Posted June 3rd, 2008 by Brian
Filed under: Basketball, Draft, Feature
There wasn’t much hope that Texas point guard [tag]DJ Augustin[/tag] would return for his junior season but all doubt was erased Tuesday.
Augustin signed with the Thaddeus Foucher of the Wasserman Media Group. The group, headed by mega-agent Arn Tellem, also represents former Longhorns LaMarcus Aldridge and TJ Ford.
As long as they don’t hire an agent, underclassmen have until June 16th to withdraw their name from the NBA Draft. Augustin has long been slotted as a late lottery pick (10th – 13th) so he was holding onto his eligibility as injury insurance. The only way he was coming back to Texas was if he was seriously hurt in one of his many pre-draft workouts.
The NBA Draft will be held June 26th. Good luck DJ.
Posted May 31st, 2008 by Brian
Filed under: Baseball, Feature, World Series
[tag]Kenn Kasparek[/tag] pitched six strong innings but the offense couldn’t get going and Texas dropped the opening game of regional play to St. John’s 2-1. The team now must win three in the row to advance to the Super Regionals.
The game was tied going into the top of the 9th inning when relief pitcher [tag]Cole Green[/tag] mishandled a ball hit back to the mound. He recovered on the play but first baseman [tag]Brandon Belt[/tag] couldn’t handle the throw and the St. John’s batter reached safely. Three batters later he scored the winning run as Texas failed to turn a inning ending double play.
Head coach [tag]Augie Garrido[/tag] looked crushed by the loss in the post game press conference. I get the feeling that if this team gets swept out of the tournament he might call it a career.
The team takes on Sam Houston St. in an elimination game today at 2pm.
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Posted May 28th, 2008 by Brian
Filed under: Feature, Football, Recruiting
Defensive tackle [tag]Derek Johnson[/tag] from Hoxie, Arkansas committed to the Longhorns Wednesday according to Orangebloods.com. Johnson, originally from El Paso, is reportedly one of the top five players in Arkansas for the class of 2009.
The 6-foot-3, 290 pound Johnson is the second defensive tackle in this class, joining Calvin Howell out of San Antonio who committed in mid-May. Hopefully 5-star stud Jamarkus McFarland will come and join an incredible defensive line group.
The recruitment of three defensive tackles in this one class certainly lends creedence to the rumors that defensive tackles [tag]Tyrell Higgins[/tag] and [tag]Brian Ellis[/tag] may not be back on the team in the fall. If they’re gone then the big need at the position quickly became a huge one.
Check out the YouTube video of Johnson courtesy of Orangebloods message boards below (warning: the audio is obnoxious and very NSFW):
DMoney(short) from YouTube.com
Welcome to the Forty Acres Derek.
The Texas baseball team finished the job Sunday with a 15-7 win over [tag]Kansas State[/tag] in the Big 12 Baseball Championships. The victory gives the Longhorns their third Big 12 tournament championship, second only to Nebraska since the conference was formed.
The wind was blowing out and the ball was jumping off the Texas bats all game long. Just like on Saturday against OU the team jumped out to an early lead and then had to hold on tight as things got crazy in the middle innings. Texas had a 9-1 lead but gave up 5 runs in the bottom of the 5th to make things interesting. The Horns didn’t panic and answered back right away by putting 3 up on the scoreboard in the 6th. They added 3 more in the 8th to make things comfortable.
The team will find out where they’re going and who they’re playing Monday morning when the NCAA announces tournament pairings.
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Big Texas right hander [tag]Kenn Kasparek[/tag] tossed nine hitless innings today against the [tag]Texas State[/tag]. Kasparek struck out nine as the Longhorns beat the Bobcats 11 – 0.
Kasparek’s no-no is the 20th is Texas history, the last one was throw by Adrian Alaniz over the Oklahoma Sooners in April 2005. I saw Beau Hale’s no hitter over Sam Houston State in person on February 11, 2000. It was a special experience being there in person, so hopefully there was a full house at Disch-Falk Field to see Kasparek’s performance today.
Image courtesy of joanna.org.
Texas coaching legend and baseball stadium namesake Billy Disch is one of three Longhorns elected to be a part of the 2008 National College Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Class. Joining Disch will be former Longhorns pitchers Burt Hooton and Greg Swindell, bringing the total number of Horns in the Hall of Fame to six.
Disch coached the Longhorns for 29 years from 1911-1939, winning 22 Southwest Conference titles while compiling a record of 513 wins and only 180 losses. He was one of the first people inducted into the ABCA Hall of Fame in 1966.
Hooton pitched for the Horns from 1969 to 1971 and finished his career with an incredible 35-3 overall record. His career ERA of 1.14 is still a school record, one that will likely never be matched in the metal bat era. Hooton was drafted by the Cubs in 1971 and made his major league debut that season without ever throwing a pitch in the minors.
While he didn’t have the MLB career his college teammate Roger Clemens did, Greg Swindell’s career at Texas from 1984 to 1986 was one of the best in college baseball history. At Texas, he compiled a 43-8 record with an ERA of only 1.92 and put up the two best single-season strikeout totals in school history. Swindell is one of only six players in history to be a three-time First Team All-American by Baseball America. His successful 17-year Major League career ended in 2002.
The three Longhorns will be joined in the 2008 class by Jackie Robinson, Dick Howser, and Ben McDonald, among others. The inductees will be honored on July 4 as part of the College Baseball Foundation’s annual celebration of both the past and present of college baseball in Lubbock.
Read profiles of the three inductees from TexasSports.com after the jump.
Posted March 5th, 2008 by Brian
Filed under: Basketball, Feature, Recruiting
The Longhorns basketball team only has one commit for 2008 and none for 2009, but they’ve already picked up a huge commitment for 2010. [tag]Tristan Thompson[/tag], a sure five-star power forward from Newark St. Benedict’s Prep, gave [tag]Rick Barnes[/tag] and assistant coach Rodney Terry his verbal commitment on Tuesday. Thompson is the fifth ranked sophomore in the country according to both Scout.com and RISE Magazine.
Texas fans can also thank former Horn [tag]Kevin Durant[/tag] for helping reel in Thompson. The young man, originally from Canada, admitted he was a big Durant fan and loved the way Coach Barnes featured big, versatile front court players. Thompson is big, quick, and athletic and just sounds like he’s going to be a ton of fun to watch in burnt orange.
As always, verbal commitments are non-binding. As a sophomore Thompson will not be able to sign his letter of intent until November 2009.
The Texas Longhorns had a rough weekend at the Houston College Classic at Minute Maid Park but finished it off Sunday with an 8-7 win over the hometown [tag]Houston[/tag] Cougars.
The Horns went into the seventh inning with a 6-1 lead thanks mainly to a three-run [tag]Cameron Rupp[/tag] single in the first and a two-run homer in the fifth by first baseman [tag]Brandon Belt[/tag]. Texas starter [tag]Cole Green[/tag] pitched six strong innings before fading quickly in the seventh and giving up four runs before being pulled. The Cougars added two more runs in the top of the ninth to send the game into extra innings.
In the bottom of the tenth, freshman [tag]Connor Rowe[/tag] played the role of hero by singling in the game-winning run in his first college at bat. Rowe knocked the 2-0 pitch into centerfield to easily score David Hernandez from third base and give the Longhorns the much needed win.
Check out video highlights from the Houston Chronicle below:
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Posted February 7th, 2008 by Brian
Filed under: Feature, Football, Recruiting
Garrett Gilbert made it official this afternoon, he’s going to play quarterback for the Texas Longhorns. From Lake Travis’ state of the art indoor practice facility (that place makes most college programs jealous) announced he would be staying close to home and committed to Mack Brown and the Longhorns.
Excerpts from the press conference (courtesy of Orangebloods):
“I am here to announce my commitment to play football at The University of Texas. I’m very excited about this opportunity. I feel very blessed and I’m looking forward to a great opportunity to get a great education at Texas and also the chance to play football at one of the best universities in the nation.”
“It’s been my dream to be a Longhorn ever since I was a little kid, ever since I moved here to Austin. It’s just a real blessing and as soon as I got the offer, I knew that that’s where I wanted to go.”
Welcome to the family Garrett, can’t wait to see you in burnt orange.
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