On the Pitch

A gut-wrenching loss for Texas Tech soccer on Thursday, falling to North Carolina 1-1, but losing in penalty kicks 4-3.

“You have to credit North Carolina and its coaching staff. Damon [Nahas], Chris “Big Bird” Ducar and his assistants do a great job. They came to play like we came to play, neither team backed down and in the end, we both ran out of time, and the game had to be settled in PKs. Give them credit, they won it and will advance. UNC will be a worthy adversary for whichever advancing team they get. So we want to congratulate them on advancing. Second of all what you saw tonight from our team is what you saw from us all year, that we were a work-in-progress. This was one of our best performances of the season tonight. It’s a tough way to win and a brutal way to lose. We tied the game, but someone needs to go on. We’re really bummed for these seniors, including the two right here [Blackburn and Parsons]. They gave so much to this program all these years and to the game tonight, and we wouldn’t be here without them. This class has been an incredible boost to our program. They mean so much to us as people and of course they’re tremendous players. Most of them will go on and play Soccer after they college. It’s a sad day to see them leave but a proud day to congratulate them on all they’ve done for us and for Texas Tech Athletics. It was a great run, unfortunately it had to come to an end tonight.”

At the Net

Texas Tech volleyball falls to No. 20 TCU 3-2 in what was a really close match, Texas Tech winning the 1st and 4th sets.

On the Hardwood

The Lady Raiders are in Albuquerque to play New Mexico today, tip-off is at 2:00 p.m. and the game is on GoLobos, which I presume is the Mountain West’s digital streaming network (no idea if it is free).

On the Diamond

Lubbock Avalanche-Journal’s Don Williams with news that Texas Tech and head baseball coach Tim Tadlock agreed that the lifetime contract that had a rolling 7-year term that was previously granted to Tadlock would end in 2031.

Double-T 97.3’s Jamie Lent is the eternal Texas Tech baseball optimist (I am appreciative of optimists because I think I’m one) and writes what he learned after fall ball, including his thought on a starting lineup.

On the Gridiron

Texas Tech secured two commitments on Thursday night and this first one was a bit confusing for me. Allen University defensive end/outside linebacker Amarie Fleming (6-3/225) committed to the good guys. Allen University is in Columbia, South Carolina, and Fleming’s pinned tweet/post says that as a sophomore, he had 14.5 sacks and 21 TFL, 5 forced fumbles, and 48 tackles. Fleming had offers from Alabama State, Sac State, Kennesaw State, Missouri, Temple, Arkansas State, and others.

The second commit is 2027 WR Benny Easter, Jr. (6-3/193) a 4-star from Humble, Texas, Summer Creek high school to be specific. Easter had offers from Houston, Rice, Kansas, UTEP, Oklahoma State, Vanderbilt and UTSA. I am sure that this list will grow regardless of Easter’s commitment.

Recruiting Profiles: On3; 24/7 Sports; and ESPN.

Texas Tech LB Jacob Rodriguez was on with the Big Noon Kickoff guys yesterday morning and after the games.

Marketing

This sort of stuff gives me severe tired-head as Texas Tech and Learfield to create an LLC called Texas Tech Partners LLC which will, “will embed business development and Learfield Impact NIL services and staff directly into the athletics department. The seamless integration of resources will boost sponsorship revenue and expand NIL opportunities for student-athletes at a crucial moment in college athletics.

I’m sure it’s great, but I don’t know how interested I am in all of this.