contact with me so that goes to show that they didn’t offer me just to hand it out.”