HookemTexas

Thanks, I also enjoy good discussion. I agree with you on catcher. Besides her defensive abilities, one thing I forgot to mention is that Atwood was a 4 year senior who knew the pitching staff and in particular Kavan. Swan will be learning the pitchers as the season goes on, that's a big hurdle. Also agree that Maloney was likely under appreciated for all the intangibles that she brought. Her canon of an arm was also extremely accurate which is just as important. Her skillset (outside of her arm) as a RF though isn't quite as difficult to replace. Citlaly was pretty much elite in the post season when Texas needed her the most. The overall offense needs to be better consistently, there were many stretches last year where the team was blanked or stymied and scored very little. Hoping the new asst. coaches improve that. Especially the bottom of the lineup. At least on paper, they won't face as many elite arms as they did last year - Pickens, Frahm-Bahl, Canady are all gone and while there will be new good pitchers, few will be that level of elite.

Agree with all points. If Abdullah isn't ready yet, the infield is already solid. The question marks are really the corner outfield, but I'm not sure there are many questions. The positions being replaced by departing seniors (from the World Series starting lineup): Catcher - probably a slight downgrade considering Atwood's defensive prowess, she was elite. Offensively, Atwood was of course great, but struggled in the post season. I think Swan will be serviceable there and she showed up last post season so hopefully that carries over. Pitcher - I believe Lincoln is a slight upgrade over Citlaly mainly because she's a lefty. Citlaly was up and down, but she was nails in the post season when Texas needed her most. 2nd Base - Goode was good (pun intended) but you're replacing her with the player of the year who is elite both offensively and defensively. Texas upgraded. Left field - pretty much non-existent offensively except for a key Altmeier bomb when they needed it post season. Defensively it was about average, so whoever takes it over is probably an upgrade over last year. Right field - offensively, Maloney was speed on the bases, but her average dipped a little. She didn't have power, but she often turned the lineup over and did it well. Defensively she had so many outfield assists it was insane. That's where replacing her will be hard. Also expecting an offensive upgrade overall. The team is poised to make another run though (depending on how the new coaches mesh in and get the team going). I feel like the batting outside of Katie Stewart dipped a bit last year; looking for improvement there for the team overall.

Based on this article, Coach White filled the holes he had with the portal. There's a bit of a logjam in the infield with so much talent. The outfield is where some of the freshman/sophomores have a chance to break into the lineup at the corner outfield positions since Henry has CF locked down. Sneed couldn't secure the role in LF last year but will likely have first shot. I'm guessing one or both of the freshman may get the spots if they are as advertised. Additionally, if Abdullah (who was the #1 recruit) is so good you have to play her in the infield, then the likely person that gets moved would be Nichols, but she was pretty solid last year so she may get a shot at the outfield in that scenario. It's a plethora of talent and a matter of finding spots for them and keeping everyone happy. Likely will be 2-3 transfers following next season because of the logjam, especially if the 5 for 5 seniors decide to stay as the only senior that's completely out of eligibility would be Vivi Martinez.

This nails it, and shows why the team still makes a ton of penalties. There’s no discipline.

Thanks, I guess it just seems like it's more because relative to the roster size and number of teams, that's a higher percentage. I figure a 5 start would be a 5 tool player (which Michaela Landers based on her description would be), but that would knock out pitchers and catchers unless there's other factors that contribute to being a 5 star player.

Blake or anyone in the know, seems like there’s a lot more 5 stars in softball than other sports. I feel like I’m reading that a bunch of teams are signing five star players last few days on the softball Reddit. Ou, Texas, Tennessee, Bama, …

How they are able to come up with the skits and put them together pretty much in a day's time is pretty amazing.

They are uber talented but lack the "I'm going to carry this team" person and the leadership that Asjia O'Nel and Madi Skinner has. Unless they get really hot and lucky at the end of the season, it's probably an early exit this year. At this point, they won't even be a regional host which means playing that round in a hostile environment instead of Gregory. Home court advantage is massive in volleyball because of how close the crowd is, especially at Gregory where the volume levels can be deafening for the opponents.

I was wondering if she is related to the other Abdullah that’s coming in this year.

It also doesn't help that parents with talented kids are consolidating so that their kids play with good players to enhance their spotlight. Dulles is in Fort Bend which has Seven Lakes and the neighboring district is Katy. It's a bit of a microcosm of NIL at the college level. The separation between the haves and the have nots is getting bigger and bigger.

I did lol.

Maybe I’m bad luck but every time I turn in the game, Texas defense is slow and getting worked. Florida just tied it up.

Texas 20 - Tenn 10

If the favored teams win this weekend, it will be another great weekend of results for Texas and it's rivals. That being a Texas win and all rivals losing (Texas' permanent SEC rivals).

That's pretty fast; ain't too many players capable of hitting Karlyn Pickens speed.

Reminds me of Mack trying to rope Vince in. When he let Vince be Vince, that's when the magic happened. Maybe Sark needs to let Arch be Arch.

Was probably told they need to hype up the teams or be out of their job. It was pretty annoying.

I don't know who in the team carries it but there's also a certain level of confidence and swagger that's needed to keep the team calm and focused. Casey Studdard said Vince Young had that type of confidence and swagger - one of the stories was where some defensive guy said they knew what the play was and Casey told Vince in the huddle; to which Vince said doesn't matter that they know the play, they can't stop it. Us old schoolers know about Larry Bird, who was known for notoriously trash talking the opposing player and telling them what he was going to do to them, and then proceeding to do it.

That's tough, she's been pretty key in some goal scoring plays this year.

Colt McCoy - Colt Firearms

Texas 45 - UTSA 17

Titans got an absolute steal. He's going end up as a player that when reranked should have gone in the 1st round. The way coach PK utilized him did not maximize his skillset. Man I just imagine how much of an impact he'd have being in Coach Boom's scheme.

OU's been on a streak and are always players, what do you think Texas' chances are?

I believe OTF reported that Texas offered a significant bump over what he had in 2025 but his agent (or he) was demanding 7 figures or something to that effect. I also believe that it was reported Texas never pulled the offer, just said it's there if you want it, if not, good luck to you. I think the same was with Tre Wisner, they never pulled the offer, just never went up from it.

Is she a 2028 commit?