40 Acres Sports

Former Longhorns Sloan Thomas, Roy Williams, & BJ Johnson making their marks off the football field. Big 3 receivers are running football camp together.

The 2008 NBA Draft was only a few days ago but ESPN is already all over 2009. Draft expert Chad Ford has posted his top 100 draft prospects for 2009 and Texas forward [tag]Damion James[/tag] comes in at number 24.

Here are Ford’s thoughts on James:

James has a lot of fans among NBA scouts. They love his grittiness and how he’s improved his game over the past two seasons. He’s a potential late first-round pick in 2009.

Positives:

• Super-tough, physical forward
• Long arms, NBA body
• Good athlete with some explosive leaping ability
• Good offensive rebounder
• Dramatically improved perimeter game
• Some range on his long ball

Negatives:

• A tweener?
• Undersized to play his natural position at the 4
• Still needs polish on the offensive end
• Needs to improve ballhandling

Similarities: James Posey

Hard to argue with any of those statements, positive or negative. My expectations for Damion this season are incredibly high. He improved his outside shot and his overall game a great deal between his freshman and sophomore seasons and if he continues to improve he will shoot up lists like these. The Longhorns have had players drafted in the lottery in each of the last three NBA drafts and if he improves his ballhandling James will make it four.

NCAA Strength Of Schedule: Ranking Blindfolded. Nothing but numbers, Texas has 4th toughest schedule.

AC100 On Campus: Chris Whaley. Good Athlon Sports video piece on the future Texas running back.

Congrats to our winner Stephen W. out of Cedar Park, TX.

Had July 15th marked on your calendar for months? Us too. Games don’t begin until the end of August but for many college football fans the season begins in mid-July when NCAA Football 09 by EA Sports is released. This year Bevo Sports is going to help you get your fix, we’re giving away a copy of the game to one lucky reader for either the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, or Nintendo Wii.

We will randomly select one winner from entries submitted to this form and the winner will receive NCAA Football 09 free for the console of their choice shipped on launch day. No strings attached, just cool free stuff from your favorite Texas Longhorns website.

Comments on this post are open only for questions about the contest, you must fill out this entry form to win. Only one entry per person (and per IP address) is allowed. Game will be shipped via Amazon.com Two-Day Shipping so winning mailing address must be in the continental United States.

The contest ends at 11:59 pm Central time on Saturday July 12th, so have your submission in by then to win. We’ll notify the winner Sunday morning and the game should be in the mail on the way to them Tuesday and in their grubby little hands by the end of the week!

Note: This contest is not endorsed or sponsored in any way by Electronic Arts or EA Sports.

Contest has ended. Buy NCAA 09 from Amazon.com.

Ten years have passed since [tag]Ricky Williams[/tag] won the Heisman Trophy. In honor of that anniversary, the 50th anniversary for Pete Dawkins (Army) and the 25th for Mike Rozier (Nebraska running back) the second annual Heisman Anniversary Winners weekend is going on right now in Austin. It’s a chance for former winners to get together and of course play a little golf.

The official Texas football site has a Q&A with Ricky available (which I’ve also posted below) as well as a great photo gallery from the event’s golf tournament.

Was it everything you thought it would be, I know we talked to you a month ago when you were anticipating it, is it everything you thought it would be: Yeah, I try not to anticipate too much. The main thing I wanted to do is come with my family and have a good time, and so far, so good. For me the big thing is just being back in Austin. I’ve had more fun driving around Austin than anything else.

Has one of the Heisman winners had a bigger influence on you: It’s no question – it’s Earl [Campbell]. He was here from day one, and he’s still here and he’s still one of my biggest supporters. It’s definitely Earl.

Tony Dorsett was reminiscing when he was there when you broke the record and he kind of got emotional about it: Yeah, I mean, it was a record that lasted for 20 years, and you know, when I had it, it only lasted for one (smiling). I think it’s one of the most prestigious records in all of college football.

(more …)

More mature Ricky Williams embracing football. He has a new desire & zest for leadership.

Robert Joseph and Andre Jones plead guilty to felony charges. Joseph gets time served and probation. Jones will serve 30 days in jail.

Texas point guard [tag]DJ Augustin[/tag] has been selected with the 9th pick in the first round by Michael Jordan’s Charlotte Bobcats. A couple picks higher than most mock drafts had DJ going so congrats to him on being selected and the big contract that’s going to be coming his way.

Charlotte was not expected to select a point guard, they currently have PG Raymond Felton starting who they drafted just three years ago in the top five picks. There were some rumors before the draft that the Portland Trailblazers were looking to move up to take Augustin and now there’s already rumors that the Bobcats took this pick with the intention of turning it around to complete a trade. Maybe Charlotte has a deal with Portland set up? That be great news for Texas fans for sure.

Congrats DJ and good luck with your NBA career. We’ll be watching and rooting for you.

Update: The Blazers just took Kansas guard Brandon Rush at #13. Rush is 100% a shooting guard, a position the Blazers already have the outstanding young Brandon Roy. Maybe send Rush to Charlotte for Augustin? Probably just wishful thinking.

Update 2: I was right about the Blazers picking Rush to trade him for a point guard, but it was with Indiana at #11 and not Charlotte. Charlotte is reportedly shopping Raymond Felton.

Thanks to the poster djbfootball over on the Inside Texas message boards we have new photos of the construction at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.

It looks like things are almost completed. From the inside it appears all seating is ready (the gap in the northwest corner is intentional) and that they’re working hard to get the exterior finished by the first game at the end of August. It really looks impressive and I’m excited that the Horns could have an improved home field advantage this season. I can’t wait to go to my first home game this year to see it for myself.

Check out the photos.