On the Hardwood
Texas Tech and Grant McCasland announced a 6-year contract extension that will run through the 2030-2031 season. That’s great news and I think I read somewhere that the buyout would be 60% of the contract should McCasland go to a program in the state of Texas. I think he wants to stay at Texas Tech and the fact that there was no drama and no news prior to this probably speaks to what he’s about. He seems pretty happy where his feet are.
CBS Sports’ Isaac Trotter writes about how international players are flocking to the NCAA because of NIL. This is particularly related to Texas Tech for 2 reasons because the story starts out with Vlad Goldin who started out at Texas Tech. Also mentioned in this story is Australian guard Ben Henshall, a 6-5 combo guard who is down to Texas Tech and Florida, but Florida is probably set to receive a commit from Arkansas guard Boogie Fland, which would mean Henshall is maybe down to just Texas Tech (fingers crossed).
“Being in the states, there’s a lot more scouts around,” Henshall says. “I don’t feel like a lot of these guys got to see me in Australia. The money is crazy right now, but it has a lot to do with more exposure here.”
On the Diamond
On the Links
Texas Tech men’s golf is set to participate in the NCAA Championships starting this Friday, May 23rd in Carlsbad, California.
On the Gridiron
Yahoo’s Ross Dellenger on how the College Sports Commission taking over rules enforcement from the NCAA. The article starts with an effort by the Tennessee legislature to pass legislation which would allow Tennessee schools to completely bypass the House vs. NCAA settlement.
Officials from the Big Ten, SEC, Big 12 and ACC are circulating a draft of a groundbreaking and first-of-its-kind document intended to prevent universities from using their state laws to violate new enforcement rules and, in a wholly stunning concept, requires schools to waive their right to pursue legal challenges against the new enforcement entity, the College Sports Commission.
The document, now viewed by dozens of leading school administrators, would bind institutions to the enforcement policies, even if their state law is contradictory, and would exempt the CSC from lawsuits from member schools over enforcement decisions, offering instead a route for schools to pursue arbitration.
The document, described as an “Affiliation” or “Membership Agreement,” is not finalized but a draft of the contract has been distributed to several school presidents, general counsels and athletic directors — many of whom have expressed legal concerns with several of the document’s concepts, which are now being refined.
The article notes that even an agreement like this has issues and is welcoming a lawsuit. Athletic directors quoted in the article state that before something can even be decided, states are trying to circumvent whatever rules are decided upon (the previously mentioned Tennessee law). My thought here is that you can blame the players for getting all of this money, but state legislators appear to be at the forefront of trying to wreck whatever is agreed upon by the colleges. It’s interesting.
CBS Sports’ Tom Fornelli writes about what exactly would allow the Big 12 to earn multiple CFP bids and thinks that it is quality quarterback depth and talent, which the Big 12 has over other conferences. I think it’s the reason why everyone thinks that any rating of Big 12 quarterbacks is trash. Where does Behren Morton fall on any Big 12 quarterback list? I think he’s talented, but he has had some bad injuries.