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OKAFOR TAKING VISITS
Houston (Texas) Westbury offensive tackle Christian Okafor has been committed to
the Red Raiders since January, but it seems he has reopened his recruitment to a
degree.
Okafor has several Pac-12 schools on the radar.
"I've looked at Stanford, visited Texas Tech, and (today) I'm flying out to
Arizona State," Okafor said. "In a couple of weeks I might take another visit,
but you know -- my recruitment's not over yet."
Okafor's ending statement caught us a little off guard, so we asked if he was
still fully committed to Tech and just taking his official visits to solidify
his commitment.
"I wouldn't want to say -- I wouldn't want to comment on that really," Okafor
said.
So we asked if Tech's slump this season has impacted his decision.
"No," was Okafor's response.
Okafor is the little brother of Tech senior offensive tackle Mickey Okafor.
Christian Okafor said Mickey Okafor stays out of his recruiting business though.
"Mickey, he never brings it up," Christian Okafor said. "He lets me make those
decisions. Our relationship is pretty good."
Okafor's Westbury team didn't make the playoffs so he has plenty of time to
consider his recruitment and work on the things that will make him successful at
the collegiate level.
"We went 6-4, actually," Christian Okafor said. "I'm working out and all that.
And making my final decisions when it comes to my recruiting."
- Graham
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RAIDERS BACK TO MCKEESPORT?
McKeesport (Pa.) is looking like it could potentially end up being a pipeline
for Texas Tech. Defensive linemen Branden Jackson and Delvon Simmons are already
on campus, and the Red Raider coaching staff is eyeing several more McKeesport
prospects. We caught up with McKeesport head coach Jim Ward about his players,
current and former, and their relationships with Tech. Coach Ward said that
former players and now Red Raiders Jackson and Simmons have enjoyed their time
in Lubbock so far.
"I think it's been real different for them. Both have enjoyed themselves, Delvon
obviously playing, Branden not," he said. "Both guys have been real positive
about their experience and real positive about the future of Texas Tech
football."
The head coach also said that Tech has become a rooting interest for many
players and students around the school, saying that most guys in his locker room
would all give West Texas a good, long look if presented the opportunity.
"Obviously Texas Tech's a popular school in our school and it's certain that if
Texas Tech had an interest in (any player), I think our guys would be very
excited, that they would look at that opportunity."
Two McKeesport prospects that the Red Raiders are currently interested in are
linebacker Tyrone Neal and defensive end or linebacker Terrell Williams. A visit
to Lubbock is currently in the works for both players, and Coach Ward is busy
trying to iron out the details.
"Well I've spoken to Robert Prunty. (The visit) hasn't been set in stone yet as
far as dates, but there's definitely extreme interest on their end, a great
interest on (Tech's) end," he said. "Both (players) are excited. Both hope they
have the opportunity to come down. I spoke with the Texas Tech coaches about a
week ago. They wanted to try and work out a date, I know for Terrell to try to
get down."
"(With) T.J., they're still looking at some numbers and some different things to
make sure that it works out as far as how many linebackers they're gonna take. I
know they obviously have had some commitments. I've got to get with the coaches
to kind of nail that down and see exactly where things lie at with those guys."
While Williams hasn't caught a lot of attention, Coach Ward said that it's
mostly due to the fact that he backed up Jackson as a junior and therefore
missed out on the prime stage of recruiting that takes place during a players
junior year. The McKeesport coach raved about Williams, feeling that someone
will have gotten a steal when all is said and done.
"Terrell was actually Branden's back up last year. I told a lot of people about
him coming into the season because I thought he'd be an absolute stud, and he
turned out to be, it's just not a lot of people know about him. He reminds me of
a high school version of Laamar Woodley," he said. "He's very, very fast off the
edge, very powerful, outstanding pass rusher. He just didn't have the tape as a
junior because he backed up one of the better players in the country. That's why
a lot of people don't know about him. A lot of kids now with how much junior
recruiting is going on, those guys sometimes slip through the cracks. He's a
bonafide BCS player and I think he'd be a great fit at Texas Tech.
"He's got great explosion, he uses his hands very well. He's very violent with
his hands. I think if he gets with a great coach, a guy like Robert Prunty who
will develop his skill level, I think he could be very, very special in a couple
of years."
While some believe that Williams might end up playing linebacker at the
collegiate level, Ward definitely thinks he'll end up as a defensive end.
"He'll end up being a defensive end. Terrell's gonna grow. He's just got big arms and
big shoulders and a small waist and probably could probably win some body
building contests. With his frame, he'll end up 6-3, 6-4, 260," he said. "He ran
a 4.64 forty for us in the summer, bench pressed 400 pounds and is as
approachable as they come. I think he's a guy that's kind of under the radar
because he didn't get a lot of publicity as a junior. He's probably as good as
some of the guys that are already committed to some of the bigger schools."
Now that there are two McKeesport Tigers on the Texas Tech roster, it's looking
like there could possibly be three or four. Coach Ward said he would love for
that to happen, because he trusts the Tech coaches with his players.
"It would be great. I know that they'll be treated right. It's important to me
and I know they'll have opportunities and I know what is said from those coaches
is what's going to happen. As a high school coach, that's all you ask for your
kids."
- Hair
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KEENAN WILL ATTEND TECH'S GAME AGAINST BAYLOR
Argyle (Texas) offensive tackle Trey Keenan and his teammates have been
steamrolling the competition as of late, beating Commerce last week 49-7 at a
neutral site game in Denton. Keenan's only focus now is on avenging the only
blemish on Argyle's 10-1 record this week against Prosper.
"We play Prosper, which is our only loss on the year, so we're pretty excited to
get back at them," Keenan said. "We've got a great game plan, a great defensive
scheme, and we're ready for them."
Keenan, a 6-foot-5, 270-pound standout, says that he is still feeling good about
his June commitment to the Red Raiders, and plans on attending the Texas Tech
and Baylor game at Cowboy's stadium two weeks from now.
"I was going to go to this last game against Oklahoma State, but Baylor and Tech
are playing right here in Cowboy's stadium so I'm going to be heading to that
game with some of my teammates."
While Keenan has been excited about his own team's success on the field, he's
been just as frustrated watching Texas Tech fall into a rough three-game losing
streak, but he is confident that the future is bright on the South Plains.
"I know that they've had a rough go these last couple of weeks," Keenan said,
"but they have a lot of young guys in key positions. I really have a feeling
that, maybe not this year, but that in the next couple of years they're really
going to improve. Especially with a great recruiting class like we have this
year, we should be able to really get things going up there in Lubbock."
Keenan committed to the Red Raiders back in June over offers from Arizona,
Arkansas, Michigan, Mississippi State, and Oklahoma State among many others.
- Cauley
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DAVIS TALKS TECH VISIT
Tenaha (Texas) wide receiver Reginald Davis was on the South Plains again this
weekend to watch Texas Tech face off against the highly ranked Oklahoma State
Cowboys, and while he says the game itself wasn't exactly all that great, he
still enjoyed the visit.
"I've already seen a lot (at Tech). I was just there to have a good time," Davis
said. "It went good, just got to hang out with some of the people and just watch
the game. It was a bad game, but other than that I had fun."
The four-star wideout did get a chance to talk with some of the Texas Tech
coaching staff while he was here even though his visit was more of a casual one.
"I talked to Coach Mac (Sam McElroy), Coach (Neal) Brown, Coach (Sonny) Cumbie.
I talked to a lot of them."
Davis, who responded "Oh yes, sir," when asked if he still felt strong about his
commitment to the Red Raiders, has Tenaha 10-0 and averaging over 45 points a
game.
Davis committed to the Red Raiders back in March over offers from Arkansas,
Michigan, Missouri, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, TCU, and Texas A&M, among others.
- Cauley
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WHEELER SAYS RAIDERS SET UP FOR COMEBACK
Crocket (Texas) wide receiver Dominique Wheeler's team has rolled to a 9-1
regular season record as they averaged over 47 points a game over the last seven
to earn a first-round bye in the playoffs last week.
This week, Crocket kicks off their playoff run against Newton, and Wheeler is
feeling pretty good about the game as long as they are able to stop the run.
"They run the Wing-T, so they run the ball a lot, they don't really pass,"
Wheeler said. "If we can just stop the run we'll be able to win the game, but we
need to play hard and execute for all four quarters."
Wheeler has been an integral part of an offense that has averaged over 47 points
a game over the last seven, and he doesn't see anything slowing down in the
playoffs.
"I think we will (keep the offensive numbers up)," he said. "We can run the
ball, and pass at the same time. We watched Newton a lot this week on film, and
I think it's going to be pretty hard for them to stop our offense."
The 6-foot-1, 176-pound four-star prospect says that he's still feeling good
about his commitment to the Red Raiders, but he has still been hearing from
other schools and plans on using all of his visits after the season is over.
"I'm still hearing from Florida State, Houston, Baylor, Pittsburgh, and a few
others," Wheeler said. "I won't be taking any (visits) until after football, but
I'll probably be going to Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, Baylor, and I'll probably
take two more out of state somewhere."
Wheeler says that he hasn't had too many opportunities to watch Tech play this
year, but has been able to catch a few games and feels that the Red Raider's
wont be staying in their slump too much longer.
"They're doing alright, haven't been playing too well recently, but it's just a
minor set back to set up a major comeback."
Wheeler committed to Tech back in June over offers from Auburn, Michigan,
Missouri, Oklahoma State, Texas, and Texas A&M among many others.
- Cauley
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GUNS UP
Dominique Wheeler attended Reginald Davis' 51-6 playoff victory over Bremond
tonight. Davis accounted for nearly 250 yards of offense and scored five
touchdowns. Following the game, the two posed for this photo.
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This post was edited on 11/18 12:04 AM by A. Dickens
