In the midst of a historical week that has Texas on the cusp of joining the SEC and Orangebloods announcing its first two signed Texas athletes to exclusive NIL deals, we're incredibly excited to welcome three new members to the Orangebloods staff - Cole Patterson, Ari Temkin and Keenan Womack.
Patterson joins Orangebloods immediately as its new football and basketball recruiting reporter after carving out a name for himself covering Mississippi State as the owner/creator of Tru Maroon Nation (@TruMaroonNation). As a 2020 graduate of Mississippi State, the Texas native has spent years developing in the recruiting industry, first as a student assistant and social media coordinator for the Coffeyville Community College Football program and then as a student recruiting assistant for the Mississippi State football program. In addition to assisting in the recruitments of multiple Top-25 recruiting classes for the Bulldogs, Patterson was responsible for breaking down film, writing scouting reports, assisting on official visits and generally being involved on every level of the recruiting process within the program.
"Cole is going to be a star in the recruiting industry," Orangebloods publisher Geoff Ketchum said. "It's in his blood. What he's been able to do in a very short time in this industry was incredibly impressive from my vantage point. His hunger to get started at Orangebloods was overwhelming. In fact, he's already started working for Orangebloods before his first day was official. He'll be our birddog. Expect to see him all over the state at various events. The fact that he also has experience covering basketball recruiting and can help us in that area as well was a cherry on top of the sundae. He's SEC good."
"I am beyond excited to be joining the OrangeBloods staff at such a historic time in Texas athletics," Patterson said. "Growing up in the Lone Star State, I have always looked at Texas as one of the most iconic brands in all of sports. I am ready to hit the ground running and help take the recruiting coverage to another level."
Temkin joins Orangebloods as a college football insider for the website, but he'll also be instrumental in our plans to develop the Orangebloods Youtube channel into a powerhouse. Temkin's first unofficial relationship with the site began back in 2008 when he worked with former Orangebloods staff member Sean Adams on The Adams Theory on 104.9 FM The Horn and over the course of the last decade, he's emerged as one of the top media voices in the state of Texas. In addition to hosting Big 12 This Morning on Sirius XM, he's been involved with game-day coverage of the Dallas Cowboys broadcast network, among other assignments in recent years.
"From the moment Ari reached out to me a couple of weeks ago, it was obvious that he's exactly what we needed as we look to expand the collective vision of our Youtube channel and there really wasn't much negotiating that took place," Ketchum said, "Both sides listened to the vision of the other and it organically came together within seconds. That being said, his role on the site as a college football insider will be incredibly valuable as well, as his access to the power-brokers around the nation in multiple capacities will prove to be invaluable for Orangebloods in the coming years. His experience, professionalism and creative thinking will add rocket boosters to the plans that we have for the site."
“Orangebloods has always been at the forefront of the evolution of the media industry, I’m so excited to play a role in the next evolution of Orangebloods’ media offerings," Temkin said.
Womack will join Orangebloods on August 1st as its new lead reporter for men's basketball. A recent 2019 graduate from The University of Texas, Womack has been producing hoops-related content for sites such as Almighty Baller, Bleacher Report and SB Nation. Most recently, Womack has been supervising a site that he launched called Dallas Dimes, which focused on articles and podcasts covering the Dallas Mavericks.
"Keenan was literally the first person out of more than 50+ people that I have spoken with over the last month about various positions and he just knocked my socks off from the very beginning with his vision for what basketball coverage on Orangebloods might look like under his watch," Ketchum said. "No person that I interviewed in any capacity showed as much thirst and desire to be a part of the Orangebloods team as he did, as evidenced by the fact that he kept creating examples of content he would write for the site while he waited to hear back from me. More than anything else, Keenan showed an incredible desire to eat, drink and breathe Texas basketball coverage for Orangebloods and it just felt like he was exactly what we needed for this role."
"I’ve been writing about hoops (and other sports) for the better part of the last 10 years," Womack said. "I’ve covered college and pro basketball (Texas; Dallas Mavericks, NBA draft), and college football (the Big 12 in general, and Texas in particular). With all of the movement going on with conference realignment, the NIL, and the influx of the best transfer class in NCAA history, right now is the best possible time to be covering the Longhorns in this sport, and I’m incredibly grateful to the OB staff for giving me this opportunity. Looking forward to providing you guys with the best basketball coverage possible."
