it was a good week, a great RRS DFW gathering with a few surprise guests, a ton of new offers and off-season camps got started
it is Friday, let's Flare...
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WEEKLY LINKS
Keys to the Game: Texas
Tech continues adding talent with commitment from 2024 RB Johann Cardenas
Fardaws Aimaq expected to make long-awaited Texas Tech debut against Texas
Post-Texas Immediate Reaction
Tech collapses against Texas 72-70
Morning after Texas thoughts
Mark Adams Monday Morning Press Conference
Texas Tech returns home in search of first Big 12 victory against Baylor
Keys to the Game: Baylor
Prospect Q&A: St. Thomas head coach Rich McGuire
Apodaca: Lackluster defensive effort drops Tech to 0-6 in Big 12 play
Tech battles, falls short to Baylor 81-74
What Mark Adams Said After Baylor
Plano East OLB Chima Chineke is high on Texas Tech
Next-day thoughts on Baylor loss
RRS TV: The Matador Report pres. by Homefield Apparel
Tascosa ATH TJ Tilman loves the energy from the Texas Tech coaches
TE Thomas-Roberts looking forward to Junior Day visit to Texas Tech
Top Five Non-Conference Series to Look Forward To This Season
Who's the STAR in the making?
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TTU RECRUITING THIS WEEK
the coaches landed an impressive preferred walk-on, hit the road hard again visiting high school programs and top targets, and there were several new offers made this week...
new walk-on commit
Tilmon is joining the program as a preferred walk-on and will compete at the outside linebacker/rush end position.
The former 5.7 three-star prospect, Top 100 player in the state of Texas is a former Mansfield Timberview standout who graduated in the 2021 class. He held 20 offers out of high school and eventually committed to Oregon. In short, he played for now Texas Tech defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter his freshman season in Eugene and then the new coaching staff at Oregon moved him to tight end. Tilmon wanted a change and came back to Lone Star State to reunite with DeRuyter and McGuire at Texas Tech.
This follows a unique trend at Texas Tech over the past three offseasons of adding ultra-talented walk-on prospects - Tyree Wilson, Colin Schooler, Jacob Rodriguez.
The talent is there with Tilmon, now the coaches need to get him into the program and develop him into a two-deep contributor.
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Red Raiders in Cleveland's Top 10
Mansfield Legacy safety Landyn Cleveland announced his Top 10 schools this past week and included the Red Raiders along with Texas, Baylor, Arizona State, TCU, Auburn, Colorado, Arkansas, Washington and SMU.
the four-star prospect has visited campus before and is planning a return visit this off-season. I would expect Texas, Baylor and TCU as the main competition...with Arkansas as a close fourth, but overall it is still pretty early and since announcing this Top 10 earlier in the week new offers from Arizona, Nebraska and Purdue have come through.
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new offers
the coaches were on the road again this week and there were several new offers, 11 total offers by my count...
Texas Tech was the first program to offer Palo Duro 2026 safety Darien Lewis. The 6-foot, 180-pound standout freshman plays safety and quarterback, and is a member of the wrestling and track & field teams.
Texas Tech was the first program to offer Lufkin 2025 defensive tackle Zion Williams. The 6-foot-4, 295-pound standout sophomore lists a 315-pound bench press, 500-pound squat and 5.27 second 40-yard dash.
Texas Tech was offer No. 2 for Galveston Ball 2025 wide receiver Jonah Williams, joining UTSA. This past week alone, the 6-foot-3, 200-pound standout sophomore added new offers from Texas Tech, Houston, Texas State, Arizona, Oklahoma and Colorado State. He also announced that he will be visiting Texas this weekend.
Texas Tech was the first program to offer Galveston Ball 2025 defensive end Malcolm Simpson. The 6-foot-4, 240-pound standout sopohmore is also a member of the varsity basketball team.
Texas Tech was the first program to offer Abilene 2026 athlete Brayden Henry. The 5-foot-6, 145-pound standout freshman played quarterback for Abilene this season and is also an AAU Junior Olympic All-American in the 100m.
Texas Tech was offer No. 3 for Forney 2026 running back Javian Osborne, joining UTSA and SMU. The 5-foot-10, 175-pound standout freshman was the District 7-5A-1 Offensive Newcomer of the Year and First Team All-District. He is also a member of the varsity Track & Field team at Forney.
Texas Tech was the first program to offer Weatherford (Okla.) 2025 outside linebacker C.J. Nickson. The 6-foot-5, 216-pound standout sophomore also added an offer from Oklahoma this week, and he plays on the varsity basketball and track & field teams.
Texas Tech was offer No. 3 for Denton Ryan 2025 offensive tackle Ty Haywood, joining Mississippi State and Vanderbilt. This week alone, the 6-foot-6, 270-pound standout sophomore added new offers from Vanderbilt, Texas Tech and Missouri.
Texas Tech was offer No. 3 for Shadow Creek 2025 outside linebacker Anthony 'Deuce' Williams, joining UTSA and Arizona State. The 6-foot-4, 205-pound standout sophomore was named the District 23-6A Defensive Newcomer of the Year and First Team All-District this season.
Texas Tech was offer No. 3 for Bellville 2025 defensive tackle D.J. Sanders, joining Texas A&M and Baylor. The 6-foot-3, 290-pound standout sophomore was named the District 10-4A Defensive MVP and First Team All-District.
Texas Tech was offer No. 6 for Red Oak 2025 defensive end Kamauryn Morgan, joining Texas A&M, Georgia, Kentucky, Baylor and Arizona State. The 6-foot-5, 230-pound standout sophomore was a beast at the Next Level D1 Camp this past weekend and should continue stacking offers this off-season. He will easily become a Rivals250 type prospect.
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Next Level D1 Camp - recruiting notes
Tyler Legacy 2024 DE Travis Jackson
"College coaches say they like my athleticism, my length and my speed. I'm working on getting faster this off-season. I have been talking with Texas Tech, Cal and a few other schools lately. I'm going to take a visit to Texas Tech this summer. I don't have any other visit plans right now.
"I mostly talk with Coach (C.J.) Ah You every week, and Coach (Joey) McGuire was at our school last week. I talked with Coach (Josh) Cochran, Coach (James) Lockhart and really all of the Texas Tech coaches every week. They are amazing coaches, a lot of people think high school coaches cannot coach at the college level, but Coach McGuire proved them wrong this season with a good record and a great bowl win against Ole Miss."
quick thoughts - Jackson definitely looks the part, has the size and needs some development at the college level...but the Tech coaches were in early and have built a solid relationship with the East Texas standout.
Lewisville 2025 OT Michael Fasusi
"I'm going to visit Texas A&M on the 28th of this month and I'm going to visit Texas Tech in February. I have a good relationship with Coach (Brian) Nance, we have been talking lately. College coaches like my size and how fast I am. This time last year I was 215 pounds and now I'm up to 270 pounds and growing. The secret is eating a lot of noodles (laughs). I'm interested in getting into the medical field, so I'm going to ask a lot of questions about those options when visiting each college program."
quick thoughts - the battle for Fasusi will have a ton of other programs involved, getting in early is always a good thing and it seems like we will be hearing about prospects from the Lewisville program for the next few years...maybe getting some teammates will help and the visit will be telling moving forward, but a ton of time left here.
Carthage 2026 running back K.J. Edwards
"I have offers from Texas Tech and UTSA. I'm receiving interest from the coaches at Baylor and Arkansas as well. Most college coaches like my quickness, my footwork and my power at the running back position. It really hasn't sunk in that I have these offers as a freshman, no sir. I received the offer from Texas Tech after the state championship game in December. I haven't really talked with the coaching staff, all of that communication went through my high school coaches."
quick thoughts - this young man is electric and I would expect him to become a national recruit in a few years...he is one of several 2026 running back offers, so the coaches are making it known early who they are targeting in the next few years
(pic credit - NextLevelD1)
Frisco Lone Star 2026 RB Davian Groce
"I have offers from Texas Tech and Arizona State. My coaches said the coaches from Baylor and Arkansas have shown interest as well. Most college coaches like my size, my physicality, my speed and that I'm very coachable. I also play basketball and run track at Lone Star.
"I'm hoping to attend more camps this off-season and might take some college visits after the basketball season. I mostly want to get to know the college coaches and programs, and obviously winning is important to me. In terms of talking with the Texas Tech staff, I honestly don't remember because I was a little star struck at the time, but I do remember we were laughing because they were telling me what all they liked about me and added that I was 'ugly' so that helped to calm my nerves."
quick thoughts - this kid is a freak athlete and it is unbelievable that he is still a freshman in high school...he will undoubtedbly become a national recruit and was already named the All-District First Team RB as a freshman and was already invited to the Under Armour All-American series this year.
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Around the Big12 - 2024 Recruiting
this is a quick look around the Big12, including the new conference members - specifically the 2024 recruiting classes
Rivals - 2024 Team Rankings (Big 12)
Texas Tech - 7 commitments, 152 reported offers
quick thought - Joey McGuire and his staff are off to another quick start in the 2024 class...we can expect this to continue over the next few months and it would not surprise me to see this number of commitments double by the end of April.
BYU - 4 commitments, 27 reported offers
quick thought - definitely surprised at the number of early commitments for BYU but probably more surprised at the number of offers...I realize it is most likely due to religous reasons that kids gravitate towards this offer/university, but it is still impressive this early in the recruiting cycle.
Texas - 3 commitments, 131 reported offers
quick thought - the Longhorns landed their 2024 quarterback this month (Trey Owens) and will be hosting a Junior Day/Top Prospects Day this weekend, so there could be some additions to the class over the next month.
TCU - 1 commitment, 81 reported offers
quick thought - the one (1) commitment is Marcos Davila, who is most likely a solid commit, but the exit for OC Garrett Riley is cause for concern in Fort Worth...outside of that, the entire recruiting staff turned over safe for our old friend Eron Hodges. all that being said, the success they experienced this season and location means they are a safe bet to continue recruiting well in 2024.
Baylor - 1 commitment, 94 reported offers
quick thought - the Bears have one (1) longtime commitment from a wide receiver who committed last April, beyond that they have made a ton of new offers lately and should begin to see movement with Junior Day visitors over the next month.
Kansas State - 2 commitments, 77 reported offers
quick thought - the Wildcats landed their 2024 quarterback this month (Blake Barnett) and have an unranked OL commitment.
West Virginia - 1 commitment, 294 reported offers
quick thought - the Mountaineers always have a ton of reported offers, so it wasn't surprising to me, but will probably get a 'whoa' response from most...with one (1) commitment, this year or cycle could be tough for head coach Neil Brown in a 'hot seat' season.
Kansas - 1 commitment, 169 reported offers
quick thought - the Jayhawks have one (1) unranked RB commitment so far in 2024, should see more movement in their class over the next few months.
Oklahoma State - 1 commitment, 53 reported offers
quick thought - the Cowboys have one (1) unranked TE commitment so far in 2024 and not a lot of reported offers out there...it has been a bizare few months out of Stillwater from a recruiting standpoint
UCF - 1 commitment, 152 reported offers
quick thought - the Knights could a sneaky good addition to the conference, with one (1) Rivals 250 four-star commitment from DE Sincere Edwards...point being they recruit in a very talented state and with transfer portal additions from programs like Florida, Miami, Florida State and others.
Oklahoma - 0 commitments, 149 reported offers
quick thought - not too concerned about zero commitments for the Sooners, they are most likely big game hunting and will be hosting a ton of prospects for Junior Day/Top Prospects Day events over the next month.
Iowa State - 0 commitments, 161 reported offers
quick thought - truth be told, I don't have a ton of insight into the Cyclones' recruiting operations, but they do recruit nationally and should be able to get prospects on campus over the next few months.
Houston - 0 commitments, 80 reported offers
quick thought - the Cougars are still looking for commitment No. 1 in the 2024 class and might have been focused on the portal, but they do a good job of getting a lot of Houston area kids on campus and should begin adding to their class over the next few months.
Cincinnati - 0 commitments, 172 reported offers
quick thought - brand new coaching staff, so they will get prospects on campus and land commitments...but I would disregard the reported offers from a total number of offers and who the priority targets really are for the Bearcats in 2024.
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have a great weekend everyone!
