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Al Matthews has passed away.

Hello Billy - Hope you’re well.

Not sure if you already heard, but Al Matthews passed away over the weekend.

Did not play at Texas, but was its first African American coach in 1972.

Best,

Raúl Allegre

Al Matthews, Huey Lewis, and Rosy Leaks

Longhorn Legacy Baseball Player David Lowery has joined the TLSN Board of Directors.

David Lowery was a three-year starter for Vidor High School, earning MVP honors in baseball and All-District recognition in football during his senior year. He then attended Panola Junior College, where he became the JUCO national batting champion with an impressive .525 batting average and was recognized as a JUCO All-American.

David subsequently signed a scholarship letter of intent to play baseball for Texas. He was a significant contributor to the 1989 team that finished as runner-up in the College World Series. Upon the conclusion of the series, he was selected to the All CWS team for 1989.

David had a seven-year career in Major League Baseball, playing for the Rangers, Mets, and Blue Jays. He was named to three minor league All-Star teams and finished his professional career with a .288 batting average and 219 stolen bases.

Post Playing Career

1) Owner of “Lowery Baseball” 1998- 2003

2) Owner of “SS Turf, Inc.” (Artificial Turf Company) 2001- Present

3) Owner “DGL Ventures” (Real Estate and other entrepreneurial ventures) 2001- Present

Mike Barnes and David Lowery have formed a podcasting partnership sharing Longhorn sports history. Below are a few oral history podcast links.

The first is a link to the TLSN oral history podcast of Mike Barnes interview. The second ,third, and fourth links are podcast interviews of Todd Dodge, Quan Crosby, and Kirk Dressendorfer by Mike Barnes and David Lowery.

https://texaslsn.org/mike-barnes/ Mike Barnes

https://youtu.be/K8lxOiOxuvY Todd Dodge

https://youtu.be/NCA5YsfoI7U Quan Crosby

https://youtu.be/g3HnXM37iD0 Kirk Dressendorfer

The link to David Lowery's bio is at the link

https://texaslsn.org/david-lowery-has-joined-the-tlsn-board-of-directors/

2002 -Chris Carmichael - Baseball

2002- Chris Carmichael comes off the bench after injuries and a disappointing season to put his name in the record book. In the CWS final game against South Carolina, with two men on base, he hit a homer on college's biggest stage and Texas was the National Champion.

2002 above Jeff Ontivero celebrates with #31 Chris Carmichael his homer against South Carolina in the national championship CWS game.

Colleen Lanne Cox - 2025 Texas Swimming and Diving Hall of Fame

Colleen Lanné Cox was raised in Tucson, Arizona, and attended the University of Texas from 1998 to 2001. She was a four-time NCAA champion, held American and US Open records in the 100 free and won individual NCAA titles in the 50 and 100 free. During her time at Texas, she was a 22-time all-American and two-time Big 12 Swimmer of the Year. In 2002, Colleen was a silver medalist in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay at the Short Course World Championships held in Moscow. She won a silver in the 200-meter freestyle, as well as gold medals in the 4×100-meter and 4×200-meter freestyle relays at the 2003 Pan American Games held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Colleen qualified for the 2004 U.S. Olympic team in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay after finishing fifth in the 100-meter freestyle at the Olympic Trials. She earned a silver medal in Athens, Greece, by swimming for the second-place U.S. team in the preliminary heats of the 400 Freestyle relay. Colleen lives in Austin and has two sons, Rowan and Rhett.

Sam Ehlinger Talks Faith

EHLINGER TALKS FAITH
by Larry Carlson for https://texaslsn.org

Former Texas QB Sam Ehlinger spoke about his faith — and a little bit about football — with 300 people at a free, faith-based "Toolbox" luncheon Wednesday at Austin Country Club.
Ehlinger, UT's four-year starter from 2017-2020 under coach Tom Herman, shared his experience of dealing with grief after his Dad died while competing in San Francisco's "Escape From Alcatraz" triathlon. Sam was just 14, and said he had to suddenly shoulder the responsibility of being "man of the house" for his mother and younger brother, Jake.
He became a blue-chip quarterback recruit at Westlake High, led the Chaps to a state title, enrolled a semester early at UT and excelled as a dual-threat quarterback. Highlights included four bowl victories including a Sugar Bowl win over Georgia. His senior season was marked by the Covid year's social unrest and many of his teammates' discomfort with singing or supporting the UT school song, "The Eyes of Texas," deemed racist by some activists. After Texas fell to OU in four overtimes in October '20, Ehlinger was the lone Longhorn to remain on the Cotton Bowl floor when the band played "The Eyes."
The photo of the lone star, hand raised with the "Hook 'em" sign, went viral. Ehlinger shared a related story of leadership Wednesday. He said he got a teammate "from the other side of the aisle," to agree to stand beside him for the playing of the alma mater the next week, despite the unnamed player still not singing the song. Progress was made, and the team re-unified for the second half of Sam's senior year.
He recalled his joy and elation at being selected by Indianapolis — where he has spent four seasons — on May 1, 2021. But several days later in Indy, getting equipment at the Colts' facility, Ehlinger received a phone call bearing unthinkable news. His younger brother, Jake, a Longhorn player, had been found unresponsive in his car.
Ehlinger then related his transition from being what he termed "numb and crushed" by grief to utilizing faith "to become a vessel of love and hope and grace." He spoke of the fact that Jake had introduced him, just a month earlier, to "a wonderful girl." Sam and that woman, Cami Jo, a '22 Texas grad, have now been married for almost three years. Cami Jo was at the luncheon Wednesday, as was Michael Taaffe, UT's All-America safety from Westlake. I was able to ask Taaffe a few questions about Texas losing DB Coach Blake Gideon. He was replaced earlier this week with Duane Akina. The 68-year-old Akina coached at UT previously from 2001-2013.
I asked Taaffe if having a new coach (UT has several) might amp up preparation among players this spring. He nodded. "Change is good," he confirmed, then mentioned that he'd been well-tutored by Gideon and figures the secondary will be in good hands, noting that Akina coached Gideon as a Longhorn. Taaffe also said he's comfortable with Coach Steve Sarkisian's decision to forego an Orange-White spring game to save physical wear and tear on players coming off a 16-game season and anticipating another run at a championship. "Yeah, it was getting har ?????????

At least four families have a generational legacy in Longhorn sports history: the Keller's (tennis and diving), the Mauldin's (football), the Koy's (football and baseball), and the Puett's (football and golf).

1901 Victor Keller was on the football team

1942-1943 Stan Mauldin senior

1930 Ernie Koy Senior

1911 Woodland Nelson Puett bottom photo

The Puett clan great-grandfather, Thomas Moore Harwood, was a member of the commission that created the University of Texas and served on the very first University Board of Regents. The Legislature vested the governance of The University to the Board of Regents on October 19, 1881. Woodland Nelson Puett was the 1911 star quarterback for the Horns and had two sons. Nelson Puett, who played football and ran track in the late 1930s and early 1940s, and Roane Puett, whose golf journey lasted 60-plus years, played golf for the Horns under Coach Harvey Penick. Roane has won the Men's city championship 5 times.

1881 Thomas Moore Harwood

1938 Nelson Puett against the Aggies

Roane Puett

2006 - Roane Puett bottom center in orange shirt at the Firecracker golf tournament.

FIRST ALERT: Midland Christian Football has announced Phil Dawson as their next Head Football Coach! Dawson played for the Texas Longhorns and tied a school record with 54 consecutive extra points. During his time in the NFL, he was a 2-time Second Team All-Pro and earned a Pro Bowl spot in 2012. Welcome to Midland coach. Midland Christian School

Men's top 10 in Tennis

The list below is from a former Longhorn tennis player whom I highly respect. provided TLSN the subjective tennis rankings. He noted that, much like any other sport, “tennis is fundamentally different today compared to 1927.” Factors such as training regimes, stroke techniques, and racquet technology make comparing records and achievements across generations challenging. He prefers to remain anonymous. His list is just a starting point for discussion, bearing in mind the long arc of UT's fabled tennis history, so please feel free to contribute your thoughts and suggest other Longhorn tennis players you believe should be included in the top ten.His list is just a starting point, so please feel free to contribute your thoughts and suggest other Longhorn tennis players you believe should be included in the top ten.

Wilmer Allison

Kevin Currin Steven B. Denton

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Jonathan Louis Levine Steven Bryan

Ditmar Kutrovsky Soren Hess-Olesen

Ito Yuva Eliot Spizzim

1929 Bruce Barnes

A 1995 fraud was perpetrated by Ron McKelvey on U.T. football that led to a lenient NCAA sentence.

Texas won the SWC championship with a scholarship player without college eligibility. Ron McKelvey (Ron Weaver) played in 11 games at Texas. His mother and father did not know he was on the Texas team. Federal prosecutors charged Ron with "fraudulent misrepresentation" and misuse of a social security number. The result was that there was no NCAA infraction for Texas, and Ron reimbursed Texas $5000 for the scholarship cost.
Roster Imposter and All Ends Well - no jail, no NCAA fines, No probation, but a lot of lessons learned.

The story of Ron McKelvey, or rather Ron Weaver, is one of the most bizarre in college football history. Weaver, a 30-year-old at the time, posed as Ron McKelvey to extend his football career. He used a false identity and Social Security number to join the University of Texas Longhorns as a defensive back. His deception was uncovered just before the 1995 Sugar Bowl, leading to a scandal that rocked the team2.

Weaver had already played six seasons at two California junior colleges before assuming the McKelvey identity. His actions not only violated NCAA rules but also left the Longhorns in a tough spot, as the revelation reportedly affected their performance in the Sugar Bowl3.

It's a wild tale of ambition and deceit. What do you think about someone going to such lengths for their passion?

TLSN newsletter, March 21, 2025, Volume IX edition #6