1. When I released the most recent 2017 LSR Top 100 back in March (FYI, I'm looking to update it in the next week), new Texas commitment Josh Thompson wasn't really on my radar to a large degree. Hell, his first story entry into the Rivals database system didn't occur until our SMU site did an article on him on March 25th after the Mustangs had recently offered.
In an era of recruiting when true sleepers are getting harder to find, the Nacogdoches standout has emerged as exactly that kind of player heading into the fall. We're talking about a guy that didn't do the camp circuit like so many of his peers and outside of his Texas/TCU offers, the next most high-profile offer on the table for him is probably Baylor, Texas Tech and Missouri.
It would be easy to casually dismiss Thompson's commitment yesterday when you consider the wattage of prospects the Longhorns have landed at the defensive back position in the last two years, but there's something that really stands out about the kid that will absolutely alter my perception somewhat before I ever go into any specific evaluation of him before the next rankings come out.
Gary Patterson covets him. Charlie Strong covets him.
Before Strong arrived in Austin, I viewed Patterson as the top talent evaluation coach in the entire Big 12 and I'd stand him up against all of his peers across the country. No one over the last 10+ years has done a better job of finding obscure Texas high school athletes and projecting them as potential impact college performers as well as Patterson, which means when TCU offers a kid of gets a commitment, my eyes always perk up. Patterson is like E.F. Hutton... if he offers, I'm gonna listen.
Strong gets the exact same benefit of the doubt from me based on his evaluations and work in development at Louisville, as he consistently took three stars and turned them into NFL prospects at a level the rest of the nation's coaches do with four stars.
So, if you want to know what to think about Thompson... just know this. The top two evaluation people in the Big 12 love him. At this point, who gives a flip what anyone else thinks?
2. Thompson is a reminder that the spring evaluation period in the state of Texas in April and May is still good for more than a handful of previously unwanted diamond in the roughs, especially in East Texas. Offensive linemen and defensive back usually rate as the top positions in this state that produce spring evaluation standouts because film alone won't provide enough insight into potential ceilings.
One of the sections I want to produce in this week's 10 Thoughts From the Weekend is a list of the best prospects to emerge from thin air in the last few months. Thompson will clearly be the captain of that list.
3. If there's a movie scene that best describes Charlie Strong as a recruiter, this is it.
4. You guys in Dallas and Houston can argue you all you want about which city produces the best talent in Texas, but I'll take a East Texas kid eight days out of the week if we're choosing talent beds and if you see Charlie get excited with a "bEAST Texas" reference, you know he just landed a baller.
5. This is one of the most interesting quotes I've heard from a UT baseball coach in a while.
"We have had discussions about the fences, and (moving them in) is a possibility. It won’t happen this year. Just something that seems that potentially be needed, and it’s not so much the playability as it is a part of the game that we’re missing a little bit and that’s the three-run homer at the end of the game. It’s a fan favorite," Texas coach David Pierce said. "We don’t want to lose fans because of lack of offense. And I think you’ll see that we’ll be a very aggressive offense anyhow. We’ve been that everywhere we’ve been. But it will be something that we consider and it’s in discussions whether or not we do it."
Do it, Coach.
6. Saw Star Trek Beyond on Monday night and I thought it was a pretty good Trek movie, but I didn't love it as much 2009's Star Trek or alike it as much as 2013's Star Trek Into Darkness. There were just a few plot problems that didn't make total sense to keep me from giving it a rip-roaring review. That being said, it's worth the price of admission.
