Welcome to Tuesday Takes, where I give you four takes from the Big 12. It was a jam-packed week full of exciting news, but several things caught my attention over the last few days.
I was Happy for Skip Johnson
Even though Oklahoma isn’t in the Big 12 anymore, I have always had respect for their baseball program. As someone who has covered Big 12 baseball for years, Oklahoma head coach Skip Johnson was always my favorite coach in the conference during his time here.
He was funny and honest all while being a great skipper. He turned that program around up there, and even though he didn’t get his ring back in 2022 when they lost to Ole Miss, he finally has one now. I couldn’t think of a more deserving coach in college baseball to get a national championship. Congrats, Skip, you earned it.
West Virginia Will Be Back
The last time I wrote this article, West Virginia was still playing baseball, but, as we know, that came to an end against North Carolina last week. Even though it was a disappointing ending, it still was a great year for the Mountaineers.
I wrote about this last week, but I am confident that West Virginia will be back in Omaha in the next couple of years. What Steve Sabins is doing after taking the torch from Randy Mazey has been incredible. They won their first-ever Super Regional and College World Series game for the first time in program history, and over the last few years, nobody in the Big 12 has been better than West Virginia. I have no doubt in my mind that they will get back to Omaha.
Iowa State Made the Right Call
I never thought I would see the day, but finally, and I mean finally, Iowa State is going to start selling beer at Jack Trice Stadium and Hilton Coliseum. Not that long ago, I can remember Iowa State AD Jamie Pollard being asked about it and he not only said no but crapped all over the idea.
Obviously, things have changed since then, but either way, it’s nice that Iowa State has gotten with the times and caved in. It was crazy to me for them not to sell alcohol just because every other school nowadays seems to do it. Even TCU does it, and they are a private Christian school. But I am glad that the fine folks at Iowa State can finally enjoy a cold one while cheering on the Cyclones. Cheers!
AJ Dybantsa Should Go Number One
With the NBA Draft starting on Tuesday night, the Washington Wizards’ time is up on who to take with the number one overall pick. Some people argue that Kansas’ Darryn Peterson should be the pick, but the more I think about it, the more I believe that it should be BYU’s AJ Dybantsa.
I have seen plenty of NBA scouts and talking heads say that Peterson has the higher ceiling, which may be true; however, AJ has been the more consistent player in my eyes. He can score at will and night in and night out, you know what you are getting.
Darryn Peterson is a good player,, and maybe he will be an annual All-Star in the NBA, but if I am looking for a guy to be the next face of my franchise, I would take Dybantsa over Peterson.
