Watching this video was one of the more enjoyable 20 or so minutes that I’ve spent in a while. I don’t know a bunch about what “fantasy camp” is, but it’s essentially a bunch of donors paying to be part of a basketball camp for adults. I think it’s a bit expensive and it’s open to anyone willing to pay. In any event, the video opens with Chris Beard pleading with the former players to come back and be a part of the program. Up next, questions from reporters and I think some of the fantasy camp participants (which were quite good) ask questions of Tony Battie and Darvin Ham. They range from talking about last year’s team, to discussing what Texas Tech means to them, and one of the best questions was who would win between that Sweet Sixteen 1996 team and the 2018 Elite Eight team and Ham’s answer was great, ending with, “we’d kick their ass.” And laughing the whole way. Good times.
A-J Media’s Carlos Silva, Jr. has an article where he also taked to Martin Zeno about the camp:
“The fans can see how we run the program,” Zeno said of what he liked about the Chris Beard Fantasy Camp. “It’s amazing. You get a first-hand experience of what happens here as an athlete.”
Ross, Zeno, Ham, Dora, Battie. I’d like to coach this starting five. Guns Up. #4:1 pic.twitter.com/QnoCjfzoXN
— Chris Beard (@CoachBeardTTU) August 3, 2018
The other part of this post is the release of the non-conference schedule (PDF).
Here’s a breakdown, with home games in bold.
Nov. 1 [Thur.] TBA (Exhibition Game)
Nov. 6 [Tue.] Incarnate Word
Nov. 9 [Fri.] Mississippi State Valley (Hall of Fame Classic Regional Round)
Nov. 13 [Tue.] Southeastern Louisiana (Hall of Fame Classic Regional Round)
Nov. 19 [Mon.] vs. Southern Cal [3] Kansas City, Mo.
Nov. 20 [Tue.] vs. Missouri State/Nebraska [3] Kansas City, Mo.
Nov. 24 [Sat.] Northern Colorado
Dec. 1 [Sat.] vs. Memphis [4] Miami, Fla.
Dec. 5 [Wed.] Arkansas-Pine Bluff
Dec. 12 [Wed.] Northwestern State
Dec. 15 [Sat.] Abilene Christian [5] (Lubbock Municipal Coliseum)
Dec. 20 [Thur.] vs. Duke New York City, N.Y.
Dec. 28 [Fri.] UTRGV
Jan. 26 [Sat.] Arkansas [6] (SEC/Big 12 Challenge)
A handful of folks aren’t too happy about the non-conference home slate and I tend to think that marquee games maybe take a little bit of time. It’s pretty common for teams to really want to gear up and be on top of their game at home. These non-conference teams like Arkansas-Pine Bluff or UTRGV get quite the workout as it works similar in football, they get paid to come to your school and play your team. I think there’s a balance between getting your team ready and over-exposing them. It’s also clear that Beard isn’t afraid to go play anyone, a USC team that’s improving, a Memphis team with Penny Hardaway and Duke is Duke. It’s hard to complain with what Beard’s done in just two years. And for comparison purposes, Duke has Army, Indiana, Stetson, Hartford, Yale, Princeton and St. John all at home. The Indiana and St. John games standout for sure and maybe one day, Texas Tech will get there, but I’m really at the point about being excited for what we have.