My issue is that this job requires a Top 10-15 college basketball coach in the world in charge if it wants to win championships.
I don't think that's Terry.
Ketch's 10 Thoughts From The Weekend (Nobody puts Baby in the corner)
- Thread starter Ketchum
- Start date
My issue is that this job requires a Top 10-15 college basketball coach in the world in charge if it wants to win championships.
I don't think that's Terry.
Totally agree, but the question is will CDC cave to the pressure of signing Terry? Who would you like to see them hire right now that's realistic?
I believe he will.
What's realistic is probably subjective.. CDC is the one that has the real intel.
Really enjoyed the article Geoff! Especially the basketball content. Spot on to me. Sure appreciate ya!! Hook’em!!!
With 4:42 left in its Round of 32 match-up against Penn State on Saturday night, Rodney Terry's Texas Longhorns were in a fight or flight moment that threatened their very 2022-23 existence.
Nearly four minutes had passed since the Longhorns had scored a point and the Nittany Lions had gone on a 10-0 run to give them a 58-55 lead.
"Melting down," one Orangebloods staffer wrote in the OB slack channel.
I don't know that I would go that far, but you could definitely feel the grasp that this team had enjoyed for much of the game slipping away. As the team made its way to the bench, Terry had three things in front of him that needed to be accomplished.
a. Settle his players down.
b. Have a guaranteed winner of an offensive set for this team to get two points coming out of the break.
c. Remind his players that these moments are what they've been built for.
It's the single most amount of pressure that Terry has faced since taking over for Chris Beard as head coach back in December and he made like Shooter taking over for Norman Dale in the movie Hoosiers in designing a play that got Dylan Disu a point-blank shot at the rim to cut the lead to 58-57.
From that moment on, Texas didn't miss a shot the rest of the night, as it went on a 10-0 run of its own, before finally tapping Penn State out in a 71-66 win.
For the players on this team, rising to the top in such a moment takes a lot of pressure off of everyone going into the next round. The streak of 16 consecutive years without a Sweet 16 appearance is over. If it does nothing else, this team has safely placed itself in the discussion of being one of the five best teams in program history. Two more wins puts it in the discussion for the best ever.
Meanwhile, rising to the challenge in this moment might just be the final nudge Terry needs in his quiet quest to make this program his own.
In a world where timing is almost always everything, Terry has not only guided the team into a place that the program hasn't seen in almost half a generation, but he's suddenly deeper into the Tournament than pretty much all of the candidates Chris Del Conte might have had his eye on.
Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd is a perfect example. His overall resume looks slightly better than Terry's because he's built what has been created at Arizona, but he didn't make the Round of 32 this year with the Wildcats, let alone the Sweet 16.
If Del Conte has a true banger of a head coach waiting to happen, then so be it, but if there's no sure-thing guarantee on the box out there, it's hard to debate that Terry is making one hell of a claim for the job that gets stronger with every game that is won in the Tournament.
The fact that there's not an obvious hire out there to make means that Del Conte could probably do worse than giving Terry a four-year deal that has some easy outs in a couple of years if all of this proves to be a Cinderella story that is creeping close to midnight. Maybe the timing for a Lloyd-like hire will be better. Maybe Terry runs with the job and never looks back.
Personally, I don't know how to feel about Terry's program-building chops. Will he recruit the Portal as well as he would need to? I just don't know.
What I do know is that with 4:42 left in the biggest game of the 2023 season to date, he had the chops and deft touch to drive this team into a round that the program hasn't known since 2008.
That's not an insignificant accomplishment.
No. 2 - Hometown Hero ...
A few weeks ago, Texas senior Dylan Disu was a hometown boy that was having a pretty good senior season on one of the best teams in the country.
Fast forward to the present and Disu is the hometown boy that is suddenly the best player on one of the best teams in the country.
What in the wild, wild world of Disuanity is happening?
From role player to Big 12 Tournament MVP to the guy you have to get the ball to when your season is on the line, Disu is a living Disney movie in real time. That he's the player that carried this team on his back when the pressure was its highest on Saturday means that Disu is the player entering the next round of play with The Glow.
If this team is on a one-possession game this week, is Disu the player you want the offense flowing through?
Sho'Nuff!
No. 3 - Best sixth man ever?
Did you know that up until this season, the Longhorns have only had one Big 12 6th Man of the Year award winner in program history.
Take a moment to think about it. Let's see if you can think of the answer.
The answer is Kai Jones just two seasons ago when he averaged 8.8 points and 4.8 rebounds per game on a team that we've all tried to forget. No offense to Jones, who played 27 minutes in a loss to the Sixers on Friday night as a member of the Charlotte Hornets. We've all just gone out of our way to forget Shaka Smart's final season.
Yet, there's no denying that Jones represents competition for Sir'Jabari Rice when we're talking about the best sixth men in Texas basketball history.
Brian Boddicker would have to get some run for his work (8.3 points, 3.9 rebounds and 43.9% three-point shooting) on the 2002-03 Final Four team. Gary Johnson averaged almost 10 points per game and 5+ rebounds per game in 53 games off the bench in 2008-09 and 2009-10.
There are others, I suppose. Perhaps I'm living in the moment, but it's hard for me to overlook the fact that Sir'Jabari Rice is averaging 12.9 points and 3.6 assists, while shooting 45.7% from the floor and 36.4% from the three-point range. He's not been a good role player as much as he's been the best player on the team on a lot of big nights.
Rice didn't even play anywhere near his best game against Penn State on Saturday night, but his below-average performance still netted the second most points on the team (13), while going a perfect 4 for 4 from the free throw line.
Maybe what happens in the next week will define this more clearly, but Rice is the only player in this discussion that was more than a role player on a great team. He's become the guy that decides wins and losses on a lot of nights.
Who needs to start when you can just be the best impersonation of Manu Ginobili the Texas program has ever seen.
No. 4 - Scattershooting on the NCAA Tournament ...
... It's an incredible sign about the complete nature of this team that the Longhorns could go 1 for 13 from 3-point range in a contest that has a spot in the Sweet 16 on the line and still win. Penn State outscored Texas 24-3 from line-distance and still lost. Thank God for Disu.
... Xavier is going to be a hard out for the Longhorns in the next round, but that's the name of the game when you get to the second week of the Tournament.
... Going back to the home finale against Kansas, senior Marcus Carr has made just 7 of 25 (28%) from long-distance in six straight Texas wins. If you expand the same size back two more games, he's shooting 11 of 43 (25.6%). At some point, this team needs him to get hot from distance.
... This is a reminder of what these young men have to give up or miss out on in the name of pursuing the dream. Very little things truly come free in this life.
... How important is winning in March? Kansas won the regular-season title and its season was deemed more than a disappointment by not advancing beyond the round of 32. That might be harsh, but that's how success in this sport is defined, especially at a blue blood.
... With Marcus Sasser back in the line-up, Houston looked a lot more like Houston on Saturday night. Man, a Texas-Houston match-up for a spot in the Final Four would be something to behold.
... The NCAA has to stop ranking these Ivy League teams among the lowest of the low seeds. Nothing about what Princeton has done in its two wins is screaming that it is an underdog to No. 2 and No. 7 seeds.
... Keep your shirt on, Eric Musselman. Make it less about you and more about your team. You're 58 years old, man.
... Right on, Rick Barnes. Right on. You've suffered through enough disappointment in March over the years that he deserved a moment like the one on Saturday when his Vols knocked off Duke. A Final Four spot is there for the taking.
... Speaking of ex-Texas coaches, it's hard not to feel sorry for Shaka Smart, but you could see that Michigan State loss coming a mile away.
No. 5 - Monday-Night Rematch at Moody ...
Earlier this season, Louisville and Texas played each other in the Bahamas, with the Longhorns taking it on the chin when they just didn't play well enough in the fourth quarter.
Texas played that game without star point guard Rori Harmon.
That won't be a problem on Monday night when these two teams replay their November 20th match-up. Not only with the Longhorns have Harmon back in the line-up, but the game will be at home.
A win over a 24-11 team that escaped Drake by two points in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in the Moody Center is all that stands between the Longhorns making the Sweet 16.
It's by no means a sure thing, but with Sonya Morris back in the line-up after missing 10 games in February and most of March, the pieces are in place for this Texas team to set up a match-up with No. 1 seed Stanford....er... No.8-seed Ole Miss next weekend.
No. 6 - I hate to be that guy, but ...
I'm not sure that the Texas defensive line is as much of a strength as Anwar Richardson and Steve Sarkisian have indicated that it might be.
Don't get me wrong, it's pretty good.
Barryn Sorrell has a chance to be a first-team All-Big 12 player and the combo of Byron Murphy and T'Vondre Sweat are solid as a rock in the middle, even if none of this trio has ever consistently been one of the best players at their positions in the Big 12.
Meanwhile, the edge position is a complete question mark with nothing but young, unproven players in place to serve as possible answers, while the likes of Alfred Collins and Vernon Broughton have served as mostly lackluster depth in the last three seasons. There's no one right now that truly serves as a quality back-up to Sorrell.
Weirdly, every single one of those players outside of the Jack position is currently filled with Tom Herman-recruited players, which serves as a reminder that Bo Davis has only landed one super-blue prospect (Colton Vasek) since he returned to the Texas program back in January of 2021.
As much as our confirmation bias wants us to believe that all of those mid-four star prospects will turn into stars, the math says that the Longhorns will do well if one out of the Justice Finkley, Jaray Bledsoe, Ethan Burke trio turns into an NFL-level talent. Hitting two out of those three would represent a massive development win for Davis and the rest of the Texas defensive coaches.
Yet, none of those guys are even borderline standouts up until now. None made a proper dent as players on the field in year one.
I'm not saying that the defensive line position isn't on its way to being pretty damn good, but I'm not willing to say that at the moment. Not when there isn't a single All-Big 12-level player returning from last season and the young depth on the roster is undeveloped.
From my perspective, there are three things that Davis has to do in the coming 12 months.
a. Develop those babies at the Jack position into players that will justify not going into the Portal for help.
b. Develop some depth at defensive tackle.
c. Land some super blue chip prospects.
There's still a LOT of work to do.
No. 7 - The best running back in the 2024 class ...
The Longhorns are the favorite to land the nation's No. 4 running back in Jerrick Gipson from the IMG Academy down in Florida.
He's Tashard Choice's guy at the running back position and everyone seems to agree that it might just be a relationship made in heaven.
That being said, I'm starting to become convinced that the best running back in the country resides roughly 200 miles north of Austin in Duncanville, Texas.
Some of you know that I have Duncanville's Caden Durham ranked as the state's top-ranked running back and the No. 6 player in my LSR Top 100 list for the Class of 2024, while Rivals ranks him as the No. 29 player in the state, which higher than ESPN (32), 247 (40) and On3 (44).
Honestly, I feel like I'm taking crazy pills, especially after watching him set a new personal best (10.44) in the 100 meters this weekend in 50-degree weather in mid-March. This is a kid who ran for nearly 3,000 yards and scored 36 touchdowns in Class 6A last season and might have been the best player on a field full of talent in the state championship.
For a program that covets speed as much as anything with its skill players, consider me shocked that Texas isn't going all out for Durham.
View attachment 4011
Three more thoughts on the 100 meters final at the TSU Relays this weekend.
1. Jelani Watkins running a 10.35 this weekend is why I have him ranked 22nd in the state. He might not be a great football player yet and he might be tiny at 5-9, 150ish pounds, but 10.35 in mid-March is 10.35 in Mid-March.
Check out the in-state rankings of Watkins and the wide variety of thoughts:
ESPN: 7
247: 14
LSR: 22
Rivals: 60
On3: 61
2. If Durham did nothing else but run in the 10.4s for the rest of his high school career, he'd be bringing elite speed with him to the next level, but this is a guy that might be in the 10.3s by the end of this track season and he's only a junior. Don't let this kid go to Oklahoma.
3. Serious kudos to Duncanville sophomore wide receiver Dakorien Moore running a 10.63 at this point in his career. That's what it should look like for a guy competing for future 5-star consideration.
No. 8 – BUY or SELL …
(Buy) That's much easier said than done. There doesn't appear to be any interest from either of them right now.
(Buy) I've got this team playing in the national championship game.
(Sell) The women aren't that good.
(Buy) I don't know about jinxing the team, but I wouldn't do anything that upsets the apple-cart with this group. Leave that carrot dangling over everyone and see how far it takes you. Chris Del Conte shouldn't do anything until after the season.
(Sell) We wish.
(Sell) It's the most important position that needs improvement, but it's not the only position group that is a question mark. Yet, it can be argued that if Ewers plays better, everything else becomes secondary.
(Sell) I'm not going that far yet.
(Sell) I think Texas has a 65% of making the Elite 8, a 32.5% chance of making the Final Four, a 20% chance of making the championship game and a 7.7% chance of winning the title.
(Buy) That's probably about right.
(Sell) The BBQ ain't quite that good.
(Sell) I'll say fourth-place.
(Sell) Give me flour.
(Sell) I don't want either.
(Sell) HOAs don't bother me.
(Sell) Lake water doesn't bother me.
(Sell) Give me the beach.
(Buy) I'm not ready to buy that he lives up to his No. 1 overall ranking.
(Sell) Hell, no, he's not overrated.
No. 9 - Scattershooting on anything and everything ...
... I don't know if the Texas baseball team has beaten a good team during its current 10-game winning streak, but building some confidence is better than losing it against good teams. It'll be fascinating to see just how much momentum this team has when it hosts a Texas Tech team that opened Big 12 play with a 2-1 series win over Oklahoma State, which included a 12-1 win on Sunday in Lubbock. In other Big 12 hardball news, Baylor took two of three at home against Kansas State, while Oklahoma took two of three at home against TCU.
... I'm not sure how much I would have liked the Brandin Cooks trade for Dallas if it was paying the full $18 million he'll receive this season, but giving up a fifth-round pick in 2023 and a sixth round pick in 2024, while only paying $12 million of his 2023 salary, feels like a risk worth taking, especially if it keeps them away from Odell Beckham Jr.
... The Cowboys recently added Draft compensatory picks in the 5th (No. 170 and No. 176) and sixth rounds (No. 212) in the 2023 NFL Draft and they turned those picks into Cooks (No. 170) and cornerback Stephon Gilmore (No. 176).
That leaves the Cowboys with the following picks in the Draft:
1st Round: 26th Overall
2nd Round: 58th Overall
3rd Round: 90th Overall
4th Round: 129th Overall
5th Round: 169th Overall
6th Round: 212th Overall
7th Round: 244th Overall
... It's kind of crazy to think that Aaron Rodgers streak of not going to the Super Bowl (13 years) is almost as long as UT's streak of missing the Sweet 16 (15 years).
... I don't really understand Real Madrid being so good in the Champions League and so average in every other competition. After losing on Sunday in El Clasico to Barcelona, Real Madrid is now 12 points behind first place in La Liga. I just don't get it. Signed, Liverpool fan.
... Austin FC looks like a team that rode its expected goals luck last season to a second-place finish and is now a middle of the pack MLS team as it regresses back to the mean. Not much about losing 2-0 to Houston on Saturday night felt like bad luck.
... Arsenal just keeps doing the damn thing.
... Jordan Spieth hasn't been picking up wins this month, but he's played really good golf for two weekends in a row, finishing tied for third at this weekend's Valspar Championship. We're three weeks away from Augusta National and it's coming together for Spieth at the right time.
... Leon Edwards isn't the most exciting fighter in the UFC, but the dude hasn't lost a fight since 2015. All he does is win.
... Here's hoping for more of these in 2023.
No. 10 - The List: Patrick Swayze Top 10 ...
It's kind of shocking that I've never done a Swayze list when you consider that he's a Texas boy through and through.
While attending Houston Waltrip High School and San Jac CC, his Wikipedia page says "he pursued multiple artistic and athletic skills, such as ice skating, classical ballet, and acting in school plays. He also played football during high school, hoping to receive a football scholarship for college, until a knee injury ended his career. He concurrently practiced martial arts such as Wushu, Taekwondo, and Aikido, which he used to channel his ‘self-deprecating rage.’"
That man did everything.
Let's get to the list.
10. Donnie Darko
This movie has apparently turned into a cult classic, but I just remember being kind of "meh" about it when the movie came out. Do I need to revisit it?
9. North and South
This made-for-TV miniseries was a big deal when it was released in the mid-80s and I'm pretty sure it was my introduction to Swayze at the age of 10. It's the only thing I remember about it.
8. Youngblood
Swayze, Rob Lowe and a young Keanu Reeves (in his first movie) in a hockey movie? Yes, please.
7. 11:14
If you haven't seen it, give it a look. It's quietly the best under-the-radar movie that Swayze has ever done.
6. Red Dawn
Rocky IV might have ended the Cold War, but Swayze and a bunch of kids helped turn around World War III.
5. The Outsiders
As someone that really enjoyed the 1967 novel by the same name, this film holds a special place in my heart. Stay gold, Darrel Curtis.
4. Ghost
His only Academy Award-nominated/winning project.
3. Point Break
How did his portrayal of Bodhi not get nominated for an Academy Award? Total BS.
2. Road House
The most re-watchable cable TV movie of all-time.
1. Dirty Dancing
This probably a top-5 all-time movie for me. I've seen it hundreds of times. That is not an exaggeration.
I don't remember Otis Redding singing in The Marrying Man. It was mostly Kim Basinger.
Point Break & Roadhouse are 1)a & 1)b for Swayze movies imo
With 4:42 left in its Round of 32 match-up against Penn State on Saturday night, Rodney Terry's Texas Longhorns were in a fight or flight moment that threatened their very 2022-23 existence.
Nearly four minutes had passed since the Longhorns had scored a point and the Nittany Lions had gone on a 10-0 run to give them a 58-55 lead.
"Melting down," one Orangebloods staffer wrote in the OB slack channel.
I don't know that I would go that far, but you could definitely feel the grasp that this team had enjoyed for much of the game slipping away. As the team made its way to the bench, Terry had three things in front of him that needed to be accomplished.
a. Settle his players down.
b. Have a guaranteed winner of an offensive set for this team to get two points coming out of the break.
c. Remind his players that these moments are what they've been built for.
It's the single most amount of pressure that Terry has faced since taking over for Chris Beard as head coach back in December and he made like Shooter taking over for Norman Dale in the movie Hoosiers in designing a play that got Dylan Disu a point-blank shot at the rim to cut the lead to 58-57.
From that moment on, Texas didn't miss a shot the rest of the night, as it went on a 10-0 run of its own, before finally tapping Penn State out in a 71-66 win.
For the players on this team, rising to the top in such a moment takes a lot of pressure off of everyone going into the next round. The streak of 16 consecutive years without a Sweet 16 appearance is over. If it does nothing else, this team has safely placed itself in the discussion of being one of the five best teams in program history. Two more wins puts it in the discussion for the best ever.
Meanwhile, rising to the challenge in this moment might just be the final nudge Terry needs in his quiet quest to make this program his own.
In a world where timing is almost always everything, Terry has not only guided the team into a place that the program hasn't seen in almost half a generation, but he's suddenly deeper into the Tournament than pretty much all of the candidates Chris Del Conte might have had his eye on.
Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd is a perfect example. His overall resume looks slightly better than Terry's because he's built what has been created at Arizona, but he didn't make the Round of 32 this year with the Wildcats, let alone the Sweet 16.
If Del Conte has a true banger of a head coach waiting to happen, then so be it, but if there's no sure-thing guarantee on the box out there, it's hard to debate that Terry is making one hell of a claim for the job that gets stronger with every game that is won in the Tournament.
The fact that there's not an obvious hire out there to make means that Del Conte could probably do worse than giving Terry a four-year deal that has some easy outs in a couple of years if all of this proves to be a Cinderella story that is creeping close to midnight. Maybe the timing for a Lloyd-like hire will be better. Maybe Terry runs with the job and never looks back.
Personally, I don't know how to feel about Terry's program-building chops. Will he recruit the Portal as well as he would need to? I just don't know.
What I do know is that with 4:42 left in the biggest game of the 2023 season to date, he had the chops and deft touch to drive this team into a round that the program hasn't known since 2008.
That's not an insignificant accomplishment.
No. 2 - Hometown Hero ...
A few weeks ago, Texas senior Dylan Disu was a hometown boy that was having a pretty good senior season on one of the best teams in the country.
Fast forward to the present and Disu is the hometown boy that is suddenly the best player on one of the best teams in the country.
What in the wild, wild world of Disuanity is happening?
From role player to Big 12 Tournament MVP to the guy you have to get the ball to when your season is on the line, Disu is a living Disney movie in real time. That he's the player that carried this team on his back when the pressure was its highest on Saturday means that Disu is the player entering the next round of play with The Glow.
If this team is on a one-possession game this week, is Disu the player you want the offense flowing through?
Sho'Nuff!
No. 3 - Best sixth man ever?
Did you know that up until this season, the Longhorns have only had one Big 12 6th Man of the Year award winner in program history.
Take a moment to think about it. Let's see if you can think of the answer.
The answer is Kai Jones just two seasons ago when he averaged 8.8 points and 4.8 rebounds per game on a team that we've all tried to forget. No offense to Jones, who played 27 minutes in a loss to the Sixers on Friday night as a member of the Charlotte Hornets. We've all just gone out of our way to forget Shaka Smart's final season.
Yet, there's no denying that Jones represents competition for Sir'Jabari Rice when we're talking about the best sixth men in Texas basketball history.
Brian Boddicker would have to get some run for his work (8.3 points, 3.9 rebounds and 43.9% three-point shooting) on the 2002-03 Final Four team. Gary Johnson averaged almost 10 points per game and 5+ rebounds per game in 53 games off the bench in 2008-09 and 2009-10.
There are others, I suppose. Perhaps I'm living in the moment, but it's hard for me to overlook the fact that Sir'Jabari Rice is averaging 12.9 points and 3.6 assists, while shooting 45.7% from the floor and 36.4% from the three-point range. He's not been a good role player as much as he's been the best player on the team on a lot of big nights.
Rice didn't even play anywhere near his best game against Penn State on Saturday night, but his below-average performance still netted the second most points on the team (13), while going a perfect 4 for 4 from the free throw line.
Maybe what happens in the next week will define this more clearly, but Rice is the only player in this discussion that was more than a role player on a great team. He's become the guy that decides wins and losses on a lot of nights.
Who needs to start when you can just be the best impersonation of Manu Ginobili the Texas program has ever seen.
No. 4 - Scattershooting on the NCAA Tournament ...
... It's an incredible sign about the complete nature of this team that the Longhorns could go 1 for 13 from 3-point range in a contest that has a spot in the Sweet 16 on the line and still win. Penn State outscored Texas 24-3 from line-distance and still lost. Thank God for Disu.
... Xavier is going to be a hard out for the Longhorns in the next round, but that's the name of the game when you get to the second week of the Tournament.
... Going back to the home finale against Kansas, senior Marcus Carr has made just 7 of 25 (28%) from long-distance in six straight Texas wins. If you expand the same size back two more games, he's shooting 11 of 43 (25.6%). At some point, this team needs him to get hot from distance.
... This is a reminder of what these young men have to give up or miss out on in the name of pursuing the dream. Very little things truly come free in this life.
... How important is winning in March? Kansas won the regular-season title and its season was deemed more than a disappointment by not advancing beyond the round of 32. That might be harsh, but that's how success in this sport is defined, especially at a blue blood.
... With Marcus Sasser back in the line-up, Houston looked a lot more like Houston on Saturday night. Man, a Texas-Houston match-up for a spot in the Final Four would be something to behold.
... The NCAA has to stop ranking these Ivy League teams among the lowest of the low seeds. Nothing about what Princeton has done in its two wins is screaming that it is an underdog to No. 2 and No. 7 seeds.
... Keep your shirt on, Eric Musselman. Make it less about you and more about your team. You're 58 years old, man.
... Right on, Rick Barnes. Right on. You've suffered through enough disappointment in March over the years that he deserved a moment like the one on Saturday when his Vols knocked off Duke. A Final Four spot is there for the taking.
... Speaking of ex-Texas coaches, it's hard not to feel sorry for Shaka Smart, but you could see that Michigan State loss coming a mile away.
No. 5 - Monday-Night Rematch at Moody ...
Earlier this season, Louisville and Texas played each other in the Bahamas, with the Longhorns taking it on the chin when they just didn't play well enough in the fourth quarter.
Texas played that game without star point guard Rori Harmon.
That won't be a problem on Monday night when these two teams replay their November 20th match-up. Not only with the Longhorns have Harmon back in the line-up, but the game will be at home.
A win over a 24-11 team that escaped Drake by two points in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in the Moody Center is all that stands between the Longhorns making the Sweet 16.
It's by no means a sure thing, but with Sonya Morris back in the line-up after missing 10 games in February and most of March, the pieces are in place for this Texas team to set up a match-up with No. 1 seed Stanford....er... No.8-seed Ole Miss next weekend.
No. 6 - I hate to be that guy, but ...
I'm not sure that the Texas defensive line is as much of a strength as Anwar Richardson and Steve Sarkisian have indicated that it might be.
Don't get me wrong, it's pretty good.
Barryn Sorrell has a chance to be a first-team All-Big 12 player and the combo of Byron Murphy and T'Vondre Sweat are solid as a rock in the middle, even if none of this trio has ever consistently been one of the best players at their positions in the Big 12.
Meanwhile, the edge position is a complete question mark with nothing but young, unproven players in place to serve as possible answers, while the likes of Alfred Collins and Vernon Broughton have served as mostly lackluster depth in the last three seasons. There's no one right now that truly serves as a quality back-up to Sorrell.
Weirdly, every single one of those players outside of the Jack position is currently filled with Tom Herman-recruited players, which serves as a reminder that Bo Davis has only landed one super-blue prospect (Colton Vasek) since he returned to the Texas program back in January of 2021.
As much as our confirmation bias wants us to believe that all of those mid-four star prospects will turn into stars, the math says that the Longhorns will do well if one out of the Justice Finkley, Jaray Bledsoe, Ethan Burke trio turns into an NFL-level talent. Hitting two out of those three would represent a massive development win for Davis and the rest of the Texas defensive coaches.
Yet, none of those guys are even borderline standouts up until now. None made a proper dent as players on the field in year one.
I'm not saying that the defensive line position isn't on its way to being pretty damn good, but I'm not willing to say that at the moment. Not when there isn't a single All-Big 12-level player returning from last season and the young depth on the roster is undeveloped.
From my perspective, there are three things that Davis has to do in the coming 12 months.
a. Develop those babies at the Jack position into players that will justify not going into the Portal for help.
b. Develop some depth at defensive tackle.
c. Land some super blue chip prospects.
There's still a LOT of work to do.
No. 7 - The best running back in the 2024 class ...
The Longhorns are the favorite to land the nation's No. 4 running back in Jerrick Gipson from the IMG Academy down in Florida.
He's Tashard Choice's guy at the running back position and everyone seems to agree that it might just be a relationship made in heaven.
That being said, I'm starting to become convinced that the best running back in the country resides roughly 200 miles north of Austin in Duncanville, Texas.
Some of you know that I have Duncanville's Caden Durham ranked as the state's top-ranked running back and the No. 6 player in my LSR Top 100 list for the Class of 2024, while Rivals ranks him as the No. 29 player in the state, which higher than ESPN (32), 247 (40) and On3 (44).
Honestly, I feel like I'm taking crazy pills, especially after watching him set a new personal best (10.44) in the 100 meters this weekend in 50-degree weather in mid-March. This is a kid who ran for nearly 3,000 yards and scored 36 touchdowns in Class 6A last season and might have been the best player on a field full of talent in the state championship.
For a program that covets speed as much as anything with its skill players, consider me shocked that Texas isn't going all out for Durham.
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Three more thoughts on the 100 meters final at the TSU Relays this weekend.
1. Jelani Watkins running a 10.35 this weekend is why I have him ranked 22nd in the state. He might not be a great football player yet and he might be tiny at 5-9, 150ish pounds, but 10.35 in mid-March is 10.35 in Mid-March.
Check out the in-state rankings of Watkins and the wide variety of thoughts:
ESPN: 7
247: 14
LSR: 22
Rivals: 60
On3: 61
2. If Durham did nothing else but run in the 10.4s for the rest of his high school career, he'd be bringing elite speed with him to the next level, but this is a guy that might be in the 10.3s by the end of this track season and he's only a junior. Don't let this kid go to Oklahoma.
3. Serious kudos to Duncanville sophomore wide receiver Dakorien Moore running a 10.63 at this point in his career. That's what it should look like for a guy competing for future 5-star consideration.
No. 8 – BUY or SELL …
(Buy) That's much easier said than done. There doesn't appear to be any interest from either of them right now.
(Buy) I've got this team playing in the national championship game.
(Sell) The women aren't that good.
(Buy) I don't know about jinxing the team, but I wouldn't do anything that upsets the apple-cart with this group. Leave that carrot dangling over everyone and see how far it takes you. Chris Del Conte shouldn't do anything until after the season.
(Sell) We wish.
(Sell) It's the most important position that needs improvement, but it's not the only position group that is a question mark. Yet, it can be argued that if Ewers plays better, everything else becomes secondary.
(Sell) I'm not going that far yet.
(Sell) I think Texas has a 65% of making the Elite 8, a 32.5% chance of making the Final Four, a 20% chance of making the championship game and a 7.7% chance of winning the title.
(Buy) That's probably about right.
(Sell) The BBQ ain't quite that good.
(Sell) I'll say fourth-place.
(Sell) Give me flour.
(Sell) I don't want either.
(Sell) HOAs don't bother me.
(Sell) Lake water doesn't bother me.
(Sell) Give me the beach.
(Buy) I'm not ready to buy that he lives up to his No. 1 overall ranking.
(Sell) Hell, no, he's not overrated.
No. 9 - Scattershooting on anything and everything ...
... I don't know if the Texas baseball team has beaten a good team during its current 10-game winning streak, but building some confidence is better than losing it against good teams. It'll be fascinating to see just how much momentum this team has when it hosts a Texas Tech team that opened Big 12 play with a 2-1 series win over Oklahoma State, which included a 12-1 win on Sunday in Lubbock. In other Big 12 hardball news, Baylor took two of three at home against Kansas State, while Oklahoma took two of three at home against TCU.
... I'm not sure how much I would have liked the Brandin Cooks trade for Dallas if it was paying the full $18 million he'll receive this season, but giving up a fifth-round pick in 2023 and a sixth round pick in 2024, while only paying $12 million of his 2023 salary, feels like a risk worth taking, especially if it keeps them away from Odell Beckham Jr.
... The Cowboys recently added Draft compensatory picks in the 5th (No. 170 and No. 176) and sixth rounds (No. 212) in the 2023 NFL Draft and they turned those picks into Cooks (No. 170) and cornerback Stephon Gilmore (No. 176).
That leaves the Cowboys with the following picks in the Draft:
1st Round: 26th Overall
2nd Round: 58th Overall
3rd Round: 90th Overall
4th Round: 129th Overall
5th Round: 169th Overall
6th Round: 212th Overall
7th Round: 244th Overall
... It's kind of crazy to think that Aaron Rodgers streak of not going to the Super Bowl (13 years) is almost as long as UT's streak of missing the Sweet 16 (15 years).
... I don't really understand Real Madrid being so good in the Champions League and so average in every other competition. After losing on Sunday in El Clasico to Barcelona, Real Madrid is now 12 points behind first place in La Liga. I just don't get it. Signed, Liverpool fan.
... Austin FC looks like a team that rode its expected goals luck last season to a second-place finish and is now a middle of the pack MLS team as it regresses back to the mean. Not much about losing 2-0 to Houston on Saturday night felt like bad luck.
... Arsenal just keeps doing the damn thing.
... Jordan Spieth hasn't been picking up wins this month, but he's played really good golf for two weekends in a row, finishing tied for third at this weekend's Valspar Championship. We're three weeks away from Augusta National and it's coming together for Spieth at the right time.
... Leon Edwards isn't the most exciting fighter in the UFC, but the dude hasn't lost a fight since 2015. All he does is win.
... Here's hoping for more of these in 2023.
No. 10 - The List: Patrick Swayze Top 10 ...
It's kind of shocking that I've never done a Swayze list when you consider that he's a Texas boy through and through.
While attending Houston Waltrip High School and San Jac CC, his Wikipedia page says "he pursued multiple artistic and athletic skills, such as ice skating, classical ballet, and acting in school plays. He also played football during high school, hoping to receive a football scholarship for college, until a knee injury ended his career. He concurrently practiced martial arts such as Wushu, Taekwondo, and Aikido, which he used to channel his ‘self-deprecating rage.’"
That man did everything.
Let's get to the list.
10. Donnie Darko
This movie has apparently turned into a cult classic, but I just remember being kind of "meh" about it when the movie came out. Do I need to revisit it?
9. North and South
This made-for-TV miniseries was a big deal when it was released in the mid-80s and I'm pretty sure it was my introduction to Swayze at the age of 10. It's the only thing I remember about it.
8. Youngblood
Swayze, Rob Lowe and a young Keanu Reeves (in his first movie) in a hockey movie? Yes, please.
7. 11:14
If you haven't seen it, give it a look. It's quietly the best under-the-radar movie that Swayze has ever done.
6. Red Dawn
Rocky IV might have ended the Cold War, but Swayze and a bunch of kids helped turn around World War III.
5. The Outsiders
As someone that really enjoyed the 1967 novel by the same name, this film holds a special place in my heart. Stay gold, Darrel Curtis.
4. Ghost
His only Academy Award-nominated/winning project.
3. Point Break
How did his portrayal of Bodhi not get nominated for an Academy Award? Total BS.
2. Road House
The most re-watchable cable TV movie of all-time.
1. Dirty Dancing
This probably a top-5 all-time movie for me. I've seen it hundreds of times. That is not an exaggeration.
Come on, Ketch…You should know that when it comes to bball, RLong thinks his thoughts are the ultimate authority, even when those thoughts were already stated by others. 😏
The fact that literally no one else is jumping in with support should be a sign to him that he's being silly.
If he was right and I had just been ignoring the importance of the Tournament for months to Terry's case for HC, there would be dozens of people in here hitting me with a metaphorical stick.
I read the trilogy after the show and yeah, I was shocked. Several other things different as well. But you can’t kill off Orry in the show, you just can’t.
you do realize i'm just busting your balls, right? If not, we can proceed. Any movie with Patrick Swayze is Oscar worthy. You add in John L and Willie Mays Hayes in drag, and it's a shoe in.
I think it would be more accurate to say they came to work with Beard at the University of Texas (with all that means) and at the assistant salaries offered by the University of Texas.
I tend to agree with that in theory.
But CDC doesn't get to just hire a top 10-15 college basketball coach in the world. He can only hire the best basketball coach who wants to coach for the University of Texas and who meets the character qualifications to work at Texas.
A lot if the very top guys are likely to fail one of those two criteria. I doubt if Self, Few, Cronin, Wright? Donovan?, are going to prefer Texas to the current jobs. Oats and Musselman just signed big extensions at their current places. Guys like Sean Miller has enough question marks in his past to fail the second criteria. Beard is maybe a top guy who failed here too. Even Oats looks fishy with his "wrong place at the wrong time" nonsense with regard to Brandon Miller.
Add Scott drew and Sampson to that list (May fail character test, but clearly way better and more proven coaches than RT)
I think the best we can do is probably Terry at this point - with the results he’s shown over one year , connection to UT over multiple years and knowing the landscape with galvanized support from everyone
My main questions are - will be hire good assistants and does he know how to roster manage / target the portal
It seems game day coaching and HS recruiting he does just fine
I’m not sure what kind of deal I’d offer Terry but given how we are where we are, in all senses (his background, his interim status and his managing the chaos he was dealt), he’s ripe for a deal that’s far less guaranteed, yet more incentive-based.
Maybe it’s a 3-year deal for like $2-2.5M per year plus some strong incentive based comp for:
- top 3 in conference standings
- winning regulars season conference
- making March Madness
…etc
If Texas wants to be more prudent with how we’re structuring head coaching contracts, THIS is the time.
We’re Texas. We have ample resources and the city of Austin to boast as reasons why any coach can and should succeed here. It’s time to start paying for results. Not potential. Not resume.
It’s more challening in other situations but in this situation, it’s a layup.
I love Terry and love his story. If we’re just a few chapters into his coaching life at Texas, he’ll earn what a “splash hire” would earn…if he has the results we’re seeking.
…2M plus like
-100k for March Madness
-250k for each win in Madness plus an extra $500k for Final Four
-750k for NC game or 1.5 if win NC
…some other conference incentives too
Note:
I haven’t taken the time to review other top 20 coach packages but my general point is to maybe pay Terry more than they’d get IF we make Final Four…and about the same if we finish with 1-3 wins and less with 0 wins not not make tourney….Ie, tweak my numbers based on that rationale.
Maybe it’s a 3-year deal for like $2-2.5M per year plus some strong incentive based comp for:
- top 3 in conference standings
- winning regulars season conference
- making March Madness
…etc
If Texas wants to be more prudent with how we’re structuring head coaching contracts, THIS is the time.
We’re Texas. We have ample resources and the city of Austin to boast as reasons why any coach can and should succeed here. It’s time to start paying for results. Not potential. Not resume.
It’s more challening in other situations but in this situation, it’s a layup.
I love Terry and love his story. If we’re just a few chapters into his coaching life at Texas, he’ll earn what a “splash hire” would earn…if he has the results we’re seeking.
…2M plus like
-100k for March Madness
-250k for each win in Madness plus an extra $500k for Final Four
-750k for NC game or 1.5 if win NC
…some other conference incentives too
Note:
I haven’t taken the time to review other top 20 coach packages but my general point is to maybe pay Terry more than they’d get IF we make Final Four…and about the same if we finish with 1-3 wins and less with 0 wins not not make tourney….Ie, tweak my numbers based on that rationale.
It just means the talent is smaller to choose from to hire a real A+ guy.
shocked you didn't mention Too Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything? Julie NewmarNo. 10 - The List: Patrick Swayze Top 10 ...
It's kind of shocking that I've never done a Swayze list when you consider that he's a Texas boy through and through.
While attending Houston Waltrip High School and San Jac CC, his Wikipedia page says "he pursued multiple artistic and athletic skills, such as ice skating, classical ballet, and acting in school plays. He also played football during high school, hoping to receive a football scholarship for college, until a knee injury ended his career. He concurrently practiced martial arts such as Wushu, Taekwondo, and Aikido, which he used to channel his ‘self-deprecating rage.’"
That man did everything.
Let's get to the list.
10. Donnie Darko
This movie has apparently turned into a cult classic, but I just remember being kind of "meh" about it when the movie came out. Do I need to revisit it?
9. North and South
This made-for-TV miniseries was a big deal when it was released in the mid-80s and I'm pretty sure it was my introduction to Swayze at the age of 10. It's the only thing I remember about it.
8. Youngblood
Swayze, Rob Lowe and a young Keanu Reeves (in his first movie) in a hockey movie? Yes, please.
7. 11:14
If you haven't seen it, give it a look. It's quietly the best under-the-radar movie that Swayze has ever done.
6. Red Dawn
Rocky IV might have ended the Cold War, but Swayze and a bunch of kids helped turn around World War III.
5. The Outsiders
As someone that really enjoyed the 1967 novel by the same name, this film holds a special place in my heart. Stay gold, Darrel Curtis.
4. Ghost
His only Academy Award-nominated/winning project.
3. Point Break
How did his portrayal of Bodhi not get nominated for an Academy Award? Total BS.
2. Road House
The most re-watchable cable TV movie of all-time.
1. Dirty Dancing
This probably a top-5 all-time movie for me. I've seen it hundreds of times. That is not an exaggeration.
I figured that one was right up your alley.
I mean who do you think would be willing to come here that’s a top 10ish coach? I’m genuinely asking , if it’s even within remotely being realistic to get anyone big time like that
I know we may not be privy to the back channels going on , but seems highly unlikely
I wouldn't have a good answer to that without having access to the agents of said head coaches.
I think this is a very coveted job.
Yeah I think it’s a good job, but didn’t think others would view it as a top 10 top of job.
To me football, is clearly a top 5 job
Basketball I’m not confident it’s even a top 10 tho
If you had a wish list of 5 coaches who would they be and in what order?
Maybe 10?
Let’s start with that and walk it down from there.
Thanks for the response, Ketch.
Here’s the deal for me - I’m not convinced there is an absolute sure-hire. Him and Tang both look similar to me - 1-2 years head coach but 20 prior years under really strong programs (one under a NC team, Baylor and the other on two-time runner up, Gonzaga).
I’m pretty torn on the decision as the what’s best for Texas likely is hiring someone with more chops but the human emotions part of me says Terry could be that same upside those two have but we could get at a cheaper price and not really more or less of a known quality…none really have skins on the wall.
And then looking at those with skins have their own issues.
I’m down for Terry with a shorter term deal, less up front and considerably more incentive-based. Give him a promo and an attaboy and hope and pray he’s what we all want him to be…and if not, go after Lloyd or Tang.
Younger (<50) and chip on shoulder is the guy if not Terry, imo.
Here’s the deal for me - I’m not convinced there is an absolute sure-hire. Him and Tang both look similar to me - 1-2 years head coach but 20 prior years under really strong programs (one under a NC team, Baylor and the other on two-time runner up, Gonzaga).
I’m pretty torn on the decision as the what’s best for Texas likely is hiring someone with more chops but the human emotions part of me says Terry could be that same upside those two have but we could get at a cheaper price and not really more or less of a known quality…none really have skins on the wall.
And then looking at those with skins have their own issues.
I’m down for Terry with a shorter term deal, less up front and considerably more incentive-based. Give him a promo and an attaboy and hope and pray he’s what we all want him to be…and if not, go after Lloyd or Tang.
Younger (<50) and chip on shoulder is the guy if not Terry, imo.
I don't disagree.
I wonder how much I'd like Terry if he'd just never had any head coaching experience at all.
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