By Jeff Wilson
Frogs Today senior writer
FORT WORTH — TCU football is putting our new guy, the recruiting-focused David Beaudin, to the test.
The Horned Frogs continue to land recruits — five in the past two weeks, for those scoring at home — and the coaching staff’s work has produced an early top-15 recruiting class for 2023. There’s a long way to go, but with 12 prep players giving a verbal pledge, TCU is approaching its quota of high school players for 2023.
The Frogs will keep some scholarships in reserve for the transfer portal, and if high school players are any indication, college players will want to be a part of coach Sonny Dykes’ program.
The weekend haul included three safeties: Javeon Wilcox, Montana Warren and Jordan Lester. Beaudin caught up with Wilcox and Warren.
The early dozen does not include a quarterback or a running back, though that will change. TCU hosted five-star running back Ruben Owens, from El Campo, earlier this month.
Just keep in mind that verbal commitments are nonbinding, and, brace yourselves, teenagers frequently change their minds. One of the main tasks for TCU’s recruiting gurus, Bryan Carrington and Eron Hughes, is to make sure the commits stay true to their word.
Other teams will come calling. That’s just the business of recruiting and always has been. Throw in real business, courtesy of Name, Image and Likeness income, and recruiting has entered a new world.
Thanks to groups such as the Flying T Club, TCU has opportunities for incoming players. Coming off a sub.-500 record, TCU has opportunities for incoming players to contribute right away on the field.
There’s a lot to like, including more of a player’s coach in Dykes.
Wins, though, speak volumes. That’s the No. 1 job this fall for the coaching staff.
Baseball turnover
Kirk Saarloos has been busy, too, now that his first season as TCU baseball coach has wrapped up.
Having already landed infielder Tre Richardson from Baylor, Saarloos hauled in right-hander Sam Stoutenborough from Cal to help add depth to a pitching staff that could see significant turnover by graduation, the transfer portal and the MLB Draft next month.
The Frogs lost left-hander Connor Oliver, who appeared in only nine games this season, to the portal, and outfielder Sam Thompson and first baseman Reed Spenrath also hit the portal. They are expected to be joined by another outfielder, Garrison Berkley.
Roster turnover is nothing new in baseball, and opportunities are harder to come by as teams are still working through the extra year of eligibility provided by the COVID year. Transfers aren’t necessarily a reflection on a coach or a program as much as they are players wanting a better chance to actually play.
That appears to be the case with the trio that has entered the portal.
More could follow, but TCU will almost certainly be adding more players from the portal.
What to watch this week
Frogs Today TV is still cranking out the hits.
The Frogs Today show with Brian Estridge knocked out Episode 14 last week, with former TCU quarterback Kent Nix the headliner. No offense to men’s basketball assistant Tony Bedford and Beaudin. Or me, for that matter.
Watch the episode at the Frogs Today YouTube channel and also subscribe (for free).
Coming soon will be the first episode of Dissecting the Frogs as Beaudin sits down with football recruit Trevor Goosby, an offensive tackle from Melissa. Here’s a teaser from our Instagram account.
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Finally, Roxo Media House also cranks out my Texas Rangers Baseball Podcast, and the new episode that dropped Sunday features guest David Murphy. Even though he went to Baylor, everyone likes David Murphy. Subscribe to that YouTube channel, too.
Lighter side
An elephant never forgets: This story sounds made up, but it has been widely report so it must be true.
A 70-year-old woman in India was collecting a bucket of water when she was trampled to death by an elephant that escaped a sanctuary in a neighboring state. The elephant then returned to the woman’s funeral that night and picked up her body and tossed it.
The family was able to continue the ceremony in which they were giving the woman her last rites.
Geez.
Peak Tyson: The must-follow Twitter account Super 70s Sports touches all decades, and in this one brought me back to the night of the Mike Tyson-Michael Spinks fight in 1988. I remember there being an actual sense that Tyson would lose, I guess because Spinks was undefeated (31-0), an Olympic champion and the former undisputed heavyweight champion.
This might have been the pinnacle of Tyson’s career, and it lasted about 91 seconds. I hope Spinks got his eyes to roll back into the proper position. Of note, one of the fights on the undercard featured a little-known James “Buster” Douglas, who would shock the world by knocking Tyson out in 1990.
I remember watching that one, too.
Bad golf shots: I didn’t so much as rejoice in this shot as I related to it. No, I’ve never played a course with U.S. Open rough or had my every move followed by a TV network, but I may or may not have hit a shot like world No. 3 Rory McIlroy did in the first round.
Jeff Wilson, jeff@frogstoday.com
