TJ & Texas360Now

Badass.

A huge testament to the program Barnes has built and yet another great recruiting tool.

Incidentally, BC was launched in a similar fashion after Sailor invited a dude over to snap some casual glamour shots. They just haven’t been posted yet.

Those photos are also awaiting recognition by the State of California of the official ceremony. Someday, Scipio and Sailor’s private lives will be legitimized by the state.

Hope.

I’m really not interested until Jose Nassar and Hank Dudek are on board.

Another interesting angle concerns high school sports. TJ and Royal’s vision is to look at some of the best players in Texas, but additionally check in some prospects flying under the radar. Royal Ivey gets this like few others and TJ has a real desire to help all sorts of kids get scholarships and succeed.

Really? My first thought reading the begining of this was “This is a nice way to showcase UT as a basketball destination to recruits.”

That paragraph however, strikes me as a huge red flag to the the NCAA. They consider former players (especially professional athletes) as “agents” of the University. I cannot imagine the NCAA would let former players comment on possible recruits, much less publicly promote them, even if they aren’t pushing them to Texas.

srr – We’ll see what they have in store but I think the idea is less about steering kids toward specific destinations and more about just showingcasing their talents.

Of course the fact that these dudes are all badasses who played at Texas is great for the overall halo effect of the program. Obviously these dudes are in close contact with Barnes and wouldn’t do anything to get him in hot water.

That said, the idea of the the NCAA recognizing in red flags in the world of the college basketball recruiting is sort of silly.

That said, the idea of the NCAA recognizing in red flags in the world of the college basketball recruiting is sort of silly.

Except this strikes me as “low hanging fruit” where the NCAA can make noise about regulating the sport when all they are doing is just making noise.

And I can’t believe that Kansas and OU won’t be bitching about it from the start — unless of course it starts a trend and all the schools have websites like this.

Who knows, maybe we can solve the street agent problem internally.

…unless of course it starts a trend and all the schools have websites like this.

To be clear it’s not a school site. It’s a site run by alums. If Blake Griffin wants to start a site with Mookie Blaylock and Hollis Price where they blog and post videos of themselves working out or whatever, more power to ’em.

Anyway, I hear what you are saying but must believe they’ve considered this and are doing it in a way that doesn’t give Barnes or DeLoss a lot of heartburn.

If I’m Bill Self and I see a site like this run by UT players in the NBA I sure as hell would want one. I also would want to know who is behind it (who designed it, who is in charge fo the day-to-day operations, and do they have any connection with UT, etc.

I love the PR value of this site for Barnes and Texas, but the idea of it also getting into recruiting is sure to bring in the other Big 12 schools for a look.

I’m with srr, can’t imagine the NCAA would allow this, at least not with the Texas tinge.

…OTOH, I can’t imagine them putting up the site without clearing it with their former coach and the compliance office first.

Bob -

Just as I said:

Anyway, I hear what you are saying but must believe they’ve considered this and are doing it in a way that doesn’t give Barnes or DeLoss a lot of heartburn.

As for Bill Self, let’s just keep an eye on his assistant coaching hires. I have to think Bill Self is the last person in the world who is going to start winging rocks at houses.

It’s not like these guys are working the shadows of the sneaker scene. It’s a very public web site that deals with what they are up to now.

Because it is illogical and the wrong thing to do, I expect the NCAA to go on a crusade against this site.

I caught up with Gerry on this earlier today.

It’s not going to just be UT-centric. Eventually guys like Jason Kapono, Acie Law IXV, Mo Williams, and other NBA players will blog on the site.

Per TJ, the high school recruiting aspect is more geared towards guys that normally wouldn’t get the attention of a Texas or OU to help generate some recognition for lesser known players.

Since it’s the first site of its kind, I’m sure it will attract some attention from other programs and perhaps the NCAA but it’s hard to prove anyone is violating any NCAA rules. As opposed to, say, Memphis boosters just hand delivering briefcases of cash.

Theoretically, of course.

Gerry’s analogy is how is it any different from former players sponsoring AAU teams and paying for a recruits’ travel, expenses, and clothing?

Sailor, occasionally I am guilty of not reading threads closely…

Well, if there’s one guy to just skim, it is I.

Statesman article about it.

Drew Stubbs is onboard. He’s in AAA for the Reds, hopefully figuring out how to hit a MLB curve ball.

Nothing better than late night Dickie Brennan’s with someone named Stew Dog that skips out on the bill and then laughs about it as he’s drinking his next free beer right down the street.

Only the real round ball fans stayed for the KU v Syracuse final…which btw was awesome.

My seats were right next to Mack and Ricky. Where did you sit?