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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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Round Rock (Texas) Stony Point's Justin Gamble sits at the top of Tech's target list of 2015 wide receivers.
Gamble, who holds offers from Tech and Texas State, talks to the Red Raiders on a regular basis and has been hearing from numerous schools like Texas, TCU, Colorado, Ole Miss, California, Indiana and Iowa State as well.
"Coach Morris, I talked on the phone with him last night. We were just chopping it up a little bit," he said. "He was just telling me he's excited for the season. He's excited for me to get down there to Lubbock, and I told him I was excited to get up there."
Gamble has been an avid viewer of any Tech videos online. Not only do the videos have him pumped to visit Lubbock, but they've given him an inside look at what the new head football coach is all about.
"I've been watching all these videos of Coach Kingsbury on YouTube and he's just one of the most chill coaches I've ever seen," Gamble shared. "I just think it's pretty cool. He's not far from me or the players already up there and I can tell he can relate to them with all the videos I've watched. Kenny Williams, and, really, all of them said they can really relate to them and that he's a cool guy and great guy to get along with.
"I'm really excited to get up there. I'm tired of watching these same videos, I watch them like every night, and I just keep watching them. More than anything, I'm just ready to get up there."
Gamble is still working out the details for an unofficial visit to catch a game in Lubbock this season. Stony Point has a couple of Thursday night games this season and the Gamble family's plan is to schedule a trip to Lubbock for a game one of those weekends, most likely against Kansas State.
Just because Gamble has yet to visit the Hub City doesn't mean he hasn't heard all about it. The 2015 standout has plenty of various sources letting him in on what Tech has to offer.
"The running back, Kenny Williams, he played in my district, and I know his little brother, Jordan, so I know people up there," Gamble said. "I haven't talked to Kenny, but I've talked to Jordan and Jordan says its real cool up there. I've also been talking to a kid at our rival school, Robert (Castaneda), and he says its real cool up there and he really wants me to go. I'm just excited to get up there now."
Gamble -- who racked up 13 catches, 251 yards and two touchdowns in Stony Point's season-opener -- says his high school coaches feel Kliff Kingsbury's offense would be a great fit for their star receiver.
"My coaches, they're really on me about Texas Tech," Gamble said. "They told me it would be a perfect fit for me. I'm thinking it'll be a good fit too. One thing I just really like about them is that everybody gets to touch the ball. Everybody is involved in the offense and I thought that was pretty cool."
Tech, TCU and Colorado are the schools showing the most interest in the wide receiver.
Gamble, however, has tabbed the Red Raiders as the frontrunner for his services.
"They're in the lead right now," he said. "That's the first school that actually put 100 percent trust in me. I've always wanted an offer from somewhere, but I never knew the significance of a big time Division I Big 12 team just put their all their eggs in one basket like that and just offer me when no one else has.
"I just like them. If you play receiver I don't see why you wouldn't want to go to Texas Tech. They throw the ball all the time and as a receiver that's one thing you love."
- Rosen
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I caught up with Riverside (Calif.) C.C. offensive tackle Dominique Robertson, whose recruitment seems to be steady with his JUCO season starting this weekend.
Robertson continues to hear from the Red Raiders, specifically offensive line coach Lee Hays, and Tech is making sure the tackle knows they are extremely interested.
"I talked them a day or two ago on Facebook, Coach Hays," he said. "They're just telling me it's a great program, real family oriented. He's just telling me they're going to be needing tackles after this season because they have guys that are going to the league and guys being seniors."
Robertson now holds offers from Tech, Arizona, Arizona State, Fresno State, Kansas State and West Virginia while also receiving interest from numerous other programs around the country.
He hasn't set up any official visits just yet, but he is planning to make Lubbock one of his stops at some point this fall.
"I definitely am going to take one," Robertson said. "I just haven't set it up yet. I'll probably do it after the season and start setting stuff up. I want to check out Arizona, Arizona State, Kansas State, Boise State as well."
Robertson isn't naming any favorites and isn't in any hurry to make a decision until he can check out the different schools in person.
"I don't really have a favorite, but I'm interested in the schools," he said. "I'm just seeing who does the best this season, and where I can start at the soonest. I'll probably take official visits first and make a decision towards the end of the season."
On a side note: Tech is no stranger when it comes to plucking talent from Riverside. Robertson says they are looking at teammate wide receiver Sam Boyd "pretty hard". He may be a name to keep an eye on in the future.
- Rosen
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I got in touch with Tyler (Texas) Tyler J.C. defensive lineman William Coleman on Thursday night.
The JUCO defender is getting ready for his second game of the season. The lineman had a great stat line coming out of the first game against Fort Scott, Kansas, but he expects to play much better this weekend against Kilgore.
"It went pretty good," Coleman said. "We beat them 49-26. I had 11 tackles, two tackles for a loss and forced a fumble. It went pretty good. I wasn't real happy with my performance. I feel like I can do a lot more to be more of an impact player. It was my get in shape game, and I plan on doing a lot better this weekend."
Things are also picking up a bit on the recruiting trail for Coleman. He picked up an offer from West Virginia early last week and he's started hearing quite a bit from Mississippi State as well.
The Red Raiders are still squarely in the mix, however. Coleman has Texas Tech in his top three along with a few other BCS schools right now.
My top three right now is Texas Tech, Arizona State and West Virginia," he said.
While he was originally planning on taking many of his official visits throughout the season, it looks like he'll now push things back into December and then make a decision from there.
"I'm trying to take all of my officials in December," Coleman said. "I'll probably take all of them at the end of the season."
Coleman currently holds offers from Texas Tech, West Virginia, Kentucky, Arizona State and USF among others.
- McKay
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I also got in touch with Tyler (Texas) Tyler J.C. offensive tackle Drew Sarvary on Thursday.
The Red Raiders offered the former Florida A&M lineman back in August and they've been heavily in the mix ever since. The lineman is hearing from several schools right now and is taking things slow in the recruiting process.
"Things are picking up," Sarvary said. "I've got offers from North Texas, Tech, USF and Memphis so far. Things are going pretty well. I'm talking to all those schools pretty evenly. I have equal interest in all of them right now and not leaning towards any of them. We'll just wait and see through a couple of games to the end of the season and see what comes my way. When I feel like I have a good enough of a selection, I'll take a few visits, talk with my parents and see which one lines up with me the best."
With all those options on the table, Sarvary will no doubt take his fair share of visits. He isn't quite sure when he'll take those trips, but he will definitely be making his way out to Lubbock.
"I know for sure that I'm going to take one to Texas Tech," he said. "I haven't lined that up yet though. I've been talking to Coach Hays about it. Then I want to take officials to Memphis and a few other schools. I've got a pretty packed schedule with football this fall. We only have one Thursday night game so we'll see which school lines up the best then. I'll take the rest at the end of our season in late November."
When Tech first offered Sarvary back in August he wasn't too familiar with the school or the new coaching staff. He's gotten to know offensive line coach fairly well since then and is a big fan of the way that the former Houston assistant goes about his business.
"I like him a lot," the offensive tackle said. "I've been in contact with all the Texas Tech coaches. I've talked to Coach Hays a ton. I've talked to Coach Kingsbury as well. I call those guys all the time. Coach Hays really likes me, and they're in need of O-linemen right now. That's kind of a factor. I mean, all the other schools recruiting me need linemen, too. I want to play right away, but it has to be the right coaches and the right fit."
Seeing as he's a Florida native and a former Florida A&M player, some may think that Sarvary would be drawn back to his home state. The lineman does hold an offer from USF. While he admits that it would be nice to play at home, it's not a factor that will determine where he ends up.
"I'd be lying if I said it didn't give them any advantage," he said. "It gives them a little upper hand, but not much. That's nothing significant at all, but it is nice to have an option at home. It's a plus factor, but if I find the right fit it doesn't matter where I go."
Sarvary currently holds offers from Texas Tech, USF, North Texas, and Memphis.
- McKay
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Stephenville (Texas) 2015 quarterback Jarrett Stidham has a high-profile game against fellow perennial power Aledo tonight.
The 3A Yellow Jackets scraped by Prepa Tech, a high school team from Monterrey, Mexico, last week, but the quarterbacks thinks the kinks have been worked out to take on Aledo -- a 4A team that smoked another historically strong program in Dallas' Highland Park, 44-3, last week.
"We know they're a great team," Stidham said. "I think we don't know anyone better than them, but we did have success against them last year. We have some good ideas of what will work. We know they're a great team and what they'll bring. We're just going to go out there and do our thing."
Aledo was a school that has had Stephenville's number in recent years. That changed two seasons ago, but the Bearcats are once again favored in tonight's game.
One advantage Stephenville has is its quarterback.
Stidham has offers from Tech, Texas, Texas A&M, Baylor, Kentucky and Tennessee and only has one start at quarterback under his belt.
"I'm not too sure where I'm going to visit this fall," the Stephenville prospect said. "I know I'm going to Texas at least once if not twice. I'm definitely going to Texas and I'll check out Texas Tech, A&M and Baylor. Those core Texas schools and, if I have the chance, I'll check out TCU. I may jump up to Oklahoma and Oklahoma State just because they're close.
"Since Sept. 1, I've had quite a bit more schools contact me. I've been getting a ton of letters and calls from different coaches. It's kind of picking up now."
If Stidham can get past Aledo, expect even more phone traffic headed his way."
- Graham
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Tech basketball is heating up. One player the coaching staff plans to visit is new target Jeff Newberry from New Mexico Junior College in the pro-Red Raider territory of Hobbs, N.M.
Newberry, a 6-foot-2, 180-pound point guard is highly receptive to the Tech staff's offer and the two sides are working to arrange a visit in Hobbs. His primary contact is Joe Esposito who tells Newberry lots about his experiences with Tubby Smith.
"Everybody knows Tubby Smith from Minnesota, Kentucky and Georgia where I'm from," Newberry said. "It's an honor to get recruited by a coach like that. They're just telling me they're trying to get that program back up and build the program."
Newberry has other offers from Oklahoma State, West Virginia, Texas A&M, LSU, USC, Memphis, Creighton and a handful of competitive smaller schools.
"When I'm looking for a school, I'm confident enough in my talents that wherever I go I can be a person who can help change a program around," Newberry said. "If I enjoy Texas Tech, I think I could come in and make a big impact on the program."
Newberry said he is a long way from making a decision.
The Tech coaching staff is planning to watch the point guard work out in Hobbs in the near future.
"They want me to come up for a football game for an unofficial visit," Newberry said. "I'm thinking about it. In the meantime, they're coming to watch me play pick-up along with 13 or 14 other coaches next week."
- Graham
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Texas Tech is squarely in the mix for Tampa (Fla.) Berkeley Prep forward Justin Gray -- he will be visiting the South Plains this weekend -- but the Red Raiders' recruitment of the 6-foot-4 prospect almost never happened.
"My AAU team was in a bunch of tournaments in July, of course, and Texas Tech was there, but they were there to recruit our big man," Gray said. "So, when Tubby Smith came with his assistant, coach called me after the game and he pretty much told me, like he wasn't trying to be mean or anything, but he had no idea who I was, he had no information on me, he didn't know I was even on the team or anything. He didn't know anything about me, but he said he watched me play, he realized he was recruiting the totally wrong person and he fell in love with my game just everything about it.
"He then told me that he was going to go to the next tournament. Then he came, and he saw one game, and then after that, he offered me right on the spot. So that's pretty much how it started, it was like a last-minute type of thing, but I'm definitely glad it happened."
Gray admitted that he doesn't know very much about Texas Tech, but said he has a lot of respect for Tubby Smith.
"I definitely think he's a fantastic coach and I would definitely learn tremendous stuff from him if I attend Texas Tech," Gray said. "So that's one of the big things, I definitely want to go to a school where I know the coaches are set, nothing's moving, nothing's shaky, nothing's iffy. So he just signed with Texas Tech so I know that's permanent. I know that if I go there I'm going to learn tremendous things from him, and I pretty much love him as a guy."
With hopes to attend medical school, Gray will be touring the Texas Tech campus today -- checking out a few classes and meeting with several school officials.
"We'll probably go to the medical center and sit down with the head of that, and they'll discuss all of the classes and majors and submajors and stuff like that I might be interested in taking, and just explain all that stuff to me," Gray said. "The postgrad stuff that they have. After that, I'll go to a couple a couple of classes, not too long, and they pretty much just mainly said that they really wanted to just show me the campus in its entirety, so not spend too much time in classes, and then just show me the entire campus."
Gray will be visiting Harvard on Sept. 27 and Stanford on Oct. 10. He is also talking to Kansas State, Texas and Virginia.
- AD
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Gray had some interesting insight into Tubby Smith's recruiting plan for this year's class.
"They've been talking about this Fab Five that they continue talking about," Gray said. "It's like me and four other kids in the Top 100. So they kind of have this future plan set out of what we're going to do. And they pretty much just want me to come in right away and play like the wing/guard position and play multiple positions, they said I'm versatile, so that's why they love me so much, and be a defensive impact player. So just to go in there as a freshman and play major minutes, that's pretty much just what they told me."
Gray didn't remember the names of the other members of this Fab Five, but did say that another one of those targets will be visiting this weekend -- you would have to think that's Mitchell Solomon.
- AD
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I spoke with Mitchell Solomon's AAU coach, Rod Thompson, yesterday and he compared Solomon's game to Minnesota Timberwolves star Kevin Love.
"He's a very skilled big guy, he can shoot it, but he's not a guy that's supposed to be a shooter, he can also, he's got good post moves, and he'll develop even more in that area, you know he just turned 17, he's still a young kid," Thompson said. "But everyody everywhere has just been impressed with the way he, one, for his size, and able to shoot the basketball, but also what he's able to do inside.
"I think nowadays you have guys that can shoot inside, that can shoot outside, all they want to do is shoot outside and vice versa. But I think he's a kid that can step out and hit a three. I mean you can run plays for him to come off a screen and hit a three, but also he can go down and be still in the post, and run a lot of high-low with him. He gives you a couple of dimensions I think that can definitely in the future make you better."
Thompson has a couple of ties to the Red Raider coaching staff.
"We grew up in the same town, (Pooh Williamson) was a senior, I was a freshman. He was always who I looked up to being younger. In my freshman year I started as a freshman and played alongside him and we won a state championship, and of course he went to TU. I signed with TU and that's when (Tubby Smith) went to Georgia.
"You know they're good guys, you always had a relationship always, you know kind of talk to each other. Always have that relationship, always respect him as a coach and even more as a person. We always saw each other, and he would always ask about players in the area when I saw him when he was in town watching players. Still had that cordial relationship and that's something that he does really well. I think that's something that'll help him get in on with the kids that a lot of people won't be able to get in on."
Texas Tech is right in the thick of it for Solomon along with Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.
"I think it's going to come down to those three schools," Thompson said. "I think what says a lot more, Texas Tech, usually you have someone that's local, they're probably going to go a couple of miles away from home, but I think the parents have been really impressed with the staff there.
"They're familiar with what he's been able to do and just the man that he is, that's made a huge difference. I think they've done a tremendous job with recruiting him, really selling the kid on the academic side of Texas Tech. He really wants to go into engineering and I think that made has made a huge, huge difference. You've got Texas Tech there, and I know they're right there in the running, I think that says a lot for the program."
- AD
This post was edited on 9/6 8:30 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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Round Rock (Texas) Stony Point's Justin Gamble sits at the top of Tech's target list of 2015 wide receivers.
Gamble, who holds offers from Tech and Texas State, talks to the Red Raiders on a regular basis and has been hearing from numerous schools like Texas, TCU, Colorado, Ole Miss, California, Indiana and Iowa State as well.
"Coach Morris, I talked on the phone with him last night. We were just chopping it up a little bit," he said. "He was just telling me he's excited for the season. He's excited for me to get down there to Lubbock, and I told him I was excited to get up there."
Gamble has been an avid viewer of any Tech videos online. Not only do the videos have him pumped to visit Lubbock, but they've given him an inside look at what the new head football coach is all about.
"I've been watching all these videos of Coach Kingsbury on YouTube and he's just one of the most chill coaches I've ever seen," Gamble shared. "I just think it's pretty cool. He's not far from me or the players already up there and I can tell he can relate to them with all the videos I've watched. Kenny Williams, and, really, all of them said they can really relate to them and that he's a cool guy and great guy to get along with.
"I'm really excited to get up there. I'm tired of watching these same videos, I watch them like every night, and I just keep watching them. More than anything, I'm just ready to get up there."
Gamble is still working out the details for an unofficial visit to catch a game in Lubbock this season. Stony Point has a couple of Thursday night games this season and the Gamble family's plan is to schedule a trip to Lubbock for a game one of those weekends, most likely against Kansas State.
Just because Gamble has yet to visit the Hub City doesn't mean he hasn't heard all about it. The 2015 standout has plenty of various sources letting him in on what Tech has to offer.
"The running back, Kenny Williams, he played in my district, and I know his little brother, Jordan, so I know people up there," Gamble said. "I haven't talked to Kenny, but I've talked to Jordan and Jordan says its real cool up there. I've also been talking to a kid at our rival school, Robert (Castaneda), and he says its real cool up there and he really wants me to go. I'm just excited to get up there now."
Gamble -- who racked up 13 catches, 251 yards and two touchdowns in Stony Point's season-opener -- says his high school coaches feel Kliff Kingsbury's offense would be a great fit for their star receiver.
"My coaches, they're really on me about Texas Tech," Gamble said. "They told me it would be a perfect fit for me. I'm thinking it'll be a good fit too. One thing I just really like about them is that everybody gets to touch the ball. Everybody is involved in the offense and I thought that was pretty cool."
Tech, TCU and Colorado are the schools showing the most interest in the wide receiver.
Gamble, however, has tabbed the Red Raiders as the frontrunner for his services.
"They're in the lead right now," he said. "That's the first school that actually put 100 percent trust in me. I've always wanted an offer from somewhere, but I never knew the significance of a big time Division I Big 12 team just put their all their eggs in one basket like that and just offer me when no one else has.
"I just like them. If you play receiver I don't see why you wouldn't want to go to Texas Tech. They throw the ball all the time and as a receiver that's one thing you love."
- Rosen
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I caught up with Riverside (Calif.) C.C. offensive tackle Dominique Robertson, whose recruitment seems to be steady with his JUCO season starting this weekend.
Robertson continues to hear from the Red Raiders, specifically offensive line coach Lee Hays, and Tech is making sure the tackle knows they are extremely interested.
"I talked them a day or two ago on Facebook, Coach Hays," he said. "They're just telling me it's a great program, real family oriented. He's just telling me they're going to be needing tackles after this season because they have guys that are going to the league and guys being seniors."
Robertson now holds offers from Tech, Arizona, Arizona State, Fresno State, Kansas State and West Virginia while also receiving interest from numerous other programs around the country.
He hasn't set up any official visits just yet, but he is planning to make Lubbock one of his stops at some point this fall.
"I definitely am going to take one," Robertson said. "I just haven't set it up yet. I'll probably do it after the season and start setting stuff up. I want to check out Arizona, Arizona State, Kansas State, Boise State as well."
Robertson isn't naming any favorites and isn't in any hurry to make a decision until he can check out the different schools in person.
"I don't really have a favorite, but I'm interested in the schools," he said. "I'm just seeing who does the best this season, and where I can start at the soonest. I'll probably take official visits first and make a decision towards the end of the season."
On a side note: Tech is no stranger when it comes to plucking talent from Riverside. Robertson says they are looking at teammate wide receiver Sam Boyd "pretty hard". He may be a name to keep an eye on in the future.
- Rosen
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I got in touch with Tyler (Texas) Tyler J.C. defensive lineman William Coleman on Thursday night.
The JUCO defender is getting ready for his second game of the season. The lineman had a great stat line coming out of the first game against Fort Scott, Kansas, but he expects to play much better this weekend against Kilgore.
"It went pretty good," Coleman said. "We beat them 49-26. I had 11 tackles, two tackles for a loss and forced a fumble. It went pretty good. I wasn't real happy with my performance. I feel like I can do a lot more to be more of an impact player. It was my get in shape game, and I plan on doing a lot better this weekend."
Things are also picking up a bit on the recruiting trail for Coleman. He picked up an offer from West Virginia early last week and he's started hearing quite a bit from Mississippi State as well.
The Red Raiders are still squarely in the mix, however. Coleman has Texas Tech in his top three along with a few other BCS schools right now.
My top three right now is Texas Tech, Arizona State and West Virginia," he said.
While he was originally planning on taking many of his official visits throughout the season, it looks like he'll now push things back into December and then make a decision from there.
"I'm trying to take all of my officials in December," Coleman said. "I'll probably take all of them at the end of the season."
Coleman currently holds offers from Texas Tech, West Virginia, Kentucky, Arizona State and USF among others.
- McKay
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I also got in touch with Tyler (Texas) Tyler J.C. offensive tackle Drew Sarvary on Thursday.
The Red Raiders offered the former Florida A&M lineman back in August and they've been heavily in the mix ever since. The lineman is hearing from several schools right now and is taking things slow in the recruiting process.
"Things are picking up," Sarvary said. "I've got offers from North Texas, Tech, USF and Memphis so far. Things are going pretty well. I'm talking to all those schools pretty evenly. I have equal interest in all of them right now and not leaning towards any of them. We'll just wait and see through a couple of games to the end of the season and see what comes my way. When I feel like I have a good enough of a selection, I'll take a few visits, talk with my parents and see which one lines up with me the best."
With all those options on the table, Sarvary will no doubt take his fair share of visits. He isn't quite sure when he'll take those trips, but he will definitely be making his way out to Lubbock.
"I know for sure that I'm going to take one to Texas Tech," he said. "I haven't lined that up yet though. I've been talking to Coach Hays about it. Then I want to take officials to Memphis and a few other schools. I've got a pretty packed schedule with football this fall. We only have one Thursday night game so we'll see which school lines up the best then. I'll take the rest at the end of our season in late November."
When Tech first offered Sarvary back in August he wasn't too familiar with the school or the new coaching staff. He's gotten to know offensive line coach fairly well since then and is a big fan of the way that the former Houston assistant goes about his business.
"I like him a lot," the offensive tackle said. "I've been in contact with all the Texas Tech coaches. I've talked to Coach Hays a ton. I've talked to Coach Kingsbury as well. I call those guys all the time. Coach Hays really likes me, and they're in need of O-linemen right now. That's kind of a factor. I mean, all the other schools recruiting me need linemen, too. I want to play right away, but it has to be the right coaches and the right fit."
Seeing as he's a Florida native and a former Florida A&M player, some may think that Sarvary would be drawn back to his home state. The lineman does hold an offer from USF. While he admits that it would be nice to play at home, it's not a factor that will determine where he ends up.
"I'd be lying if I said it didn't give them any advantage," he said. "It gives them a little upper hand, but not much. That's nothing significant at all, but it is nice to have an option at home. It's a plus factor, but if I find the right fit it doesn't matter where I go."
Sarvary currently holds offers from Texas Tech, USF, North Texas, and Memphis.
- McKay
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Stephenville (Texas) 2015 quarterback Jarrett Stidham has a high-profile game against fellow perennial power Aledo tonight.
The 3A Yellow Jackets scraped by Prepa Tech, a high school team from Monterrey, Mexico, last week, but the quarterbacks thinks the kinks have been worked out to take on Aledo -- a 4A team that smoked another historically strong program in Dallas' Highland Park, 44-3, last week.
"We know they're a great team," Stidham said. "I think we don't know anyone better than them, but we did have success against them last year. We have some good ideas of what will work. We know they're a great team and what they'll bring. We're just going to go out there and do our thing."
Aledo was a school that has had Stephenville's number in recent years. That changed two seasons ago, but the Bearcats are once again favored in tonight's game.
One advantage Stephenville has is its quarterback.
Stidham has offers from Tech, Texas, Texas A&M, Baylor, Kentucky and Tennessee and only has one start at quarterback under his belt.
"I'm not too sure where I'm going to visit this fall," the Stephenville prospect said. "I know I'm going to Texas at least once if not twice. I'm definitely going to Texas and I'll check out Texas Tech, A&M and Baylor. Those core Texas schools and, if I have the chance, I'll check out TCU. I may jump up to Oklahoma and Oklahoma State just because they're close.
"Since Sept. 1, I've had quite a bit more schools contact me. I've been getting a ton of letters and calls from different coaches. It's kind of picking up now."
If Stidham can get past Aledo, expect even more phone traffic headed his way."
- Graham
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Tech basketball is heating up. One player the coaching staff plans to visit is new target Jeff Newberry from New Mexico Junior College in the pro-Red Raider territory of Hobbs, N.M.
Newberry, a 6-foot-2, 180-pound point guard is highly receptive to the Tech staff's offer and the two sides are working to arrange a visit in Hobbs. His primary contact is Joe Esposito who tells Newberry lots about his experiences with Tubby Smith.
"Everybody knows Tubby Smith from Minnesota, Kentucky and Georgia where I'm from," Newberry said. "It's an honor to get recruited by a coach like that. They're just telling me they're trying to get that program back up and build the program."
Newberry has other offers from Oklahoma State, West Virginia, Texas A&M, LSU, USC, Memphis, Creighton and a handful of competitive smaller schools.
"When I'm looking for a school, I'm confident enough in my talents that wherever I go I can be a person who can help change a program around," Newberry said. "If I enjoy Texas Tech, I think I could come in and make a big impact on the program."
Newberry said he is a long way from making a decision.
The Tech coaching staff is planning to watch the point guard work out in Hobbs in the near future.
"They want me to come up for a football game for an unofficial visit," Newberry said. "I'm thinking about it. In the meantime, they're coming to watch me play pick-up along with 13 or 14 other coaches next week."
- Graham
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Texas Tech is squarely in the mix for Tampa (Fla.) Berkeley Prep forward Justin Gray -- he will be visiting the South Plains this weekend -- but the Red Raiders' recruitment of the 6-foot-4 prospect almost never happened.
"My AAU team was in a bunch of tournaments in July, of course, and Texas Tech was there, but they were there to recruit our big man," Gray said. "So, when Tubby Smith came with his assistant, coach called me after the game and he pretty much told me, like he wasn't trying to be mean or anything, but he had no idea who I was, he had no information on me, he didn't know I was even on the team or anything. He didn't know anything about me, but he said he watched me play, he realized he was recruiting the totally wrong person and he fell in love with my game just everything about it.
"He then told me that he was going to go to the next tournament. Then he came, and he saw one game, and then after that, he offered me right on the spot. So that's pretty much how it started, it was like a last-minute type of thing, but I'm definitely glad it happened."
Gray admitted that he doesn't know very much about Texas Tech, but said he has a lot of respect for Tubby Smith.
"I definitely think he's a fantastic coach and I would definitely learn tremendous stuff from him if I attend Texas Tech," Gray said. "So that's one of the big things, I definitely want to go to a school where I know the coaches are set, nothing's moving, nothing's shaky, nothing's iffy. So he just signed with Texas Tech so I know that's permanent. I know that if I go there I'm going to learn tremendous things from him, and I pretty much love him as a guy."
With hopes to attend medical school, Gray will be touring the Texas Tech campus today -- checking out a few classes and meeting with several school officials.
"We'll probably go to the medical center and sit down with the head of that, and they'll discuss all of the classes and majors and submajors and stuff like that I might be interested in taking, and just explain all that stuff to me," Gray said. "The postgrad stuff that they have. After that, I'll go to a couple a couple of classes, not too long, and they pretty much just mainly said that they really wanted to just show me the campus in its entirety, so not spend too much time in classes, and then just show me the entire campus."
Gray will be visiting Harvard on Sept. 27 and Stanford on Oct. 10. He is also talking to Kansas State, Texas and Virginia.
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Gray had some interesting insight into Tubby Smith's recruiting plan for this year's class.
"They've been talking about this Fab Five that they continue talking about," Gray said. "It's like me and four other kids in the Top 100. So they kind of have this future plan set out of what we're going to do. And they pretty much just want me to come in right away and play like the wing/guard position and play multiple positions, they said I'm versatile, so that's why they love me so much, and be a defensive impact player. So just to go in there as a freshman and play major minutes, that's pretty much just what they told me."
Gray didn't remember the names of the other members of this Fab Five, but did say that another one of those targets will be visiting this weekend -- you would have to think that's Mitchell Solomon.
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I spoke with Mitchell Solomon's AAU coach, Rod Thompson, yesterday and he compared Solomon's game to Minnesota Timberwolves star Kevin Love.
"He's a very skilled big guy, he can shoot it, but he's not a guy that's supposed to be a shooter, he can also, he's got good post moves, and he'll develop even more in that area, you know he just turned 17, he's still a young kid," Thompson said. "But everyody everywhere has just been impressed with the way he, one, for his size, and able to shoot the basketball, but also what he's able to do inside.
"I think nowadays you have guys that can shoot inside, that can shoot outside, all they want to do is shoot outside and vice versa. But I think he's a kid that can step out and hit a three. I mean you can run plays for him to come off a screen and hit a three, but also he can go down and be still in the post, and run a lot of high-low with him. He gives you a couple of dimensions I think that can definitely in the future make you better."
Thompson has a couple of ties to the Red Raider coaching staff.
"We grew up in the same town, (Pooh Williamson) was a senior, I was a freshman. He was always who I looked up to being younger. In my freshman year I started as a freshman and played alongside him and we won a state championship, and of course he went to TU. I signed with TU and that's when (Tubby Smith) went to Georgia.
"You know they're good guys, you always had a relationship always, you know kind of talk to each other. Always have that relationship, always respect him as a coach and even more as a person. We always saw each other, and he would always ask about players in the area when I saw him when he was in town watching players. Still had that cordial relationship and that's something that he does really well. I think that's something that'll help him get in on with the kids that a lot of people won't be able to get in on."
Texas Tech is right in the thick of it for Solomon along with Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.
"I think it's going to come down to those three schools," Thompson said. "I think what says a lot more, Texas Tech, usually you have someone that's local, they're probably going to go a couple of miles away from home, but I think the parents have been really impressed with the staff there.
"They're familiar with what he's been able to do and just the man that he is, that's made a huge difference. I think they've done a tremendous job with recruiting him, really selling the kid on the academic side of Texas Tech. He really wants to go into engineering and I think that made has made a huge, huge difference. You've got Texas Tech there, and I know they're right there in the running, I think that says a lot for the program."
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This post was edited on 9/6 8:30 AM by A. Dickens
