Forty Acres Insider: Dec. 7 - University of Texas Athletics

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Longhorn Nation,

We're heading into the second week of December, the fall semester is coming to a close, and winter break and the holiday seasons are rapidly approaching. It's such a festive time, and there was much to rejoice in Texas Athletics last week, with many more exciting games and matches ahead. In addition to our teams' victories, we also had caps and gowns aplenty as it was a weekend of fall graduation events, and we couldn't be prouder of our 33 student-athletes who were a part of that group. It's the goal you set when you come to college, they persevered through the most challenging of times on our campus, and I'm here to say congratulations for a job done extremely well! I know your families are so proud too!!

And, wow, we certainly finished strong! How about that Super Sunday to close out the weekend as Coach Schaefer and our Women's Basketball squad took it to our rivals to the east in a 76-60 victory at Texas A&M?! That was such a joy to watch! Just like a couple days earlier when y'all were raising the roof at Gregory Gym as Volleyball swept their way back to the NCAA Sweet 16 for the 16th-straight time, and we'll be right back there bringing the heat for the Regional Semifinal on Thursday night. And we're already sold out, so it will be a packed house and one raucous, revved up environment! Speaking of revving up, No. 1 and No. 2 Men's and Women's Swimming & Diving had record-setting performances up north, and No. 7 Men's Basketball won their fifth-straight as they prepare to head to Seton Hall for the Big 12-BIG EAST Battle on Thursday. We're so thrilled for our graduates, the Longhorn victories and the triumphant spirit and Texas Pride our student-athletes bring each and every day. We're grateful for you, our awesome fans, as well, and look forward to another fun-filled week of Texas Fight with the nation's best fans!

We'll be getting the early part of this week started in grand fashion as we're celebrating Kenneth Sims' College Football Hall of Fame induction at the National Football Foundation events in Las Vegas. What a special time it will be at tonight's ceremony, and such a well-deserved honor for our Longhorn Legend. Congrats Kenneth, you're the absolute best, and we're so lucky to have you as a Longhorn for Life!

And while we're talking about Longhorn Hall of Famers, a big congratulations to the amazing Johnnie Johnson, who received the Bronko Nagurski Legends Award during the Bronko Nagurski Awards Banquet last night in Charlotte! Johnnie, my friend, you and your family are just the ultimate representation of what it means to be a Longhorn, and the honor is so well-deserved!

It's on to the Sweet 16 as No. 2 Volleyball is back at The Greg this week for NCAA action
It was six sets up and six sets down as our Longhorns swept Sacred Heart in round one and Rice in the second round of the NCAA Tourney to advance to the Sweet 16. Skylar Fields (29 kills) and Logan Eggleston (24 kills) led the way for an overpowering offensive attack in the two matches. It's Coach Elliott and our Horns' 16th-straight appearance in the NCAA Regional Semifinal, and with Penn State losing on Saturday, snapping their streak of 18, we now have the nation's longest active streak of Sweet 16 appearances. How about that?! But we don't plan to stop there and know you'll be packing the house and fired up in a sold out Gregory Gym! First up for our Horns will be 15th-seeded Washington on Thursday night (6:30 p.m. CT/ESPNU), while Illinois will take on 10th-seeded Nebraska in the other Regional Semifinal at 8:30 p.m. CT. The winners will square off on Saturday at 9 p.m. CT on ESPNU, so The Greg will be the place to be this week. See you there!

Another huge road win for No. 11 Women's Basketball
It was a Longhorn stampede in College Station on Sunday as Coach Schaefer and our No. 11 Women's Basketball squad registered a big-time road rivalry win over then-No. 17 Texas A&M, 76-60. It was our second Top-20 road victory already and we're just seven games in! We did it with Coach Schaefer's patented smothering defense — forcing 19 turnovers with 32 points off those — and an explosive offense led by Aliyah Matharu's 26 points. Aliyah was knocking down threes, driving to the hoop, and getting it done from everywhere on the court, while freshman point guard extraordinaire Rori Harmon was dishin' (9 assists) and scorin' (18 points). Our Horns were scorching the nets all day — hitting 8-of-15 three pointers — we got 24 points from our bench and that magnificent 24-4 first-half run really ignited what was a total team victory. And it was a victory in a longtime rivalry that made it extra sweet. Now it's back to the friendly confines of the Erwin Center on Saturday to take on Idaho (1 p.m. CT/LHN). Come on out and show some of that Longhorn love to our Aggie slayers and help them to put over one more win! Get your single-game or mini-plan tickets now!

Longhorn Football standouts earn Big 12 honors and national recognition
With next Wednesday's Football signing day quickly approaching and the 2021 season behind us, Coach Sark and our team's attention is now firmly set on preparing for a bounce back season in 2022. But in the meantime, there is some great news to share from the close of last season as we had 14 of our Horns earn All-Big 12 honors with four on the first team, including Cameron Dicker, Derek Kerstetter, Bijan Robinson and Xavier Worthy, while Xavier was not surprisingly also named the Offensive Freshman of the Year. X is our first freshman ever to earn first-team All-Big 12 honors and the first Longhorn tabbed Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year since Colt McCoy in 2006, so that's a really, really big deal. And to add to his list of accolades from an exceptional freshman season, he also was named a semifinalist for the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Award. Kudos to our talented young wideout and congratulations and Hook 'Em to all of our honorees!

2022 Big 12 Football schedule announced, season ticket deposits on sale now
While we're talking Football, the Big 12 announced its 2022 schedule last week, so now ours is set. We open up with three-straight games at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium: Louisiana-Monroe (Sept. 3), Alabama (Sept. 10) and UTSA (Sept. 17). That sets the stage for our first road game at Texas Tech (Sept. 24) and Big 12 play begins at DKR against West Virginia the next week (Oct. 1). It's an outstanding home slate of games that also includes Iowa State, TCU and Baylor. Guarantee your spot by placing a 2022 season ticket deposit today for only $199 per seat! You'll be able to choose the exact location of your seats this spring before the general public and apply your deposit to the full cost of season tickets. All season ticket deposits are non-refundable.

No. 7 Men's Basketball's heading east for Big 12-BIG EAST Battle at Seton Hall
Coach Beard and our No. 7/11 Men's Basketball team is certainly turning heads, both by their play on the court and their relationship-building with our students and fans off the court. The Longhorns have won five-straight games entering Thursday's showdown at No. 23/25 Seton Hall (5:30 pm CT/6:30 pm ET, FS1) as part of the Big 12-BIG EAST Battle. I love the way this group is committed to playing team defense and being a low-turnover offense that shares the ball, and I'm impressed by our coaching staff's emphasis on the details and their teaching points of valuing every possession. I'm even more impressed by Coach Beard and the team's consistent outreach to our students and fans. How cool was last week's throwback game for UT students at Gregory Gym and the pre-game "Darty" (that's a 'day party' for the olds like myself) at the Tower?! In fact, if you follow the team's Twitter account (@TexasMBB), you saw Coach Beard participate in a UT student-centered activity on campus every night last week. And props to our players who went straight from the Erwin Center following Friday's win over UTRGV to Gregory Gym to cheer on our Volleyball team in its NCAA second-round victory against Rice. That's the true definition of Texas Family!

Celebrate the Holidays with some Winter Break Men's Hoops ticket specials
Fans in the Austin-area, please note we have five important home games at the Erwin Center during the time that UT students are on winter break until mid-January. To help fill the student section, we are offering special "Holiday Hoops" $10 general admission tickets for those student-section seats for all five games. Those contests are against Arkansas-Pine Bluff (Dec. 14), Rice (Dec. 22 at 1 pm CT), Incarnate Word (Dec. 28) and our first two Big 12 Conference contests against West Virginia (Jan. 1) and Oklahoma (Jan. 11), so grab your tickets and help root on our Horns during the Holidays!

Men's Swimming & Diving takes Minnesota by storm
Coach Reese and No. 1 Men's Swimming & Diving left Minnesota sweeping all five relays, breaking an Olympian's record and setting NCAA-leading times after the four-day event. Freshman Luke Hobson was lights out over the weekend after breaking Michael Phelps's 17-18 National Age Group record not once, but twice in the 500-yard free with his fastest time of 4:09.72. Caspar Corbeau also set two NCAA-leading times in the breaststroke events, while Cameron Auchinachie set a Texas record in the 50-yard backstroke at 20.63 seconds. Daniel Krueger added yet another NCAA-leading time with his 41.45 in the 100-yard free.

Women's Swimming & Diving turns in record breaking performances in Minnesota too
Coach Capitani and No. 2 Women's Swimming & Diving started the week off quick in Minnesota with a program record in the 200-yard medley relay by Julia Cook, Anna Elendt, Olivia Bray and Bridget Semenuk. Kelly Pash and Evie Pfeifer broke into the NCAA's top-10 times in their respective events, while Elendt broke the Longhorn 100-yard breaststroke record with her time of 57.90. Bray added her name to the record books with the second-fastest 100-yard backstroke time at 50.93.

33 Longhorn Student-Athletes participate in Fall Commencement
The UT Tower was beaming bright orange with "21" prominently displayed on its sides last weekend in honor of the 2021 Fall Graduates. What a thrill it was to see, and I want to send a huge shoutout and Hook 'Em to our 33 student-athletes who participated in fall commencement events. It's the culmination of a goal all of our graduating seniors set when they arrived on the Forty Acres, and a huge accomplishment for the brilliant and talented University of Texas Class of 2021. Earning your degree is a monumental achievement and doing so at our great institution — one of the premier universities in the world — says you are among the best and the brightest. It certainly gives you a leg up on the competition as you launch into your future!

Olympic hero and now All-America honors for Soccer's Julia Grosso:
Sending kudos and Hook 'Ems to our Soccer All-American Julia Grosso! On the heels of another extraordinary season for our senior midfielder and Canadian Olympic Gold Medal winning hero, the United Soccer Coaches has tabbed Julia as a Third-Team All-American! Quite a year for Julia, and we couldn't be prouder as she finishes her Longhorn career as a two-time All-American to boot! Oh, and this just in, congrats to Julia on signing a pro contract. We'll be watching and cheering her on at the next level now!

Longhorn Legend and Olympic Gold Medalist Ryan Crouser honored
Talk about "What Starts Here, Changes the World." An emphatic Hook 'Em and congratulations are in order for another Longhorn Legend and Longhorn for Life in our two-time Olympic shot put Gold Medalist and World record holder Ryan Crouser. What a performance he put on shattering the World Record at the U.S. Olympic Trials in June and then followed that with an Olympic Record toss in Tokyo to defend his Olympic Gold Medal. It was lauded as the greatest shot put season in the history of that event! For those efforts, the USATF recently honored him with two of their most prestigious awards – the Jesse Owens Athlete of the Year Award and one of their Wing Awards for Team USA's Best Olympic Field Performance.

Ryan Crouser, Kenneth Sims, Johnnie Johnson, past, present, future Longhorns, what starts here, indeed does change the world, and there is no better place to be! Thank you, Thank You, THANK YOU, Longhorn Nation for your support, your passion and your pride. Together, we accomplish great things, so let's go get it and keep those Horns Up!!

Hook 'Em Horns,

Chris Del Conte

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Chris Del Conte