Monday Morning Horn - March 25th, 2013

Some things never change.

And so it is in Austin.

The baseball team can pitch, but can’t hit. The basketball team lost in the first round of a postseason tournament. And the football program continues to run year-round, now with Spring practice, and down to six days from the Spring game.

But, there was something new Saturday. Texas inaugural Sophomore Day.

A day dedicated to 15 and 16-year old prospects.

Mack and company decided to participate in the growing trend of recruiting kids their second year in high school. So, Sophomore Day was born. Texas invited over 60 prospects and handed out nine offers, with Sherman lineman Aaron Garza committing on the spot. The 6-foot-4, 305 lbs left tackle has yet to play a down of varsity football, and has a father that’s 6-foot-7.

The nine kids offered were:

Mesquite Poteet’s Linebacker, Malik Jefferson, LB Cameron Townsend, defensive backs Kendall Sheffield and Jalen Campbell. Mack offered the Teuhema brothers from Keller, Jordan Davis of Clear Lake, and Rockwall RB Chris Warren III.Â There is some confusion as to if Airline (Bossier City, LA) defensive tackle, OJ Smith, has an offer or not.

One interesting note from a player’s perspective who attended the Soph. Day. I was talking/texting a prospect throughout the event. He was giving me a play-by-play of all the ongoings at Texas headquarters. When he learned of Garza’s offer and commitment, he became frustrated.

And unhappy. He felt he should have received the offer because he was a much higher rated prospect, with proven production on the field.

It’s a small example of how this overexposure and trend of offering kids earlier is turning these prospects into attention-loving machines. It’s a slippery slope. And with the NCAA guidelines and reform continually being unsettled, it leaves the rules open to interpretation more so than ever. This only complicates the issue.

For the most part, I feel thatÂ Sophomore Day was a success. Overall, kids came away with numerous positives from the facilities to Mack Brown’s sense of humor. And its a move in the right direction. You have to be willing to adapt to your surroundings, Texas fans just need to hope it’s not too late for Brown.

Also, current 2014 commits Daniel Gresham and Demetrius Knox visited Ohio State in Columbus this weekend. That goes against Mack’s wishes of a committed prospect attending another school. It will be real interesting to see how Mack handles this.

Does he call their bluff ??

Or does he say ‘they’ve worked it out’ ??

A little thing like this can manifest itself into a cataclysmic destruction if they don’t handle this correctly. Knox and Gresham are two of the best football players in the class of 2014. A unnecessary, outdated rule should not get in the way of bringing these blue chips to Austin. I think Mack realizes this.

In Longhorns’ Spring practice news, WR Jaxon Shipley will be out the remainder of the Spring due to a hamstring injury.

The Longhorns were swept in baseball and hoops by the University of Houston on Tuesday and Wednesday. Horns lost, 4-3 to the Cougars in baseball, while Horns’ hoops lost to UH, 73-72 in the first round of the CBI Invitational. At 16-18, the season, and Barnes worst in 14 years, is now finally over.

In baseball, Texas took 2 of 3 from the Minnesota Golden Gophers this weekend. Â As usual, the Horns pitching prevailed as the hitting took 23 innings to arrive. And that was for only six runs in Sunday’s win.

Outfielder Mark Payton has a 12-game hitting streak, and closer Corey Knebel moved to 3-1, with 1.88 ERA, 29 strikeouts and four saves. Also, Friday’s announced attendance was 407 in a stadium that seats 50K. Imagine what that looked like. I’m envisioning the Drum during basketball season. They face Texas State on Tuesday in Austin, then return to Big-12 action to face the Oklahoma State Cowboys in Stillwater.

Quote of the week:Â â€œMy dad is 6-foot-7, and Iâ€™m supposed to be just as big as him, so maybe they see a lot of me in him. Iâ€™m a fairly thick guy all around. When I spoke with their coaches the other day he said he really liked my frame. He said I was what they are looking for.” -Â Class of 2015 commit, Aaron Garza of Sherman HS

Thanks for spending your Monday with me, hope you have a great week. Hook ‘Em Horns !!