Texas Tech Red Raiders news: Baseball adds an arm, Big 12 seeks revenue alternatives, more

Here is your Texas Tech news roundup for June 14, 2024

Texas Tech President Lawrence Schovanec hospitalized

Tuesday, Texas Tech University System Chancellor Tedd L. Mitchell provided an update on the health of Texas Tech President Lawrence Schovanec who suffered a medical emergency. Fortunately, the news he shared was positive.

Mitchell's full statement said, “I write today to update you on the news shared yesterday evening regarding Texas Tech University President Lawrence Schovanec. I am happy to report that President Schovanec continues to be in stable condition, and the prospect of a full recovery looks promising. Yesterday afternoon (June 10, 2024), President Schovanec experienced a medical emergency and was transported to a local hospital for evaluation and treatment.

"While he continues to be monitored and is recuperating at the hospital, we are working closely with Texas Tech University leadership and the President’s Office team to ensure he focuses on his health and recovery without distraction for the remainder of this week.

"We are thankful for those who helped respond, and for the exceptional care he continues to receive. We appreciate the outpouring of support and look forward to sharing more updates on his positive progress.”

Tech baseball adds pitcher from the SEC

It is clear that the Texas Tech baseball program knows that its pitching was an issue in 2024. That's because Tim Tadlock and his staff continue to collect new arms via the transfer portal.

The latest is Auburn transfer Zach Crotchfelt who announced his intention to transfer to Texas Tech this week. Last week, South Florida transfer pitcher Jack Cebert also committed to the Red Raiders.

Crotchfelt is a lefty who will be a junior in 2025. In 2024, he had a 1-1 record in seven appearances, with a 6.14 ERA in 7⅓ innings. As a freshman, he posted a 1-2 record with a 5.62 ERA in 17 appearances. He was third on the team with 45 strikeouts across 41⅔ innings.

Big 12 exploring alternative revenue sources

Always one to explore every possibility and idea, Big 12 Commissioner Bret Yormark seems to be at it once again in his search to maximize the revenue coming into the conference. In fact, it is being reported that he is exploring means of funding that would be revolutionary in the world of college athletics.

First, the conference is exploring the option of selling its naming rights. That could result in hundreds of millions of dollars for the universities in the conference.

According to Yahoo Sports, "...the idea is to drop the "Big" from the conference name and replace it with the corporate sponsor, though the "12" would likely be retained, according to a source familiar with the proposal."

The second avenue Yormark and the league are exploring is working with a private equity firm. It is being reported that the conference could be seeking as much as $1 billion from Luxembourg-based CVC Capital Partners in exchange for a 15% to 20% stake in the league.

Some of that money would go directly to the universities and a partnership would give the conference access to CVC's investment services and clients. Theres are potentially a bold moves for the conference as it seeks to find ways to close the revenue gap between the Big 12 and conferences with larger media rights deals such as the Big Ten and SEC.

TJ Pompey earns freshman All-American honors

This week, Texas Tech baseball freshman TJ Pompey was named a freshman All-American by Perfect Game. It is the second freshman All-American honor he has received after also being honored as a second-team freshman All-American by NCBWA.

This year, he hit 10 home runs and drove in 49 runs. Pompey became the 26th all-time Freshman All-American in program history.