Around the Horns celebrates the arrival of Justin Mason to the field…

by RolloTamasi on Jan 27, 2010 11:35 PM CST

Basketball

Pace was up against Tech and Texas scoring reflected it.

The team shot 55.2% from the field and 55.2% from the free throw line. The free throw woes are ridiculous when the players are shooting as well from a consistent part of the floor directly in front of the basket as they are with 5 opponents actively trying to prevent that same outcome.

Justin Mason put up an 18, 4, 5 and looked like the Justin Mason I was expecting to eventually see 2 years ago when he was the only player who didn't look intimidated by the athleticism of Memphis in the Elite Eight. Awiggo of Burntorangenation is also back with his reaction.

Turkish Delight had an awesome game as well with a 13,7,6, 2 monstrous blocks and some exciting jump shots, while Damion James returned to earlier form with another double double. It's clear that Barnes has insisted to Mason and Balbay that the offense is dependent on their aggressiveness and confidence taking jumpers in order to get spacing and opportunities.

I'm sure Trips will chime in presently with some explanations of Texas sagging M2M and 2nd half adjustments. The 'horns were lucky that Tech needed to turn the game into an uptempo slugfest (because of their injuries inside) because that's the kind of contest in which Texas should beat anyone. However, several of the half-court possessions by Texas also looked far more purposeful and well executed.

In other news, a FanTake network San Antonio Spurs blog! Icemen. Vasherized immediately challenged them to name reasons to pay any attention to the NBA rather than just college, I'll give a few:

1). Fewer sleazy Coaches. No Calipari, namely.

2). Good offensive play. Watching the Longhorns last year after watching an NBA game felt like watching a teenager playing punk riffs on a classical guitar after having balcony seats to the Chicago Symphony.

3). Continuity, college teams change significantly every year. Watching an NBA team grow together and rise up to challenge for a title makes for some compelling story lines, and it helps the rivalries.

4). Highlights: People can claim not to enjoy highlights but they are typically using the same arguments people make for Big 10 sports and the WNBA. In summary, LeBron James never played in college and I'm challenged to name a more entertaining athlete in any sport than LeBron James.

Football/Recruiting

Orangebloods ranks the top 100 recruits in Texas including comparisons for all the players which, obviously, leads to some puzzling conclusions. Aaron Benson is compared to Jerod Mayo, which seems like a tremendous stretch to me since Mayo is a 250 lb. ILB playing in a 2-gap 3-4 and Benson is a 205 lb. anti-spread weapon about to play in a defense that defends 30-50 passes/game. Also, while I'm glad Dorsey is considered a great prospect, if the comparison for him is Roy Miller and for Bible it's Tommie Harris...well who would you rather have? Harris or Miller? I'd rather have the TFL and sacks from a dominant 3-tech, especially in this league.

Of course we'll get both so Texas wins either way.

Tevin Jackson seems like a great Cover-2 Mike to me. Everyone seems to be projecting him as an OLB but a guy that can blow up blocks between the tackles and is 6-3 guy and strong in coverage sounds like an Urlacher or Patrick Willis waiting to happen. We'll see what designs Muschamp has for him.

Ghost of Big Roy does an extensive recruiting summary here where he covers the 2011 class coming in for Junior day and promises future individual recruit spotlights, one of my favorite features this time last year. I'm excited to see so many Cedar Park Timberwolves emerging as state prospects. In my day the best Timberwolves were accepting to North Texas or Rice, Coach Chris Ross has really taken that program places the last several years.

Overall the rise of Central Texas football is a huge boon to Texas recruiting. When talented kids in North and West Austin have access to big time facilities and coaches and grow up watching Vince Young and wanting to be Longhorns it gives Texas an even stronger home base. Combined with the inroads made in Dallas by Mack and Texas is looking better positioned than any other program in the country heading into the new decade.

This weekend will see announcements by Hicks AND Jeffcoat on Friday. Seastrunk is heading to Oregon where he'll be a perfect fit for a team that understands how to operate a zone-running game. Recently these have gone against Texas but the momentum is stronger than normal for this time of year and the auspices at the Nickel Rover temple are good.

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I agree that the emergence of Central texas football will certainly help the Horns stay co-Kings of the Big XII. Cedar Park, the Pflugerville schools, Round Rock Stoney Point, and Lake Travis have really stepped up their games and will provide excellent breeding grounds for future gridironers.

I heard something today from a parent of Close to Jumpings alma mater, that is of little to no consequence on my thoughts of landing Jackson Jeffcoat, and I won’t even get it to what level it is. Said parent of Clear Lake linebacker, who is committed to U of H, told me he had lunch with Jeffcoat Sr. in the past week. Mr. Whitten told me that Jeffcoat Sr. told him his son would be playing for him.

Mr. Whitten said that could mean 3 things

1) Jackson is going to U of H to play for dada(Choke, but that’s what he believed)

2) Jim would end up at the school Jackson picked(sounds like landthieves)

3)Coach Jeffcoat was lying to him(I hope he was just telling a white lie, Jackson to UT)

I would never post something like that over at orangebloods to get beaten to shreds because I still think Jeffcoat Jr. ends up a horn. Just passing along a conversation I had with a parent to help build up the suspense. Said parent played for tOSU too.

Has anyone figured out when that suspense ends? I tried to figure it out on an orangebloods thread but even Suchomel was confused, go figure.

by UT wildcatter on Jan 28, 2010 12:19 AM CST reply actions

You’re Scipio, aren’t you?

by bighornfan32 on Jan 28, 2010 12:22 AM CST reply actions

Ohhhh!!!! Another nugget I got, he said Les Miles is like none other than friggin Colonel Walter E. Kurtz himself. I had to do a little research to get all the names right.

His son has been committed to Houston for about ten months but was in Baton Rouge for what I presume was a switch to L$U. Since Peveto had left to go to Northwestern State John Chavis took over the D-coordinator and never reconnected on the recruiting trail. The father and son went into the football facility and John Chavis ‘paid them no mind’ and basically told them, “I have no clue who y’all are?”

As they were walking out of the complex Lester was walking in and made a big production but the father then told Coach Miles, “Thanks, but no thanks.” Gawd I love recruiting

So here’s what the wikipedia says about Colonel Kurtz from Apocalypse Now, Colonel Kurtz was a ROGUE AND PRESUMABLY INSANE, sounds spot on for our kook to the east

I wished I could have pumped him for more info about the parallels between Kurtz and Les. I can see Les setting their with all those insane asylum people around him with AKs

insane asylum people=coon asses and cajuns

by UT wildcatter on Jan 28, 2010 12:40 AM CST reply actions

Nope, but I like his work

by UT wildcatter on Jan 28, 2010 12:43 AM CST reply actions

not you, Nickel Rover.

by bighornfan32 on Jan 28, 2010 1:12 AM CST reply actions

I found the comparison of Darius Terrell to Jermichael Finley particularly inspiring.

by HenryJames on Jan 28, 2010 9:25 AM CST reply actions

Of course not, why would someone switch their name from Scipio Tex to Nickel Rover?

by Nickel Rover on Jan 28, 2010 9:41 AM CST reply actions

Yeah, everything is kind of making sense now. Nickel Rover IS Scipio Tex. >>>>This works better if you envision the final scene in Usual Suspects while you read that last sentence<<<<

by ghostofagroundgame on Jan 28, 2010 9:51 AM CST reply actions

How many of the 5 WRs we took are going to end up at other positions? We’re losing three that I can think of… Collins, Ship, and Buck. I expect we’ll hear of some transfers or do we need all 5? Is Terrell going to be a recieving TE? He seems a bit small for that.

by Sugarpants on Jan 28, 2010 1:02 PM CST reply actions

I would assume Cobbs will not play a down as WR. White, Jones, Davis, and Harris are all but locks to play there. Phillips is a toss up between WR and CB, which means he’ll be the latter.

by Blake Borron on Jan 28, 2010 1:18 PM CST reply actions

Terrel is already kind of heavy for a WR just coming out of high school so I suppose it’s not unlikely that he’ll move to TE. At 6’2" he isn’t really JerMichael Finley but if he can block and catch he’ll see the field at some point.
Really Texas has an ideal TE on campus named Blaine Irby if he can recover to where he was. I like what I’ve seen and heard from Barret Matthews as well. He lacks height but not blocking ability so he could be a great H-back and help Texas adjust to a man-blocking scheme or not suck as hard on the zone stuff.

by Nickel Rover on Jan 28, 2010 1:36 PM CST reply actions