By Chris Williams, CycloneFanatic.com PublisherFollow Chris on Twitter @ChrisMWilliams
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Happy Monday Cyclone Nation. Here’s what’s on my mind on June 24, 2012.
ENOUGH ALREADY…
I love the Big 12 doomsdayers.
New schools. New commish. New TV deal. New grant of rights. Yet some things never change.
When the story about Texas Tech potentially dropping its Sept. 8 game at Texas State because it may or may not be televised on the Longhorn Network broke last week, these Big 12 doomsdayers showed their ugly faces after a nearly a year of hibernation.
This story served as a last-ditch effort to kick a conference that’s been down, right before it will likely emerge as a power whose greatest days are ahead of it.
Now, for some facts…Texas State is in the WAC. The game being discussed is a home game for Texas State. That means that the WAC and Texas State control the television rights to the competition. ESPN operates the Longhorn Network.
So for those saying that Texas is attempting to bully its conference mate here are just plain wrong. Do you really think that Mack Brown cares about the television setup of Texas Tech vs. Texas State?
Having said all of that, this is one of those downfalls to Texas having its own "national" television network when nobody else in the conference does. But because the current third-tier agreement between the Big 12 and its member institutions, schools like Notre Dame and Florida State will be in play in the future, if and when moves need to be made. I’m not making any promises here. I’m just pointing out that this third-tier setup that the Big 12 currently has is attractive to schools with national brands – like Texas, Notre Dame and even Florida State.
Nothing in life is perfect folks. For instance, Doritos and Oreos taste delicious but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t horrible for you to eat. With good, often comes some bad.
A story like this is one of the negatives that comes along with this third-tier setup and specifically, the Longhorn Network.
This is an ESPN-WAC-Texas Tech problem. Based off of what I’ve read, Texas State has thrown an overwhelming amount of money into this one game. If Tech cancels it, everybody loses. This will work itself out. It has to. And don’t worry – Texas Tech (or anybody) for that matter isn’t going anywhere.
ON CYCLONE BASKETBALL…
This week is going to be a busy one…
For the third time in three years, I’ll be working on NBA Draft night.
— Last Thursday night was a little bit wild. ESPN draft guru Chad Ford tweeted that Royce White had apparently been promised to be taken at 21 by the Boston Celtics. As I said numerous times while filling in for Murph & Andy on 1460 KXNO on Friday afternoon, I don’t buy it. That just doesn’t make any sense. Why show your hand to the rest of the league for a pick that deep in the draft? Too much can change from pick one to 21 to want that information "out."
Regardless, Thursday night will be an exciting one for the Cyclone Nation and White, a guy who many claimed would never play a game for Iowa State when he signed with Fred Hoiberg two summers ago.
If White gets does drafted by a talented playoff team from 2012, then watch out. What makes him so dangerous of a player is the fact that White doesn’t care if he scores a point in a game. He’s a player who truly values an assist next to his name in the box score more than a field goal. That’s rare for a guy at his talent level. Point is, Royce would be an unbelievable asset to a team (like Boston) with pieces already in place. If Royce White goes to a team like that, averaging 5-8 assists per game wouldn’t be crazy at all during his rookie campaign.
NOTE: That while I don’t put much stock at all into NBADraft.net, I did find it interesting that in the site’s latest draft projections, both former Ames High star Harrison Barnes and White are going to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Wouldn’t that be a pair!
— It was great to see former Cyclones Craig Brackins and Diante Garrett participate in the Des Moines YMCA Capital City League last week. Easily, those are two of the classiest Cyclones I’ve ever had the opportunity to cover.
ON FOOTBALL RECRUITING…
It seems like only yesterday when my friend Jon Miller of HawkeyeNation.com fired off a snarky tweeet to me mocking the fact that it was June and Iowa State still didn’t have a commitment for its 2013 football recruiting class.
Yes – Things have picked up in Ames over the last few weeks. A few notes…
— Paul Rhoads LOVES JUCO tight ends. Collin Franklin. Ricky Howard. Ernst Brun. Throw the name Emmanuel Bibbs onto that list. Bibbs, a 6-foot-3, 245-pound tight end out of Western Arizona C.C. committed to Iowa State last week.
After making a few phone calls, I learned that Iowa State actually stumbled upon Bibbs while in Arizona recruiting another player. Bibbs caught the eye of an Iowa State assistant coach and here we are today.
Word is that Bibbs isn’t a pass catching or blocking tight end, but a combination of both.
— In case you missed it over the weekend, Iowa State picked up the commitment of a Wisconsin offensive lineman. I’ll attempt to get more information on this story later in the week.
RANDOMS…
— My wife and I spent our Sunday afternoon at the Ankeny pool. Hanging out with hundreds of insane 5-16 year old kids is the perfect form of birth control for this 27-year old man.
— A former Cyclone will represent the USA in next month’s Summer Olympics. Congrats to Lisa Uhl-Koll!
