Leading Off

Congrats to Jessica Hartwell for being named 3rd team All-American by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (TexasTech), on the third player in program history to achieve that honor:

Hartwell is the third Red Raider in program history to earn All-America honors, joining Sandy Butler (1998) and Amanda Renfro (2001), both of whom were second-team selections.

“I am very proud of and could not be more excited for Jessica,” head coach Adrian Gregory said. “Her junior year numbers were outstanding, leading us in almost every offensive category. She is a unique player that is both motivated and willing to put the needs of the team first, while personally accomplishing so much. This is a special day for Jess and Texas Tech softball.”

The volleyball program has assembled their 2018 recruiting class, 8 players total and received honorable mention designation by PrepVolleyball, which means they were just outside the top 30 (TexasTech).

“This is a big group, and it’s our first full recruiting class as a coaching staff,” head coach Tony Graystone said. “We’re excited about knowing that we are bringing in some players that we recruited from start to finish. We have all of the positions covered. We’re adding some size and a lot of offense in there. We’re really happy about them. These are some players that are going to be the foundation for what we are moving forward with.”

Texas Tech Baseball

Congrats to Josh Jung for being named as a finalist for the 2018 Bobby Bragan Collegiate Slugger Award (Big12Sports).

Great time tonight with the guys. #WreckEm pic.twitter.com/cFpUSLWsmV

— Tim Tadlock (@TimTadlockTTU) May 31, 2018

Texas Tech Basketball

BleacherReport’s Paul Kasabian writes about potential steals in the 2018 NBA Draft and thinks that Zhaire Smith has the potential to be an absolute steal:

The primary knock on Smith’s game right now is his offensive skillset. He only shot 7.5 times per game on average last season, and it’s hard seeing him come into the NBA and contributing much on offense.

Tajh Jenkins of NBADraft.net called him a “project” on offense and said he “isn’t a number one scoring or playmaking option at this time.”

That looks to be true at the moment, but the most intriguing part about Smith might be that he is still 18 years old (he turns 19 next month). He has plenty of time to grow and develop.

There are some recruiting things that are still somewhat happening and maybe Texas Tech is waiting on one decision and then the rest of the dominoes will fall. Both Gach is set to decide his college (Texas Tech, San Diego State, and Utah) on Friday (Twitter). Also deciding soon is Keonte Kennedy (SMU, Texas Tech, and Xavier) (Twitter) and maybe Kennedy decides after Gach? I honestly don’t know if their decisions are even related.

Texas Tech Football

Congrats to Paul Stawarz for being named to the Rimington Trophy Watch List, which goes to the nation’s top center (TexasTech).

RedRaiderSports’ Brandon Soliz has a short Q&A with incoming freshman receiver Kesean Carter:

Which position will you specifically be playing when you get to campus?

Outside receiver. They said something about kickoff returns so I’ll do that too but for sure outside receiver.

You’ll need to sit down and dedicate some time to this, but SB Nation’s Steven Godfrey has a very long read about the NCAA’s investigation into Mississippi football. There’s also a documentary there too and it merely affirms that college football is dirty