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The Red Raiders are looking to add a small number of defensive backs in the 2015 class, and St. Petersberg (Florida) Gibbs cornerback Tyrell Hubbard-Smith is a prospect now receiving interest from the coaching staff. The DB moved from Lakewood high school to Gibbs over the summer and has started to receive more interest from college programs over the past few months.
“I transferred from Lakewood over the offseason and was originally introduced to coach (Kevin) Curtis by my friend Ryan Davis,” Hubbard-Smith said. “We started talking back in the spring and have stayed in touch since then.
“I still connect with him on twitter after every game. I send him updates, stats and highlights. He always replies with advice and actually coaches me on things to work on.”
The five-foot-10, 182-pound prospect went on to share more about his relationship with the Tech cornerbacks coach.
“Coach Curtis is an honest, upfront guy,” Hubbard-Smith said. “He talks to me as an equal and gives me really good advice. We mostly talk about life when we connect, but he motivates me to do more on the field and earn my success while building my abilities."
However, Curtis has let the CB now that Tech will only be taking one corner this year. There are a few prospects in front of him in line right now, but the Florida native is very appreciative of the honesty.
“Coach told me that the team is only taking one corner in this class and he is looking at three guys right now, but that his is definitely interested in me too. I actually appreciate his honesty because it’s better than him promising something that might not happen.”
Hubbard-Smith is also familiar with current Texas Tech cornerback Nigel Bethel, a fellow Florida native.
“I’m friends with Nigel and have talked with him about Texas Tech,” Hubbard-Smith said. “Growing up in Florida most kids look at Miami, Florida and Florida State. Nigel told me that he chose Tech because you can make your own name there and do your own thing.
“Coach Curtis told me that he likes Florida guys in the secondary. He wants to build a pipeline of kids from Florida high schools to Texas Tech.”
The standout corner prospect currently holds six scholarship offers and has received interest from a handful of other college programs.
“I have been hearing from Texas Tech, West Virginia, Ole Miss, Clemson and USF lately,” Hubbard-Smith said. “I speak with Tech, USF and Clemson coaches the most. I actually speak with coach Curtis more often than the others and think they might be my next offer."
He's already taken a few trips unofficially in-state, but he'd like to make it to a few different schools across the country on officials.
“I took unofficial visits to some local programs – Florida International and South Florida this summer. I’m waiting to see what happens with any of this new interest, but would like to visit Texas Tech, West Virginia, Clemson and Ole Miss before making my decision.”
Hubbard-Smith does not have a timetable for his decision, but would like to make his commitment by December or early January at the latest.
We will keep in touch with Hubbard-Smith to see where things go with Texas Tech moving forward.
- Clare
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Spring (Texas) defensive end Lonzell Gilmore camped with the Red Raiders this summer at the Houston Westfield camp, and he was one of several standouts on the defensive side of the ball. Tech has been watching the DE progress this fall, and they've now gotten back in touch.
“I spoke with the Texas Tech coaches last week,” Gilmore said. “It was all of the defensive coaches. First it was coach (John) Scott, then coach (Mike) Smith and then coach (Kevin) Curtis."
Tech ran him through both the bandit and defensive end drills at the camp, and it's looking like they're eyeing him for the rushing outside linebacker position.
“The coaches have watched a lot of my film and told me they want to start keeping a closer eye on me moving forward. They really like my length, wingspan and see me as a pass-rushing linebacker in their defense. I think it would be the bandit-backer position.”
Gilmore had the chance to spend time around the Texas Tech coaches at the camp this summer and shared his thoughts on the experience.
“The Tech coaches are all great guys, very funny coaches and a lot of fun to be around,” Gilmore said. “I met a lot of the coaches that day and have stayed in touch with coach Curtis every other week since the camp."
As previously stated, he went through the linebacker drills at the Westfield camp, and it's a position that's unfamiliar to him. However, he excelled at the camp.
“I had never played a lot of linebacker before, but went through some drills with coach Smith and some of the other coaches at the camp. I ended up having a great day and went undefeated in the one-on-one drills. The coaches even told me that I performed well that day.”
The six-foot-three, 220-pound defensive end prospect currently holds three offers and shared his thoughts on the possibility of receiving an offer from Texas Tech.
“I would love to get an offer from Texas Tech,” Gilmore said. “They are one of the top Texas schools and it seems like a great program. I would like to major in graphic design and checked online that Tech has a good program for graphic design."
“Of the schools that have offered, I would say that Nevada shows a lot of love and communicates with me the most. I don’t have any visits setup for during the season, but plan on taking some official visits after the season and will see what my options are then.”
We will keep in touch with Gilmore to see where things go with the Texas Tech coaches moving forward.
- Clare
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I connected with Kapolei (Hawaii) offensive tackle Pesi Savea this week to talk recruiting. Turns out, the six-foot-seven, 310-pound prospect has been in touch with Texas Tech offensive line coach Lee Hays for quite some time now.
“I started to hear from Texas Tech during my junior season,” Savea said. “Coach (Lee) Hays has been in contact with me and is planning on coming out to the island to visit with me."
They've developed a solid relationship over that time, too, and they speak on fairly frequent basis.
“Coach Hays is a very cool coach, we talk a few times per week. He usually asks me about my recruitment, which schools I’m hearing from and we spend a lot of our time getting to know one another.”
Savea currently holds three offers from Boise State, Idaho State and Washington State with a handful of other programs continually showing interest.
“I took some visits during the offseason,” Savea said. “I went to Utah, BYU, Utah State, Oregon and Oregon State earlier this summer. I have an official visit setup to Washington State in late November when they play Washington, but I’m still undecided on the other visits.”
Savea also mentioned that his cousin is Honolulu (Hawaii) Punahou defensive end Canton Kaumatule.
We will keep in touch with Savea to see where things go with the Texas Tech coaches moving forward.
- Clare
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Matt was in New Orleans last weekend, and he got to spend some time at Warren Easton high school, where both five star wide receiver Tyron Johnson and four star linebacker Arthur McGinnis play ball. He also spoke to a few other prospects at the school, including 2016 four star wide receiver Clyde Leflore-Chriss.
Here is what Matt was able to gather from the 2016 four-star receiver.
“I don’t really have a top list of schools right now, but schools that have been showing me lots of love are Ole Miss, LSU, Clemson, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Arkansas.”
Being the 101st ranked player in the 2016 class, it is no surprise that a lot of schools are already going after Leflore-Chriss. He even recently took an unofficial visit to Ole Miss when they upset Alabama.
The WR has been in contact with Texas Tech as well, specifically cornerbacks coach Kevin Curtis, obviously.
“iIt’s going great. They show me lots of love and send me lots of mail. Coach Curtis hits me up about once a week and tells me to call him and stuff. It’s going great. They have really shown me that they care," he said. "I’ve known coach Curtis since the middle of our season last year. He started hitting me up, and we started talking. It’s been clicking ever since.”
Coach Curtis has been hard at work building relationships with a lot of Louisiana kids lately, but Leflore-Chriss has also caught the attention of the Texas Tech head coach. They've spoken over the phone before as well, and the Tech staff would be willing to play the talented receiver at the outside at X or Z or maybe even on the inside at Y.
“They say I can play both inside and outside. I have the speed and the height to do it.”
At six-foot-one, 170-pounds, the junior receiver has a lot of room to grow. Even early in the process, the number nine player in the state of Louisiana already has an idea of what he wants from his future school.
“I just need somewhere where I feel like family, where I feel like they are my brothers. I just want to go somewhere where I’m happy. It goes beyond football,” He said. “I just want to go somewhere where I’m held accountable for the person next to me, and just look out for the person next to me and all that. It goes deeper than football for me.”
Leflore-Chriss already holds offers from Arkansas, Clemson, Georgia, Texas Tech, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, and UCLA among others. Being a 2016 prospect, this one is obviously a ways off from fully developing, but Tech's certainly cultivating a great relationship early on.
- Kohnle
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Texas Tech is out recruiting a lot of top talent in the state of Louisiana. High on Tech’s list of prospects in the secondary is Dutchtown (La.) safety Justin Reid. Just recently Reid and his primary recruiter, coach Kevin Curtis, were able to set up an official visit to Lubbock.
“I’m actually going to be going to Texas Tech for the Texas game,” Reid said.
“I actually talked to coach Curtis a couple days ago and that’s when we set up the official visit. We’ve just been talking about my season, talking about their season. He’s been telling me about some of the flaws they are having with their team that they are hoping to fix with the upcoming recruiting class.”
The three-star prospect likes what Texas Tech has accomplished on the recruiting trail and is excited to maybe be a part of what Texas Tech is building.
“I definitely think the coaching staff at Tech has done a phenomenal job at recruiting. They have a bunch of talent headed their way. They have done a real phenomenal job with their recruiting class, and I can see the huge expectations placed on my class because they have a squad coming up, they have a real good squad coming up,” Reid said. “I’m just excited to go down there and see what the program is all about and see where I would fit in if I decided to choose to go to Texas Tech.”
Reid gave a little preview on what he is hoping to see from Lubbock on his visit.
“To see the game-day environment and get a vibe and feel the game-day chills, trying to get a vibe for how I think I would feel if I was one of the players strapping it up to go out and play.”
Ranked as the 38th player in the state of Louisiana, Reid is also big on the opportunity of early playing time that Tech provides.
“Playing early is definitely important and is something I’m definitely looking for in my recruitment.”
Reid holds nearly 20 scholarship offers but has recently narrowed down his college choices. Where does Tech stand amidst the other schools?
“They are still one of the teams at the top of my charts, they are still in my top five for sure.”
“Really the main schools I’m talking to right now are Texas Tech, Arizona State, Oklahoma, and Oregon and Kansas State too.”
Reid stated that he plans on committing after he takes all of his official visits, but as of right now has only two visits scheduled. He took one to Oklahoma three weeks ago and will take the Tech visit on November 1.
Reid has 54 tackles, two interceptions, a sack, and five tackles for loss on the season so far.
“I took an Oklahoma official about three weeks ago, and I’m planning this Texas Tech one, but I don’t have any other visits set up right now. I do plan on taking all my official visits though.”
“I plan on committing after I take all my visits.”
- Kohnle
This post was edited on 10/17 10:46 AM by A. Dickens
If you're in the Lubbock area and looking to get into shape, but don't know where to start, check out the website for Cardinal's Fitness. You can sign up for individual classes -- no contract or membership required -- that are good for people at any fitness level.
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The Red Raiders are looking to add a small number of defensive backs in the 2015 class, and St. Petersberg (Florida) Gibbs cornerback Tyrell Hubbard-Smith is a prospect now receiving interest from the coaching staff. The DB moved from Lakewood high school to Gibbs over the summer and has started to receive more interest from college programs over the past few months.
“I transferred from Lakewood over the offseason and was originally introduced to coach (Kevin) Curtis by my friend Ryan Davis,” Hubbard-Smith said. “We started talking back in the spring and have stayed in touch since then.
“I still connect with him on twitter after every game. I send him updates, stats and highlights. He always replies with advice and actually coaches me on things to work on.”
The five-foot-10, 182-pound prospect went on to share more about his relationship with the Tech cornerbacks coach.
“Coach Curtis is an honest, upfront guy,” Hubbard-Smith said. “He talks to me as an equal and gives me really good advice. We mostly talk about life when we connect, but he motivates me to do more on the field and earn my success while building my abilities."
However, Curtis has let the CB now that Tech will only be taking one corner this year. There are a few prospects in front of him in line right now, but the Florida native is very appreciative of the honesty.
“Coach told me that the team is only taking one corner in this class and he is looking at three guys right now, but that his is definitely interested in me too. I actually appreciate his honesty because it’s better than him promising something that might not happen.”
Hubbard-Smith is also familiar with current Texas Tech cornerback Nigel Bethel, a fellow Florida native.
“I’m friends with Nigel and have talked with him about Texas Tech,” Hubbard-Smith said. “Growing up in Florida most kids look at Miami, Florida and Florida State. Nigel told me that he chose Tech because you can make your own name there and do your own thing.
“Coach Curtis told me that he likes Florida guys in the secondary. He wants to build a pipeline of kids from Florida high schools to Texas Tech.”
The standout corner prospect currently holds six scholarship offers and has received interest from a handful of other college programs.
“I have been hearing from Texas Tech, West Virginia, Ole Miss, Clemson and USF lately,” Hubbard-Smith said. “I speak with Tech, USF and Clemson coaches the most. I actually speak with coach Curtis more often than the others and think they might be my next offer."
He's already taken a few trips unofficially in-state, but he'd like to make it to a few different schools across the country on officials.
“I took unofficial visits to some local programs – Florida International and South Florida this summer. I’m waiting to see what happens with any of this new interest, but would like to visit Texas Tech, West Virginia, Clemson and Ole Miss before making my decision.”
Hubbard-Smith does not have a timetable for his decision, but would like to make his commitment by December or early January at the latest.
We will keep in touch with Hubbard-Smith to see where things go with Texas Tech moving forward.
- Clare
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Spring (Texas) defensive end Lonzell Gilmore camped with the Red Raiders this summer at the Houston Westfield camp, and he was one of several standouts on the defensive side of the ball. Tech has been watching the DE progress this fall, and they've now gotten back in touch.
“I spoke with the Texas Tech coaches last week,” Gilmore said. “It was all of the defensive coaches. First it was coach (John) Scott, then coach (Mike) Smith and then coach (Kevin) Curtis."
Tech ran him through both the bandit and defensive end drills at the camp, and it's looking like they're eyeing him for the rushing outside linebacker position.
“The coaches have watched a lot of my film and told me they want to start keeping a closer eye on me moving forward. They really like my length, wingspan and see me as a pass-rushing linebacker in their defense. I think it would be the bandit-backer position.”
Gilmore had the chance to spend time around the Texas Tech coaches at the camp this summer and shared his thoughts on the experience.
“The Tech coaches are all great guys, very funny coaches and a lot of fun to be around,” Gilmore said. “I met a lot of the coaches that day and have stayed in touch with coach Curtis every other week since the camp."
As previously stated, he went through the linebacker drills at the Westfield camp, and it's a position that's unfamiliar to him. However, he excelled at the camp.
“I had never played a lot of linebacker before, but went through some drills with coach Smith and some of the other coaches at the camp. I ended up having a great day and went undefeated in the one-on-one drills. The coaches even told me that I performed well that day.”
The six-foot-three, 220-pound defensive end prospect currently holds three offers and shared his thoughts on the possibility of receiving an offer from Texas Tech.
“I would love to get an offer from Texas Tech,” Gilmore said. “They are one of the top Texas schools and it seems like a great program. I would like to major in graphic design and checked online that Tech has a good program for graphic design."
“Of the schools that have offered, I would say that Nevada shows a lot of love and communicates with me the most. I don’t have any visits setup for during the season, but plan on taking some official visits after the season and will see what my options are then.”
We will keep in touch with Gilmore to see where things go with the Texas Tech coaches moving forward.
- Clare
---
I connected with Kapolei (Hawaii) offensive tackle Pesi Savea this week to talk recruiting. Turns out, the six-foot-seven, 310-pound prospect has been in touch with Texas Tech offensive line coach Lee Hays for quite some time now.
“I started to hear from Texas Tech during my junior season,” Savea said. “Coach (Lee) Hays has been in contact with me and is planning on coming out to the island to visit with me."
They've developed a solid relationship over that time, too, and they speak on fairly frequent basis.
“Coach Hays is a very cool coach, we talk a few times per week. He usually asks me about my recruitment, which schools I’m hearing from and we spend a lot of our time getting to know one another.”
Savea currently holds three offers from Boise State, Idaho State and Washington State with a handful of other programs continually showing interest.
“I took some visits during the offseason,” Savea said. “I went to Utah, BYU, Utah State, Oregon and Oregon State earlier this summer. I have an official visit setup to Washington State in late November when they play Washington, but I’m still undecided on the other visits.”
Savea also mentioned that his cousin is Honolulu (Hawaii) Punahou defensive end Canton Kaumatule.
We will keep in touch with Savea to see where things go with the Texas Tech coaches moving forward.
- Clare
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Matt was in New Orleans last weekend, and he got to spend some time at Warren Easton high school, where both five star wide receiver Tyron Johnson and four star linebacker Arthur McGinnis play ball. He also spoke to a few other prospects at the school, including 2016 four star wide receiver Clyde Leflore-Chriss.
Here is what Matt was able to gather from the 2016 four-star receiver.
“I don’t really have a top list of schools right now, but schools that have been showing me lots of love are Ole Miss, LSU, Clemson, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Arkansas.”
Being the 101st ranked player in the 2016 class, it is no surprise that a lot of schools are already going after Leflore-Chriss. He even recently took an unofficial visit to Ole Miss when they upset Alabama.
The WR has been in contact with Texas Tech as well, specifically cornerbacks coach Kevin Curtis, obviously.
“iIt’s going great. They show me lots of love and send me lots of mail. Coach Curtis hits me up about once a week and tells me to call him and stuff. It’s going great. They have really shown me that they care," he said. "I’ve known coach Curtis since the middle of our season last year. He started hitting me up, and we started talking. It’s been clicking ever since.”
Coach Curtis has been hard at work building relationships with a lot of Louisiana kids lately, but Leflore-Chriss has also caught the attention of the Texas Tech head coach. They've spoken over the phone before as well, and the Tech staff would be willing to play the talented receiver at the outside at X or Z or maybe even on the inside at Y.
“They say I can play both inside and outside. I have the speed and the height to do it.”
At six-foot-one, 170-pounds, the junior receiver has a lot of room to grow. Even early in the process, the number nine player in the state of Louisiana already has an idea of what he wants from his future school.
“I just need somewhere where I feel like family, where I feel like they are my brothers. I just want to go somewhere where I’m happy. It goes beyond football,” He said. “I just want to go somewhere where I’m held accountable for the person next to me, and just look out for the person next to me and all that. It goes deeper than football for me.”
Leflore-Chriss already holds offers from Arkansas, Clemson, Georgia, Texas Tech, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, and UCLA among others. Being a 2016 prospect, this one is obviously a ways off from fully developing, but Tech's certainly cultivating a great relationship early on.
- Kohnle
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Texas Tech is out recruiting a lot of top talent in the state of Louisiana. High on Tech’s list of prospects in the secondary is Dutchtown (La.) safety Justin Reid. Just recently Reid and his primary recruiter, coach Kevin Curtis, were able to set up an official visit to Lubbock.
“I’m actually going to be going to Texas Tech for the Texas game,” Reid said.
“I actually talked to coach Curtis a couple days ago and that’s when we set up the official visit. We’ve just been talking about my season, talking about their season. He’s been telling me about some of the flaws they are having with their team that they are hoping to fix with the upcoming recruiting class.”
The three-star prospect likes what Texas Tech has accomplished on the recruiting trail and is excited to maybe be a part of what Texas Tech is building.
“I definitely think the coaching staff at Tech has done a phenomenal job at recruiting. They have a bunch of talent headed their way. They have done a real phenomenal job with their recruiting class, and I can see the huge expectations placed on my class because they have a squad coming up, they have a real good squad coming up,” Reid said. “I’m just excited to go down there and see what the program is all about and see where I would fit in if I decided to choose to go to Texas Tech.”
Reid gave a little preview on what he is hoping to see from Lubbock on his visit.
“To see the game-day environment and get a vibe and feel the game-day chills, trying to get a vibe for how I think I would feel if I was one of the players strapping it up to go out and play.”
Ranked as the 38th player in the state of Louisiana, Reid is also big on the opportunity of early playing time that Tech provides.
“Playing early is definitely important and is something I’m definitely looking for in my recruitment.”
Reid holds nearly 20 scholarship offers but has recently narrowed down his college choices. Where does Tech stand amidst the other schools?
“They are still one of the teams at the top of my charts, they are still in my top five for sure.”
“Really the main schools I’m talking to right now are Texas Tech, Arizona State, Oklahoma, and Oregon and Kansas State too.”
Reid stated that he plans on committing after he takes all of his official visits, but as of right now has only two visits scheduled. He took one to Oklahoma three weeks ago and will take the Tech visit on November 1.
Reid has 54 tackles, two interceptions, a sack, and five tackles for loss on the season so far.
“I took an Oklahoma official about three weeks ago, and I’m planning this Texas Tech one, but I don’t have any other visits set up right now. I do plan on taking all my official visits though.”
“I plan on committing after I take all my visits.”
- Kohnle
This post was edited on 10/17 10:46 AM by A. Dickens
