The last time ESPN’s Friday Night Fights came to Austin, in September 2008, Jesús Chávez was busy training for a fight against Andres Ledesma in Houston.

In some ways, it was an atypical year for Texas players in the NFL draft, but there was a familiar theme to the seven-round affair — UT is still the place to look for talented defensive backs.

Brock Simmons finished second in the men's Olympic Development 5,000-meter run and Sara Sutherland posted the second-fastest time by a Texas athlete since 1988 in the women's 5,000 to finish in third on Thursday at the Penn Relays.

One weekend truly makes all the difference for Texas basketball.

  The deadline for entering the NBA draft is Sunday, which means Longhorns Tristan Thompson and Jordan Hamilton have some decisions to make.

If you’re a Texas fan, how worrying is 3-1?

Sometimes, Augie ball is infuriating for Texas fans.

March Madness is almost over, and the NBA playoff race is heating up. That can only mean one thing: Major League Baseball is about to get underway.

Despite a full-fledged work stoppage in the NFL, one inevitability of summer is drawing ever nearer: the 2011 draft.

In a city devoid of any major professional sports teams, individuals often take on larger-than-life roles as Austin residents latch onto hometown heroes.

TULSA, Okla. — Across the country, from the East to West coasts, one surname is causing college basketball players in this month’s NCAA tournament to pause: Morris.

Texas coach Rick Barnes talked all season about his team’s willingness and ability to play up-tempo.

Dan Hurwitz & Will Anderson recap Saturday's championship game.

Much was made of the words that Markieff Morris said to the Longhorns on Friday.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — You could call it a comeback for Jordan Hamilton if the sophomore swingman didn’t already average a team-best 18.5 points per outing.

The Jayhawks locked up their 10th Big 12 regular season title over the weekend and ensured themselves a difficult road to the championship game of the conference tournament, which begins today in Kansas City.

Depending on whom you ask, Saturday night was either a return to form or the start of something different for Texas.

The Longhorns are no strangers to tough losses this season. Last Saturday’s game was one of those instances; Texas lost to Oklahoma by a 29-point margin.

In his short postgame press conference on Wednesday night, Oklahoma State head coach Travis Ford talked mostly about the Longhorns and how polished they looked.

After hitting the first of two free throws with 24 seconds to play, Gary Johnson stepped off the line, raised his hand into the air flashed a “Hook ‘Em” sign to the sellout crowd at the Erwin Center — the Bears weren’t coming back to upset No. 3 Texas on Saturday. 

Tuesday provided mixed news out of the Longhorn football program.

Whether he wants it or not, J’Covan Brown has earned a nickname in the locker room.

Defensive efficiency is no longer a goal for Texas — it’s an expectation.

Moments after Quincy Russell signed his letter of intent to play at the University of Texas next season, the Sam Houston High School cheerleaders — all eight of them, along with the Hurricane mascot — began a chant of “Way to go Quincy, way to go!” as his mother, Clarice Russell, fought back tears during what she called “one of the proudest moments of [her] life.”

All the usual stars showed up for Texas on Monday night — Jordan Hamilton scored a game-high 20 points, Tristan Thompson added 10 points and five boards and Cory Joseph scored 11 — but for the Longhorns to win by 20, it took some atypical contributions from the team’s role players.

Even when their shots aren’t falling, these Longhorns are hard to beat.

Channel condenses attitude of athletics into easy motto: Everything is bigger in Texas

Rick Barnes had praise for former Longhorn LaMarcus Aldridge and hopes that he is named to the Western Conference all-star team.

Texas begins its spring dual-match season Saturday versus Rice after a successful individual season saw the Longhorns rise as high as No. 16 in the nation.

Texas just can’t catch a break at Allen Fieldhouse.

It’s hard to compare this year’s team with the one from last season. For starters, the 2009-10 squad had three eventual NBA draft picks, not to mention a top-5 recruiting class. They reached No. 1 in the nation for the first time in school history.

Bill Parcells has quite an impressive coaching tree, full of former assistants now doing bigger and better things in both the professional and collegiate ranks. Texas’ new defensive coordinator Manny Diaz also has Parcells to thank for his current situation, even though he never worked under the two-time NFL champion.

Texas added another name to its rebuilt coaching roster on Tuesday: Bo Davis.

Two years after earning the position of Texas’ head-coach-in-waiting, defensive coordinator Will Muschamp accepted the job as Florida’s top man on Saturday night.

Prior to the season, head coach Rick Barnes didn’t promise his team would be pretty, he promised they would win games.

Doubts are quickly receding about whether Hamilton can handle the pressure of being one of the Longhorns’ go-to playmakers.

Thursday’s clash with No. 13 Illinois represents the first true test of the system for unranked Texas.

Missed free throws, numerous turnovers, errant 3-pointers instead of working the ball inside — the first 20 minutes of Texas’ opener against Navy on Monday looked like a repeat of last year’s self-destructing team near the end of the season.

What a difference a year makes. At this point in 2009, Texas was No. 3 in the nation thanks to the returning talent of two All-Big 12 performers and the addition of one of the highest-rated recruiting classes in the country.  

Texas swimmer Laura Sogar was named CollegeSwimming.com’s Division I swimmer of the week on Wednesday for her performance last weekend in a meet at California.