40 Acres Sports

Some impressive video of possible future Longhorn receiver [tag]DeSean Hales[/tag]:

DeSean is a running back/wide receiver for Klein Oak High School and the number four overall prospect in the state of Texas. Texas (finally) offered DeSean when he came to Austin for an unofficial visit last weekend. Hales is down to Texas, Oklahoma, and Texas Tech with the Horns and Sooners believed to be out in front. Wherever he ends up, the kid could be extremely dangerous in the kick return game and as a slot receiver. Just a remarkable athlete and you have to find a way to get the ball in his hands.

The BCS won’t be able to resist Jerry World. New stadium could make Cotton Bowl nationally relevant again.

It was a very good weekend to be a former Texas Longhorn offensive lineman. Former first team All-Americans [tag]Leonard Davis[/tag] and [tag]Derrick Dockery[/tag] both signed megadeals last week as NFL free agents.

Davis officially agreed to a seven-year, $49.6 million contract with the Dallas Cowboys yesterday. $18.75 million of Davis’ contract is guaranteed. It’s the richest deal for an offensive lineman this offseason. “Big” was the number two overall pick out of Texas by the Arizona Cardinals and was a solid but unspectacular player. For the Cowboys Davis will either play right guard or move outside to play right tackle if the team can’t resign Marc Columbo. He should be a big upgrade over the hurt/mediocre Marco Rivera.

Dockery’s deal is almost as rich. He signed with the Buffalo Bills for seven years and $49 million. $18.5 million of the deal is guaranteed and he’ll earn $23 million in the first three seasons. Dockery was a third round pick in 2003 and spent all four years in Washington as a starter at guard for the Redskins.

Great to have two former Longhorns getting big pay days, hopefully they can both improve on their play and earn those big checks rolling in. Both players are also going to teams I’m much more interested in watching on Sundays. I have to watch the Cowboys on TV every weekend and can’t catch many Titans games, so it’s great to see a Longhorn join the Cowboys.

Probably a pretty useful recruiting tool for any 2008 or 2009 offensive line recruits. Come to Texas, get fifty million dollars.

D.J. Augustin says he’ll be back next year, and says Durant is telling teammates he’ll be back too.

Kevin Durant has been named Big 12 Player and Freshman of the Year. First freshman to win POY in Big 12 history.

March 3rd spring scrimmage notes and photo gallery. Chiles and Harris are splitting the backup QB reps evenly.

The Longhorns couldn’t pull out the victory yesterday and earn a share of the Big 12 regular season title, but if the young Texas team can put together three straight strong games they’ll have a chance to win the Big 12 tournament in Oklahoma City. To do so they’ll likely have to knock off both Texas A&M and Kansas.

The bracket has the Horns matching up on Friday at 8:20 p.m. against the Missouri vs. Baylor winner from Thursday night. A win could set up another match up with the Aggies, but a loss in that first game could seriously hurt the Horns seeding in the NCAA tourney. Favorable scheduling should give Texas fans to catch all their games on TV, hopefully with a completely healthy Kevin Durant.

Useful Links

• Official Big 12 Championship site
• Download bracket (PDF)
• Longhorn sports calendar

Ohio State will wear new Nike jerseys next week with a LeBron James logo. James has no OSU affiliation.

Holy crap.

After one of the most incredible first half performances I’ve ever seen, [tag]Kevin Durant[/tag] stepped on the ankle of a Kansas defender and went down. Looked to have somehow injured both ankles and limped into the locker room with his left ankle not looking so good.

Crap.

Update: Durant came back onto the court after a few minutes in the locker room and was able to reenter the game. Definitely not 100% he was hobbling a little and not able to get up and down the court at full speed. Didn’t look like it was bad enough to effect his shot but it could definitely wear on him during a game if it’s not fully healed by the Big 12 Tournament.

Boise State QB Jared Zabransky will be on the cover of NCAA Football 08. My ERTS stock immediately dropped.