Conference Realignment Things
CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd writes about the courting of UConn, only a handful of programs in favor of adding UConn currently.
Sources indicate ESPN, the other Big 12 partner in the current media rights deal, would support the move. The cable giant may be interested because it doesn’t have UConn basketball among its rights. ESPN was an early partner with the Big East when the league exploded nationally in the 1980s.
Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark and UConn have long had mutual interest since he took office in 2022, but it wasn’t until two weeks ago that the school made an in-person presentation to Big 12 officials. CBS Sports confirmed that the plan would be for UConn to join the league in all sports except football by 2026. Football would then join in 2031 after meeting a set of financial benchmarks.
On the Court
CBS Sports’ Isaac Trotter writes about the rise of college basketball general managers and Kellen Buffington gets a bit of love:
Kellen Buffington, Texas Tech
Under-the-radar offseason move: Devan Cambridge nearly officially entered the transfer portal this spring, but he was quickly convinced by head coach Grant McCasland, general manager Kellen Buffington and the rest of the Texas Tech staff to stay in Lubbock. There weren’t many sturdy, multi-positional, defense-first forwards who could also stretch the floor in the portal. That coveted skillset made the free agents expensive.
Texas Tech didn’t have to dip its toes into those waters because it was able to retain Cambridge. He’s on the mend after a devastating, season-ending knee injury, but when healthy, he’s a perfect complement for Texas Tech’s prized additions. He gives new point guard Elijah Hawkins a bouncy lob threat. He also provides another thumper who can handle more of the Big 12’s big wings so prized forward JT Toppin can swarm the paint instead of getting too spread thin on the perimeter. McCasland has so many lineup options with Cambridge in the mix. He can go big with Cambridge at the 3 or small with the Toppin-and-Cambridge duo sopping up the frontcourt minutes.
On the Gridiron
Quarterback Behren Morton on a podcast called ZenGame QB Show and this was a good conversation with Morton, ranging from his high school journey, current impact players, his faith, relationship with Patrick Mahomes and Joey McGuire, etc. Just a wide range of things.
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal’s Don Williams writes about the potential scholarship increases pending the settlement with the House vs. NCAA case and there are still a lot of questions about how this will all settle:
“Sitting here today, we have a lot more questions than we have answers for,” he told the A-J. “Our coaches are wanting answers, but we’ve got to be very careful as we move forward and very disciplined with our thought process, because there are Title IX stipulations that we’ve got to continue to be mindful of. We cannot just automatically grow our scholarship support for our men’s sports and think we can’t do the same for our women’s sports. We’ve also got to be aware of just total investment.”
On3 with the news about Texas Tech’s new injury policy:
“Each week during the regular season, the Texas Tech sports medicine staff will provide an availability report for that week’s game notes,” the school said in a statement. “The availability report will designate student-athletes into three categories: out for the season, out for upcoming contest or questionable for upcoming contest. …Texas Tech will list the nature of the injury based upon the area it occurred (i.e. knee, ankle, upper body).”
“Outside of this update each Monday, the Texas Tech coaching staff will no longer go into detail on the nature of an injury,” the statement continued. “This will include the availability of student-athletes for practice that week. Again, the goal is to provide the media with this information ahead of Monday’s regularly scheduled press conference with head coach Joey McGuire and coordinators.”
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal’s Nathan Giese writes about the best-case scenario for Texas Tech football and this is just a bit:
New faces on defense emerge early
Depth has been the buzzword around just about every defensive position during preseason camp. That kind of interchangeable roster makes up for the lack of veteran names who have graduated. An injury here or there won’t be a detriment to the team as there’s another two or three players ready to fill the void without missing a beat.
Running backs & special teams coach Kenny Perry and Behren Morton and Ben Roberts player availability.