Leading Off
Check In Over the Weekend. If there’s content to post over the weekend, I’ll probably post it because that’s what I do. So I need you to check in at Staking The Plains dot com when you are able.
Texas Tech Soccer
“𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙮” is an understatement…
🔴#WreckEm⚫️ pic.twitter.com/FQ5lCStUis
— Texas Tech Soccer (@TexasTechSoccer) August 1, 2019
Lady Raider Basketball
Moving toward March every day!
🔴#M2M | #WreckEm⚫️ pic.twitter.com/mILdHVtGhI
— Lady Raider WBB (@LadyRaiderWBB) August 1, 2019
Texas Tech Baseball
Transfers. Yesterday, D1 Baseball’s Kendall Rogers tweeted that Texas Tech would have 10 players enter the transfer portal. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing because it may mean that the incoming class is very talented and a lot of those players who ended up transferring may have been told that they just don’t have a spot any longer. In conjunction with this news is this story from BaseballAmerica’s Teddy Cahill about how Division I baseball players who were not receiving scholarship money are now eligibile to transfer to another school without having to sit out a year, and it goes through the pros and cons of such new rule. Personally, I think this should have been the rule a long time ago, but I’m also in favor giving every player the ability to a one-time transfer without penalty so long as grades are in order.
Speaking of the NCAA Transfer Portal, here’s the tally of players from each team in the @NCAACWS this past June.@TTU_Baseball – 10@RazorbackBSB – 9@HailStateBB – 7@VandyBoys – 6@FSUBaseball – 5@AuburnBaseball – 5@LouisvilleBSB – 4@umichbaseball – 2
— Kendall Rogers (@KendallRogers) August 1, 2019
Texas Tech Basketball
Get to Know. Aside from these tweets that I’ve posted, I noticed this morning that the official site has these tweets compiled and quotes from each of the new players about what kind of player they are. I’d add that the only person that is not included is Andrei Savrasov, who was also a newcomer just like Kevin McCullar in that he arrived in January of 2019.
Meet Kevin McCullar.
He’s gonna make plays and bring a lot of toughness.
🔴#4To1 | #WreckEm⚫️ pic.twitter.com/krnY816zwF
— Texas Tech Basketball (@TexasTechMBB) August 1, 2019
Texas Tech Football
Atavus Tacklytics. You won’t see this reported anywhere else and the reason why is because I’m an internet sleuth (I don’t want to really back up this claim) and noticed that Texas Tech football will be utilizing a company called Atavus Tacklytics to track how their players effectively tackle through game and practice film analysis:
Atavus, the leader in football coach education and tackling assessment, announced that Texas Tech University football has selected Atavus to provide shoulder-led tacking technique, game and practice film analysis, and season-long reporting to the Red Raiders starting with the 2019 season. By purchasing Tacklytics™, Texas Tech football coaches and staff will have access to the most comprehensive system to help educate, train, and measure results on tackling and defensive performance.
“Atavus technique improves player safety by removing the head from the tackle,” said Matt Wells, Texas Tech head coach. “With their game and practice film analysis, reporting, and perspective, partnering with Atavus also gives us a competitive edge, and is like adding a coach to our staff who is focused exclusively on tackling. They know how to help us be more effective and safer tacklers.”
This is really interesting apparently other clients include Michigan State, Rutgers, Cincinnati, Cornell and others.
Football Recruiting. WatchStadium’s Andy Wittry looked at what college football programs spent on recruiting and Texas Tech was 41st out of 45 Power 5 teams in terms of football recruiting budget and the percentage of football recruiting budget in comparison to the entire recruiting budget was 29.1%, which was second to last (right ahead of Wisconsin) for Power 5 programs. I also think that Texas Tech was 7th out of 8 teams (Baylor and TCU did not release their football recruiting budget) in terms of dollars.
Miscellaneous . . . LandGrant Gauntlet’s David Huckabee looks at 3 guys who could play a huge role at receiver for Texas Tech in 2019 . . . HeartlandCollegeSports’ Pete Mundo is ranking the top 25 Big 12 players and quarterback Alan Bowman checks in at #22 . . . SI’s Joan Niesen takes a look at the Big 12, but there’s no mention of Texas Tech so just an FYI (and also an auto-play video) . . . SportingNews’ John E. Hoover also has a Big 12 preview . . . SI’s Ross Dellenger takes a deep dive into Graham Harrell as the offensive coordinator for USC, including a near hire at Midland for an offensive coordinator spot . . .