Barking Carnival

Interesting topic.
CloseToJumping on Street Agents
I’ve written about the freakonomics of recruiting before,
Taylor T On Cheating in 10 Parts
…so this really caught my attention. The fascinating thing about it is how much information about the increasing role of street agents in college football is readily available via google, and how so little is reported. Look, I’m [...]

Rumors are swirling that Texas is going to get some scholarship relief in the form of a transfer. The information I got was that Harrison Smith would be transferring to a local mid major for immediate playing time, which would get Texas to the allowable scholarship limit with J’Covan Brown still tied up in [...]

Some folks that read this site probably aren’t even old enough at this point to remember a time in college basketball when it wasn’t dominated at a recruiting level by the AAU programs. Hell, I might be one of them. What I know and don’t need to have recollected to me is that AAU and [...]

Good read from Texassports.com
Here’s the transcript and my thoughts on each subject/answer.

On how this incoming class of perimeter players (Avery Bradley, Jordan Hamilton, Jai Lucas and Shawn Williams) ranks among past classes: Well, (Kevin) Durant and (D.J.) Augustin were pretty good now, but we will wait and see. Jai has been here and we have [...]

Forgive the brief foray into Texas Football.
I know it’s anathema to the strict offseason diet we stick to here at Barking Carnival but I had a chance to attend the most recent Frank Denius lecture series at the UT Club this week where the guest was none other than our defensive coordinator, head coach [...]

You know by now that Texas received it’s first blow of the recruiting season when Ahmad Dixon declared for Baylor. Losing an elite recruit to Baylor is like having Pat Boone pick your pocket. Dixon was one of our best five recruits and will serve as the bellcow of Baylor’s class. I [...]

This time it’s former Colorado linebacker Lynn Katoa. Texas recruited Katoa, but he never actually made it to campus for an official visit. That’s too bad. For him.
He’s flunked out of Colorado, according to The Buffzone Blog’s Kyle Ringo, after needing to “apply himself, bear down and focus.” Instead he “did just the opposite.”

“If every [...]

They’re making a movie out of the Michael Lewis book The Blind Side and it has the potential to be a good flick. And by potential, I mean that it will be purchased by some studio hack who will turn out a football film similar to Johnny B Goode. Who can forget the [...]

No not the Island across the Atlantic you cheeky bastards. The fightin’ Ashley Judds of Kentucky.
John Wall pulled the trigger, figuratively of course, and decided on John Calipari’s Kentucky Wildcats over Duke and Frank Haith’s Miami Hurricanes. If you’re scoring at home, Wall’s addition makes it 4 five star players in a [...]

For Longhorn fan he’s the gift that keeps on giving. And if you’re a crimson and cream flunky, Rhett’s the scarlet letter serving as a constant reminder of OU’s history of illegal inducements, transgressions, and general asshattery that is the hallmark of Sooner nation. If the New York football Giants fitted Bomar’s helmet [...]

A great article this morning from one of the few potentially sane people in the Sooner state when it comes to the Chaisson fiasco. I congratulate Mr. Tramel (he of the Bullfeathers episode) for telling it like it is and calling a sociopath a sociopath.
As HenryJames pointed out, this screw driver wielding Don [...]

The WWL sees more smoke in the vicinity of Watts.
We’ve been keeping an eye on this here and here.
This story is full of insight like:

If Floyd did pay Guillory for delivering Mayo to USC, that would be a major NCAA violation.
Apparently USC general counsel Carol Mauch Amir declined comment, probably because this story sounds [...]

The board’s favorite object of Sooner abuse has put up an interesting analysis concerning Tim Griffin’s Big 12 Blog detailing Big Game* Bob’s dominance over the rest of the league. I certainly concede the argument to Oklahoma simply on the basis of Big 12 hardware though the postseason letdowns are becoming increasingly brutal for [...]

Get ready single women in Norman. Justin Chaisson is back on the market. After pleading no contest to two counts of false imprisonment, one count of conspiracy to commit coercion and one count of malicious destruction of property, Chaisson was sentenced to probation and will be enrolling at OU.
Come on. It’s not like he [...]

And it’s not to our Honors Accounting program.
Meet 6-5 super sophomore (2011) wing Sheldon McClellan. h/t $$ Burnt Orange Beat
If you like free, here’s a write-up from the Statesman.
And a clip of Sheldon playing a club team of emo boys and random buffoons:

John Wall was cited for breaking and entering on April 27th. Even though the story itself is worth little more than a raise of the eyebrow, the funny part is that the actual article couldn’t be more cliched if it were taken right out of the script from He Got Game and you [...]

While it’s often been noted that Ricky Williams may have been Mack Brown’s first recruit, Bobby Bragg at Burnt Orange Beat has posted a nice story about Mack’s official first commit, Marcus Wilkins.
Marcus will be appearing on tonight’s Longhorn Nation Hour on 1560 The Game at 7PM CDT. Streaming across all your internets here.

I follow recruiting closely in Texas so each year after the NFL draft I find out which draftees played their high school ball in Texas. Interesting to me to see which guys got drafted, where they were ranked coming out of high school and how their college careers went.
1st Rd
1. Matt Stafford, Georgia, Dallas [...]

I had a post last July where I looked at the bumper crop of Texas schoolboy QBs (that UT struck out on), and tried to forecast their NFL chances (The QB Recruiting Class of 2004 - Checking Back In).  This is a good time to check back in.  I think a lot of people at [...]

Jordan Hamilton’s debut was predictably rusty. The good news is that Jordan has all the tools and the willingness to use them. Forced some shots but who doesn’t in games like this? Hamilton showed a nice handle, a fluid release shooting the ball, and the willingness to defend. He reminds me [...]