Women out of NCAA tourney
with an edge. He doesn’t end a play without a push and he wants to dominate every snap.”
Now Tatum’s job is to use his aggression to lead. Pear- son wants him to be a vocal leader on the field because he’s the best player on the team. Tatum moved to Putnam City High School from North Putnam before the start of his junior year.
“He was new to our school, so a lot of guys weren’t real tight,” Pearson said. “Now he’s been here a little over a year and now they push each other. He brings the other players up. His teammates know opponents will try to avoid him and that makes everyone else step up.”
Tatum’s the oldest of five siblings. His father, Ron Jr., lived in Phoenix when Tatum was young. Ron Jr. would train Tatum and his siblings during summers and holi- days. Tatum now lives with his dad and went through the recruiting process with his father by his side.
“I knew the process of recruiting was coming for Ron,” Ron Jr. said. “We knew he had talent. He was always the biggest kid in his class. I noticed him racing up and down the street with the rest of the kids at like 7 or 8 years old. He was always on the chubby side, but he was winning the races. I knew he’d be an athlete with the right preparation.”
That preparation turned into scholarship offers during Tatum’s junior season. Kansas was the first to offer, on Oct. 10, 2016. Oklahoma followed two weeks later. Texas came into the picture on Jan. 19 of this year. The Tatums visited UT on Feb. 16 and the four-star end commit- ted to the Longhorns at his school April 26.
Tatum said he didn’t make his decision until the night before his announcement.
“I sat down with my family the night before and we talked about it. The next day, I chose Texas,” Tatum said. “It’s the family atmosphere at Texas. They treated us like family the first time we met.”
Tatum isn’t shy about his goals. He wants to play in the NFL.
He has the frame and athleticism to play multiple posi- tions. He’s quick enough to rush off the edge as a traditional defensive end and strong enough to take on interior offensive line- men against the run. As a junior, he compiled 80 tack- les, including 12 tackles for loss and eight sacks. He also batted down three passes and forced a fumble.
“His mental state of mind is good. He knows where he wants to go, and that’s to play on Sundays,” Pearson said. “Anything that doesn’t help him go in that direction, he’s putting it off to the side. He’s focused on his goals. The normal high school stuff like proms and girlfriends come secondary. He’s foot- ball-driven.”
Enter Oscar Giles. Texas’ defensive line coach played an invaluable role in landing Tatum’s commitment.
“If I’m not there, I know coach Giles can fill in for me with Ron,” Ron Jr. said. “Giles has a father mentality and I know he’ll push my son and keep him focused on his goals. We noticed what this staff was able to do against the better teams, especially Oklahoma, and it is exciting to envision Ron playing in that type of system.”
Choosing Texas sent shock- waves through the recruiting world. The state of Texas tends to produce more talent for the Sooners than the state of Oklahoma does for the Longhorns. Tatum was pro- jected to pick Oklahoma until back to school and take the feedback and improve my game.”
Jones averaged 11.4 points and shot almost 33 percent from 3-point range last season. He had 41 assists and 82 turnovers while handling the ball probably better than anyone expected.
Smart has signed point guard Matt Coleman — expected to be an instant starter — for next season. With Jones coming back, the Longhorns have plenty of pieces to get back into the Big 12’s upper crust.
Last week, Smart landed five-star center Mohamed Bamba, the nation’s No. 2- ranked recruit for 2017. Bamba could become the No. 1 pick in the 2018 NBA draft.
The Longhorns still have one scholarship available for the 2017-18 season, but there is no guarantee it will get used. hours before his decision. Most assumed he’d stay in Oklahoma, even his dad.
“We went down to Texas a nd we both were like ‘wow,’ ” Ron Jr. remembers. “We went to other schools and didn’t get that same feel- ing. I wasn’t expecting much on the visit, but the coaches spent one-on-one time with us, explaining their vision and goals for the football team and Ron.
“(Texas coach) Tom Herman is detail-oriented and it showed. It gave us great confidence in Texas.”
Texas holds eight com- mitments for the 2018 class. It ranks 10th in the nation, per 247Sports’ composite ratings. Tatum is predicting even more fortune for the Longhorns.
“With the way this class is going, it’ll be the best in the nation,” he said.
The Texas women’s golf team was eliminated Monday in the final round of stroke play at the NCAA Women’s National Championship in Sugar Grove, Ill.
Texas finished the threeround stroke play portion of the championships with a score of 927, good enough for a tie for 13th place. To advance to match play, Texas would have needed to finish eighth or better.
The Longhorns shot a finalround 307 to finish 19 over par for the day. Texas was 63 over par for the tournament.
Greta Isabella Voelker had a low-round 75 Monday with two birdies, two bogeys and one double bogey. The freshman from Germany was 2 under par after the first six holes, but a double bogey on the par-3 No. 16 put her at 1-over.
Sophia Schubert and Emilee Hoffman each finished the day with a 5-over-par 77.
Schubert, a junior, finished the first nine holes at 2 over par. She never found her groove and bogeyed No. 1 and 4 before recording a birdie on the part-3 No. 5. She double bogeyed the final hole.
Hoffman bogeyed five of the first nine holes to make the turn at 5 over par. The freshman birdied No. 3 and 4 before closing the round with a bogey on No. 9, which also gave Schubert and Julia Beck problems. Haley Mills finished at 6 over and Beck closed the round at 7 over.
Qualifying teams for Tuesday’s opening round of match play include Northwestern, Stanford, Arizona, Ohio State, Southern California, Florida, Baylor and Kent State.