40 Acres Sports

Texas sophomore point guard [tag]DJ Augustin[/tag] and head coach [tag]Rick Barnes[/tag] were both honored by Big 12 basketball coaches Monday. Augustin was named first team All Big 12. He was one of two unanimous selections, along with Kansas State’s Michael Beasley who was named conference player of the year. Guard [tag]AJ Abrams[/tag] and forward [tag]Damion James[/tag] were named to the second and third team respectively.

Barnes’ job taking a Kevin Durant-less Longhorns team to a Big 12 title was rewarded with a coach of the year nod. He’s been to a Final Four and coached two national players of the year, but this season was probably his best coaching job. The improvement of every single player on this year’s squad definitely reflects well on Barnes and his entire staff.

See the full list of Big 12 awards after the jump.

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Colorado coach says some Big 12 stars should go pro, including DJ Augustin. He’s just hoping to actually win some conference games next year.

Augustin, Abrams, and James named to AP All-Big 12 team. Augustin was unanimous first-team choice.

Many Texas fans are disappointed that stud prospect Russell Shepard won’t be a Longhorn, but the coaches did reel in the player I think is an even bigger recruit in Lake Travis quarterback Garrett Gilbert. The elite QB can sling the football around the field with the best the state’s ever produced at the position. He’s intelligent, talented, and polished, and with the talent that will be around him at Texas my expectations for him are incredibly high.

If you’ve got any doubts, check out the highlight video below from his sophomore season:

I can’t help but think Gilbert’s career leading the Longhorns is going to be a fun time to be a Texas fan.

Vince Young uses spring break to meet new coordinator. With Vince in Austin they hadn’t met face-to-face yet.

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.

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Texas loses players, but Barnes keeps winning. This may be his best year as coach since he’s been at Texas.

Will Muschamp has made Texas’ spring practices noticeably more physical this season. Love to hear about more hitting, just hope we stay healthy.

Travis Tucker does whatever it takes for baseball team to win. He’s already been hit by pitches 6 times in 11 games.

Lil’ Romeo and Tim Floyd make USC’s basketball program even dirtier than USC football. Even worse, Floyd seems to know and not care about the ethics involved.