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"It's not like your average coaching staff because these guys not only actually care for their players, but they actually pour into each and every one of them." strong relationships with Brain Ward and AJ Cooper pave the way for Rashad McKenzie's arrival at ASU

Ohio St has decided to use the new settlement revenue sharing on just four sports...football, men's and women's basketball and women's volleyball...

Oklahoma has decided to use that money on six sports...football, men's and women's basketball, baseball, softball, and ladies gymnastics...

I wonder what our Sun Devils will end up doing...Go Devils!!!

“You’re going to see some special things going out to a select few guys in the state." Determined to be more effective in landing prospects from their backyard, ASU is about to embark this Sunday on a different approach to the 2027 recruiting class

"It was about the culture, the coaching staff, and the players because they all made me feel like it was home." Knowing you will play in college just six miles away from your high school was appealing, but Sinei Tengei's ASU pledge was based on the bonding he had with the staff and players too

Was TCU’s 9-4 season reflective of how good a team they were in 2024 and how much of a threat they can be competing for a Big 12 championship? Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s TCU beat writer Steven Johnson details one of ASU's 2025 opponents.

Scheduled Visitors this Weekend are:

Tip off and TV info TBD

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That's what Geezerville Times sportswriter, Corky Simpson, calls the new "full-on pro model now running college athletics" given the NCAA-House Settlement...

As we all know, as Corky points out, college athletes are now minor league ballplayers since they are getting paid to play whatever sport they are participating in at any given school...

This is especially true in football and basketball that are going to eat up the vast majority of funds ($20.5M) to be dispersed within each P-4 conference school that includes ASU...

According to Corky, college athletes will now be able "to have access to more wealth and tattoos than they know what to do with, or have room for"...

He goes on to say that they are now "independent contractors" who can jump from school to school without losing any eligibility and without having the slightest hint of loyalty to anything other than their next high paying contract with another school...

He wonders how long it will take for both fans and boosters to get tired of it and start staying away from attending games and giving money to finance this new pro model...

Texas Tech is one school that isn't worried about that happening as they have an estimated $35M in funds already pledged to taking advantage of this new college sports reality...

That's apparently in addition to the established $20.5 monetary cap placed on the NCAA revenue sharing funds available to each school per the settlement...

They are banking on the estimated $55M buying enough talent to elevate their athletic programs, as recently demonstrated by paying a softball pitcher a million bucks to pitch for them and she delivered big time by getting the Red Raiders to the WCWS, where they finished second nationally to Texas...

Texas has been to many softball world series while the Red Raiders have always sat on the sidelines but no more as money talks loudly in this new age of college athletics...

So, what's in store for our Sun Devils moving forward, that has a new athletic model of their own, where the ASU athletic dept is no longer a separate entity but a part of the university like any other college or institutional entity on campus...

This new model also stresses the academic or educational side of things and makes that a primary part of the student-athlete culture that president Crow wants to make sure is available to all student-athletes at the school, no matter what sport they may participate in...

So, will ASU be able to keep up with another Big-12 school like Texas Tech that apparently has money to burn when it comes to buying talent with which to compete for championships..??

In any event, it will be very interesting to see how this new model built on a JOCK/TOCK/RACY plays out within college athletics in the coming days, weeks, months and years...

Go Devils!!!

Things could move very quickly here with this Edge prospect who impressed in ASU's camp last week and was rewarded with an offer. Has a BYU offer as well. Still needs to be rated.

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The Ohio four-star took his official visit to Arizona State last weekend. The trip ended with ASU in a better position than when the weekend started.

"They took care of my family and I," Miree said. "They are climbing back in the race. The plan and football part hasn’t changed since day one. They are very high on the list."

Miree says that Coach Mohns being upfront and honest is the biggest driver in the team surging with him. Coach has communicated to Miree that he will either land him at TE this cycle or skip the position altogether. That has really carried weight with the playmaking tight end.

One other thing of note from talking to him. He said that his family really enjoyed Tempe and that if he were to pick the school, his family would relocate out there. Miree still has still has Florida State, Washington, UNC, Auburn, and Cincinnati official visits scheduled.

I don't think one is wrapping up soon but the team has made a move.

None of the newcomer programs to the Big 12 last year garnered more attention than Colorado did, but a star-studded roster ultimately fell short in its quest to qualify for the conference’s championship game. Will a massive roster turnover that could see over a dozen transfer additions as starters hinder the Buffs from improving over last year? CUSportsReport’s Nikki Edwards provides an overview of Colorado coming out of spring practice.

This is another classic example of what the new 105 scholarship limit will produce as McKenzie is being brought in to compete with sophomore Kanyon Floyd. This will be his first ever US college punting job, and he is making the transition from Australian Rules Football. He trained at Prokick out of Australia and has a track record of helping players with that transition. Looks like ASU will go for the rugby-style punting this year, and that is something that Floyd will have to master. Floyd last year the learning curve that many freshmen go through. He appears to be ready to take that step, and with McKenzie figuring that there will be potential formidable competition no matter who gets the job, punting figures will be upgraded this year.



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More here on the hire of Molly Miller with analysis from veteran women's basketball beat writer Jeff Metcalfe: "I think she could come in here and capture the imagination of the fans and the public, in general, a little bit like Kenny Dillingham has done. "

have the incoming 2025 freshman who did NOT enroll in January reported to campus yet for summer conditioning?........or does that normally happen before 2nd summer session in late June/July?

wow, dont remember reading he took this job, seems surprising for a guy who was once a Big Time sec guy

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On this episode, Bryan and I discuss the lessons from the title run, a rundown of the 2025 corners, the state of the Texas-to-Tempe pipeline, roster retention, the secrets to a winning program culture, and more.

LISTEN & SUBSCRIBE​

Stream | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Amazon Music | Pocket Casts

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Recent episodes: DT Zac Swanson || LB coach A.J. Cooper || LB Keyshaun Elliott || CB Keith Abney || OL Kyle Scott || DL Justin Wodtly || LB Jordan Crook || Jake Plummer || Lawrence Guy || OL Ben Coleman || S Xavion Alford || DT C.J. Fite

Welcome to the post season fellow Devils. Here are the Big 12 games happening today.

9AM (AZ time)
#3 Kentucky v #2 WV (Clemson Regional)

10 AM (AZ Time)
#3 Cinci v #2 Wake Forest (Knoxville Regional)

Noon
#3 USC v #2 TCU (Corvallis Regional)

1 PM
#3 Cal Poly v #2 Arizona (Eugene Regional)

3 PM
#3 Ok St v #2 Duke (Athlens Regional)

4 PM
#3 KSU v #2 UTSA (Austin Regional)

5 PM
#3 Creighton v #2 Kansas (Fayetteville Regional)

6 PM
#3 ASU v #2 UC Irvine (Los Angeles Regional)

Not a lot of margin for error in Big 12 land

The second visitor this weekend to do so


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Mornin Mates...

Today's Topic = Do We Like The Big-12 ?

I like hamburgers, french fries and beer more than wine, cheese and escargot and really like having won the conference championship in football...

But, I wonder if we would have won a football conference championship if we had still been in the PAC, with the likes of Oregon and some other PAC schools in play...

We also didn't have to contend with either Texas or Oklahoma who had left the Big-12, just as we were entering it...

The conference move didn't have much to do with our basketball destiny under Bobby to any significant degree and in baseball Willie went from 5th place in the PAC to 4th place in the Big-12...

So, I think one could make the case that the old PAC football conference was probably tougher than the current Big-12, without either Texas or Oklahoma or am I wrong about that..??

I think Big-12 basketball is tougher than the old PAC but not so in baseball where Oregon, Oregon St and UCLA hosted a regional while no team in the Big-12 did so...

I have no doubt that we are in a very good Big-12 position to stay at a high level in football as Dilly has laid a strong foundation for success moving forward...

The Athlon preseason magazine is out and has our Sun Devils ranked #14 in the country and second in the Big-12 behind K-State that they rank #13 in the country...

We don't play K-State this season and the magazine ranked our conference units #1 at the QB spot, also #1 at the WR, OL and DB positions, and #2 at the DL position and #3 at the RB and LB positions...

K-State was right behind us at the QB position and ahead of us at RB and #1 at the DL and LB positions but trailed us at the other positions...

The next teams Athlon picked in the Big-12 behind ASU and K-State were Texas Tech that we play at home, Iowa St that we play on the road and Baylor that we also play on the road...

BTW, WR Jordyn Tyson made their AA first team and QB Sam Leavitt, WR Jordyn Tyson, OL Ben Coleman and S Xavier Alford made their preseason All-Conference team...

So, it looks like we have the firepower with which to contend for another conference championship...

We might be hard pressed to win another 11 games but I'm not sure that we will be underdogs in any of our games this season...

As another conference coach observed..."they might not win as many games but the culture there is rock solid, and you know how their players love their head coach, so they are going be at the top of league for awhile." (my paraphrasing)

But, when we turn to Sun Devil basketball nothing appears to be rock solid about Bobby's culture or coaching and the smart money is on him being shown the door at the end of next season...

I'm also not sure how rock solid Willie's culture and coaching is within our baseball program but he will have another year with which to do something to elevate our program...

He will have 34 scholarships with which to rebuild his roster and his NIL treasure chest might get more donations with which to pay players additional amounts of loot to enhance performance and production...

At least I think that is the plan that Rossini has come up with in order to elevate our baseball program...

On a somewhat related matter, the AU AD was asked about contract extensions for some Wildcat coaches that include Chip Hale and she related that in her experience as an AD at three schools, that she couldn't remember one recruit, in any sport, that was concerned about whether a coach had a long term contract or not...

However, I have no doubt that Chip Hale will get an extension after their season ends and they are playing North Carolina for a CWS berth today, as we all know...

So there you have it this fine, hot morning in the desert from my perspective...

Your feedback is always welcome...

G-day Mates and Go Devils!!!

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