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Rehash Of Thursday's Recruiting Tidbits
- Pflugerville (Texas) Hendrickson running back and Texas Tech commit
Kenny Williams spent a good deal of time with running backs coach Chad
Scott yesterday. We spoke with one source in the Austin area with knowledge of
the visit who said that the four-star prospect was quite adamant in saying that
he was not wavering or questioning his commitment to Tech.
- The commitment of Lakeland (Fla.) Kathleen linebacker Gionni Paul
to Arizona State last night took a lot of people by surprise. The Red Raiders
visited him in person earlier this week and finalized his plans to visit the
South Plains this weekend; there was a sense late yesterday that Tech was
working to see if they were still in the mix or not.
- Level
.
Jackson Hosted Tuberville
McKeesport (Pa.) has been a popular place for Division I coaches in recent
weeks, and defensive lineman Branden Jackson is a big reason
why. The 6-foot-4, 220 pounder has hosted a few coaches this past week as he is
trying to decide where he will play in college.
Tech head coach Tommy Tuberville and Jackson's recruiting
coach, Robert Prunty stopped by this week to see Jackson.
"It was good; we didn't really talk about much," Jackson said. "We talked about
life and football and things like that. Coach Prunty and the defensive
coordinator had already been up here earlier last week and that's when we talked
more about positions and where I would be on the field, who is in front of me
and stuff like that if I were to come."
He said it is exciting to him that the head coach of any major football program
would come and see him personally, but Jackson said it was even more exciting
because of the other programs that have been visiting him this week.
"It was exciting, it was real exciting," Jackson said. "Especially because the
day before at school, coach Chip Kelly and Coach (Jerry) Azzinaro both came in
to see me, as well."
Jackson said he is still deciding which school he wants to attend next year, but
he said he does have an idea of which schools are in the running.
"I like all the schools that I have visited," Jackson said, "I like them all,
and I also like Michigan State."
Jackson has visited Iowa, Oregon, Rutgers and Texas Tech, which still leaves one
official visit for him to take. He said he plans on taking it, but hasn't
decided where it will be to.
"I've got one more visit left, but I don't know who I'm going to take it with,"
Jackson said. "I haven't even thought about it."
- Fleming
.
Robertson Focused On Title Run
We talked to Longview (Texas) athlete LaDarrin Robertson about
his team's come from behind victory 28-14 over Mesquite Horn last week. Longview
scored 28 straight points to advance to the semifinals; Robertson rushed for 218
yards and two touchdowns (148 in the second half).
"We didn't start the game off that well and we had to play hard to come back
throughout the game. We started playing better sometime in the second quarter
and it was all downhill from there. That is my first win in Baylor's stadium so
it was a good feeling."
When asked about receiving any in-home visits from coaches, Robertson only wants
one school to show up at his house after his state championship run.
"I know they are coming down to talk to my family and me but I think they are
waiting until I am done with my season first. I am really just focusing on
trying to win a state championship but I am excited to host Texas Tech coaches
in my house and hope to help them one day win a championship."
- Hair
.
Daniels Ready To Get To Lubbock
Albuquerque (N.M.) La Cueva athlete and Tech commit Ronnie Daniels
will graduate from high school next week.
"I guess I feel accomplished to even be at the point right now, I am blessed to
have graduated from high school and being able to take my talents to the next
level," he said. "To be graduating a semester early means a lot to me and my
family. These four years have gone by fast and this semester probably went by
the fastest but I am excited for the future so I have not been looking too much
at the past."
The 6-foot-1, 195-pounder has already signed his scholarship papers and now is
just waiting to move down to the South Plains.
"I am excited about going there early, I hope it helps me out some and give me
an advantage over everyone else and help me learn the system," he said. "I have
never really had a full year to train for football because I have always been
doing basketball or track so it is just good to see how much I can improve with
a whole semester of football."
Daniels, New Mexico all-time leading rusher (5,883 yards) is not shy about his
plans to come in and contribute early for the Red Raiders.
"Yes, that is the plan. I am going to try to become an impact player as a true
freshman and become a playmaker for this team and use my abilities to help this
team as much as I can."
- Hair
Marquez Ready To Contribute
Odessa (Texas) running back and Texas commit Bradley Marquez
put the finishing touches on his senior season a couple of weeks ago and now has
his sights on preparing himself physically for the transition into collegiate
athletics. His senior season saw his team suffer multiple key injuries and face
a good deal of adversity, but Marquez notes that going through this kind of
season will help him in the future.
"I think it has prepared me a lot, the way that our coaching staff has coached
me," he said. "We have quite a few coaches that have played at the next level,
maybe not D-1 but especially D-2 and D-3; especially with them knowing what it
takes to get to the next level. It has helped prepare me better than coaches
that didn't play on the next level could. I guess from the mental aspect from
the game is a lot for a senior year because we faced a whole lot of adversity
that we had to overcome. The way that we fought back and the way that I was
looked to help lead this team will help me on the next level; as well as
competition. We played some fast teams and fast guys and that will always help
make me better, especially with what's to come next year."
Much has been said about where Marquez would finally line up once he got onto
campus, being that Tech currently is looking at signing four running backs in
this 2011 class, but said that he is open to what the coaching staff has to say
about when and where he might play.
"It is kind of up in there air, but we haven't really talked about it that
much," he said. "I'm signing as a running back and I understand that we are
signing four running backs, so we're not all going to play running back. Whether
who it's going to be and who plays what position, it is just going to be up to
them. They are going to set us up with the best personnel to give us the best
chance to win; that's all they can do. I have no problem playing any position,
it doesn't matter to me, and I'm just going out there to win. That's my number
one goal, to win games, and I will play where ever I have to to win.
"My goal right now is for me to start early where ever I can," he continued. "I
want to start as a true freshman, and hopefully I will prepare myself to start
as a true freshman. If I do have to redshirt, yeah I would be fine with it and I
bet that it would be something that I would want, but I want anything that would
be best for me. If the coaches think that red-shirting is best for me, well then
that is fine by me, but my goal, for myself, is to go and workout this summer
and this offseason to prepare myself to play as a true freshman, at whatever
position it may be."
Marquez committed to Tech in May and indicated that Tuberville's reputation for
running the ball more was key for his decision to commit to the Red Raiders and
even cited a specific example from this season that has him excited to play for
the Red Raiders.
"Tuberville and his coaching staff would be the main reason," he said. "Me
personally, nothing against the last coaching staff that was there, but for
myself I didn't think that the system was for me and that their offense probably
wasn't for me, from a running back standpoint. When Tuberville came in, you knew
that they were going to run the ball a lot more and showed it at times, not
necessarily all the time because there is always going to be the Air Raid no
matter what at Tech, but giving the ball to the running back a lot more. That
showed in the Missouri game where Baron Batch had 134 yards, over 20 carries.
That's what attracted me the most because I knew his track record with the guys
that he has coached in the past, and I knew what I was getting myself into and I
wanted to play for him. The coaching staff, you just can't say enough about
them, I get along with all of them; it's like a big family. That's a big plus to
me, on top of Tech being close to home for me."
Speaking of family, the commits in this recruiting class have cited that as a
big part in all of their decision to play for Texas Tech, They have also started
to network amongst themselves. The majority of the commits in the 2011 class
that will not be graduating early will be taking their official visits on the
same weekend in January and Marquez is one of them. The group is looking forward
to both, spending time around the football program and each other.
"We are going to hang out for sure, but exactly what we don't know yet," he
said. "We're kind of just going to go with the flow and it'll kind of depend on
the coaches because there will be meetings and things like that, so there will
be working around that but we are for sure going to hang out; there is no doubt
about that."
- Rogers
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This post was edited on 12/16 9:55 PM by A. Dickens
