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 three convenient locations in Lubbock, a
brand new store in Plano and a fantastic selection on
their website.
Cardinal's
Wreck'em Tech T-Shirts are still available for purchase! They are the only
such t-shirts endorsed by Texas Tech and the Saddle Tramps. Tech will close out
the season with two-straight home games, so be sure to get your gameday gear in time to Red Out the
Jones this weekend!
No Rush With Grant
Mesquite (Texas) Horn wide receiver and current Tulsa commit
Jakeem Grant told RRS earlier this week that his recent
pick up of a Texas Tech offer has "changed (his) situation." The 5-foot-7,
157-pound prospect plans to visit the Red Raiders at some point but, after
speaking with Horn head coach Rodney Webb this week, it's clear that trip won't
come until after Grant's senior season has come to an end.
"To be honest with you, I have no idea (about how Tech's offer will impact
Grant's commitment to Tulsa)," Webb said. "He and I have not talked about it,
and we won't until the season's over.
"One of my rules is that we don't talk about recruiting during the season. We're
trying to win a state championship and all that stuff gets put on the back
burner. I know that the kids get contacted by recruiters during the open period
and that's fine with me, but as far as talking about it here at school, we just
don't do it."
Horn faces off against Leander tomorrow afternoon at Baylor's Floyd Casey
Stadium.
On the season, Grant has caught 63 passes for 1,140 yards and 12 touchdowns and
added 497 yards and nine scores on 61 carries.
"He has had an outstanding senior year," Webb said. "He has been a real
difference maker for us and we found lots of ways to get him the ball; he's just
a dynamic player. We've thrown it to him deep, we've thrown screens to him,
we've handed it to him, he's returned kicks; he's a very, very versatile player.
He's got that element of speed that people have a hard time handling."
- Rogers
.
Knight Will Be In Lubbock This Weekend
With his junior season over, San Antonio (Texas) Reagan quarterback
Trevor Knight is getting a jump on the recruiting process.
The 6-foot-2, 190 pound signal caller told RRS earlier this week that he planned
to attend Thursday's Texas-Texas A&M game and then follow it up with a trip to
Lubbock.
"That should be a pretty good game," he said. "Houston is missing their
quarterback, but they have lots of talent and are pretty quick. Texas Tech has
had a rougher year than they would have liked, but the future is very positive
for them and they want to improve their bowl chances with a win."
Knight said he is "pretty wide open" but noted that Texas, Texas A&M, TCU and
Tech are standing out to him right now.
- Hair
.
Dees Still Alive In Playoffs
Spanish Fort (Ala.) linebacker Blake Dees is still alive in the playoffs, and he
and his Toro teammates hope to keep their state championship hopes alive tonight
against Vigor.
"It's been a good season," he said. "We are now in the fourth round, and of
course the stakes are higher because we are very close to the state
championship. We had a good season and hopefully we can continue that success
this Friday.
"I'm really excited, and am always excited to play this game. That is who I am.
I can't wait to go out there and play with my boys and we believe we can win
because we've made it this far and we want to keep that up."
Dees said Spanish Fort will have their hands full tonight against Vigor.
"They are quick and a little undersized, but they are really fast and they all
play hard," Dees said. "They have a very good defense and that is why I think
they may stay in many of their ball games. Our offense is going to have to play
well, and our defense is going to have to shut them out."
- Rogers
.
Morales Keeping Fulse, Grant In The Loop
A lot of attention has been paid to the work
Michael Brewer has been doing on the recruiting trail, but a guy
whose name comes up just as often is 2011 commit
Tony Morales. This week both
Brandon Fulse and Jakeem Grant mentioned
Morales as being their initial connection to Tech's 2011 class.
"Tony Morales has been contacting me on Facebook and we've talked about what
Tech has to offer," Fulse said. "With me being out here in Florida, he's been
catching me up on what Texas is like, and what Lubbock is like. He's got a lot
of good things to say about it."
Grant also mentioned Morales as being in on the ground floor of his involvement
with Texas Tech.
"I started hearing from Tony around the same time as I started to hear from
Tech," he said. "I know he's one of the best offensive lineman in the country
and he's really excited about playing for the Red Raiders. He's go a lot of good
things to say about their program, and the class that they've put together so
far. He's really wanting me to be a part of it."
- Cowan
.
Brewer Still In The Championship Hunt
Austin (Texas) quarterback and Texas Tech commit Michael Brewer
has his team poised for another state championship run as the Lake Travis
Cavaliers enter the third round of the playoffs this weekend.
On the playoffs so far, Brewer had this to say, "It's been good, we're into the
third round now. We had two big wins in the first two rounds and we're just
going to take it from there."
Brewer is also preparing to graduate early as he has only about a month left in
high school. He plans on graduation being sometime in late December before
heading out to Lubbock soon thereafter.
"I'm still 100 percent Tech and I'm set to graduate in late December, get there
in January," he said adding, "finish playoffs here and start football in
Lubbock."
Brewer indicated that he is expecting the extra off season to help him on the
next level.
"I think it will help a lot, I really do; just getting there early, learning the
system, getting to know the team and just gain the whole half a year of
experience."
However, Brewer has said that he and the coaching staff have not discussed plans
on whether or not he will be red-shirted, although in all probabilities he will
sit out his first season on campus.
"We haven't really discussed that at all. A lot of it's just going to have to do
with what goes on during that spring ball. We're not really worried about that
right now, we're just worried about finishing up here in high school and then
once we do get to Lubbock we'll worry about that."
- Rogers
.
Washington Expects To Contribute Right Away
Missouri City (Texas) athlete
DeAndre Washington has been reflecting back on his senior season,
which saw a losing record (3-7), and evaluating his improvement heading into
playing on the collegiate level.
"I feel I have gotten better at being an every down back," he said. "I've worked
on blocking and my cut back abilities; I feel that I've done a pretty good job
with that this year preparing myself for next year."
When asked about what he thought his best quality as a running back was, he was
quick to single out his ball carrier vision.
"I think it's my vision. Most great running backs can have speed, you can have
power but without vision you can't really get anywhere."
During this rocky senior season where he was depended upon to carry the team's
offense, Washington was able to amass nearly 1,400 yards rushing and 14
touchdowns, averaging just over seven yards per carry.
Washington stated that he and Tech running backs coach Chad Scott
have talked about where he is projected to play once he arrives on the South
Plains and when he is expected to contribute.
"Actually, Coach Scott is expecting me to come in and make an immediate impact,"
he said. "I've talked to him, we've had a couple of conversations and he said he
would be nothing but disappointed if I don't come in there next year and push
for a starting position."
Despite his team having an off year and Washington being committed over three
months now, he indicated that Oklahoma State has continued to pursue him.
"I've heard from Oklahoma State, they've reached out to me and I've talked to
them a couple of times but they are really the only other school I've talked to
since I committed," he said.
Washington has already set up an official visit with Texas Tech but is still
working out the details on other possible trips around the country.
"Right now, I plan to take at least one more to Oklahoma State and maybe to
Boise State, but I know for sure that I'll be at Texas Tech on December 10;
those are the only ones that I have."
Washington committed to Texas Tech back in August over offers from Arizona,
Baylor, Boise State, Colorado, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas State, Oklahoma
State, Tulsa, among a few others.
- Rogers
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 12/3 7:09 AM by A. Dickens
