Kirby Hocutt, the Texas Tech Athletics Director, continued his weekly radio show with more direct information and analysis on Texas Tech. Here are those notes and takeaways from his show.
- Hocutt opened up by talking about the great Texas Tech weekend that just happened. Track and field is poised to compete for the national title in Birmingham while men's basketball will be playing for the share of the Big 12 regular-season championship.
- Hocutt said when you have head coaches that embrace championship expectations then you know you have something special. Both Wes Kittley and Chris Beard said on Monday and Tuesday that there's a lot more to get done after big wins. Robert Giovannetti said last Thursday Beard told him all he thinks about is coaching on Monday night in April.
- Hocutt and Giovannetti discussed the importance of facilities. Hocutt brought up the Sports Performance Center and indoor track as a huge boost and factor with the success of track and field, who in the past had to travel to meets instead of hosting them. He added that Beard mentioned from the beginning about being a developmental program, which included a basketball facility that is now being built.
- Northwestern AD Jim Phillips and chairman of the NCAA Tournament joined the show. Phillips and Hocutt visit frequently. One of their last visits was eleven months ago when both discussed a recruit - Matt Mooney. It came down to Texas Tech and Northwestern for Mooney but as we know he chose Lubbock.
- Phillips said the Red Raiders have been impressive every time he watches. He mentioned Tariq Owens, Davide Moretti and Jarrett Culver as some of the key pieces that makes the Texas tech machine run.
- Phillips said the conferences are assigned to each member and spread out equally with no biases by keeping away leagues and connections with members. Each member receives seven conferences. He added the job is a 12-month commitment. On Selection Sunday, each team has a "team-sheet" with a ton of stats that are split by four quadrants. This year we'll see the debut of the NET Rankings come into play here.
- Hocutt brought up his time as the College Football Playoff chair and compared the two. Hocutt said each CFP member had two conferences apiece. The CFP committee also just ranked the teams at the end but the NCAA Tournament committee selects the teams and runs the tournament from the beginning.
- Hocutt transitioned to women's basketball and talked about the progress of the team and how "extremely pleased" he is with Marlene Stollings.
- The "Ask the AD" segment began with a listener asking about a trophy presentation if the team wins on Saturday. The question was if the trophy will be hoisted in Ames or if they'll bring it back to Lubbock for that. Hocutt said that's up to coach Beard but knowing him he's just focused on the game right now.
- Hocutt said right now the resources to get Beard to coach on Monday in April is more important right now. Hocutt brought up Beard possibly leaving at some point. Hocutt said he's the best coach for Texas Tech in the country. He added that everything is right with this fit. "I want everyone in the country to want our head coach." Hocutt said that's great because it shows they're doing the best here in Lubbock. He believes the loyalty with him will always be there if they treat him fairly, which they plan on doing by providing what he needs to be successful.
- A Khavon Moore update was asked for. Hocutt said at the right time that Beard and Moore will sit down and discuss his future along with his family. He wants that to be between the player and coach and go from there.
- Something will be put together for track and field if they win the national championship this week. They'll more than likely be welcomed back home with a bigger event scheduled a couple of days after.
- Hocutt said Tulsa seems like a pretty good spot for the first round of the tournament with the assumption that Texas Tech will be the highest-ranked Big 12 team in the pool.
