​Soon as the Mavericks "drafted" Texas shooting guard Jordan Hamilton, I received texts and tweets and a couple of phone calls from excited fans. Hamilton played for the Longhorns, so he must be good, right?

W-R-O-N-G.

Not sure if any school has more NBA busts than the one down south in Austin. Rick Barnes' team was the only team to have three players drafted in the first round -- Hamilton, Tristan Thompson and Cory Joseph -- and yet somehow lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to Arizona.

A lot of folks are somehow upset that Dallas didn't hang onto one of "our own." But a couple huge reasons why trading Hamilton and the No. 57 pick and acquiring Portland shooting guard Rudy Fernandez made perfect sense.

1. Fernandez makes the Mavericks better quicker. The current nucleus of 30-somethings doesn't have a huge window, so the time to win is here and now.

2. There's a long list of Texas exes who suggest Hamilton will flop at the next level.

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Rick Barnes: Deja boo all over?

​Welcome to March. The madness can't be far behind.

Been getting into college basketball the last few weeks. Some quick thoughts:

Kansas is the best team I've seen. BYU is more than just Jimmer Fredette. The Big East is the best conference. And, uh oh, Texas is hinting at another bad fall at just the wrong time.

The Longhorns wowed fans and voters by beating Kansas by 11 in Lawrence back on January 22. The Longhorns, led by freshman Tristan Thompson and a suffocating defense, jumped to an 11-0 start in the Big 12 and were poised to become the No. 1 ranked team in the country.

On February 19 they led Nebraska by nine points in what looked like a cruise-control victory. Since then it's been ugly.

ESPN's College GameDay hoops crew will be in Waco Saturday. I'm sure they'll make some of these comparisons.

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​Yesterday ESPN and Texas agree to a 20-year, $300 million deal to launch a 24-hour Longhorn network in September.

Planned programming includes sports, original series, studio shows, historical programming and academic and cultural events. More precisely ESPN/UT hopes to televise at least one exclusive football game, eight men's basketball games, women's basketball games and Olympic sports coverage.

Hmm. Got me to thinking about the most popular shows on the new network ...

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​When Vince Young singlehandedly beat USC in the 2005 BCS National Championship Game, he climaxed a sparkling college legacy and seemingly paved his way to NFL stardom.

But with yesterday's announcement by Tennessee Titans owner Bud Adams that Young would be traded or released, Young officially became a bust. As a first-round pick with unique athleticism and a winning record as a starting quarterback, getting released is almost an unthinkable achievement.

He just might be the biggest waste of talent in NFL history.

Young has no leadership skills. No work ethnic. And, evidenced by his strip-club skirmish in Dallas last summer and his pads-throwing incident with coach Jeff Fisher this fall, no clue.

In a word, he's playing himself out of a job because he's ... lazy.

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​Nate Newton has lost almost 200 pounds.

His son, Tre, has lost his interest in playing football.

Tre, a running back at Texas, decided this week to give up football in part because of numerous concussions. The sophomore missed last week's loss to Oklahoma State after sustaining a concussion in a loss to Kansas State on November  6.

Though team doctors advised him to give up football to avoid long-term problems, Newton was also never as fully committed to the sport as his father. Can't blame Tre, as others in the sport - like SMU's Derrius Bell - are also learning that there is life after football and are making career-path decisions accordingly.

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Denard Robinson, the next Heisman winner? Yawn.

​Reggie Bush gave back his Heisman Trophy. To which I respond: Big friggin' deal.

I know the Heisman is one of the most hyped awards, but - let's be honest - it's also the most meaningless sports trophy this side of the Governor's Cup, Golden Boot and the Iron Skillet.

Here's how it usually works: A university school of medicine's top student goes on to be a successful doctor. The best writer at a college student newspaper matures into a solid, professional reporter at a big-city paper. The hottest sorority girl gets married and becomes a MILF.

There are hiccups, of course. But seems to me they happen more frequently in the transition from college to pro football. More than any individual sports accolade, the Heisman is a flawed indicator of future success.

Granted it's an extremely subjective study and results may vary, but with a little digging and remembering I came to the conclusion that college football's Heisman indeed is far less important than basketball's Naismith Award or college baseball's Golden Spikes Award.

Taking into account their careers as pros - that includes stats, all-star teams, longevity, etc. - I slapped a simple label on a handful of award winners: Win or Loss. For example, the Heisman's Tony Dorsett went on to win a Super Bowl and get enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. That's a win. On the other hand, the Naismith's Jay Williams was the NBA's second overall pick in 2002 but suffered major injuries in a motorcycle accident and wound up getting cut by the minor-league Austin Toros before retiring in obscurity. That's a loss.

Get it?

Using that very unscientific formula, the results were shocking.

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Your 2005 Heisman Trophy winner?

​Reggie Bush is a liar. Should Vince Young be a Heisman winner?

That's the contention of Texas coach Mack Brown, who says - if - the Heisman Trophy Trust yanks back its 2005 award from the Southern Cal running back it should be handed over to former Longhorns' quarterback Vince Young.

Young out-dueled Bush in the '05 BCS Championship Game, before questions arose about Bush's eligibility during the season. Since then, the NCAA has ruled Bush was ineligible because he received illegal benefits and has imposed sanctions on USC, including a two-year bowl ban and the loss of football scholarships.

Last month USC returned its duplicate of the Heisman and removed Bush's award from its media guide.

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​Not sure I get all the hype over Texas this year. I know the Big 12 media picked Oklahoma to win the South, but Texas is ranked No. 4 by Sports Illustrated and - uh-oh - on the cover this week.

Last time I checked UT lost a quarterback named Colt McCoy and a receiver called Jordan Shipley and defenders who went by the call signs of Earl Thomas and Sergio Kindle.

No biggie you say?

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Vince Young, Not at Onyx

​We're not surprised that Vince Young was in a Dallas strip club (Onyx) at 3:30 a.m. Sunday morning. We're not surprised that he was slapped with a citation by police after getting involved in a scuffle.

And, considering the kukoos that have played at the University of Texas, we're not surprised that Young freaked out over something as simple and innocuous as the "Horns down" hand sign.

Surveillance video from the club shows Young and Club Onyx employee Creiton Kinchen, 45, exchanging words for a few minutes before the scuffle in a small, crowded office area about 3:30 a.m. At one point Kinchen, who police believe is from Oklahoma, can be seen flashing an upside-down "Hook 'em Horns" hand sign at Young.

Young, who was not arrested, faces up to a $500 fine on the Class C misdemeanor charge. In September 2008, Young's Tennessee Titans called police to help search for him after he reportedly mentioned suicide and drove away from his home with a gun.

Young's a great player, but a weird, underachieving dude. And he's got Orange Blood company.

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The next Dallas Cowboy? My name is Earl.

​Source from Valley Ranch tells me this afternoon that Jerry Jones and Bill Parcells are talking. About?

The Cowboys are considering trading their 1st- and 2nd-round picks in tonight's NFL Draft to move up to the Miami Dolphins' 12th overall pick, where they would take Texas safety Earl Thomas.

Yay or nay?