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Red Raiders After Florida TE
Tech extended their fourth known tight end offer a couple of weeks ago, to Fort
Meade (Fla.) standout
Brandon Fulse. To say the 6-foot-4, 247-pound prospect is highly sought
after would be putting it mildly; he holds offers from Florida, Florida State,
Georgia and many others and is on the Rivals250 watch list. That hasn't deterred
the Red Raiders, though, and running backs coach Chad Scott appears to be
spearheading the program's efforts with Fulse.
"I've spoken with Coach Scott," he said. "I didn't have a lot of contact with
them at first, but now I've been talking to them ever since they offered."
While ulse doesn't know much about Texas Tech, he is very aware of the
program's recruiting efforts elsewhere in the Sunshine State.
"I know they've got the new head coach in Tommy Tuberville," he said. "I also
found out there were some guys from Lakeland (Ben and Javares McRoy) that were
going to Texas Tech so that gave me another look at the program.
"They want me to play tight end. They haven't had one there in the past, but
with the formations Coach Tuberville and Coach [Neal] Brown want to run they're
going to need one."
Fulse made a big impression on observers at the U.S. Army Combine in January and
was named to the All-Combine first-team offense. In fact, according to Rivals'
analysts covering the combine, he was one of the "most impressive physical
specimens" out there.
"He looked more like a strongside defensive end or a future defensive tackle,"
they said. "It was hard to believe that a huge, muscular athlete had hands as
soft as Fulse's."
Marquez Staying In Touch
It certainly sounds like Texas Tech has made up a lot of ground with
Odessa (Texas) running back
Bradley Marquez. While the 5-foot-11, 173-pound prospect raved about
his junior day
trip to Oklahoma last weekend, the Red Raiders -- specifically offensive
coordinator Neal Brown and inside receivers coach Sonny Cumbie -- are right in
the thick of things for the talented athlete.
"I like them a lot," Marquez said. "They email me probably three or four times a
week -- just seeing what is going on and asking me about baseball. That is one
of the things I like most about them, that they talk baseball with me since they
know I'm into sports. It's not all football talk with them like it would be with
anybody else."
With Marquez's baseball season well underway, making it up to Lubbock for an
unofficial visit will involve a little planning.
"We are trying to set up a time for a junior day since I am so close," he said,
"but it'd be something a little more personal since I won't be able to make any
of their set junior days because of baseball and all of that. We are just
talking and hearing great things about them."
Marquez has recently picked up an offer from Arizona.
Ground To Make Up With Castleman
Amarillo (Texas) defensive lineman
James Castleman attended Oklahoma State's junior day last weekend and
enjoyed it so much that he now considers the Cowboys his "top school."
was great, sir," he said. "The campus, of course, and how well bonded the
coaches are they talked about how they wanted to be a family with the players
and stuff like that.
"I got a chance to talk with some of the players and they were just saying how
they are like a family with all of the coaches and their families and everything
and I like that too."
As for how that visit compared to Texas Tech's junior day?
"I would say it was better than the junior day that I went to at Texas Tech,"
Castleman said.
Castleman told us that he does not plan to make a decision "until further down
the road," which would seem to work in the Red Raiders' favor to some degree.
The thought is that Castleman's mother and other members of his family would
like for him to stay close to home and ink with Texas Tech.
Aside from Oklahoma State and Texas Tech, the 6-foot-4, 255-pound prospect also
holds offers from Baylor and Missouri.
Edwards Wants To Know More
Brenham (Texas) wide receiver
Derek Edwards admits that he doesn't know much about Texas Tech but told us
that he is looking forward to learning more when he attends the program's March
27 junior day.
"I know they've got a new coach, that things will change and that's really about
it," he said. "I just want to see what kind of differences he's going to come in
and make with the program."
Edwards picked up an offer from the Red Raiders a couple of weeks ago.
"I didn't know they had sent a coach down to Brenham because he (outside
receivers coach Tommy Mainord) looked like any other coach," Edwards said. "But
he ended up being from Texas Tech. He called Coach [Glen] West and then I called
him back and they ended up giving me an offer."
Hocutt Could Play Several Positions
(Texas) Ellison standout
Devon Hocutt is listed in the Rivals database as an inside linebacker, but
that label could very easily say fullback, defensive end or defensive tackle
because he is getting looks at all of those positions from college programs
across the country. Texas Tech was the first team to offer the 5-foot-11,
258-pound prospect and he called and spoke with several Red Raider coaches on
Thursday.
"I just got off the phone with them about 15-20 minutes ago," he said. "We
talked about their offense and the defense. They didn't know what position I
would play if I came to Lubbock because the defense that they run, they don't
know if I'd play a standup end, a d-tackle, a linebacker or a fullback for their
offense.
"They were watching film on me and they saw that I can play all of those
positions. That's the thing. They run a 3-4 defense, so it would be different. I
got some background on their new defensive coordinator coming from Alabama. I
know a lot about him and what-not and I like him, I like him."
Hocutt was invited to attend TCU's junior day this weekend but will not be
attending due to a prior commitment. He hopes to visit Texas Tech sometime in
the next month or so.
"I'm going to go up there probably around spring time, around their spring
football because I've never been to Lubbock," he said. "I want to visit their
campus, meet the coaches face-to-face and see what they have to offer up there
in Lubbock."
Quick Hits
* Though Austin (Texas) Lake Travis quarterback
Michael Brewer is laying low from a media standpoint, he did send us a text
message late Thursday with a quick update. The 6-foot-1, 175-pound signal caller
is now up to 10 offers, with the latest being from Arizona State, Clemson, East
Carolina, Kansas and Rice. Brewer also told us that he does not have any junior
day trips or unofficial visits scheduled.
* Lufkin (Texas) defensive end
Darrell Thomas-Kelly told us on Thursday that he plans to attend Texas
Tech's next junior day on March 27. The 6-foot-4, 247-pound prospect turned
heads at the U.S. Army Combine in January and was named to the All-Combine
second-team.
"I heard they have a new staff and they're supposed to be real good this year,"
he said of the Red Raiders.
* Texas Tech tight end target
Max Stevenson -- out of Klein (Texas) Oak -- was offered by Iowa State and
Rice earlier this week.
* The Red Raiders' other tight end target, San Antonio (Texas) MacArthur's
Jace Amaro, picked up an offer from Texas A&M this week.
* Arguably one of the biggest bits of recruiting news this week came out of
Abilene (Texas), where running back Herschel Sims confirmed that he will not be
attending Texas' junior day this weekend. Communication between the two parties
had cooled over the past several weeks to the point where it became clear that
he was not a priority for the Longhorns. Sims will attend Oklahoma's junior day
on March 7 and will check out Texas Tech sometime afteward.
"I made plans with Tech, I just have to see what works with them," he said.
"It's looking like April or late March, I'm not sure, but I do plan to go down
there for one of their spring practices."
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This post was edited on 2/26 2:47 AM by A. Dickens
