Our newest basketball commitment, Payton Willis, averaged 13.6 ppg, three assists and three rebounds as a sophomore, and 16 points as a junior. His shot is one of his strong points and he’s an excellent distributor of the basketball and driver and scorer at the rim.

He took off in AAU ball this summer and blew away people. He was offered by Tulsa and Belmont in April and then Rice, Dayton and Western Kentucky followed. The VU coaches were blown away by his July evaluation period and made him a priority heading into August. He’s 6’4″, 175 and can play combo guard. He wants to get stronger and improve  his defense. Commodores basketball strength and conditioning coach Garry Christopher has done a terrific job of getting our present team physically prepared for the upcoming season, there’s a recent picture of them and they look powerful, and he can get Payton toned up physically for the 2016-17 season. Like our coaches’  pickup of this 89, three-star from Fayetteville Arkansas high school.

The ESPN preseason basketball rankings has us ranked 18th in the country. I really think this team can be very special come March. Kind of an unusual pick for them at No.1, as they picked Maryland. No.2 is UNC , No.3 is Kentucky, No.4 is UVA and No.5 is Kansas. Duke is No.6 and Iowa State, Oklahoma, Wichita State and Villanova round out No.’s 7-10. Two other SEC teams, LSU (No.22), and A&M (No.25) are in the rankings. With Wade, MFD, Riley, Damien, Luke, new addition transfer and sharpshooter Nolan Cressler, Josh Henderson and the four talented incoming freshmen, we have the nucleus to do some big things this year. This year is potentially very special as is the future of the basketball program.

Coach Mason and first year offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig addressed the media yesterday in a pre-fall practice preview. Both are optimistic about the pieces we have in place to have a good football team. The SEC is brutal, but we’ve got good players and good coaches. The addition of Strength Coach James Dobson was a huge momentum builder for the team. The former Nebraska S&C coach has gotten our offensive and defensive linemen much bigger and stronger. Our offensive line all averages over 300 pounds and our d line is solid and stout. Coach Ludwig said the strength of the team is the o line with its power and athletic ability. He said he’s always run a tailback-oriented offense, so Ralph Webb will be featured prominently. One guy the coaches haven’t mentioned, maybe intentionally, but who I think will be a big asset to the offense, is backup tailback Dallas Rivers. Dallas is 6’1″, 225 and looked very good running between the tackles in the spring game. He’s got some speed and great power. He’ll be an awesome compliment to Ralph, who is expected to have a big time season. Darrius Sims will be used as a running back, in the slot and out wide at receiver. Coach Mason and Coach Ludwig know that we need to get the ball in Darrius’s hands because he can take it to the house at any opportunity. And he should be electric in the punt return game and possibly in the kickoff return game unless we want to hold him out there. We have other pretty good potential possibilities in the kick return game.

Ludwig was asked if the defenses loaded the box to stop Ralph what he would do, and he said that’s where you make adjustments and use the passing game. He says the receiving corps is the most improved group on the team. Coach Mason loves what Tre Herndon brings to the table in the passing game, and Latevius Rayford and C.J. Duncan, who also will be used like Darrius because of his explosive play capability, will be threats out on the outside as well. Ronald Monroe and Caleb Scott are two other guys who can help us in the passing game. The tight ends, Steven Scheu and Nathan Marcus, will be key components of the offensive attack and look for DeAndre Woods to provide a versatile target with his 6’4″, 235 size, both at tight end and out wide. He was a a highly rated player out of high school and can really give us some big play possibilities. Coach Ludwig likes our young freshmen coming in at tight end.

Ludwig echoed Coach Mason saying that it’s a battle between Johnny McCrary and Wade Freebeck at quarterback with Stank and incoming freshman Kyle Shurmur in the mix. But it looks like it’ll be Johnny or Wade, who both went through the wars some last year, so they have some experience. Ludwig likes Wade as the better drop back passer, more pro style quarterback, and really likes his arm. Johnny brings more running ability than Wade, and he’s a pretty good passer, too. Both Coach Mason and Coach Ludwig emphasized taking care of the football as priority one. We threw 19 interceptions last year and that can’t happen again. There will be a clear number one and number two going into the season according to Coach Mason. So Johnny and Wade will battle it out with Stank and Kyle certainly getting opportunities. But expect either Johnny or Wade to be our starter against Western Kentucky (Thursday, Sept. 3rd, 8 PM ET/7 PM CT, SEC Network).

Coach Mason was asked just a basic question: how does this football team want its identity to look like? He said move the football on offense, get first downs and get it in the end zone. On defense, he said, quite simply, create havoc. Western has a prolific offense, so Coach Mason and the defensive staff have their hands full, but expect an versatile game plan defensively against Western. Coach Mason will blitz, jam the running lanes, disguise coverages, and get his defense to create turnovers. He keeps it simple and it has worked very well for him throughout the years. It certainly did at Stanford and he now has the talent on this VU defense that rivals the aggressive, relentless defenses he had at Stanford.

The addition of Coach Ludwig was a huge hire. He’s highly intelligent, tough and very creative as an offensive mind. I’m very much looking forward to seeing our offense against Western Ky. The addition of young coaches Cortez Hankton (wide receivers) and Mark Mattioli (safeties) to go along with our veteran coaches, Charles Bankins, who coaches running backs/special teams coach, tight end and recruiting coordinator Gerry Gdowski,  o line coach Kevin Lightner, d line coach Frank Maile, cornerbacks coach Brett Maxie, and outside linebackers coach Kenwick Thompson looks very promising.

I like our coaches, I like our players, and I like Coach Mason’s quote to me that “the future is now.”

Sonny pitches tomorrow night (Friday) vs Houston. Sonny is 11-4, with a 2.12 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 40 walks and 131 ring ups. He’ll face Houston ace Dallas Keuchel (13-5, 2.35 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 37 walks, 140 K’s). Should be an epic. The A’s aren’t too relevant right now, but it’s the first place team and a potential go the distance team, so Sonny should be pumped. He’s going against the guy who started the All-Star game for the American League, so it makes it even more of a big game for Sonny. Houston is 60-49 and lead the AL West by two games over the LA Angels (57-50). It’s been a struggle for the A’s, who are 48-61. They kind of had a fire sale before the trade deadline trading their other ace, Scott Kazmir, to the Astros, and Ben Zobrist, to the Royals. But they got some good prospects for those excellent veterans. There is talk that the A’s may get a new stadium, so GM Billy Beane is loading up for the future. Hopefully, Sonny will be on a team that will be playing important games in September in 2016. It’s getting late for anything to happen right now, but they’re still battling. Manager Bob Melvin has the players still playing hard. They’re 9 games back for the second spot in the wild card, which belongs to David Price and the Blue Jays, who are on fire right now, so it’ll take a Herculean effort to get into the playoffs. But I like the way this team has battled all year throughout adversity and all the losses. There are pieces in place for a good future for this club. The A’s actually start their four game set with the Astros tonight after losing two of three to the Orioles.

David will pitch Saturday for his red hot Blue Jays team that took three of four from the KC Royals last weekend and have taken the first three games from the Minnesota Twins. All of these games have been at home. They play the Twins in the final game of their four game set tonight with Mark Buehrle on the mound for the Jays. He’s 11-5 with a 3.32 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP, 21 walks and 70 K’s.  Buehrle will face Kyle Gibson of the Twins, who is 8-8 with a 3.37 ERA, a 1.25 WHIP, 40 walks and 92 K’s. So good matchup.

The Jays are 4 1/2 back of the Yankees and they’ll be at Yankee Stadium beginning tomorrow night. Not a huge margin for error, though there is some time left in the season. They are one back of the LA Angels in the wild card race. The Jays are 57-52, the Yankees are 60-46 and the Angels are 57-50.

David is now 10-4 with a 2.45 ERA, a 1.08 WHIP (which improved with his stellar performance Monday against the Twins), 31 walks and 149 K’s. He’ll face Ivan Nova (4-3, 3.10, 1. 28 WHIP, 14 walks and 25 K’s). Haven’t followed Nova closely, but he must have been hurt some this year. He’s quality though, so David and the team will have their work cut out for them.

Last night the Jays beat the Twins, 9-7, as Josh Donaldson, Jose Bautista (Joey Bats) and Edwin Encarnacion all homered. Donaldson hit a two run shot, his 29th, and added Ribeyes number 79 and 80. Bautista hit a grand salome, his 24th, and with the four ribbies he has 75 on the season. Edwin hit No. 20, a three run shot, and now has 60 ribbies for the season. Bautista is only hitting .235, which is low for him, but maybe he’s starting to break out some. Still pretty stellar in the run producing department. Encarnacion is hitting .246, but has really been hitting the ball well lately to get his average up. He’s also a massive run producer. Add him to the awesome Donaldson, who played at Auburn, and terrific shortstop, Troy Tulowitzki, who is hitting .286 and plays superb defense, and the other guys throughout the lineup, and this offensive is explosive. The defense is solid and the pitching, with the addition of David, is a confident group going forward. David looks pumped to be a Blue Jay. October baseball looks like a real possibility for the Jays.

Pedro and the Pirates won last night over the Cubs in a big game, 7-5. Pedro was one for three with a two out RBI single in the bottom of the first. Bucs are now 62-44, 5 1/2 games back of the Cardinals in the NL Central and lead the Giants in the wild card standings by 3 1/2 games. But they’re looking to take the NL Central and have nine games left with the Cardinals, six on the road and the final three games of the season at home against the Cards, so they have their chances to catch the Redbirds. They’re off today and then start a weekend series tomorrow night against the Dodgers in a huge matchup between the awesome Dodgers’ pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who is 9-6, 2.37 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 28 walks, 192 K’s,  and the spectacular Pirates’ pitcher Gerrit Cole (14-5, 2.29 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 29 walks, 138 K’s). Should be an epic at PNC Park. The Pirates don’t have to face the Dodgers other Cy Young candidate Zack Greinke, so that’s good. This will be a huge series for both teams. Kershaw has been un-hittable lately and Cole is a big game pitcher already in his young career. Not sure if Pedro will start at first base  against Kershaw since Kershaw is a lefty and maybe the toughest in the game along with David. Michael Morse, who was newly acquired by the Bucs and is a right handed batter, may get the start at first. But hopeful Hurdle will go with Pedro. He’s still a big game player in my opinion.

Brandt is at -1 through 15 holes in the first round of World Golf Championships Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club South Course in Akron, Ohio. He is tied for ninth place right now. Rickie Fowler, Jason Day and Robert Streb lead at -3. Fowler and Day are through 15 and Streb is through 13.

Jon Curran is playing in the Barracuda Championship at Montreux Golf and Country Club in Reno, Nevada. He tees off at 3:30 PM ET/2:30 PM CT. The leader is Rickie Barnes, who has 13 points. Looks like this is a Stableford points tournament where you get eight points for eagle, four points for birdie, two points for par, I guess, and a deduction for anything worse. Haven’t really followed it closely but will get more information on it, if Jon is in the hunt.

Luke List is -2 through 15, tied for 36th, at the Web.com Digital Ally Open in Overland, Kansas at the Nicklaus Golf Club at LionsGate.  Craig Barlow leads at -9 and is finished for the day. You have to go so low to win these Web.com events. It’s a massive challenge to win one of these. Luke is number 49 in the race for the 25 top players who automatically qualify for the PGA tour next year, but the top 50 players on the Web.com tour at the end of the season compete in the Web.com playoffs with the 126th-200th players on the PGA tour to get the 50 spots for next year’s tour, which actually begins in October. There’s really no offseason for golf on the PGA tour now. The Web.com playoffs start in September with four tournaments that concludes with the Web.com Tour Championship at TPC Sawgrass on Oct. 1st-4th.