Ed. Note: If you enjoy Staking The Plains and the work that’s done here, you can buy me a coffee, which will go to the expenses or running the website and just help me out in general. If you chose not to give or cannot, that’s fine too. This is not mandatory, but like me leaving out a tip-jar and if you partake that’s great. Any amount is appreciated.
On the Diamond
Texas Tech baseball will start a 5-game homestand on Tuesday against New Mexico State. The home game against New Mexico on Wednesday has been canceled. On Friday, they will host UCF for the weekend series.
On the Hardwood
The Lady Raiders will be in Germany for the 2025 FISU World University Games in July of this summer. Baylor will be the team that represents the men.
Darrion Williams worked out for the Sacramento Kings yesterday and the Kings were his hometown team growing up. Williams is on the early list of 75 players that will participate in the NBA Draft Combine. I don’t think that Williams is coming back, but still run across these stories.
On the Gridiron
CBS Sports has their preseason top 25 rankings and has Texas Tech at No. 21:
Texas Tech might be the best team in the Big 12 on paper, but fitting the pieces from the nation’s No. 2 portal class is key. The most expensive roster in the conference is built to win with transfers loaded with starting experience, and the late re-addition of five-star receiver Micah Hudson is the cherry on top. Odds: +12000
CBS Sports’ Chip Patterson recounts the biggest stories for the spring and Texas Tech’s recruitment of DE David Bailey gets a mention:
But the impact of Bailey’s commitment extends beyond his obvious talent and what it means for the Red Raiders specifically in 2025. Since the portal was not officially open yet, this was a recruitment where one of the top players available this offseason could get all of the attention from any of the top teams looking to add plug-and-play talent at one of the sport’s most coveted positions. It was a battle that included UCLA, a potential “hometown” kind of pick for the native of Irvine, California, but it also included Texas. After decades of playing little brother to the Longhorns, this was a battle that Texas Tech was able to win. Both schools got Bailey on campus, both schools reportedly had NIL offers deemed to be competitive, and the Red Raiders won.
When Texas Tech’s NIL war chest is helping win battles against other Big 12 teams it’s going to come as less of a surprise, but beating out one of the sport’s biggest spenders for one of the top available players in the portal is a win that energizes the base and only heightens the excitement for a big season ahead in 2025.
ESPN’s Max Olson with the final top 25 ranking of portal players including David Bailey at #2, Micah Hudson at #14 with a bit about Hudson:
Background: Hudson, a five-star recruit and the No. 22 overall player in last year’s ESPN 300, was the highest-ranked signee in Texas Tech history. But his true freshman season did not play out the way he’d hoped, and he finished with eight catches for 123 yards in a reserve role. Hudson transferred to Texas A&M this offseason but left the program in January soon after he arrived. — Olson
Scout’s take: Hudson enters the portal for the second time in two years. He played in the 2024 Under Armour All-America Game to culminate an amazing high school career, but we did see a lack of urgency and production in that small sample size. While he showed flashes at Texas Tech, it was surprising that he didn’t have much impact as a freshman given his playmaking speed and dynamic skill set. He’s a natural pass catcher and has the explosive athleticism to elevate and pluck the contested jump ball, but his true separation speed at the college level is the key question. He did not have verified track or combine testing times as an upperclassman in high school. His early times in the 100- and 200-meter were just adequate. — Tucker
