Ed. Note: Thank you so much for all of th etips. They are reported on my tax return and they are all greatly appreciated.
On the Diamond
Texas Tech softball absolutely feasted for the Big 12 awards including head coach Gerry Glasco winning Coach fo the Year and NiJaree Canady named Big 12 Pitcher of the Year. Other honors:
Mihyia Davis and NiJaree Canady were named unanimous selections to the Big 12 First Team as Alana Johnson and Bailey Lindemuth also earned All-Big 12 First Team honors to set a new program record for most Big 12 First Team selections (4).
Demi Elder, Alexa Langeliers and Lauren Allred earned All-Big 12 Second Team honors while Hailey Toney and Lindemuth were named to the All-Big 12 Freshmen Team.
Davis and Victoria Valdez were named to the All-Big 12 Defensive Team for outfield and catcher, respectively.
Texas Tech will face Baylor today at 1:30 p.m. at Devon Park in Oklahoma City.
Texas Tech baseball notched a midweek win over New Mexico State, 13-6, including two more homers from Logan Hughes. They will host UCF starting on Friday night.
On the Hardwood
ESPN’s Jeff Borzello and CBS Sports’ Gary Parrish have their way too early Top 25 rankings and this is the bit from ESPN:
Grant McCasland’s team had the biggest rise from the first iteration of our rankings on championship Monday to the mid-April update. The biggest move was the return of JT Toppin, a preseason All-American who dominated the second half of the season. And LeJuan Watts, a versatile and skilled wing forward, would be a seamless replacement for Darrion Williams should Williams opt to remain in the portal or declare for the NBA draft. Christian Anderson should also take a step forward in his sophomore season.
Don’t overlook the addition of VCU transfer Luke Bamgboye, who will provide an anchor defensively.
On the Gridiron
ESPN’s Jake Trotter & Max Olson write about college general managers and the influence they are having on college football. Of course James Blanchard is given a mention:
“It’s the fastest growing industry in college football,” Texas Tech GM James Blanchard told ESPN. “We’re hitting the golden age of the personnel world, as far as college football goes.”
Blanchard spearheaded the first of the two panels at the “Inside the League” combine symposium, which covered everything from soaring GM salaries and the rapid expansion of support staffs to negotiating with agents and the budding trend of NFL scouts moving to the college ranks.
Blanchard, who will make $1.58 million over the next three years, is part of a growing community of college GMs that now includes former Indianapolis Colts star quarterback Andrew Luck (Stanford), two-time NFL Coach of the Year Ron Rivera (Cal) and ex-Cleveland Browns GM Mike Lombardi — Bill Belichick’s first hire after he stunningly accepted the North Carolina head coaching job in December.
CBS Sports’ Brandon Marcello on the newest filings in the House vs. NCAA settlement negotiations:
Schools will be allowed — but not required — to reinstate players who were cut from rosters during the 2024-25 academic year without those players counting against new roster limits set to be implemented July 1. Purged players exempt from roster limits can also transfer to new schools.
The key language in the brief, however, is that roster-limit exceptions are to be made at a school’s discretion. It remains to be seen if the brief will satisfy Judge Claudia Wilken of the Northern District of California, who specifically asked attorneys to “grandfather” all players into the deal, after twice delaying a decision on whether to approve the settlement in April.
On3’s Nick Schultz on how Cody Campbell is set to co-chair with Nick Saban a college sports commission on NIL and so much more. I am sitting here at 4:00 in the morning thinking how this would square with the House vs. NCAA settlement and I think that legislation would take precedence over a settlement in House, but House is also about compensation to athletes prior to the settlement, i.e. all of the athletes who in years past never received a dime from any sort of NIL. I am sure it is more complicated than that, but legislation would be very beneficial and I have seen where Campbell appears pretty knowledgeable about the situation and I am not.