five more weeks without football, we can do it!
it's Friday, let's Flare...
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WEEKLY LINKS
2025 cornerback Swayde Griffin picks up first offer from TTU
The Enchantment lands early knockout punch, eliminate Air Raiders from TBT
Rewind: Texas Tech's 2017 Recruiting Class
Texas Tech is a team to watch for 2025 Cibolo Steele WR Jalen Cooper
Some scouting notes on the latest Tech baseball commits
Fall Camp: Five To Watch For
Lance Barilow's strength program shows in Texas Tech newcomer measurables
TTU offers 2025 Duncanville cornerback Javion Holiday
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TTU RECRUITING THIS WEEK
it was another slow week on the recruiting trail as the dead period/quiet period comes to an end this week, but we have a preview of the pool party visit weekend and a 2025 unofficial visitor on campus to see the Red Raiders...
2025 WR on campus
as I mentioned, this week was still a quiet period, so this young man was most likely visiting the school or coming into town for some other event...but we can find out more
Saginaw 2025 wide receiver Jackson Gonzales, along with a few other teammates, was in town this week. The 6-foot-4, 180-pound receiver holds early offers from Arizona State, Liberty and UTSA.
Coaches hosting a Pool Party event this weekend
as the dead period ends, the Texas Tech coaches are hosting a pool party event and @B. Golan put together a preliminary list of prospects expected to be in town.
there are a handful of 2024 commitments coming into town and a few 2024 targets are expected to attend.
everyone is tuning in to see whether five-star wide receiver Micah Hudson visits Lubbock or College Station this weekend, consider me a 'he is coming to Lubbock' vote...but that being said, if Hudson for whatever reason goes to College Station, I really do not fear that from a Texas Tech standpoint. I'm not here to say 'do not worry at all' but there is much more to like about Texas Tech's chances vs. a combination of Jimbo/Petrino.
the other target expected to visit - Jordan wide receiver Vankeith Brown - is an interesting prospect and I'm curious to see whether the visit leads to an offer for the 6-foot-5, 190-pound standout.
Brown lists 10 total offers from Cal, Iowa State, Memphis, Connecticut, Kansas State, Nebraska, TCU, Toledo, Texas Southern and UTSA. He has visited Texas A&M, Oregon, TCU and Oklahoma so far...with only the Horned Frogs actually offering after the camp visit. The Aggies, Ducks and Sooners have all hosted Brown for campus visits + photoshoots, but no offer for the 6-foot-5 standout.
with his size and speed (reported 10.7 second 100m speed), it appears that the Red Raider coaches could look at Brown as a replacement to former commitment Ivan Carreon - another tall, lengthy pass catcher.
a prospect with 10 offers and real interest from these other programs this 'late' into the 2024 recruiting cycle is more than interesting, mostly because the coaches have limited spots in this 2024 class and what are the factors that go into deciding whether to offer or not...a campus visit usually results in an offer, so now we wait and see.
the main event - 2025 targets
the 2024 class has maybe 2-3 spots available, and this weekend will be great for commitments and these targets to spend time together...but this weekend is more about the underclassmen on campus.
QB Sawyer Anderson
OT Lamont Rogers
DE Kamauryn Morgan
OLB Anthony Williams
CB Micah Strickland
ATH TJ Tillman
WR Brock Boyd (2026)
these are confirmed visitors, they were most likely be a few more names added over the weekend...
Anderson is very intriguing, mostly because the 2025 QB dominoes have already fallen at several in-state programs and the Red Raiders - despite other reports - have been recruiting Anderson consistently. The 6-foot, 180-pound quarterback holds 25 total offers from programs across the country, including offers from Arkansas, Miami, Ole Miss, Oklahoma State, TCU, North Carolina, Texas A&M, Wisonsin and others.
The 5.7 three-star and Texas Top 100 prospect led his team to a second straight TAPPS D1 State Championship this season, finishing with 3,107 yards and 37 touchdowns passing along with 135 yards and four (4) touchdowns rushing.
the QBs always get the headlines, but these next three (3) prospects are all rated in the current Rivals 250 for the 2025 class with two (2) of them rated in the Rivals 100...
Mesquite Horn offensive tackle Lamont Rogers is the No. 23 overall prospect in the country, so essentially a five-star before they expand the 2025 rankings. The 6-foot-8, 275-pound prospect holds 26 total offers from programs around the country, including offers from Alabama, LSU, Michigan, Oklahoma, Tennessee, USC and others.
Red Oak defensive end Kamauryn Morgan is the No. 87 overall prospect in the country and currently lists 17 total offers from programs around the country, including offers from Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Miami, Oregon, Texas A&M, USC and others. I have watched Morgan compete in a few camps this offseason and he is just a large human being, but a large human being who still has two (2) seasons left at the high school level. He could easily reclass and compete in college next season, he is that good and that big...just a great job by the coaching staff getting a kid like this on campus to see what Lubbock is all about.
Brownsboro cornerback Micah Strickland is the No. 152 overall prospect in the country and currently lists four (4) total offers from Texas Tech, Nebraska, UTSA and Colorado State. The 6-foot-1, 172-pound propsect from East Texas has already been on campus twice for gameday visits (KU and OU), so this will mark visit No. 3 within the past year for the four-star standout. True to form, Strickland is another track & field standout and has tremendous speed and athleticism for his size.
Shadow Creek in Pearland (Houston area) has been cranking out a ton of talent over the years and is a program the Red Raiders have not necessarily been in the mix with, but McGuire's staff and their high school ties can definitely change that. 2025 outside linebacker Anthony Williams is coming to visit this weekend, and the 6-foot-4, 205-pound junior linebacker currently lists 13 total offers from programs across the country, including offers from Baylor, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Oregon, TCU, Texas and others.
Amarillo Tascosa athlete T.J. Tillman is a West Texas product coming to campus this weekend. The 6-foot, 170-pound prospect has visited campus a few times before and holds an offer from the Red Raiders. Tillman has played running back, wide receiver and defensive back for Tascosa.
Southlake Carroll 2026 wide receiver Brock Boyd is the lone sophomore on the current list of recruits coming in town this weekend. Boyd is the younger brother of current Texas Tech receiver Brady Boyd, but he is not just a younger brother, Brock holds seven (7) early offers from your Red Raiders, Baylor, Oklahoma, North Texas, Nebraska, TCU and UTSA. He is coming off a visit to Oklahoma and is now taking his third visit to the South Plains this year. There is a ton of time left for the 2026 recruiting cycle, but Brock is expected to be one of the top sophomore wideouts in the state.
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Bradley hype video + Price doing work
it is hard not to be excited about the wide receiver room going into this season, watch this hype video that Bradley posted earlier in the week. listed at 6-foot-5, 210-pounds, Bradley burst onto the scene last season as a big target and a receiver capable of beating defenses deep.
Price is not only a great locker room prescense / glue guy for this roster, but he is a bit slept on as a playmaker in this second year offense under Zac Kittley. The junior receiver had 513 yards and two (2) touchdowns last season along with his work as a kick-off / punt returner for the Red Raiders.
D-Rob is one of, if not 'the' top wide receiver trainers in the DFW area. He trains every local top prospect in addition to professionals and several other college receivers.
regardless of top trainer or not, it is always positive to see these guys pushing themselves to get better at this time of year...I believe Price is setup to be a playmaker in year two of Kittley's offense in Lubbock.
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speaking of hype, the TTU weight room is 'lit'
yes that says 'lit', I'm so young and cool...but even if this is somewhat standard for D1 college off-season workouts, you cannot deny the hype and togetherness (that is a word, right?) displayed in this video
'the Brand' is on full display here and look no further than Ben's article on the S&C program, roster height & weight updates...these young men are working and some of the pictures of incoming freshman + transfers - see below - are pretty eye-opening
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Texas Bowl rings are in...
bowl rings are bowl rings, but man these are probably a big deal to the players who fought hard down the stretch this last season to win four (4) straight games, including the bowl win against Ole Miss
my favorite detail is 'the brand' and the engraving of what 'the brand' means on the inside of the ring...just a pretty cool detail that only a few people will truly understand 15-20 years down the line
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new turf is coming in nicely...
not much to share here other than, wow this looks great so far...I was in Lubbock for a few days and seeing the construction up close and the massive change was pretty eye-opening
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Colorado to the Big 12 in 2024
the biggest news of the week is that the Coloardo Buffalos are headed back to the Big 12 conference starting in 2024
Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark is not playing any games, he has proven to be very effective in his tenure as the commissioner of this conference. I will not sit here and tell you how exciting this move is, etc/etc...Colorado is in a bad way football wise and the addition of Deion Sanders has given them a large amount of hype, but I'm more interested in which other school or schools the conference is looking to add, because after this season that would leave the conference at 13 total teams when Texas & Oklahoma leave for the SEC.
the schools most often mentioned are Arizona, Utah and Arizona State...the jewel or attractive option would be Oregon, but I just do not see any of these happening quickly
I listened to a podcast last night about the addition of Colorado and they made some great points...although the future of the Pac 12 is bleak - re: adding SDSU to replace Colorado for 10 total teams - the Arizona schools have been in the Pac 12 since the 1970s and Utah was added as a mid-major around 10 years ago, so those are loyalties/ties that could keep these schools from making the jump
but money talks, and an addition of SDSU for 10 teams is not going to fetch the type of TV money these programs would expect in a new deal
...also, does UConn interest anyone? I get the basketball angle and maybe a neighbor for West Virginia, but I kind of feel there are other / better options out there
Yormark is making chess moves, especially the 'pro rata' clause in this new TV deal where any 'new' programs added is capable of earning a full share of this new TV money...which is clearly the most attractive part of 'why' colleges look to make these moves in realignment
so...which school should be No. 14 or which schools should the conference add to 'keep up with the Jones' and get to 16 total teams?
I feel like that is the end game, because the Big 10 and SEC already have 16 teams...always facsinating to watch this unfold
also, I love love love this tweet from the BYU account yesterday...lololololol
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Recruiting - Around the Big 12
we look around the new-look conference this week after more new commitments were made, the rankings are now updated and have shifted the Sooners to the top class in the conference...
*listed in current Big 12 rankings order, new programs now officially added to the Rivals rankings list
Oklahoma - 16 total commitments, No. 17 class in the nation
the Sooners added two (2) new commitments this week...
RB Taylor Tatum
OL Eugene Brooks
Texas - 15 total commitments, No. 21 class in the nation
the Longhorns did not add any new commitments this week
Texas Tech - 18 total commitments, No. 29 class in the nation
the Red Raiders did not add any new commitments this week
West Virginia - 18 total commitments, No. 37 class in the nation
the Mountaineers did not add any new commitments this past week
UCF - 13 total commitments, No. 43 class in the nation
the Golden Knights did not add any new commitments this past week
Kansas - 15 total commitments, No. 44 class in the nation
the Jayhawks did not add any new commitments this past week
Cincinnati - 18 total commitments, No. 46 class in the nation
the Bearcats did not add any new commitments this past week
Iowa State - 16 total commitments, No. 48 class in the nation
the Cyclones added a new commitment this past week...
WR Brett Eskildsen
Oklahoma State - 13 total commitments, No. 53 class in the nation
the Cowboys did not add any new commitments this past week
TCU - 11 total commitments, No. 54 class in the nation
the Horned Frogs did not add any new commitments this past week
Baylor - 12 total commitments, No. 56 class in the nation
the Bears did not add any new commitments this past week
Houston - seven (7) total commitments, No. 82 class in the nation
the Cougars did not add any new commitments this past week
Kansas State - seven (7) total commitments, No. 83 class in the nation
the Wildcats did not add any new commitments this past week
BYU - eight (8) total commitments, No. 90 class in the nation
the Cougars did not add any new commitments this past week
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have a great weekend everyone!
