Archive for August, 2010

Ward Transfering to Auburn?

Tuesday, August 24th, 2010

Longhorn sophomore point guard, Varez Ward, will almost certainly transfer to Auburn.  Orangebloods.com reported last week that Ward wants to be closer to home and his mother, Sharon, who has a heart condition.  Ward will have to sit out the coming season before he is eligible to play for the Tigers.  Luckily, he was recently granted a medical hardship for another year of eligibility after suffering a season ending injury while warming up for a November game against Pittsburgh.  Once eligible to play, Ward will have 3 years of eligibility remaining.

With Ward’s departure, the Longhorns will be left with Dogus Balbay, Jai Lucas, J’Covan Brown, and heralded incoming freshman, Cory Joseph at the guard positions.  How will Barnes divide up the minutes now?  Ward was almost certain to get a lot of playing time.  Last season, Balbay went down with a season ending knee injury, Lucas looked overwhelmed, and Brown showed flashes of brilliance but wasn’t consistent.  That said, I expect Cory Joseph will likely play a lot of minutes this coming season.  If Balbay is fully healthy, he should see a lot of time as well.  Regardless, the Longhorns should rotate all their guards early in the season to get a feel for the pecking order.

Austin picks Baylor

Monday, August 9th, 2010

One of Texas’ 2012 targets, center Isaiah Austin, took his name off the recruiting boards by verbally committing to Baylor University today.  Austin was considering Texas, Kansas, Kentucky, Georgetown, Oklahoma State, Iowa, and Arizona.  Now that ESPN’s 7th ranked player in the 2012 class has committed to Big XII rival Baylor, what post player will Texas switch their focus to?

Lance Blanks Named New Suns General Manager

Friday, August 6th, 2010

The Phoenix Suns hired Lance Blanks yesterday to be their new General Manager.  He takes over for Steve Kerr and will join former NBA player agent, Lon Babby, in overseeing Phoenix’s newly revamped basketball operations department.  Blanks previously worked for the Cleveland Cavaliers the past 5 years as Vice President of Basketball Operations and 5 years for the San Antonio Spurs prior to joining the Cavaliers.

While at Texas, Blanks was the starting shooting guard for 2 years and helped the Longhorns reach the Elite 8 in 1990.  He was the “B” in the highly recognized “BMW” backcourt along with Travis Mays and Joey Wright.  Blanks finished his career at Texas with a scoring average of 20.0 ppg and was taken 26th overall by the Detroit Pistons in the 1990 NBA Draft.

More information on Lance Blanks and his career at Texas can be found here and the official press release from the Phoenix Suns can be found here.