Basketball

Big 12 Teleconference. LAJ’s Carlos Silva, Jr. notes some quotes from Chris Beard as he was on the Big 12 teleconference yesterday. With the roster set (for now), Beard is focused on getting the team to play together:

With all of that work done, Beard admitted one of his many tasks as head coach is far from complete. Now, he must move on to ensuring all of those pieces work together in harmony.

“That’s the challenge. That’s our day-to-day work here, just like everybody else in college basketball is putting together a team,” said Beard, who was part of a Big 12 summer teleconference Wednesday morning. “The first step is assembling talent in recruiting. We’re in a talent business, we always will be. Now, the next step, is what I really enjoy, is putting the pieces together into a team that can play together.”

Football

Wild Card Player. Athlon Sports Allen Kenney has the Big 12 wild card players for each team and chooses Devin Lauderdale and Johnathan Picone for Texas Tech:

Offense: Devin Lauderdale, Wide Receiver As a sophomore in 2015, Lauderdale snagged 43 balls for 639 yards and four touchdowns. However, head coach Kliff Kingsbury suspended him late in the season, and the indefinite ban was only lifted in early June. In an offense predicated on spreading the ball around to multiple receivers, Lauderdale should make for one of quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ more reliable targets–assuming he stays on the field, of course.

I’m not sure that Picone starts. I should have something on this next week, but Picone would start at middle linebacker as a true freshman. That’s a tough task. There’s a lot to figure out at linebacker, unfortunately.

Red Zone Defense. ESPN’s Brandon Chatmon (who is working overtime as I think Max Olson is on his honeymoon and Jake Trotter and his wife just had a child) writes about the third down defenses and it’s not good news:

10. Texas Tech, 74.1: The Red Raiders’ defense was last in several categories, including third-down defense (53.9 percent), fourth-down defense (71.4 percent) and passing yards per attempt (3.28). Red-zone defense is just another area in which second-year defensive coordinator David Gibbs will be looking to improve in 2016.

Focus on Education.

.@Big12Champ4Life Micah Awe of @TechAthletics came to America at age 3 with a focus on education.https://t.co/WkEpbdzMHf

— NCAA (@NCAA) June 29, 2016

Miscellaneous. Hold up. Via Land Grant Gauntlet’s Brady Trantham, the Big 12 as rock bands and Texas Tech is STP? Yeah, Texas Tech is STP . . . SI’s Pete Thamel has details on the most recent NCAA violations against the football program and when I say details, yes, there’s lots of details here . . . via CBS Sports, the Oakland Raiders are expecting big things from DeAndre Washington . . . ESPN’s Brandon Chatmon predicts week 3 of the season, Texas Tech playing Louisiana Tech and a 20+ win for the Red Raiders . . . RRS’s Matt Clare takes a closer look at running back DeShaun Foster (not a lot of quotes from Foster, but you get an idea as to where he’s been since the NFL) . . . via College Football Talk bowl games will now have to pick 6-6 teams before the 5-7 teams, which I guess I thought was already a rule . . .