Jug Of News (05.08.12)

Welcome to our humble abode. Pull up a seat and grab a glass for a sip from todays Jug of News. Hit the jump for men’s basketball news, freshman QB Tay Bender making an immediate splash, good (finally!) baseball things, and a huge Big 12 TV deal.

Well, the question as to which current K-State basketball player would be removed from the roster to make way for new commit Michael Orris is over. As reported here yesterday, it’s James Watson. This is just a sad story all the way around, as Watson is really the kind of kid you root for. On a more positive note, he graduates in December, and KSU will keep him on scholarship (though it won’t count against our official basketball numbers) until that point. Both Austin Meek and Kellis Robinett have some good reporting on this story.

Tavarius Bender seems to be making an immediate impact with Coach Snyder’s squad. As Cole Manbeck reports, Bender is currently #2 on the depth chart behind Collin Klein. As he is currently young enough that he’ll be spending this weekend at his senior prom, there’s a school of thought that his place on the depth chart is mainly a ploy by Coach Snyder to motivate Daniel Sams. That’s my view as well, and I believe that Bender will end up redshirting next year. It simply does not make sense to burn a year of Bender’s eligibility, unless they simply don’t see Sams as a potential QB-of-the-future.

On the baseball front, the Bat Cats finally broke their 10-game losing streak this past weekend. In doing so, outfielder Jared King was named Big 12 Player of the Week, after simply tearing it up in four games last week. The Cats look to end their 10-game conference slide this weekend against the Jayhawks.

Last, and most impactful, the Big 12 Conference is getting paid! The conference presidents agreed in principle to a $2.6 billion TV deal with ESPN/Fox. The deal extends for 13 years, and gives each of the ten (at present) league schools an average of $20 million per year.