The Red Raider Confidential is sponsored by Cardinal's Sports Center. If you need Texas Tech gear or Under Armour apparel, the best place to go in our opinion is Cardinal's -- they have a tremendous location in Lubbock (Slide and S. Loop 289), a store in Plano and a fantastic selection on their website.
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.?Level and I have been attending classes at Cardinal's for several weeks now, and they've made a world of difference.
---
LATEST ON QUARTERBACK RECRUITING
As many of you know by now, the Red Raiders have targeted and offered three quarterbacks -- Wichita Falls Rider's J.T. Barrett, Southlake Carroll's Kenny Hill and Colleyville Heritage's Cody Thomas. It doesn't appear that any of the three are in a hurry to decide, but it does appear that Hill will make a decision in about a month or so. We've been told by sources close to Hill that he's leaning toward making a decision sometime around Southlake Carroll's spring game in late May.
With Barrett and Thomas, who knows. Neither is tipping their hand to anyone.
Tech is in a bit of standstill until these prospects start making their decisions.
Neal Brown will be in to see Barrett on Monday and he'll see Hill and Thomas on Tuesday, which should give the Red Raiders a better feel for what those guys are thinking right now.
From everything I can gather, it appears that Tech is in pretty good shape with all three players but that doesn't mean they are guaranteed to land any of them -- but they aren't out on any of them, either.
Two other quarterback prospects that will be in play are Temple's Zach Allen and Dallas Skyline's Devante Kincade. I think Brown is wanting to see those guys in person before offering.
It's an unusual scenario, and none of it is ideal, but several schools are in the same boat because everyone essentially waiting on the same three prospects to do something.
Tech's plan is still to take two quarterbacks and one thing they have going for them is that it's a deep year in Texas for signal callers.
- Level
---
HANNAHS READY TO PLAY
With the last batch of 2012 basketball recruits signing their LOIs within the next few days and weeks, this recruiting cycle is getting ready to come to a close. Little Rock (Ark.) Pulaski Academy shooting guard Dusty Hannahs signed with Tech in the early period last fall, but his friend and former AAU teammate Aaron Ross signed with Tech on Wednesday. Hannahs is excited to play with the fellow Arkansas native and hopes they can make an impact early on.
"I'm so excited to play with Aaron," Hannahs said. "I've played against him since I've been in third grade. He's from Arkansas, same city of Little Rock. He's always been very good, very good at basketball. He's a good kid too. That's going to be my roommate. If I could tell the fans out there reading this what type of game he's got -- take a Carmelo Anthony, Paul Pierce type guy and it's so deceptive. he's 6-8, can shoot, move, and he's very fun to watch.
"We've always just known where each other's going to be and all that. He's found me on shots in games, and I've found him. It's going to be really fun to work hard and hopefully be able to do that on the college level."
Hannahs wants to bring the chemistry he's built with the forward to Lubbock and revitalize the Red Raider hoops program.
"Yeah, you could tell the team was struggling with scoring and stuff," Hannahs said. "Jordan Tolbert's a great post presence, but once they buckled down on him, no offense to him, but with the lack of perimeter scoring it's hard for him to get the open looks he deserves. Hopefully me and Ross, and what I've heard from point guard Daylen Robinson, can open up the outside of the court and really spread the court for the team. I just want to win when we get there and make the fans happy, because I think Texas Tech is a university on the rise in football and basketball. I can't wait to be a part of it."
While he hasn't seen Wanaah Bail or Michael Carey play, Hannahs has heard great things about his soon to be teammates. The Pulaski Academy shooter feels that Tech's recruiting class is extremely underrated and could surprise many an onlooker this fall.
"My good friend Archie Goodwin signed with Kentucky, and he told me he played with Wanaah Bail. I've never got to see him play, but I've heard great things about him," he said. "(Ross and Bail) are big time recruits, and you know how the rankings thing works. I don't see myself as a two star, and I don't see Ross and Bail as three and four stars. I think we really have a really good recruiting class under the radar and I think we're going to shock a lot of people next year.
- McKay
---
LATEST ON DAKOTA AUSTIN, CB RECRUITING
We checked in with a couple of sources yesterday about Lancaster (Texas) product Dakota Austin. The 2013 defensive back lists a Texas Tech offer, but those sources cast some doubt on the veracity of that claim.
From what we understand, Tech's primary focus at cornerback at this point is with two Oklahoma prospects -- Lawton's Maurice Chandler and Tulsa East Central's Stanvon Taylor -- and Sugar Land Dulles' Maurice Smith.
As far as Austin is concerned, we have removed the Tech offer from his profile until we're able to confirm he holds one.
- Dickens
---
LOLLAR DISCUSSES SURGERY
Defensive tackle signee J.J. Lollar had successful eye surgery last Thursday -- his playing career will undoubtedly continue.
"Basically what they did was they sucked all the blood and all the liquids out of my eye that were leaking into my retina and around the retina," Lollar said. "my vision was 20/350 and the day after my surgery it was 20/60. The reason the doctor said it's not 20/20 is because my pupil is still dilated from the surgery.
"Over the next week to two weeks my 20/20 vision will be restored."
There's a little concern the condition could come back, but it's unlikely.
"The doctor said it could happen again, but he doesn't see it happening," Lollar said. "He thinks I'll have a cataract around the eye by the time I'm 25, but a cataract surgery will fix that. Other than that I'll be just fine."
Having a successful surgery is a big relief for Lollar and not just from a football standpoint.
"I was pretty scared at first," he said. "The first doctor I went to, when he first realized it, told me I was going to die. He told me all my internal organs were going to shut down and that I needed to come back in two weeks. I was freaking out, this guy just told me I was going to die and I should come back in two weeks. So then we transferred to Houston and then for two-to-three weeks they couldn't figure anything out until we went to another doctor at the Baylor center in Houston. He was the one able to figure it out.
"So I do feel like I dodged a bullet from being close to death to learning that I lost vision for two months and it's coming back. It's a miracle from God though because no one thought my vision would restore right from the surgery like it has."
Lollar has not been permitted to work out since the eye condition arose in February, but said as soon as he's cleared he will start working again.
- Graham
---
MISC.
We've heard strong indications over the last week or so that Bean Willis will
transfer from Texas Tech. Nothing is official, of course, but everything that we
are hearing points to Willis not being back next season.
- Level
---
To view previous installments of the Red Raider Confidential, you can visit the archives by clicking here.
Remember, if you're looking for Texas Tech gear or Under Armour apparel, be sure to check out Cardinal's Sports Center!
Thank you for subscribing to RedRaiderSports.com!
This post was edited on 4/13 8:08 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.?Level and I have been attending classes at Cardinal's for several weeks now, and they've made a world of difference.
---
LATEST ON QUARTERBACK RECRUITING
As many of you know by now, the Red Raiders have targeted and offered three quarterbacks -- Wichita Falls Rider's J.T. Barrett, Southlake Carroll's Kenny Hill and Colleyville Heritage's Cody Thomas. It doesn't appear that any of the three are in a hurry to decide, but it does appear that Hill will make a decision in about a month or so. We've been told by sources close to Hill that he's leaning toward making a decision sometime around Southlake Carroll's spring game in late May.
With Barrett and Thomas, who knows. Neither is tipping their hand to anyone.
Tech is in a bit of standstill until these prospects start making their decisions.
Neal Brown will be in to see Barrett on Monday and he'll see Hill and Thomas on Tuesday, which should give the Red Raiders a better feel for what those guys are thinking right now.
From everything I can gather, it appears that Tech is in pretty good shape with all three players but that doesn't mean they are guaranteed to land any of them -- but they aren't out on any of them, either.
Two other quarterback prospects that will be in play are Temple's Zach Allen and Dallas Skyline's Devante Kincade. I think Brown is wanting to see those guys in person before offering.
It's an unusual scenario, and none of it is ideal, but several schools are in the same boat because everyone essentially waiting on the same three prospects to do something.
Tech's plan is still to take two quarterbacks and one thing they have going for them is that it's a deep year in Texas for signal callers.
- Level
---
HANNAHS READY TO PLAY
With the last batch of 2012 basketball recruits signing their LOIs within the next few days and weeks, this recruiting cycle is getting ready to come to a close. Little Rock (Ark.) Pulaski Academy shooting guard Dusty Hannahs signed with Tech in the early period last fall, but his friend and former AAU teammate Aaron Ross signed with Tech on Wednesday. Hannahs is excited to play with the fellow Arkansas native and hopes they can make an impact early on.
"I'm so excited to play with Aaron," Hannahs said. "I've played against him since I've been in third grade. He's from Arkansas, same city of Little Rock. He's always been very good, very good at basketball. He's a good kid too. That's going to be my roommate. If I could tell the fans out there reading this what type of game he's got -- take a Carmelo Anthony, Paul Pierce type guy and it's so deceptive. he's 6-8, can shoot, move, and he's very fun to watch.
"We've always just known where each other's going to be and all that. He's found me on shots in games, and I've found him. It's going to be really fun to work hard and hopefully be able to do that on the college level."
Hannahs wants to bring the chemistry he's built with the forward to Lubbock and revitalize the Red Raider hoops program.
"Yeah, you could tell the team was struggling with scoring and stuff," Hannahs said. "Jordan Tolbert's a great post presence, but once they buckled down on him, no offense to him, but with the lack of perimeter scoring it's hard for him to get the open looks he deserves. Hopefully me and Ross, and what I've heard from point guard Daylen Robinson, can open up the outside of the court and really spread the court for the team. I just want to win when we get there and make the fans happy, because I think Texas Tech is a university on the rise in football and basketball. I can't wait to be a part of it."
While he hasn't seen Wanaah Bail or Michael Carey play, Hannahs has heard great things about his soon to be teammates. The Pulaski Academy shooter feels that Tech's recruiting class is extremely underrated and could surprise many an onlooker this fall.
"My good friend Archie Goodwin signed with Kentucky, and he told me he played with Wanaah Bail. I've never got to see him play, but I've heard great things about him," he said. "(Ross and Bail) are big time recruits, and you know how the rankings thing works. I don't see myself as a two star, and I don't see Ross and Bail as three and four stars. I think we really have a really good recruiting class under the radar and I think we're going to shock a lot of people next year.
- McKay
---
LATEST ON DAKOTA AUSTIN, CB RECRUITING
We checked in with a couple of sources yesterday about Lancaster (Texas) product Dakota Austin. The 2013 defensive back lists a Texas Tech offer, but those sources cast some doubt on the veracity of that claim.
From what we understand, Tech's primary focus at cornerback at this point is with two Oklahoma prospects -- Lawton's Maurice Chandler and Tulsa East Central's Stanvon Taylor -- and Sugar Land Dulles' Maurice Smith.
As far as Austin is concerned, we have removed the Tech offer from his profile until we're able to confirm he holds one.
- Dickens
---
LOLLAR DISCUSSES SURGERY
Defensive tackle signee J.J. Lollar had successful eye surgery last Thursday -- his playing career will undoubtedly continue.
"Basically what they did was they sucked all the blood and all the liquids out of my eye that were leaking into my retina and around the retina," Lollar said. "my vision was 20/350 and the day after my surgery it was 20/60. The reason the doctor said it's not 20/20 is because my pupil is still dilated from the surgery.
"Over the next week to two weeks my 20/20 vision will be restored."
There's a little concern the condition could come back, but it's unlikely.
"The doctor said it could happen again, but he doesn't see it happening," Lollar said. "He thinks I'll have a cataract around the eye by the time I'm 25, but a cataract surgery will fix that. Other than that I'll be just fine."
Having a successful surgery is a big relief for Lollar and not just from a football standpoint.
"I was pretty scared at first," he said. "The first doctor I went to, when he first realized it, told me I was going to die. He told me all my internal organs were going to shut down and that I needed to come back in two weeks. I was freaking out, this guy just told me I was going to die and I should come back in two weeks. So then we transferred to Houston and then for two-to-three weeks they couldn't figure anything out until we went to another doctor at the Baylor center in Houston. He was the one able to figure it out.
"So I do feel like I dodged a bullet from being close to death to learning that I lost vision for two months and it's coming back. It's a miracle from God though because no one thought my vision would restore right from the surgery like it has."
Lollar has not been permitted to work out since the eye condition arose in February, but said as soon as he's cleared he will start working again.
- Graham
---
MISC.
We've heard strong indications over the last week or so that Bean Willis will
transfer from Texas Tech. Nothing is official, of course, but everything that we
are hearing points to Willis not being back next season.
- Level
---
To view previous installments of the Red Raider Confidential, you can visit the archives by clicking here.
Remember, if you're looking for Texas Tech gear or Under Armour apparel, be sure to check out Cardinal's Sports Center!
Thank you for subscribing to RedRaiderSports.com!
This post was edited on 4/13 8:08 AM by A. Dickens
