PORT ARTHUR — No surprise here that Dave Campbell’s 2012 Texas Football picks Nederland to repeat as District 20-4A champs, in what will be Larry Neumann’s 20th season as head coach. Given the amount of experience, particularly on the defensive side of the ball, and the return of QB Carson Raines, this was about as much of a no-brainer call as you’ll ever have. The only question surrounding Nederland is whether the ‘Dogs can avoid their usual buzzard’s luck with injuries. If they can, it’s not hard to visualize another unbeaten march through district and a significant playoff run. Neumann, by the way, is 146-74-1, in his 19 years at the helm. That’s a terrific record under any circumstances but is especially impressive considering where the Bulldogs program was when he took it over . . . One guy I couldn’t be happier for is Bulldog ex Brian Sanches. Despite three solid years in the Florida (now Miami) Marlins bullpen, it didn’t look good for the 33-year-old Sanches when his new team, the Phillies, shipped him to the minors out of spring training, recalled him, then sent him back down. Rather than mope, Brian went to work, put together a string of solid performances at AAA Lehigh Valley and was recalled this past week. He pitched a scoreless inning in his first outing and is confident he’s back to stay. “I feel really good,” said Sanches Friday from Miami, where the Phillies are facing his former team this weekend. “I figured out some stuff, tweaked a couple of things and am pitching as well as I ever have. Other than the natural disappointment, I didn’t let being sent down get to me. I knew I was good enough and I believed I’d get another shot, either with the Phillies or another team.”   

    As always, Texas Football is loaded with useful and compelling information, especially its recruiting package. Among the interesting nuggets was that Memorial, thanks to Terrence Singleton and Tre’Von Armstead (Baylor), Jhajuan Seales (Oklahoma State) and Nate Holmes (Arkansas), tied for eighth in the state in terms of the most players signing with FBS schools. Arlington Martin and DeSoto tied for first with seven. Denton Ryan had six and Allen, Denton Guyer, Euless Trinity and Pflugerville Hendrickson had five . . . Another stat I always enjoy checking out pertains to the outside schools that sign more Texas schoolboys than players from their home state. New Mexico and  Oklahoma State led the way with an 11-2 inbalance. Kansas State was 8-4, Colorado 7-3, Boise State 6-1, Oklahoma 6-3 and Kansas 5-2. But the most eye-opening may have been West Virginia’s 4-0. The Mountainers, by the way, are Texas Football’s choice to win the Big 12 in their first season. Oklahoma is tabbed second, TCU third and Texas fourth . . .  If Texas Football’s recruiting projections are on target, it could be a lean year for Southeast Texans in relation to signing with top tier schools. Of the magazine’s top 300 recruits, only Memorial defensive tackle Matthew Romar and WO-Stark linebacker Trayvon Blanchard rated a mention. Take it to the bank, though, that there will be other area players emerge.

    As disappointing as getting passed over in the NBA draft had to be for J’Covan Brown, getting a free-agent shot with the Miami Heat might be a blessing in disguise. Miami has serious salary cap issues going forward and is looking for a good outside shooter it can sign cheap. Forget Boston’s Ray Allen. The Heat can’t afford him. It’s still a long, long shot for Brown, and will be impossible if he doesn’t do something about his weight. The first NBA observer I talked to about him Friday referred to the Memorial ex as “the Pillsbury Dough Boy.” Things like that, however, and getting snubbed in the draft, should provide Brown plenty of incentive to work his tail off and get the last laugh. Otherwise he’ll be playing in the NBA D League, or in Europe . . . With Brown not getting selected, former Lincoln great B.J. Tyler remains the gold standard for Port Arthur and Southeast Texas in the NBA draft. B.J. was taken with the 20th pick in 1994 by the Philadelphia. Only other Southeast Texan picked in the first round was Beaumonter Kendrick Perkins. Perkins, shortly after he graduated from Ozen High School, was the No. 27 pick in the 2003 draft by the Memphis Grizzlies. Memphis then traded him to Boston. Lincoln’s Earl Evans, who for my money was the best talent to ever come out of Port Arthur, was technically not a high pick. But that’s because the NBA draft was different when “The Pearl” came out in the late 1970s. He was selected a year before he finished at UNLV as a “futures pick” by the Detroit Pistons.

    North Carolina’s John Henson, taken with the 14th pick in the first round by Milwaukee, has Port Arthur ties. Well, sort of. Henson played for former Memorial coach Terrul Henderson’s Houston Franchize AAU team, and delivered an over-the-top performance in the Fifth Annual Port Arthur News/James Gamble Award game at the Carl Parker Center in 2008. Henson scored 26 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to lead Henderson’s team to a 97-94 win over Gamble’s All-Stars. It was the only time in six of those games that Gamble’s team didn’t prevail . . .  An interesting sidebar to that 2008 game, by the way, was the fact that East Chambers’ versatile Tramain Thomas, who was headed to Arkansas on a football scholarship, was the star for Gamble’s team, scoring 19 points and adding four rebounds, four assists and four steals. Twenty-four hours later, Thomas finished off a most remarkable awards parlay by adding the Gamble Mr. Outside Award in basketball to his Willie Ray Smith Defensive Player of the Year Award in football. Thomas went on to have a solid collegiate career with Arkansas and recently signed a free agent contract with Tampa Bay. After watching the way he competed against much bigger basketball players in the Gamble game, I would never bet against him making it in the NFL . . . Biggest loser in the NBA draft? Sports Illustrated NBA writer Chris Mannix put that tag on the Houston Rockets, despite the fact the Rockets had three of the top 18 picks and appeared to use them well. Trouble is, much noise was made by Rocket GM Daryl Morey’s pre-draft wheeling and dealing geared to a deal for Dwight Howard, or at least being able to land an impact player. To date, that has not happened, leaving the Rockets overloaded with way too many complimentary players and not a single difference-making star. As now constituted, the Rockets will continue to remain mostly irrelevant.

    Like everyone else who was beyond sick of college football’s nauseating BCS system for determining a national champion, I was pleased to see a long-overdue move to a four-team playoff system starting in after the 2014 season. In the end, however, it was a weak compromise that leaves too much room for controversy and for screwing over deserving teams. It should have been an eight-team playoff system. Best thing about the new setup is that it’s going to again make New Year’s Day must-see TV for college football. Worst thing is that it opens the door for Jerry Jones to host the championship game every second or third year at Cowboys Stadium . . . One thing that’s going to be interesting to watch about the new system is how creative the college folks will get in failing to reward those making what will be billions of dollars in extra TV revenue possible — the players. Texas’ Mack Brown and South Carolina’s Steve Spurrier are driving the bandwagon for additional player compensation above the standard scholarship, but there is considerable resistance. There’s no corporation in America, even the ones who ship jobs overseas, that wouldn’t drool over the cheap labor in top level college football and basketball. Anybody who thinks a scholarship is enough payment for the revenue these kids generate, doesn’t have a clear view of the demands on their time, the physical toll on their bodies and the mind-boggling revenue their efforts generate . . . College presidents and ADs are not the only ones rubbing their palms together over the financial windfall the football playoffs are going to generate. Las Vegas sportsbooks are doing backflips. R.J. Bell of Pregame.com estimates the two semifinal games and the collegiate Super Bowl will generate in the neighborhood of $6 billion in betting action worldwide. Vegas, of course, will bring in a nice chunk of that. Bell projects the first championship game will produce 25 percent more action than the BCS title game generally does.

    Sports editor Bob West can be e-mailed at rdwest@usa.net.