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RED RAIDER
sports.com
RedRaiderSports.com is a publication of TRI Productions Volume 24 Issue 3 Managing Editor Aaron Dickens
Cover Photo Michael Strong
Photographers Norvelle Kennedy Justin Rex
Michael Strong TTU Athletics
Writers Matt Clare
Marie Jones
Randy Rosetta
Terry Greenberg Al Pickett
Red Raider Sports (USPS 0013-768) is published bimonthly in February, April, June, August, October and December. Annual Red Raider Club membership dues of $500 or higher include a one-year subscription to Red Raider Sports Magazine. Red Raider Sports is a publication of TRI Productions, P.O. Box 53604, Lubbock, TX 79453. Periodicals postage is paid in Lubbock, Texas. Address all editorial-related correspondence to Red Raider Sports, P.O. Box 53604, Lubbock, TX 79453. Red Raider Sports is not an official publication of Texas Tech University. Postmaster: Send address changes to Red Raider Sports, P.O. Box 53604, Lubbock, TX 79453. For subscription inquiries contact the Red Raider Club at 806.742.1196. Give old and new addresses and enclose latest mailing address label when writing about your subscription. Š2018 TRI Productions. All Rights Reserved.
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Red Raider Club
Update
Welcome to our first Red Raider Sports Magazine issue of 2019! I hope you enjoyed
the holiday season with friends and family and are ready for an exciting spring.
The holiday season was a busy one for Texas Tech Athletics. We are so excited to
welcome our new Head Football Coach, Matt Wells, and his family to Lubbock. Coach Wells brings a tremendous record of success with him from Utah State where he helped lead his alma mater to two 10-win seasons and was awarded the Mountain West Coach of the Year. He also brings with him a phenomenal staff led by Offensive Coordinator David Yost and Defensive Coordinator Keith Patterson. The future is bright for Red Raider Football! We are looking forward to introducing Coach Wells and his staff throughout the state in the coming months.
As you know, on December 20th Texas Tech Men’s basketball played Duke in New
York at Madison Square Garden. We truly appreciate the more than 1,000 donors and fans who made the trip to New York to support the Red Raiders. The generosity and support from our fans allows our Red Raiders to compete on a national level. What a memorable game!
We hope to see many of you over the next few months throughout the basketball sea-
son and the start of our spring sports. Coach Tadlock and the Red Raider baseball team, fresh off their third College World Series appearance in the past five years, open the 2019 slate on February 15th.
We continue to focus on the Red Raider Club Annual Fund and The Campaign for
Fearless Champions. Annual donations through gifts to the Red Raider Excellence Fund, Annual Seat Contributions and Premium Seating all allow us to provide critical resources to more than 415 student-athletes every single year. The Campaign for Fearless Champions continues to affect the trajectory of Texas Tech Athletics and is allowing us to compete at the highest levels. As a part of the Campaign, we will host the official ground breaking ceremony for the Dustin R. Womble Basketball Center on January 25th. Plans and con-
Andrea Tirey Senior Associate Athletic Director — Development — 806.834.3270
struction are also underway for the new Cash Family Sports Nutrition Center. I am looking forward to sharing more about both of these projects with you in the coming months.
Our future is bright because of each of you. Thank you for all you do for Texas
Tech Athletics. If you have any questions please never hesitate to contact our office at 806.742.1196 and a member of our staff will be happy to assist you. Guns Up!
andrea.tirey@ttu.edu Andrea
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Boosters may not communicate with recruits or their families on behalf of Texas Tech by phone, in-person or in writing (includes social media).
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Free or discounted items or services may not be provided to student-athletes or recruits unless the benefit is available to the public or all Texas Tech students.
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Boosters may not provide academic assistance of any kind to a student-athlete or recruit (e.g., test prep, SAT/ACT fees, academic expenses, tutoring, editing/completing coursework, etc.).
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Student-athletes, recruits or their coaches, family or friends may not be invited to your suite or club seats as this constitutes special seating.
5
Game tickets, apparel, equipment or awards may not be traded for or purchased from student-athletes, and items autographed by current student-athletes may not be sold.
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Student-athletes may be employed provided they are paid the going rate for work actually performed.
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b y MA R I E J O N E S
Chris Beard describes Norense Odiase as one of the most disciplined and dedicated players he’s ever coached. Which meant he could start his third season as the head basketball coach at Texas Tech with confidence knowing the senior’s voice and actions would likely play a primary role in the success of the program for yet another year. Already a Texas Tech graduate, having earned his bachelor’s in Media Strategies in May, 2018, Odiase is in his fifth season with the Red Raiders and pursuing a master’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies. “I am very proud to have received my undergraduate degree from Texas Tech,” said Odiase, who earned All-Big 12 Academic First-Team honors last season. “This university provides each student with all the tools to be successful. It has been a blessing to be a student-athlete here at Texas Tech. Along the way, my professors have been incredibly supportive with my journey with school and basketball. Each of them made sure I was always up to date with material I would miss in class. They were always responsive and understanding, they truly helped make my situations less stressful.” A Fort Worth native who has professional basketball and sports marketing aspirations, Odiase’s basketball journey at Tech started with him recording a double-double in his first game, but has also included overcoming injuries that sidelined him throughout his third year in Lubbock before returning as a starter during last year’s NCAA Elite Eight run. He’s helped lead the Red Raiders to
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memorable wins and elevated them into one of the top teams in the nation through never giving up. “I believe the measure of a man comes through how you push through adversity,” Odiase said. “The response you have toward something is what is most important. You can control your leadership, enthusiasm and consistency. That’s my job for this team. I’m need to be the most consistent leader I can be every day.” Odiase’s approach to life and basketball has been one that has seen him be a part of various stages of the Tech program. He went through a coaching change, was forced to redshirt the 2016-17 season due to injury and then recorded 4.5 rebounds per game as a starter for the Red Raiders who went 27-10 and further than any team in program history last year. Odiase came into his fifth year with the Red Raiders having recorded 396 rebounds and started his senior year strong with a career-high 13 rebounds in a win over Southeastern Louisiana after having 10 in the previous game. “He’s been working hard to find another level of consistency this year,” Beard said. “He’s played really good basketball throughout his career but needs to bring his best level every night. I really think he can be one of the better rebounders in the Big 12 this season. He’s an elite person and player.” “I always had big aspirations for myself,” Odiase added. “Working hard has never failed me and I’m just going to keep doing what got me here.”
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ATHLETIC
PERSPECTIVE President Lawrence Schovanec talks Texas Tech Athletics RedRaiderSports.com
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L
awrence Schovanec will never forget being in Dallas last spring when the Texas Tech Red
Raiders beat Florida during March Madness to go to the Sweet 16.
“After the game they sang ‘The Matador Song’ and you would have thought everybody in the
American Airlines Center was a Red Raider. We owned that place. That was a very, very proud moment for all Red Raiders,” said Schovanec, the 17th president of Texas Tech University.
It’s one of many memorable Red Raider sports moments Schovanec has witnessed since he’s
led the university and since 1982, when he first came to Texas Tech.
In an interview in his Tech Terrace home, Schovanec discussed the importance of athletics to
the university and what it has accomplished under the leadership of Athletic Director Kirby Hocutt.
The mathematician-turned-administrator also shared some of his other favorite Red Raider
sports moments and how he grew up a sports fan and high school athlete in Oklahoma. 12
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Front Porch of the University
“Athletics impacts Texas Tech in a very significant way. There’s a
of the fact that these athletes are someone’s son or daughter and their
“For many people, it’s the most intense and obvious connection to
thousand deaths and sometimes they’re elated beyond description,” said
cliché it’s the front porch to the university. It’s pretty true,” he said.
the university. They come back for athletic events. And it’s when they’re
on campus for an athletic event they often find out about good things going on at the school. It really is an important driver and alumni connection in building pride in the school,” he said.
Schovanec said his emotional connection with athletics becomes
deeper and more intense the more he gets to know the student-athletes,
parents are sitting in the stands watching them – sometimes dying a Schovanec, who has been one of those parents.
“And though they're getting a lot of support toward their education,
“And fans don’t see the physical pain these athletes subject them-
they’re paying for it in terms of their commitment of time.
selves to. If you’re around in the locker room, you’ll see that they may be on a crutch and yet they’re out there performing. They sacrifice a lot. Of
coaches and staff.
course, the rewards are many, but the cost is high,” he said.
takes a real commitment. One can say that they get certain favors, but
They are wonderful ambassadors for Tech,” he said, adding the obvious
“You see how much work they put into being a student-athlete. It
they pay for that many times over,” he said.
“I think people have a sense of it but they may sometimes lose sight
“I am so proud of the way the student athletes represent this school.
examples are what they do in competition, but the president is also very proud of how they perform in the classroom.
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They Give it Their All Schovanec was in Waco in mid-November for an NCAA second-round women’s soccer playoff game between Texas Tech and No. 12-ranked Virginia, one of the highest-scoring teams in the nation. The Red Raiders held the prolific Cavaliers scoreless for 90 minutes of regulation time and two more 10-minute overtimes. Unfortunately, Texas Tech also did not score. “That’s 110 minutes of holding them scoreless before they lost in penalty kicks,” said Schovanec. “They were crying,” he said. “That’s what fans sometimes don’t see – how much it means to them. They put so much into it.” “The disappointments are fleeting, but they eventually will realize what they accomplished,” he said.
A Program of Trust & Confidence Schovanec has high praise for Hocutt and Andrea Tirey, senior associate athletics director for development. “They are probably the most effective fundraisers we have for the university. They’re selling a good product and it’s a great message,” he said. “Athletics lives on its own revenues. They carry their load.” “Kirby has a lot of great help, but he is an exemplary leader and administrator,” said Schovanec. Schovanec ticked off a list of benefits from those fundraising efforts, which he called “very substantial”: • • • •
When athletic facilities are built, it represents no debt to the university. Texas Tech is one of few universities in the country not providing a tuition subsidy to Athletics. Because of successful philanthropic support, many athletic scholarships are funded from endowments. Athletics can invest in academic support beyond what the university provides
The president also praised the Campaign for Fearless Champions. “That’s been a tremendous success. When they launched the campaign, Kirby outlined a list of around 25 projects and they have basically gone through that list with the exception of a few. He had a vision and they presented that vision to donors, who saw the impact of their support through athletic success, academic success and the character and integrity of the program,” he said. “It’s one thing to have a vision and try to sell it. It’s another to actually run a program that merits that kind of trust and confidence,” he said. 14
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The result of the Campaign for Fearless Champions has been a dramatic upgrade in facilities – led by the stunning Sports Performance Center. “Facilities make such an impression on recruits, our fans and on those who visit our university. Though our facilities are really, really good, as you travel around the country, you’ll see that these facilities are not a luxury, they’re a necessity to compete at the level we operate on,” said the president. “Sometimes I think it’s sort of crazy. But that’s the world we live in and if you want to be a big-time player you need to have world-class facilities. Our supporters through the work of Kirby and Andrea and others make it possible,” he said. “It’s a competitive world and we don’t take a backseat to anybody. And with the plans Kirby has for future development it’s only going to get better,” said Schovanec. Donors make so much of it possible. “You see that so vividly in athletics. You see the impact of their gifts to the facilities, you can look at the championships we’ve won to which they have contributed significantly through their support. “And most importantly, when you meet these students and you see the opportunities that have been provided to them because of donor support – it is no stretch to say that donors are truly changing lives,” said Schovanec. “Look at some of the innovative programs – the Marsha Sharp Leadership Academy where they teach men and women how to prepare for life beyond athletics. Because except for very, very few, athletics is coming to an end when they graduate from Tech,” he said.
Speaking of Graduation The graduation success rate for Texas Tech Athletics is 84 percent and Schovanec points out that it’s roughly ten percent above the rest of Texas Tech students. “I think it speaks to the culture of the athletic department,” he said. “We have so many Academic All-Conference, Academic All-Americans and I think the academic success is reflective of the competitive nature of athletes,” he said. “I believe women’s tennis and soccer have the two highest grade point averages of a team last year and were separated by 100th of a point. I can assure you those coaches probably put a bug in those students’ ears – hey, I want you to be first next year. It’s just the way they are,” he said. Athletics had its highest GPA in department history last spring with a 3.235 and is
expecting to post its highest Academic Progress Rate next spring. Schovanec said all these results prove Texas Tech athletes are truly student-athletes. “Those coaches, Kirby and that staff, they’re interested in the full development of those young men and women. And so when you see their academic success, it allows us to speak with some credibility that we are an educational institution. The experience for those student-athletes and the experience for all the students at Texas Tech and experience of our alumni is enhanced by athletics without jeopardizing our fundamental mission,” he said. It’s not that way at every university, Schovanec added. “Not every school has the record that can be a source of pride for the institution.” And that pride has been on display for a long time, Schovanec said, launching into a
another story. “I was at the Hall of Fame luncheon. And at a table behind us were John Scovell and Jerry Turner. Jerry was the captain and John was one of the great quarterbacks we ever had. What did they do when they left Tech? John Scovell went to Harvard and got an MBA. Jerry Turner went to Vanderbilt and got a law degree,” he said. “Their athletic experience I think, teaches them a lot of discipline and time management skills, competitiveness that prepares them to succeed once they leave Texas Tech. There’s a long history of that success. Jerry was a center and John was the quarterback and I made a joke that there was never that much brain power in such close proximity. “There are many stories like that,” said Schovanec. RedRaiderSports.com
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©Norvelle Kennedy
The Crabtree Catch
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Before he was president and watched football games from the President’s Suite at Jones AT&T Stadium, Schovanec and his wife Patty had tickets on the east side of the stadium and were in perfect position to watch Michael Crabtree’s last-second touchdown pass against then-No. 1 Texas in 2008. “It was a moment everybody remembers. For some reason I kissed my wife and I’m not a kissing kind of guy and she thought ‘what has come over you.’ But I was so taken up in the moment. A real highlight of Texas Tech athletics,” he said.
Sports Has Been Integral
Texas Tech’s president grew up in a small Oklahoma town
where, he said. “you didn’t have to be good to play. I was a quar-
terback on the football team. I don't think we ever had a winning
record. But I do have somewhere in a scrapbook a headline that says ‘Schovanec runs wild,’” he said.
He won a state championship in the mile as a senior.
Also athletic, wife Patty played tennis, golf and basketball in
high school.
Both of his sons, Tyler and Cory, played quarterback while
at Lubbock High School. Tyler went on to play NCAA Division III football and baseball and is now the offensive backs and special teams coach at Houston Baptist.
He was also a fan – back then of the Oklahoma Sooners.
“I remember when Bud Wilkinson was the coach, then
Chuck Fairbanks and then the king – Barry Switzer,” he said.
“I also loved the St. Louis Cardinals. I was raised on the
farm and the way you passed the day was listening to baseball.
Harry Carey was the broadcaster for the St. Louis Cardinals and color was Jack Buck,” he said.
“One of the best things that could happen to you was to
have a doubleheader because that was a good way to pass the day. That’s why I don’t have any hearing today. There was a
radio on the fender of the tractor. You could be a mile away and you could hear that radio going. You had to have it really loud to go above the noise of the motor,” he said.
“So sports was a big, big part of our lives,” said Schovanec.
Raider Power Memories
Texas Tech was hosting a regional baseball playoff when
Larry Hays was still coach and Schovanec’s mother came down to watch Oklahoma State, her alma mater.
“We had a great team and were within an out or two of going
to the World Series. My memory maybe inaccurate, but I recall somebody from USC hit a homer to tie the game and we ended up losing the game in extra innings,” he said.
“But the fans in the stadium – which isn't anything like it is to-
day – started this Raider Power cheer. And it was about as loud as I’ve ever heard it. And it was just sort of this magical moment,
even though the end result was disappointing,” he said.
A few years later, when the Red Raiders did go on to the
College World Series, the president said watching the team cel-
The Schovanec Family Cory, Patty, Lawrence and Tyler (pictured from left to right)
ebrate with a dogpile was also special.
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DOUBLE T
The power of the
b y R O B E RT G I OV A N N ETT I
Matt Wells understands the power of the Double T.
After being named the head football coach of Texas Tech on November 29, Wells stood before his new team the next day, noticeably without the iconic logo on his sweater. “I haven’t earned it yet,” he told his players. But he added, “Everything we do will be about that Double T.”
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Two weeks later, Wells’ face would light up
when talking about his first venture into recruiting as the new leader of Tech football. “That
Double T means something when you walk
into these Texas high schools,” he said with a glint in his eye after he and his staff signed 11
players along with a transfer, during the December early signing period. “This entire staff
respects that logo and we’re going to make all
Red Raiders proud.” 20
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The early signing period ended a whirlwind
couple of weeks for Wells and his new staff. After Texas Tech Athletics Director Kirby Hocutt
named Wells to the position at a public press conference on December 1, it has been nonstop action for Wells as he met with his new
was working on completing his new staff.
“The most important thing is getting to
know these guys already here,” Wells said.
“Those guys in that locker room are the most important piece of the puzzle and we want
them to know we’re going to love and coach
players, tried to hold on to the players who had
them up.”
others who may not previously had been inter-
with him his first day on the job. David Yost and
committed to Tech previously and also recruit
ested in the Red Raiders. At the same time he
Two important pieces of Wells’ staff came
Keith Patterson moved with Wells from Utah
State to lead the offense and defense respectively. The trio had just come off a 10-2 sea-
son at Utah State and Wells had been named
Mountain West Coach of the Year for the second time in his six years in Logan. The recent success had put Wells on top of many pro-
gram’s wish list as schools looked to fill head coaching vacancies.
“I’ve known about Matt for a while,” Hocutt
said. “He’s well respected by football people…
people that really know the game well speak
very highly of him. He is so impressive and he
has a clear vision of what he wants to accomplish.”
And Wells thinks Tech is already set up to
experience success sooner rather than later,
“I’ve said it before, this is not a rebuild; there is a foundation already here that we will build on.”
An important piece of that foundation is
Tech quarterback Alan Bowman (pictured, right). The sophomore to be is close to former
coach Kliff Kingsbury and wanted to know what
to expect from his new staff. Bowman met with
both Wells and Yost on their first day and came away happy with what he heard.
“Coach Wells has a lot of energy and a
lot of emotion, which we like,” Bowman said
about his new head coach. Bowman also had
known Yost after being recruited by him in high
school. “I don’t know him well but I like him and
he’s put some guys in the NFL which helps.”
Wells understands the importance of rela-
tionships, whether it be Bowman or his team-
mates or recruits or former players he wants to be a part of the program. Several times during
his first days on the job, Wells would interrupt
a conversation to greet a player, slapping them
on the back or hugging them and asking them about their classwork.
“It’s all about the relationships with these
guys,” Wells said. “We want them to do well on
the field and in life. They’re going to have suc-
cess here and they’re going to leave with their
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degree. We had the highest graduation rate in
announcing that some practices will be open in
cruiting, especially Texas high schools. “These
academy. We don’t expect that to change here.”
‘our’ program,” he said.
want to know are you going to offer my kid, are
relationships with the Red Raider fan base as
his staff now turn their eyes to a second one
people are like that. They don't care what you
the Mountain West and that includes a service
And Wells understands the importance of
well. After three consecutive losing seasons on
the South Plains, Wells knows he has to win the trust of those that fill Jones AT&T Stadium
six times in the fall. An important first step was 22
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the spring. “This is going to be a ‘we’ and an
Just as one signing day passed, Wells and
in February as they look to fill out the class in 2019.
“You know what, recruiting is about relation-
ships,” Wells has said time and again about re-
guys want to know that you care first, then they
you going to recruit my kid. Just like players, know till they know how much you care.”
One former Red Raider great thinks Wells
fits the recruiting bill just fine. “Coach Wells actually recruited me to go to Navy,” said Wes
Welker, who played at Tech from 2000-03. “If Tech hadn’t offered me I was seriously consid-
ering it. He is a great guy and a hell of a recruiter.”
Looking back, it’s hard to imagine Welker in any other college logo than the Double T. As
Wells worked the phones on recruiting day, he had a similar message to his 11 new players
and their families. Walking around the football facility carrying sometimes as many as three phones, Wells greeted each new player as well as parents and grandparents.
“Enjoy this day,” he told them all.
“You’ve done a great job raising this young man,” he told a parent. “We’ll take the baton
from you while he’s here and make sure he’s taken care of.” The message was the same throughout the morning, Texas Tech was the perfect place for each of these new Red Raiders.
On this day, unlike his first, Wells sported the logo of his new school. And as he greeted
well wishers and media members he sported a knowing smile. A smile of man confident that
days like this will only get better in the future.
A man confident in the power of the Double T.
More on Matt Wells • He is 45-years-old.
• He grew up in Sallisaw, Oklahoma.
• Married with three children (pictured, left).
• After playing quarterback and defensive back
at Utah State, he coached at Navy, Tulsa,
New Mexico and Louisville before returning
to Utah State to be quarterbacks coach (1 year)
offensive coordinator (2 years) and head coach
for the last six years.
• Utah State averaged 47.2 points per game last
season (24th best in the country).
• The Aggies’ leading rusher had at least
1,200 yards each year from 2011-13.
• Utah State also had a top-50 ranked defense
• Twice named Mountain West Coach of the
each of Wells’ six years as head coach.
Year. (Only two other coaches have won
the award twice: Urban Meyer and Gary
Patterson).
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S
Weathering
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STORM the
b y R A N DY R O S ETT A
Colin Baxter has learned to get straight to the point, es-
pecially when it comes to a unique friendship he has formed with Texas Tech men’s basketball coach Chris Beard.
Baxter, a member of the Red Raiders’ team man-
ager crew, thought he had a good handle on where his
life was headed in 2016 as he embarked on the final leg
of his academic journey at Texas Tech. Knock out six
more classes to graduate and find somewhere to teach
history. Neat and tidy plans coming to fruition.
Sometimes, though, storms arise in life. As author
Vivian Greene so eloquently stated, “Life isn’t about
waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning how to dance in the rain.”
For Baxter, the storm came on unexpectedly.
Early in the fall semester of 2016, some nagging
dizziness escalated to blurry vision and then very little
sight at all, prompting a visit to the university’s Student
Health Center. After a nurse insisted Baxter go to UMC,
his life went began a rapid transformation that bottomed
out when he lost his eyesight permanently after surgery for a pineal brain tumor.
continued on page 26
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25
After the tumor was diagnosed, a 14-plus hour surgery that UMC neurosurgeon Dr. Genevieve LaPointe hoped would salvage some vision did not work, and when Baxter woke up two days later on Oct. 19, he was completely blind and has been ever since. On one of those first few nights as Baxter was coming to grips with his new reality, Beard – at UMC to visit a friend – asked a nurse if he could step in and say hello. “He came into my room to introduce himself and told me he had heard my story and what I was going through,” Baxter said. “I was shocked that he took the time to come and see me.” Baxter’s mother, Kathleen Gilliland, was by her son’s side and remembers the night well. “He walked in and had this commanding presence,” she said of Beard. “They talked for a while, and before he left coach Beard told Colin, ‘You’re going to get better and you’re going to finish your degree. What can I do to help you do that?’” To be clear, this wasn’t just a big-time coach simply offering up empty promises. Beard, the father of three daughters, said he felt a tug in his heart and soul what Baxter and his mom were going through. “That first night I met him, he was really quiet,” Beard said. “But even in those extreme adverse conditions when he wasn’t doing well at all, he had an awareness of our team. He asked about Norense Odiase because he knew him from class. That was a scary situation for Colin and his mom, and I really felt for them. “We’ve truly become good friends. He’s one of the toughest people I’ve ever met. You can’t make this story of his up. It’s not a Hallmark movie.” As a friendship blossomed, and Beard left no doubt he was in Baxter’s corner, windows of opportunity began to open. First and foremost, Baxter is back on campus and intends to finish his Texas Tech degree, a challenge a lot of students might have waved a white flag at. If Baxter needed any additional incentive to return to Lubbock after nearly two years of 26
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intense therapy, rehab and learning how to live with blindness, he got it when Beard offered him a spot as a volunteer manager with the team, which required him to get back on campus. “Coach Beard means the world to me,” Baxter said. “He saved my life. If not for coach Beard, I would’ve fallen through the cracks. If not for him, I may not have ever come back here to finish.” Not that Beard regards his offer as charity. He said he considers Baxter a key part of the team as a right-hand man to trainer Chris Williams. “They put me to work,” said Baxter, who is accompanied by his guide dog Chase, a yellow Labrador retriever. Beard joked that Chase even has a couch in the basketball offices to lounge on when he gets tired. “I’m exhausted by the time I get home.” Without Beard saying a word, Baxter also supplies reciprocal motivation. Baxter’s refusal to quit, his persistence to get back to campus and complete a degree and not let a lifelong dream fall by the wayside – those are straight out of a coach’s motivational handbook. “I absolutely love him being around the team,” Beard said. “He spoke to our guys recently, and I guarantee you nobody held court like he did. He had all the eyes on him and those guys were completely quiet and respectful. “I’ve never met anyone tougher than Colin. He has this incredible positive outlook and not in a fake away. The way he chooses to live his life is incredible to me.” Beard checks in with Baxter at least two or three times a day besides practice. Texas Tech managers, coaches or players are sent to pick Baxter and Chase up if they need rides. When told of Baxter’s belief that the coach saved his life, Beard paused – emotion evident in his eyes. “When you hear something like that, it’s special,” Beard said. “You never seek anything out like that. I just want to make sure we help people who need it. Colin doesn’t want anybody to feel sorry for him. He just wants to accomplish whatever he can, regardless of what hand he’s been dealt. He’s just a special per-
son to me.” With Beard as an inspiration, Baxter has learned how to dance a little differently. He admits that he has grappled with his fate at times. “This isn’t what I’m supposed to be dealing with at this point of my life,” Baxter said. “I’m supposed to be getting close to the end of my college days and then getting the rest of my life started. Everything stopped immediately when they told me I had a tumor. My entire life stopped.” Only briefly, though. Because spending time in the pediatric wing of UMC and meeting younger patients whose outcome wasn’t as optimistic left a deep and lasting impression. What came into sharper focus is that Baxter has a chance to keep dancing. “I realized that the sight problem was secondary to living at that point,” he said. “I still had a chance to live, and a lot of those kids around me didn’t.” Once the immediate goal of earning a Texas Tech degree is marked off the to-do list, Baxter’s future is a little less certain. For as long as he can recall, Baxter has wanted to be a history teacher. Blindness might require a change in that career path, and right now he isn’t sure where to re-direct his plans. What he does now is that he will forge ahead with no constraints, despite the challenges his new life presents. Gilliland has accepted that her son might have to shuffle his plans, and she chooses to believe things happen for a reason. “I think maybe he was meant for bigger things and this is his platform for that,” Gilliland said. “Being blind gives him a different perspective. I know he believes those 20 years he had sight give him better insight and he wants to make a difference. I believe in my heart that there is something bigger out there that he can do.” Plans change. Storms pop up. You either wait for them to pass or you dance in the rain. For Baxter, that choice was never in question. He’s going to dance, and a relationship with a basketball coach-turned-friend and mentor is a big reason why.
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uction project Marlene Stollings has developed a reputation as a coach who can transform struggling basketball programs, although she admits that was never her plan when she first got into coaching. “It just happened by chance,” related the first-year Texas Tech women’s basketball coach. “My first job, I took over a program that was down and we had an immediate turnaround. It just rolled from there. I got tabbed as a coach who could do that. It played out at Virginia Commonwealth and Minnesota.” Stollings’ first head coaching job was at Winthrop University in 2011-12, where the Eagles went 18-13, posting just the Eagles’ second winning season in the last 26 years. She then moved to Virginia Commonwealth for two years. Her 2013-14 team finished 22-10 – the third-most wins in program history – and earned a berth in the 2014 WNIT. She followed that with four record-setting seasons at the University of Minnesota. Last year’s squad recorded 24 wins, including four victories over top-25 programs, and a trip to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. “Of course, when there are coaching openings, it is usually because the previous coach wasn’t getting it done,” Stollings said. “It is not very often that you get to the replace a successful coach who is retiring.” Her newest re-construction project is Texas Tech, where she was hired in April to rebuild a Lady Raiders’ team that went 7-23 overall and 1-17 in the Big 12 last year. Why Texas Tech? Stollings said there were a number of reasons why the Texas Tech job was attractive to her. “If I was going to move from Minnesota and the Big Ten,” she stated, “I wanted an athletic director (Kirby Hocutt) who was at a high level and stable. I wanted the support of someone who hired me. I wanted the opportunity to test myself at the highest level. The Big 12 usually has at least two teams ranked in the Top 10, and I want Texas Tech to be one of those teams. “There was also a great tradition at Texas Tech prior to my arrival. I was in the gym (in high school at Ohio’s Miss Basketball in 1993 in Beaver, Ohio, and as a player at Ohio State and Ohio University) and watched the glory days in coach (Marsha) Sharp’s career. I know how much this community loves women’s basketball. And finally, Texas has some of the greatest youth talent in the nation.” Along the way, Stollings has developed a reputation
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as one the best offensive minds in women’s college basketball. Her teams at Minnesota set numerous scoring records, including ranking third nationally with an average of 84.9 points per game. The Gophers also sank 297 3-pointers a year ago, the second most in Big Ten Conference history. “Ever since I played bitty basketball, scoring is fun,” she emphasized. “I have brought that same philosophy to my coaching. Fans love it. Student-athletes love it. It is a win-win. We try to take a weaker defender and put our players in a position to be successful. We also want to get up and down the floor in transition. My philosophy is that great offense beats great defense a lot of the time.” During her four years at Minnesota, she had four players selected in the WNBA draft. Minnesota was one of only two schools in the country with a first-round pick in both 2015 and 2016. Stollings ranks as the second-fastest coach to accumulate 50 wins in Minnesota history and reached her 100th win in 2016. Stollings has also maintained a 100-percent graduation rate for all student-athletes who have completed their eligibility under her tutelage. Looking at this year’s Texas Tech team, Stollings listed several new players – all guards -- to keep an eye on, including freshman Chrislynn Carr from Davenport, Iowa, San Jacinto Junior College transfer Eryka Sidney and Argyle native Sydney Goodson, who sat out last season after transferring from Arizona State. Sophomore guard Angel Hayden, who played on four consecutive state championship teams in high school under Hall of Fame coach Joe Lombard at Canyon, will also play a key role this season. Stollings expects 6-foot-5 junior Brittney Brewer from Abilene Wylie, could become a double-double machine for the Lady Raiders. At press time, Brewer had made double doubles in eight of the 11 games played by the Lady Raiders. “She is very agile for her size,” Stollings said. “She has averaged in double figures in both scoring and rebounding in three of our first four games this season. She had only three double-doubles in her first two seasons. So I am excited about that.” Stollings said she is also excited that her team is off to a good start this season. “The schedule will get tougher,” she claimed, “but we are focused on daily improvement.” Stollings’ latest construction project is well underway at Texas Tech.
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IN THE GARDEN Texas Tech fans came out in full force to help sell out perhaps basketball’s
most iconic venue, Madison Square Garden, as the Red Raiders lost to
#2 Duke 69-58. Tech led throughout, only to falter late, but the nation took notice. It was ESPN2’s highest rated game in three years and one of the
highest rated games ever on the network. “We’re a work in progress,”
said Tech’s Chris Beard. “I think the best thing about tonight is we have a locker room full of guys that are really expected to win the game.”
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