State’s top running back has the moves
Quickness, receiving ability make Cain so coveted by colleges.
Noah Cain is used to moving. He and his mother left Baton Rouge, La., when Cain was in elementary school, landing in Denton after a divorce. His dad stayed behind, and Cain made trips back and forth during the summer.
That leaves him somewhere between a Texan and a Louisianan, and it appears Texas and LSU are two of the choices for one of the nation’s top running backs.
“I consider myself a Louisiana kid because of where I was born and the fact that most of my family is still out there. Texas is home, though, and I love the state,” he said.
Cain became a household name as a freshman at Denton Guyer, earning District 5-6A newcomer of the year honors. He followed that up with a sophomore season that ended with a second-team all-state selection. The MaxPreps Sophomore All-America team member faced a decision: Move to IMG Academy in Florida or remain one of the top prep players in Texas.
Cain chose IMG Academy, and he doesn’t regret the decision.
“Looking at my future, I saw an opportunity to improve as a football player because iron sharpens iron and IMG has the best players in the country,” he said. “I also knew it would help me in the classroom and make me understand what it is like to handle a college workload.”
Cain said the biggest adjustment was time management. He had little trouble with the transition on the football field. He’s a talented player, and he knows it. That confidence did him favors his junior season at IMG. Cain is now listed as the No. 2 running back prospect in the country in the 247Sports composite rankings. He splits time in the backfield with Trey Sanders, the No. 1 running back in the cycle.
“I felt I belonged at IMG Academy from the first practice because they invited me and gave me the opportunity for a reason, but it wasn’t easy, especially learning how to share carries,” Cain said. “You have to grow up and handle problems on your own. I think about coming home a lot, but I know what I’m doing here is making me better on and off the field.”
Cain is a 5-foot-10½, 209pound wrecking ball with unusual quickness and the ability to take any carry for a touchdown. He’s also an accomplished receiver out of the backfield. That combination has made him the No. 1 running back target for Texas.
The four-star prospect holds 28 offers and plans to narrow his list to five in the summer. Expect Texas and LSU to be two of the teams on the list. Cain is taking the recruiting process slowly and plans to wait until fall to choose a school. He’s looking for a place that feels like home and a place with a clear route to playing time as a freshman.
“I want to be part of a 1-2 punch like I am in high school,” he said. “It would be hard to commit to a school that already had a big rotation at running back. I’ll be looking at things like the depth chart and the type of scheme a school runs before deciding. I also need to be comfortable with the coaches because they become like your dad during the hard times, and we all have hard times.”
Enter Stan Drayton. The Texas running backs coach is forming a lasting bond with Cain, and the longtime assistant is one of the main reasons the Longhorns are in the mix. It also helps that neither Danny Young nor Toneil Carter took control of the running back position during the 2017 season.
“My relationship with coach Drayton is strong,” Cain said. “We met last spring, and I love his honesty and approach to football. He’s always helping with my game, and he’ll talk to me about more than football.”
As they did during his 824 wins at Texas, fans will have a chance to celebrate legendary baseball coach Augie Garrido next month.
UT announced that a Celebration of Life service will be held for Garrido at the Erwin Center on April 9. The service is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m., and doors will open at 12:30 p.m. The service will be open to the public.
Garrido died in California on March 15 at age 79.
He had coached UT’s baseball team from 1997 to 2016. While working in Austin, the winningest coach in college baseball’s history won 824 of his 1,975 games, and he earned two of his five national championships in 2002 and 2005.
Garrido’s family asked for contributions to the UT Neighborhood Longhorns Program in lieu of flowers.
Baseball: A three-run second inning helped Kansas State defeat Texas 5-2 in the series opener in Manhattan, Kan., on Thursday.
Kody Clemens hit two doubles, but it wasn’t enough as the Longhorns (16-11, 5-2 Big 12) managed just five hits.
TK McWhertor led the Wildcats (14-12, 1-3), going 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs. Brett Owen also drove in two runs and doubled. Rainer Ausmus went 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored.
Kasey Ford earned the win for Kansas State, allowing one run on just two hits in 5 1/3 innings. The Wildcats bullpen gave up three hits after Ford’s exit.
Texas starter Blair Henley had his shortest outing of the season, allowing four runs on nine hits in 3 1/3 innings. He gave up three doubles as the Wildcats picked up their first Big 12 win.
A double by McWhertor drove in Kansas State’s first run, and Owen’s double added two more to make it 3-0 in the second.
Tate Shaw’s single in the third allowed Austin Todd to get the Longhorns on the scoreboard. Shaw finished 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI.
After Kansas State added a run in the fourth, the Longhorns pulled to within two in the seventh. Masen Hibbeler hit a sacrifice fly that brought in Jake McKenzie.
With runners at the corners in the bottom of the eighth, a wild pitch by Parker Joe Robinson allowed the Wildcats to plate another.
Clemens hit his second double of the game with two outs in the ninth. That was the only hit reliever Tyler Eckberg gave up as he earned the save with two innings of work.
Softball: The Longhorns won 8-0 and 11-4 Friday to sweep host Iowa State and improve to 6-0 in the Big 12 for the first time since 2013.
Bekah Alcozer and MK Tedder each homered in the first game to lift Texas (19-13, 6-0) to a run-rule win that went five innings.
Paige von Sprecken (7-5) pitched the shutout, allowing two hits and striking out six. Her perfect game was broken up with one out in the fifth.
Tedder went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBIs. Alcozer’s home run drove in three.
Von Sprecken doubled and had two RBIs.
In the second game, Kaitlyn Washington hit two home runs to lead the Longhorns’ offense. She scored three runs and had five RBIs.
A four-run first inning put Texas on the way to winning its seventh straight.
After Iowa State (18-21, 1-5) pulled to within two in the fourth, Texas scored six runs over the next three innings to remove any doubt about the game’s outcome.
Kaitlyn Slack went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs. Janae Jefferson went 3-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI.
Tedder went 2-for-3 and scored a run while von Sprecken had two hits, a run scored and an RBI.
Brooke Bolinger (8-4) took the win in a brief relief outing.
On Thursday, Texas jumped out to an early lead and held on to win 8-5 in the series opener.
Men’s tennis: No. 31 Tulane upset the 15th-ranked Longhorns 4-0 at the Texas Tennis Center on Thursday.
“We’re not competing from the beginning to the end the way we need to,” UT coach Michael Center said. “We just didn’t execute or compete the way we needed to. They went after us from beginning to end, and if you don’t match that intensity, that’s what’s going to happen”
No. 19 Constantin Schmitz rallied to defeat Yuya Ito and seal the match with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 win at first singles.