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Texas QB ready to connect with Petrino again | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

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Texas QB ready to connect with Petrino again | Arkansas Democrat Gazette


University of Arkansas offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino was first to extended a scholarship offer sophomore quarterback Grant Smith while at Texas A&M, and he was quick to offer Smith after arriving in Fayetteville.

Petrino was officially announced to join Coach Sam Pittman’s staff on Nov. 29, and on Dec. 6, he gave a scholarship offer to Smith.

Smith, 6-3, 206 pounds, of Spring (Texas) Grand Oaks, also had offers from Baylor and TCU prior his one from the Hogs. Texas Tech extended an offer Thursday.

He planned to visit Fayetteville on Saturday but now plans to visit for the Jan. 27 Junior Day.

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“First off, I want to catch up with Coach Petrino,” Smith said. “He’s got a great mind and I’m just excited to meet with him again because I haven’t seen him since he’s out at A&M and also Coach Pittman. It will be nice finally meeting him. I’ve heard a ton of great things about him. I know he has a big family base and I know everyone at Arkansas right now is all very close, so I’m excited to see him and then talk with him.”

He and Petrino have been talking on the phone and during visits to College Station since March.

“We talked a lot on the phone and also on my visits there, we always talked and we always had a great conversation,” Smith said. “Long lasting, too. Like probably an hour or so. Just talking about football, talking about life. He wants to get to know me well. I love that.”

Even while at Texas A&M, Smith said he could tell Petrino had a strong fondness for Fayetteville and Arkansas from his time as head coach of the Razorbacks in 2008-11.

“He always told me how pretty the town was and just how amazing it was,” said Smith, whose father played linebacker at Sam Houston State in the 1990s. “You could even tell he was kind of favoring Arkansas over A&M. … I’m ready to be able to experience it on my own.

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“He always talked about Arkansas and Fayetteville. I thought it was so amazing. I thought now with where he ended up, I think that’s awesome for him and his family. Closer to his grandkids too, which I know is a big part of his life.”

Smith completed 87 of 142 passes for 977 yards and 5 touchdowns in the first five games of his sophomore season. He missed the rest of the season with a broken clavicle in his non-throwing shoulder.

CBS Sports Network national recruiting analyst Tom Lemming met with Smith and more than 100 other top prospects in Texas in December.

“Very impressive kid in person and on film,” said Lemming, who rates Smith a 4-star plus recruit. “Team leader with good height, excellent fundamentals, arm strength and overall athletic ability. Tremendous work ethic and loves to play the game. He’s going to be a good one. I saw over 100 kids in Texas during the 10 days I was there, he was definitely one of the more impressive kids.”

Smith said he respects Petrino’s knowledge of the game.

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“First off, he’s well-spoken and you can just tell he’s very knowledgeable, and I think just watching his game and watching what he did at even A&M is just amazing,” Smith said. “When he got the keys to the car I like to say and he’s calling his own plays, you could just see how much of a difference it made in the game.”

Smith’s excellence on the football field bleeds over to the classroom.

“I’m naturally-gifted, I guess, because I’m not even a big studier,” said Smith, who has a 4.7 grade-point average. “When I get to tests, I just know everything, so I think I have pretty good memory too, and I also think that translates to the field. So it’s a good bonus, a good helper, I guess.”

That also translates to having a high Football IQ.

“I think I can read a defense very well and I think that’s one of the main things you need but you also need to be able to know your receivers, know what the defense is trying to do and just attack the spots they’re weak in,” he said.

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When he gets to college, Smith said he hopes to get a degree that will help him stay in football.

“Growing up, I always wanted to get into sports marketing or sports entertainment,” Smith said. “Be like an NFL GM or a coach even. That would be awesome. I just want to work around football because football is big part of my life.”

Email Richard Davenport at rdavenport@arkansasonline.com

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Texas A&M Forward Transfer Seemingly on Visit to See Lady Vols Basketball | Rocky Top Insider

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Texas A&M Forward Transfer Seemingly on Visit to See Lady Vols Basketball | Rocky Top Insider


fatmata janneh lady vols basketball
Photo via Texas A&M Athletics

Lady Vols basketball is looking to add more pieces to its 2026-27 roster with high-level experience. After completing her junior season at Texas A&M, Fatmata Janneh has emerged as a Tennessee target for her final year of eligibility. According to her Instagram story on Sunday night, she is in Knoxville.

With the Aggies a year ago, the 6-foot-2 forward averaged 11.4 points per game on 43.3% shooting from the field. She also showed off an ability to hit from range, posting 1.1 makes per game on 33% shooting from three.

Perhaps Janneh’s biggest strength is her rebounding, though. She ripped down 9.7 boards per contest, good for the fifth-most in the SEC. This featured 2.6 rebounds on the offensive end per outing.

Janneh also averaged 1.1 assists, 1.4 steals and 0.4 blocks per game. She appeared in 27 games, starting in each.

More From RTI: How Watching The NCAA Tournament Drew Terrence Hill Jr. To Tennessee Basketball

Janneh started her career with a pair of seasons at St. Peter’s. As a sophomore, she averaged a double-double, posting 18.2 points and 11.6 rebounds per game. This made her a sought-after transfer in the portal before landing at Texas A&M as the nation’s leading defensive rebounder. As a freshman, she averaged 11.0 points and 8.0 rebounds.

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The forward is from London, England, attending Barking Abbey Sixth Form for her prep ball. She would be the second player from England to join the Tennessee roster if she committed. UT also added the commitment of incoming freshman and former Boston College signee Irene Oboavwoduo this offseason.

So far, Caldwell and the Lady Vols have landed five transfers in this portal cycle. This features Liberty guard Avery Mills, Northern Arizona guard Naomi White, Stanford forward Harper Peterson and Georgia forward Zhen Craft and guard Rylie Theuerkauf.

Tennessee will also roster a pair of incoming freshmen. Four-star recruit and top-50 prospect Gabby Minus is staying true to her signing despite the roster overhaul and assistant coaching changes, along with the addition of Oboavwoduo.





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Texas needs at least $174 billion to avoid water crisis, state says

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Texas needs at least 4 billion to avoid water crisis, state says


AUSTIN (Texas Tribune) — Texas communities will need to spend $174 billion in the next 50 years to avert a severe water crisis, a new state analysis revealed Thursday. That’s more than double the $80 billion projected four years ago, when the Texas Water Development Board last passed a state water plan.

The three-member board presiding over the agency authorized the highly anticipated draft blueprint Thursday, the first administrative step toward adopting the water development board’s plans for the next 50 years. The plan, released every five years, encompasses the projects that 16 regional water planning groups in Texas said are the most urgent, water development board officials said. 

The board’s latest estimates come as the state’s water supply faces numerous threats. Growing communities across Texas are scrambling to secure water, keep up with construction costs and cope with a yearslong drought. This week, Corpus Christi officials said the city may be just months away from declaring a water emergency. Meanwhile, other rural cities by the Coastal Bend are rapidly drilling wells to avoid a crisis. Residents in North Texas have also been bracing for groundwater shortages.

In an effort to restrain the crisis, lawmakers last year called an election in which voters approved a $20 billion boost for communities to use on water-related expenses. The water development board’s estimate shows that what lawmakers proposed on the ballot falls dramatically short of the needed cash, experts said.

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“What this number tells me at the end of the day is if we don’t get serious about (funding water projects), there are going to be serious consequences for Texas,” said Perry Fowler, executive director of the Texas Water Infrastructure Network. “Even with the billion-dollar-a-year plan kicking in, it’s not going to be enough to offset the costs of the projects that are going to have to be executed.”

The new estimate accounts for 3,000 projects, from regional infrastructure upgrades to smaller endeavors such as drilling new water wells. Texas’ water supplies are expected to drop by roughly 10% between 2030 and 2080, according to the water plan. In that same time frame, the maximum amount of water communities can draw is also expected to decline by 9%.

The 80-page plan notes approximately 6,700 recommended strategies that would add water to the state’s dwindling portfolio. The recommendations — which are not accounted for in the cost — include developing new supplies from aquifer storage and recovery, brackish groundwater, desalination and recycled water. It also calls for water conservation.

The report suggested that if Texas does not implement the plans and recommendations, the state is one severe drought away from an estimated $91 billion in economic damages in 2030.

The state’s plan attributes a variety of reasons for the bigger price tag, such as higher costs of construction due to inflation, impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on supply chains, and a growing backlog of water supply projects.

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“There’s a plan that can meet our needs,” said Matt Nelson, deputy executive administrator for the Office of Planning at the water development board, adding that they take their cues from the regional planning groups. “These are local projects that folks need to implement; they’re needed regardless of how they’re funded. It’s important to remember these are not top-down projects or state projects.”

Experts told The Texas Tribune that the board’s estimate is only a fraction of what Texas communities will need to ensure they have water in 50 years’ time, saying growth and development are outpacing the state’s ability to keep up.

“This is a bigger water plan in terms of volume strategies and capital costs compared to anything we’ve ever seen before,” said Jeremy Mazur, the director of infrastructure and natural resources policy at think tank Texas 2036.

Mazur suggested that the $174 billion only covers water supply projects and does not account for updating aging infrastructure, adding that the actual price could amount to a quarter of a trillion dollars.

“There’s a substantial magnitude with regard to the capital investment needed to both fix our aging and current systems and potentially develop the water infrastructure, water supply projects that we need.“

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The report largely confirmed what many water experts have warned regarding threats to the state’s water supply, said Sarah Kirkle, director of policy at the Texas Water Association.

“Population growth, extreme weather, and economic development needs are all increasing demands on our infrastructure, and the state is going to need more water, sooner,” Kirkle said. “This is all while water projects are becoming more costly and complex because the easiest and cheapest local projects have already been developed.”

Fowler, with the infrastructure network, said he expects the Texas Legislature to take up the issue next year, when lawmakers meet for the 90th legislative session. He said the state should take a bigger role in ensuring that communities can afford their respective water projects.

“It’s going to have to be a top-down priority, there’s no way around it,” he said. “The challenges are so immense that it’s going to take all hands on deck.”

Texas residents have until the end of May to comment on the proposal. Water development board officials must adopt it by January 2027.

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Alejandra Martinez contributed to this story.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at www.texastribune.org. The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans – and engages with them – about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.



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Co‑worker confesses to killing missing North Texas man and stealing his car, police say

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Co‑worker confesses to killing missing North Texas man and stealing his car, police say



A North Texas man reported missing earlier this week was found dead Friday, and police say a co‑worker has confessed to fatally shooting him and stealing his car.

The suspect, Gregory D. Lewis, 34, remains in custody and faces a forthcoming capital murder charge, according to the Fort Worth Police Department. 

Lewis is accused of killing 31‑year‑old Thomas King, who had been last seen in his Taco Casa work uniform. King was reported missing on Tuesday after failing to return home Monday from the fast‑food restaurant in the 1100 block of Bridgewood Drive.

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Car found at Arlington motel 

Police said King’s car was found at the Quality Inn on I‑20 in Arlington, and surveillance video showed Lewis arriving in King’s vehicle shortly after King left work. 

Detectives identified the man in the video and arrested him on unrelated charges.

  Gregory D. Lewis, 34

Tarrant County Jail

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Body discovered on Fort Worth’s East Side 

King’s body was located on Friday in an open field on Fort Worth’s East Side, authorities said. 

According to police, Lewis confessed to shooting the victim and stealing his car. 

Medical examiner review pending 

The Tarrant County Medical Examiner will determine the cause of death. 

CBS News Texas has reached out to Taco Casa for comment.

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