Track and Field

RIP Harrison Benjamin. Former Texas Tech track and field student-athlete Harrison Benjamin passed away on Monday night at the all too early age of 29.

“We all lost a great champion yesterday,” Texas Tech head coach Wes Kittley said. “It’s so sad for such a vibrant young man to be taken from us so soon. As Tank [Benjamin]’s head coach, I am lost for words and can only say I have never been more proud of a Red Raider, due to the amount of adversity he went through with injuries and surgeries, only to become one of our greatest Big 12 champions. He will forever be cherished as a member of our Red Raider family. My prayers and thoughts are with his wonderful family.”

Think a good thought for Benjamin and his family. Rest in peace.

Tennis

Think Good Thoughts for the Luke Siegel and the Siegel Family. Tim Siegel’s son, Luke, suffered severe head trauma after falling off a golf cart and being trapped underneath it.

My little Luke was in a golf cart accident and has severe head trauma. Please pray for my little buddy

— Tim Siegel (@TimSiegelTTU) July 28, 2015

Siegel recently retired as the men’s tennis coach. Think a good thought for Luke and the Siegel family.

Football

Martin Throwing in Action. Thanks to Red Raider Nation’s Brian Holland we get a short glimpse of 2017 QB commit Xavier Martin throwing in action and head football coach at Steele said that Martin’s accuracy is natural and he might be kinda fast:

“He’s got tremendous tools as far as arm strength and ability to run, and then his accuracy is really natural. I really didn’t see to much until last year and I said ‘man this guy really pin points the football and he’s very accurate on the run,’ which is really rare for a lot of really young kids. I think at Tech’s camp in New Braunfels, he actually ran a hand timed 4.28, which is just blinding fast.”

Adams on His Commitment. Via Fredricksburg.com, the newest Texas Tech commit Zach Adams grew up near Houston and his family will get to see him play:

“When I was down there I felt comfortable,” Adams said. “It felt like home down there. All my family is down there so they’ll be able to watch six or seven games a year.”

Also some interesting quotes from his high school coach about how he has improved this spring and summer.

Five Year Eligibility. Via AL.com, Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen has a pretty good idea, which is to give all players a blanket five years of eligibility, which makes a lot of sense and takes out a lot of rules from the NCAA deciding whether or not a player gets an extra year or redshirt year. Here’s Mullen:

You might take a freshman and they are being punished for having better grades. They might be forced to play even though they needed a redshirt year,” Mullen says. “One of the thoughts I had was there’s a mandatory academic redshirt year for a certain group of people…well, if you are above that new standard you should get five years of eligibility. Why punish someone who might be forced to have to play? Instead of punishing guys for doing bad, why not reward guys for doing good?”

Should Arkansas go to the Big 12. Land Grant Gauntlet’s Chris Ross lays out why Arkansas should consider the Big 12 and although most Arkansas fans would say heck no, but Chris makes a compelling argument. The biggest reason why I, if I were in charge of Arkansas, is stability. The SEC offers that and the Big 12 doesn’t. Adding Arkansas would obviously solidify this, but that’s a problem for me.

Amaro on Quarterbacks and Stuff. Remember when I told you to listen to TE Jace Amaro on Tech Talk? Well, now, DMN’s Michael DuPont transcribed a bunch of that interview and he talks about both QB’s, Davis Webb and Patrick Mahomes, and Amaro thinks that Texas Tech is going to have a pretty good season. Amaro also mentioned the fact that the there are some leaders stepping up is a big thing this year:

“I just love (Texas Tech) so much. It was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had, but I just love those guys; I just want them to have a great year” Amaro told KTTU. “I’ve heard some great things about Le’Raven (Clark) and Branden (Jackson) growing up so quickly and holding a lot more people on that team accountable, just taking better leadership. I think that’s something that they lacked last year; I don’t think that people take note that’s one of the biggest things about a football team is who your leaders are. You’re only going to go as far as your leaders take you and I think that’s going to be huge for them this year and I’m really excited about those guys.”

Miscellaneous. DMN’s Michael DuPont takes a look at the special teams . . . LAJ’s Don Williams ranks his top three receivers for Texas Tech (ever) and says it is Michael Crabtree, Wes Welker and then Joel Filani . . .