Fort Worth Timber Creek wide receiver Erik Ezukanma committed to the Red Raiders just after Thanksgiving last year and signed with Texas Tech during the early signing period in late December.
The four-star prospect was one of several commitments in town this weekend for a large official visit weekend.
"My official was an amazing experience because I got to spend a little more time with the coaches and current players on the team," Ezukanma said. "I hung out with the other commitments a lot as well. We didn't choose roommates, but after this weekend I have a good feeling of who they are going to be.
"We all got to go golfing and stayed at the Overton Hotel, which is the best hotel in Lubbock. So it was awesome that I got to experience that."
Ezukanma was joined on the official visit by his mother this weekend.
"I brought my mother with me so she could get filled in with it all and know everything that goes on with what it is like being a football player at Texas Tech. She was able to meet with the coaches and all of the support staff throughout the program, both on the football and academic side of things."
The 6-foot-3, 180-pound prospect seemed to really enjoy the visit and cannot wait to join the program later this summer.
"I chose Texas Tech because of their Air-Raid offense," Ezukanma said. "That, plus everyone there is so close and it is very much like a family at Tech. I have never bonded with a group of guys so easily until this past weekend. I know for a fact that I have made the right decision."
Currently rated a 5.8 rated four-star prospect, Ezukanma is the No. 52 overall rated wide receiver in the nation and the No. 44 overall prospect on the Rivals.com Texas Top 100 for the 2018 class. He finished with 41 receptions for 750 yards and 10 touchdowns this past season.
-Clare
Grand Prairie (TX) offensive guard Demarcus Marshall committed to Texas Tech in August this past year and was another prospect to sign early on Early National Signing Day in December.
Marshall was another one of the early signees on campus this weekend and we caught up with him.
"Friday we left home and we got our rooms, ate dinner and then we went with our host. My host was Jack. We just had fun that Friday night and then on Saturday we woke up, ate breakfast and then we took a tour of the facilities. As always that was amazing. Then we took pictures with our jerseys, pants and shoulder pads on, toured more of the campus and The Villages (Overton Park). The Village was awesome actually, I think it's a great place to live. Then we just went back to the hotel and chilled for a little bit."
The four-star recruit also got to try out his skills on the driving range with the recruits.
"After we toured The Villages we went to the golf course, but I wasn't very good at it. The food we had was good though. I took a couple of swings, hit a couple balls probably about five out of 25."
"After we rested, we ate dinner, went with our host again, had another fun night and then Sunday ate breakfast and came home."
Marshall admitted he enjoyed getting to spend time again with the recruiting class.
"It was amazing actually. I bonded very well with the other offensive linemen in my class. They're a great group of guys and it's amazing being around them. Also the starting linemen are nice guys. It just felt great to be around everybody for a few days."
-Rutledge
Mesquite Poteet safety and longtime Texas Tech commitment Mekhi Garner was also in town this weekend for his official visit.
"It was a great visit," Garner said. "The best part was spending time with my future teammates and some of the current players. Adrian Frye was my host and he introduced me to several of the other players. He talked with me about coming in as a freshman, competing and staying prepared."
Garner is the lone defensive back commitment and shared his thoughts on getting to know new defensive backs coach Clay Jennings.
"Things are really good with Coach Jennings," Garner said. "He had introduced himself and talked with me about his background before the visit. I had already seen the campus a lot before, so I stayed behind and went over some tape with Coach Jennings. We went over some of the coverage they run on defense, how they rotate in the defensive backs."
Outside of meeting with the coaches, Garner and the other commitments also had a little fun this weekend.
"We went golfing," Garner said. "I think we ate all day too. I probably gained five pounds this weekend just eating. We all had a lot of fun hanging out, getting to spend time with the current players and having them show us around.
"I will be rooming with Erik (Ezukanma), Xavier (Benson) and Corey (Fulcher) this summer."
Garner is one of the unsigned commitments and is scheduled to sign with the Red Raiders on Feb. 7th.
"Yes, I just wanted to make sure my family could be there," Garner said. "The coaches are coming down for an in-home visit next Tuesday and they are bringing the signing day paperwork. We are going to review everything with my family and spend time together."
Currently rated a 5.5. three-star prospect, the 6-foot-1, 198-pound safety earned all-district first team defense this season.
-Clare
Mansfield Legacy offensive lineman Clayton Franks was another early signee who officially visited campus over the weekend.
The two-star offensive lineman was hosted by future teammate and starting left tackle Travis Bruffy.
“I stayed with Travis Bruffy, it was really neat,” Franks said. “He was really down to earth and a pretty cool guy who I can definitely take some advice from in the future when I get there.”
The weekend in Lubbock was also the first time that the early signees for the 2018 class could all be together and get to know each other while on campus.
“We had a day where all the commits showed up and we all interacted, but we’ve picked up some more guys since then,” Franks said. “It was really good to meet all those guys.”
Overall, Franks said the visit was enjoyable and made him feel even more confident in his decision to become a Red Raider.
“It was everything you’d expect for an official visit. Good food, good people and great memories with my future teammates,” Franks said. “We got to see the new facility and it was pretty amazing, all the things they have done shows you how much the coaching staff cares about the players and cares about recruiting. We all just further developed our relationships while enjoying our time together.”
Currently rated a 5.3 two-star prospect, the 6-foot-4, 275-pound lineman earned APSE Class 5A All-State Second Team Offense honors this season.
-Boutwell
Future Red Raider receiver Kesean Carter from The Woodlands (TX) was one of the offensive commits to pay a visit to Lubbock over the weekend.
Carter is a July commit and said his host over the weekend was WR Quan Shorts amongst the recently NFL declared offensive weapon Keke Coutee.
"Quan Shorts showed me around town," Carter said. "He told me about all the fun there is here. Keke (Coutee) was there a lot too and he gave me advice on playing here. He told me to just run full speed whenever the ball gets in my hands."
Carter added that he met with all the coaches including receivers coach Emmett Jones and Kliff Kingsbury.
Kingsbury told Carter and the other visitors to be ready to grind it out whenever they get to campus.
"Coach Kingsbury was around all the time," Carter said. "He has a goal in mind. It's going to be fun playing (in this offense)."
Carter said he spent the most time with fellow commit from Mesquite Poteet safety Mekhi Garner. He shared that himself and Garner are ready to hit the field.
"We talked about things we want to do when we get here," Carter said. "I'm excited with who my teammates are going to be."
Coaches will still be consistent with visiting commits as Carter gave an update on when he'll be seeing his future coaches again.
"They're coming on Thursday," Carter said. "It's just an in-home visit but I do plan on going up there again later."
- Soliz
Waco (TX) Midway offensive guard Hakeem White was another early signee on campus this weekend. He enjoyed finally returning to Lubbock for his official visit.
"We really just went out to eat a lot. That was the main thing we did. We played golf and then went out with a couple of current players. We just had a lot of fun, hanging out together."
White's host was the team's starting offensive guard.
"They call him "Mad Max", but my host was Madison Akamnonu."
"I also got to tour the facilities and campus," he added. "That was the second time I got to do that because the first time I visited I got to go on a tour, but it was fun to do that again. Really was just a redo of that. I got to chill with the coaches but not really spend one-on-one time with them. Mostly just eating with them was all I did."
White mentioned he enjoyed getting to spend time with the recruits in his class.
"That was real nice, trying to get the feel of them and just see how they are and things like that. It was real cool. Some of the skill guys like Corey (Fulcher) and Erik (Ezukanma) I had never seen before so I enjoyed getting to hang out with them."
-Rutledge
Another future Red Raider who made his way to Lubbock for an official visit over the weekend was three-star offensive tackle Weston Wright.
The 6-foot-6, 290-pound tackle settled in well with his future teammates as he was hosted by junior offensive lineman Terrence Steele.
“We hung out and talked about Lubbock and what happens around here,” Wright said. “He introduced me to a few more teammates as well.”
The visit to Lubbock was a long trip for the New Braunfels (Texas) native. Wright expresses how being in his future element made him eager to make the move official.
“Well, it went great. The campus still has a profound effect and just makes me even more excited for college,” Wright said.” As for meeting a few of the players, I was impressed by them as well. Overall, it just made my decision to play here that much more concrete.”
The early signee has a sneak peak of what life would be like as a Red Raider from having special access to the facilities and conversing with the coaching staff.
“Coach (Kliff) Kingsbury really made us feel welcome. Coach (Brandon) Jones and I talked for a bit and sort of caught up,” Wright said. “They just showed me how invested they are in my future here. I’m just ready to get going.”
Currently a 5.5 three-star rated prospect, Wright earned District 27-6A All-District First Team Offense honors this season.
-Boutwell
Lake Highlands wide receiver Corey Fulcher was another pass catcher who was on campus this past weekend. The Dallas native has been a longtime commit and enjoyed having the opportunity to bond more with future teammates and coaches.
"Friday we all went out to eat, tour the campus a bit more as usual. We took a couple pictures and on Saturday and Sunday they took us out to breakfast. Later on that day, we went to play golf with Coach (Kliff) Kingsbury and the other coaches. That was pretty much it, we ate a lot."
"We did go to the locker rooms," he added. "That's actually where we took our pictures. I got to take a look at some of the new track facilities and a couple of other cool places I've never seen."
Fulcher mentioned his host, Antione Wesley, also got to show him around.
"We had hosts so they showed us some of the apartments they had and some of the other things around campus."
Fulcher said his roommate will be Fort Worth (TX) Timber Creek receiver Erik Ezukanma. He enjoyed bonding with his fellow receiver classmate over the weekend.
"Me and Erik are going to room together so it was pretty cool to finally hang out. Me and him got real tight and it was really exciting because we got to hang out with some of the guys already here. They taught us a lot of stuff: what to do and the expectations from the coaches."
The three-star receiver also got to spend one-on-one time with his position coach Emmett Jones.
"Me and Coach Jones talked a lot. We talked about the expectations for me when I get there and how to just take everything in."
-Rutledge
Texarkana (TX) Pleasant Grove outside linebacker Xavier Benson also made the journey down to the South Plains this past weekend for his official visit. Benson is one of the few commits who will wait until National Signing Day to sign with the Red Raiders.
"We flew in and had a team dinner, a recruit dinner really. We talked to the coaches, went around the facilities, toured the campus and ate some more. We also met and hung out with some of the current players. We just had a really good time, played some golf on Saturday and then left Sunday at 11 A.M. My host was Nelson Mbanasor. I loved also getting to put on the uniform and take pictures."
Benson also got to check out the apartment complexes during his visit.
"Yeah we checked them out, where we're going to live when we get there. It's pretty convenient to be that close to the field there at The Villages."
The three-star recruit admitted finally having the opportunity to spend time with his future teammates reassured his decision to commit.
"It felt great knowing that I feel comfortable enough surrounded by those guys and I know I made a good decision to choose Tech. It was really a good feeling because we talk on the phone all the time, but it was nice just seeing and hanging out with most of them. It was just a fun time."
During the weekend Benson said he had the opportunity to talk individually to head coach Kliff Kingsbury, defensive coordinator David Gibbs, and defensive line coach Terrance Jamison.
-Rutledge
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