What an unexpectedly wild Thursday ...
At 5:45 p.m. I sat at my desk making calls for the War Room, trying to gather information on some of the 2016 Baylor signees who were awaiting word on their release from their National Letters of Intent.
I was following up with a couple sources after receiving a call from a Baylor signee on Wednesday morning. In that conversation, I was told by one recruit that the players were expecting word to come down on Friday or Saturday, and after hearing for a few weeks that they would not be granted their release, the player I spoke with was now hearing that the players would be given their full releases.
On Thursday, I'm literally on the phone with a key source close to offensive lineman Patrick Hudson, and Baylor issues a press release stating five players have been granted their release. Obviously, that changed the course of our conversation immediately.
In typical Baylor fashion, names were not mentioned in the press release, and the players who were released had not been notified when the press release was put out. In fact, most of them weren't directly notified when I followed up a couple hours later. Ridiculous.
What you need to know: The five who have been released are OL Patrick Hudson, RB Kameron Martin, ATH Donovan Duvernay, OL J.P. Urquidez and DB Parrish Cobb.
How might this affect Texas?: This could be huge for the Longhorns. Here's a bit of what I picked up from various sources on Thursday evening ...
--- Texas cannot take all five players. Once the players receive their full documentation finalizing their release, the UT staff will have some tough decisions to make. Right now, the UT staff is still working through scholarship numbers, but what I heard on Thursday night is that three is a likely target number with four a possibility.
---This thing could change before the night is over, but as of Thursday night, one person I spoke with feels Texas is the leader for all five players as they re-enter the recruiting process. Obviously, Texas will have to close the deal on the guys it wants and numbers will be an issue, but the Longhorns are in great shape with all five players.
--- I talked to Kam Martin, who was finally able to confirm with people at Baylor that he had been released. As one would expect, Martin plans to make a quick turnaround with his decision and would like to settle on a school next week, if possible. If the UT staff makes him a priority, look for Martin to take a visit to Texas in the very near future. I expect Martin to stay close to home, so keep an eye on other in-state schools like TCU. If the numbers work out, I fully expect Martin to be a Longhorn.
--- Not much new to report on Patrick Hudson from what I've been saying for the last month. Texas is the team to beat there and nothing has changed.
"He's probably going to take visits. But I know he was leaning close to Texas," a key source told me on Thursday night.
Obviously, Texas has room for Hudson and he's an automatic take. Look for that to happen.
--- With Devin Duvernay signing with Texas on Thursday, Donovan Duvernay is a no-brainer. He'll be a Longhorn, and it will probably happen the second his release is finalized.
--- Cornerback Parrish Cobb has always felt like an OU lean, but I'm told that's not the case right now. From what I'm hearing on Thursday night, the momentum Texas has picked up with the commitment of Devin Duvernay (and presumably Patrick Hudson) has helped the Longhorns' cause with Cobb. Texas can't have any contact with Cobb until his release is finalized, but I'm hearing he has expressed behind the scenes that he has a genuine interest in joining the Longhorn program.
--- J.P. Urquidez's situation is a little tougher to predict. Again, one person who would know told me on Thursday that the Longhorns could be considered leaders for all five players who were granted their release. But numbers could be an issue for Urquidez. If Texas gets Duvernay, Hudson and possibly Cobb and/or Martin, there may not be room for Urquidez.
--- Bottom line, this thing has some moving parts and the decisions of one or two guys could impact others. But this thing should be settled quickly since UT's second summer session starts on July 11, and the Longhorns are in a heck of a spot right now. (Suchomel)
******
Now for some not-so-good recruiting news ...
Oklahoma is making a run at Texas OL commitment Xavier Newman and the Sooners are a very real threat.
Newman may visit Oklahoma this weekend and though he's still committed to Texas, he's keeping an open mind.
"My recruitment is still open. I would still consider myself committed," Newman said.
I asked Newman if he regrets making an early commitment, and he said he does sometimes have doubts and wishes he "would have thought about it more."
Oklahoma hasn't offered Newman yet, but he's expecting that to happen soon. If he visits, it will almost certainly happen while he's on campus.
Based on some things I'm hearing behind the scenes, I'd put it as a pretty strong possibility that Newman flips if OU does offer. That being said, Newman has been in touch with Texas of late and the Longhorn coaches are doing a good job of telling him to remain patient and not rush into any decisions. We'll be keeping a close eye on this one. (Suchomel)
******
Caught up with one source close to the football team to see what was going on with the quarterbacks. He said that true 7v7 workouts (as expected) won’t be really starting up until the second summer session starts in July. This is normal and to be expected. However, some members of the team are still getting together for very informal workouts — to drill routes and timing in the passing game, etc.
“Clearly, he just wants to play,” one source said about QB Jerrod Heard.
We’ve heard that Jerrod Heard — who’s become a temporarily forgotten man while injured during the ‘Spring of Shane Buechele’ in Austin — has been taking about as many reps at receiver during early-summer informal workouts as he’s been taking at QB.
The emergence of Shane Buechele through the spring and the impending enrollment of Sam Ehlinger have seemingly left Heard somewhat concerned about his role as signal-caller moving forward. (Dunlap)
******
Texas coach Charlie Strong likely had his final organized media availability before he speaks as training camp begins in August. Strong’s last-minute availability was a pleasant surprise, especially since he recently spoke at the Touchdown Club of Houston. He could have kicked up his Birkenstocks and avoided the media for a few weeks, but Strong spoke after Shaka Smart on Thursday.
Obviously, Strong did not break down and name Shane Buechele as his starting quarterback. Strong continues to downplay what seems inevitable. However, he did address several topics during around 30 minutes of availability. Here are some topics we did not discuss in previous stories:
Strong on how players responded during one-on-one discussions after the spring game:
“It’s just talking to the players. They know what their mindset is and what they want to get accomplished. It’s totally different now because now they’ve been around us for three years, and they understand and they know the sense of urgency and what they want to get accomplished.”
Strong on his feelings about the team right now
“Just overall how they are working right now. You look at it, and even the players have a sense of knowing this what we have to get accomplished, and just knowing for this to happen, we’re going to have to work. We’re going to have to build and come together as a team. When you talk about leaders, sometimes it may not be a starter, but a guy like Tim Cole who has the respect of his teammates. Tim will be an unbelievable leader. On the offense side, Perkins never says anything, but guys watch how he works. Perk does a really good job. I think the end of that season with that Baylor game, they were kind of sitting there thinking they had another game. No guys, there’s not another game. The season is over. Now, it’s like, ‘Hey, we know we’re a better football team than what we’ve shown, so let’s go to work.’”
The addition of a Big 12 Championship Game
“I think it’s really exciting for the conference. Even the University of Texas because now you get more exposure, you get a conference championship. Now you have that Saturday that is championship Saturday."
The addition of receivers coach Charlie Williams
“When you talk about assistant coaches, it’s all about building a relationship with your players. Players have to trust you. Charlie is old school. He’s been around for a long time, and he knows how to communicate. He knows how to push that button, whatever button it may be. We want to play and compete at the best.”
His early view of offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert
“Sterlin has a lot of confidence. He believes in what he’s doing. Has a system, and he’s going to go with it. Plus, the thing he’s done is being able to get the offense where the players understand the system and where they feel good about it. Because of the confidence he has, you can see that with the players. Now they have that confidence, and have that belief in the system.”
On the relationship between D’Onta Foreman and Chris Warren
“They have a really good relationship. I think they see it within themselves. I think they respect one another’s ability. But that’s what you want to get to. When you talk about those two guys, look at how they compete. If you keep recruiting well enough, you want to get that every position. Guys feel like if I come out, I've got a guy who goes in for me and can go do almost anything I can go do That’s what you like to see happen … Even if you give a change-up, you've still got a Kirk Johnson. There’s Porter coming in. There’s Tristian Houston still sitting there. You have some guys some guys now that even if you pull one of those guys out, you want to change it up some and go to a speed guy, we have speed guys.
His expectation of Kris Boyd
“He sat there last year with Davante (Davis) and Holton Hill. Kris competed well. He was an unbelievable special teams player. He has enough where he can be a starter. I think that he’s going to compete. He wants to start. He’s working right now. He goes out each and every day. He’s going to be given that opportunity.”
Will Boyd compete at the nickel cornerback position?
“He’ll be outside.”
His assessment of Holton Hill and Davante Davis
“They’re going to get better. The thing they have is height. They have height and good size on them, and they can run. The only thing they are going to do is get better and improve. You look at as a freshman, now they’re going into year two, they’ve gotten stronger. They’ve been in winter conditioning and summer conditioning. Those two guys are just going to improve and get better and better.” (Richardson)
******
The latest with the Texas baseball coaching search is that, well, there isn’t a whole lot to report right now. After Texas interviewed Tulane’s David Pierce and Houston’s Todd Whitting on Saturday, the search slowed to almost a halt, which was partially due to UT President Greg Fenves heading to his scheduled trip in China on behalf of the university.
There have been some rumblings of more candidates being examined closely, but we’ve yet to confirm specific names.
Now that this search isn't rapidly moving along at the moment, it’s fair to wonder if Texas is going to become linked to a coach that coached in the College World Series. But from what we’ve heard, TCU’s Jim Schlossnagle still isn’t on Texas’ radar right now, though. In the meantime, more waiting for Texas fans, but the process should again start to heat up soon because, well, because it has to and Texas is only going to hurt itself by dragging things out after interviewing a couple of candidates. That being said, we’d be surprised if another new name doesn’t eventually emerge. (McComas)
*****
A Texas hoops team tidbit to pass along:
While bigs like Jarrett Allen and James Banks have deservingly grabbed headlines and attention right now, we’ve heard that Tulane transfer Dylan Osetkowksi is really turning heads right now on the 40 Acres. Texas fans will have to wait a full season until they see him in a Texas uniform in a game, but there’s a feeling around UT that Osetkowski is going to be really, really good thanks to his great skill level, among other things. (McComas)
*****
On the 2017 recruiting side of things for Texas, names like point guard Matt Coleman, guard/wing Chuck O’Bannon Jr., and forward/wing P.J. Washington are well-known as key Texas targets, and the Longhorns are in good shape with all three. A name that’s kind of been overshadowed but could also be in that group is Davis (Aldine) combo forward Royce Hamm.
Hamm, a 6-7, 200-pound prospect rated No. 125 overall in the 2017 Rivals150, recently visited Texas for an unofficial visit a little over a week ago, and we’ve heard that visit went very well. Since the Texas staff was hired in April 2015, Hamm has been one of the more frequent visitors, and it doesn’t sound like he’s taken any other visits thus far during the 2016 spring/summer. Hamm has the developing skill and athleticism and size to emerge as a combo-forward and a pick-and-pop four-type that can really run the floor and make plays defensively. (McComas)
At 5:45 p.m. I sat at my desk making calls for the War Room, trying to gather information on some of the 2016 Baylor signees who were awaiting word on their release from their National Letters of Intent.
I was following up with a couple sources after receiving a call from a Baylor signee on Wednesday morning. In that conversation, I was told by one recruit that the players were expecting word to come down on Friday or Saturday, and after hearing for a few weeks that they would not be granted their release, the player I spoke with was now hearing that the players would be given their full releases.
On Thursday, I'm literally on the phone with a key source close to offensive lineman Patrick Hudson, and Baylor issues a press release stating five players have been granted their release. Obviously, that changed the course of our conversation immediately.
In typical Baylor fashion, names were not mentioned in the press release, and the players who were released had not been notified when the press release was put out. In fact, most of them weren't directly notified when I followed up a couple hours later. Ridiculous.
What you need to know: The five who have been released are OL Patrick Hudson, RB Kameron Martin, ATH Donovan Duvernay, OL J.P. Urquidez and DB Parrish Cobb.
How might this affect Texas?: This could be huge for the Longhorns. Here's a bit of what I picked up from various sources on Thursday evening ...
--- Texas cannot take all five players. Once the players receive their full documentation finalizing their release, the UT staff will have some tough decisions to make. Right now, the UT staff is still working through scholarship numbers, but what I heard on Thursday night is that three is a likely target number with four a possibility.
---This thing could change before the night is over, but as of Thursday night, one person I spoke with feels Texas is the leader for all five players as they re-enter the recruiting process. Obviously, Texas will have to close the deal on the guys it wants and numbers will be an issue, but the Longhorns are in great shape with all five players.
--- I talked to Kam Martin, who was finally able to confirm with people at Baylor that he had been released. As one would expect, Martin plans to make a quick turnaround with his decision and would like to settle on a school next week, if possible. If the UT staff makes him a priority, look for Martin to take a visit to Texas in the very near future. I expect Martin to stay close to home, so keep an eye on other in-state schools like TCU. If the numbers work out, I fully expect Martin to be a Longhorn.
--- Not much new to report on Patrick Hudson from what I've been saying for the last month. Texas is the team to beat there and nothing has changed.
"He's probably going to take visits. But I know he was leaning close to Texas," a key source told me on Thursday night.
Obviously, Texas has room for Hudson and he's an automatic take. Look for that to happen.
--- With Devin Duvernay signing with Texas on Thursday, Donovan Duvernay is a no-brainer. He'll be a Longhorn, and it will probably happen the second his release is finalized.
--- Cornerback Parrish Cobb has always felt like an OU lean, but I'm told that's not the case right now. From what I'm hearing on Thursday night, the momentum Texas has picked up with the commitment of Devin Duvernay (and presumably Patrick Hudson) has helped the Longhorns' cause with Cobb. Texas can't have any contact with Cobb until his release is finalized, but I'm hearing he has expressed behind the scenes that he has a genuine interest in joining the Longhorn program.
--- J.P. Urquidez's situation is a little tougher to predict. Again, one person who would know told me on Thursday that the Longhorns could be considered leaders for all five players who were granted their release. But numbers could be an issue for Urquidez. If Texas gets Duvernay, Hudson and possibly Cobb and/or Martin, there may not be room for Urquidez.
--- Bottom line, this thing has some moving parts and the decisions of one or two guys could impact others. But this thing should be settled quickly since UT's second summer session starts on July 11, and the Longhorns are in a heck of a spot right now. (Suchomel)
******
Now for some not-so-good recruiting news ...
Oklahoma is making a run at Texas OL commitment Xavier Newman and the Sooners are a very real threat.
Newman may visit Oklahoma this weekend and though he's still committed to Texas, he's keeping an open mind.
"My recruitment is still open. I would still consider myself committed," Newman said.
I asked Newman if he regrets making an early commitment, and he said he does sometimes have doubts and wishes he "would have thought about it more."
Oklahoma hasn't offered Newman yet, but he's expecting that to happen soon. If he visits, it will almost certainly happen while he's on campus.
Based on some things I'm hearing behind the scenes, I'd put it as a pretty strong possibility that Newman flips if OU does offer. That being said, Newman has been in touch with Texas of late and the Longhorn coaches are doing a good job of telling him to remain patient and not rush into any decisions. We'll be keeping a close eye on this one. (Suchomel)
******
Caught up with one source close to the football team to see what was going on with the quarterbacks. He said that true 7v7 workouts (as expected) won’t be really starting up until the second summer session starts in July. This is normal and to be expected. However, some members of the team are still getting together for very informal workouts — to drill routes and timing in the passing game, etc.
“Clearly, he just wants to play,” one source said about QB Jerrod Heard.
We’ve heard that Jerrod Heard — who’s become a temporarily forgotten man while injured during the ‘Spring of Shane Buechele’ in Austin — has been taking about as many reps at receiver during early-summer informal workouts as he’s been taking at QB.
The emergence of Shane Buechele through the spring and the impending enrollment of Sam Ehlinger have seemingly left Heard somewhat concerned about his role as signal-caller moving forward. (Dunlap)
******
Texas coach Charlie Strong likely had his final organized media availability before he speaks as training camp begins in August. Strong’s last-minute availability was a pleasant surprise, especially since he recently spoke at the Touchdown Club of Houston. He could have kicked up his Birkenstocks and avoided the media for a few weeks, but Strong spoke after Shaka Smart on Thursday.
Obviously, Strong did not break down and name Shane Buechele as his starting quarterback. Strong continues to downplay what seems inevitable. However, he did address several topics during around 30 minutes of availability. Here are some topics we did not discuss in previous stories:
Strong on how players responded during one-on-one discussions after the spring game:
“It’s just talking to the players. They know what their mindset is and what they want to get accomplished. It’s totally different now because now they’ve been around us for three years, and they understand and they know the sense of urgency and what they want to get accomplished.”
Strong on his feelings about the team right now
“Just overall how they are working right now. You look at it, and even the players have a sense of knowing this what we have to get accomplished, and just knowing for this to happen, we’re going to have to work. We’re going to have to build and come together as a team. When you talk about leaders, sometimes it may not be a starter, but a guy like Tim Cole who has the respect of his teammates. Tim will be an unbelievable leader. On the offense side, Perkins never says anything, but guys watch how he works. Perk does a really good job. I think the end of that season with that Baylor game, they were kind of sitting there thinking they had another game. No guys, there’s not another game. The season is over. Now, it’s like, ‘Hey, we know we’re a better football team than what we’ve shown, so let’s go to work.’”
The addition of a Big 12 Championship Game
“I think it’s really exciting for the conference. Even the University of Texas because now you get more exposure, you get a conference championship. Now you have that Saturday that is championship Saturday."
The addition of receivers coach Charlie Williams
“When you talk about assistant coaches, it’s all about building a relationship with your players. Players have to trust you. Charlie is old school. He’s been around for a long time, and he knows how to communicate. He knows how to push that button, whatever button it may be. We want to play and compete at the best.”
His early view of offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert
“Sterlin has a lot of confidence. He believes in what he’s doing. Has a system, and he’s going to go with it. Plus, the thing he’s done is being able to get the offense where the players understand the system and where they feel good about it. Because of the confidence he has, you can see that with the players. Now they have that confidence, and have that belief in the system.”
On the relationship between D’Onta Foreman and Chris Warren
“They have a really good relationship. I think they see it within themselves. I think they respect one another’s ability. But that’s what you want to get to. When you talk about those two guys, look at how they compete. If you keep recruiting well enough, you want to get that every position. Guys feel like if I come out, I've got a guy who goes in for me and can go do almost anything I can go do That’s what you like to see happen … Even if you give a change-up, you've still got a Kirk Johnson. There’s Porter coming in. There’s Tristian Houston still sitting there. You have some guys some guys now that even if you pull one of those guys out, you want to change it up some and go to a speed guy, we have speed guys.
His expectation of Kris Boyd
“He sat there last year with Davante (Davis) and Holton Hill. Kris competed well. He was an unbelievable special teams player. He has enough where he can be a starter. I think that he’s going to compete. He wants to start. He’s working right now. He goes out each and every day. He’s going to be given that opportunity.”
Will Boyd compete at the nickel cornerback position?
“He’ll be outside.”
His assessment of Holton Hill and Davante Davis
“They’re going to get better. The thing they have is height. They have height and good size on them, and they can run. The only thing they are going to do is get better and improve. You look at as a freshman, now they’re going into year two, they’ve gotten stronger. They’ve been in winter conditioning and summer conditioning. Those two guys are just going to improve and get better and better.” (Richardson)
******
The latest with the Texas baseball coaching search is that, well, there isn’t a whole lot to report right now. After Texas interviewed Tulane’s David Pierce and Houston’s Todd Whitting on Saturday, the search slowed to almost a halt, which was partially due to UT President Greg Fenves heading to his scheduled trip in China on behalf of the university.
There have been some rumblings of more candidates being examined closely, but we’ve yet to confirm specific names.
Now that this search isn't rapidly moving along at the moment, it’s fair to wonder if Texas is going to become linked to a coach that coached in the College World Series. But from what we’ve heard, TCU’s Jim Schlossnagle still isn’t on Texas’ radar right now, though. In the meantime, more waiting for Texas fans, but the process should again start to heat up soon because, well, because it has to and Texas is only going to hurt itself by dragging things out after interviewing a couple of candidates. That being said, we’d be surprised if another new name doesn’t eventually emerge. (McComas)
*****
A Texas hoops team tidbit to pass along:
While bigs like Jarrett Allen and James Banks have deservingly grabbed headlines and attention right now, we’ve heard that Tulane transfer Dylan Osetkowksi is really turning heads right now on the 40 Acres. Texas fans will have to wait a full season until they see him in a Texas uniform in a game, but there’s a feeling around UT that Osetkowski is going to be really, really good thanks to his great skill level, among other things. (McComas)
*****
On the 2017 recruiting side of things for Texas, names like point guard Matt Coleman, guard/wing Chuck O’Bannon Jr., and forward/wing P.J. Washington are well-known as key Texas targets, and the Longhorns are in good shape with all three. A name that’s kind of been overshadowed but could also be in that group is Davis (Aldine) combo forward Royce Hamm.
Hamm, a 6-7, 200-pound prospect rated No. 125 overall in the 2017 Rivals150, recently visited Texas for an unofficial visit a little over a week ago, and we’ve heard that visit went very well. Since the Texas staff was hired in April 2015, Hamm has been one of the more frequent visitors, and it doesn’t sound like he’s taken any other visits thus far during the 2016 spring/summer. Hamm has the developing skill and athleticism and size to emerge as a combo-forward and a pick-and-pop four-type that can really run the floor and make plays defensively. (McComas)
