Texas Tech Red Raiders News: Keke Coutee signs with U.F.L., Lady Raiders look to end skid, more

Here's a roundup of news from around the Texas Tech biosphere as well as the NCAA for Wednesday. (Let's forget all about last night's basketball game, shall we?)

Keke Coutee signs a professional contract with the U.F.L.

Keke Coutee has signed a contract to play in the U.F.L. The former Texas Tech and Houston Texans wide receiver will continue his professional career this spring.

He will be part of the D.C. Defenders' roster for this season. The U.F.L. is the new league that was formed when the U.S.F.L. and the X.F.L. merged last year. The inaugural U.F.L. season will begin March 30 with eight teams scheduled to be in the league.

In five seasons in the NFL, Coutee managed to post 85 catches for 966 yards and four TDs while playing for the Texans and Indianapolis Colts. While at Texas Tech, he grabbed 159 passes for 2,424 yards and 17 TDs in three seasons (2015-17).

Lady Raiders look to end their skid

The Lady Raiders travel to Fort Worth tonight to face TCU looking to end a 7-game losing streak. They currently sit at 16-13 overall and 5-11 in Big 12 play.

Meanwhile, TCU is 5-11 in Big 12 play as well but has won three games in a row. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ at 6:30 pm.

Softball plays first mid-week game

The Texas Tech softball team will play at New Mexico today in the first mid-week game of the season. Thus far, the Red Raiders are 12-3 overall after sweeping all five games in last weekend's tournament at North Texas. Meanwhile, New Mexico is just 4-13 thus far.

After a strong start, the Red Raiders are receiving votes in the top 25 polls. It is the first time Tech has received votes since 2020.

Oklahoma defensive back sets official visit to Texas Tech

Oklahoma corner, Deante Lindsay, has set an official visit date with Texas Tech. However, he won't be coming to Lubbock until this summer, June 7-9 to be exact.

A member of the class of 2025, he is from Ada, Oklahoma. What makes Lindsay such an intriguing prospect is that he's 6-foot-2 making him unusually tall for a corner.

Of course, the Red Raiders have majored in tall corners in recent years. Just this past season the team featured Rayshad Williams and Malik Dunlap, both of whom were 6-foot-2 or taller. Thus, Lindsay fits the mold of what it appears defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter prefers.

Currently, Lindsay is unranked by 247Sports.com. However, that will likely change when rankings are updated. His only other offer at this time is from UNLV.

Herbstreit says NCAA is losing power over football

ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit says that the NCAA is losing power over the sport. In an interview with Dan Dakich, Herbstreit laid out his plan for how the sport should move forward after recent N.I.L. rulings in federal court make it legal for schools and boosters to negotiate payments with recruits.

"I feel like the NCAA has lost any power whatsoever in college football," he said. "I feel like, at this point, as we go to this new world, I would not be surprised. I don’t know how they’d get there. You’d take the Big Ten, whoever it's going to be – it’s like 60 teams, it’s the Big Ten, it’s the SEC, the ACC and the Big 12 and whoever else – I think they should go form their own world. 

"Create their own governing body. Get one voice, one commissioner, instead of everyone having to get in agreement – these guys don’t always feel comfortable with each other – get one voice."

Conferences begin to try to figure out how to curb court stormings

In the wake of the injury sustained by Duke forward Kyle Filipowski as Wake Forest fans stormed the court on Saturday, conferences are trying to figure out how to deal with court stormings.

According to ESPN, eleven conferences currently levy fines against schools after the fans rush the court. However, it is clear that more actions are likely to be taken in the future.

"Across college athletics, we have seen far too many of these incidents that put individuals at serious risk, and it will require the cooperation of all -- including spectators -- to ensure everyone's well-being," ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said in a statement after the incident at Wake Forest. "As a conference, we will continually assess with our schools the best way to protect our student-athletes, coaches, and fans."