Friday can only mean one thing for the discriminating Red Raider fan.
It's time for another edition of the Red Raider Confidential! The ground rules
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Hyder to decide soon?
According
to him, yes.
"I’m looking to make a decision real soon," explained
Kerry Hyder. "So, I mean, pretty
soon. I don’t know what that looks like, but yeah, pretty soon."
Asked if that meant he might make a commitment this weekend on his official
visit to Texas Tech, Hyder replied, "Yeah, there’s definitely a chance of that."
The three-star defensive end, who says the thought of committing while on his visit to
Iowa State last week never crossed his mind, says the only thing holding him back is a
relative lack of familiarity with Tech and the city of Lubbock.
"I don’t know how close I am to committing because I haven’t been to Tech yet,"
he explained. "I want to see what Lubbock is like. A bunch of people have told
me that it’s just way out there and it’s really country, but I don’t necessarily
think that’s a bad thing. I just want to see if it’s a cool place. If I can see
myself being a Red Raider while I’m there then I’m not afraid to just go ahead
and do it right then and there. We’ll see."
Hyder also re-affirmed that he will completely shut down the recruiting process
once he makes his decision.
Projecting Pat Knight's starting lineup
At this point, we
feel fairly certain that these four players will start for
Pat Knight's squad:
G
John Roberson
G
Alan Voskuil
F
Mike Singletary
F
Darko Cohadarevic
Who will eventually emerge as the fifth starter, however, remains unclear. With
Knight wanting to push the ball up the court, it is doubtful that a guy like
Trevor Cook or
Damir Suljagic ends up being the fifth guy. The Red Raider
coaching staff has been tinkering with a three guard lineup, which would
hypothetically make newcomers
Nick Okorie or
Tyree Graham a starter. Then again, if a player like
D'Walyn Roberts,
Michael Prince or
Rogdrick Craig steps up, they they could take the starting
job.
Stay tuned.
Speaking of Tyree Graham...
Ford to visit for UT game
Texas
Tech commit
Will Ford might have changed his cell phone number to avoid college
coaches, but there’s nothing he can do about his school’s address.
“I’ve still been getting a ton of mail from Baylor, A&M, Missouri, Minnesota,
TCU, Oklahoma, and a bunch of schools like that,” said the safety. “And I still
get a bunch of e-mails from Oklahoma, but I never respond to them.”
Ford, who says he’s “100-percent” committed to the Red Raiders, has been trying
to get down for an unofficial visit, but hasn’t been able to.
“I’ve been wanting to come down, and I was finally set to come for last week’s
game, but then all that flooding happened and I ended having to cancel that
trip,” he said. “But I’m still going to get down for a few un-official visits
before the season is over. As far as my official goes, I’m going to go to the UT
game.”
Ford also mentioned that he’s been in constant contact with Tech special teams
coach
Clay McGuire, his recruiting coach.
“He just says he can’t wait to get me out there,” he said. “He said he’s gonna
use me right away on special teams for sure, so I’m pumped about that.”
Reese eager to clear the air
When we called Gulf Coast
Community College hoops star
Brad Reese, he immediately had something to say when we
identified ourselves as being with Rivals.
“Wait a minute, man,” said Reese. “You and I need to talk! What are you guys
doing saying that I’m committed to Oklahoma State?! I am NOT committed to them!
Make sure everyone knows that.”
The rumor that had been swirling for 48-hours was debunked within the first 10 seconds of the conversation
and Reese
was obviously (and understandably) frustrated. So how did this all happen?
“They came over to my house on Sunday night for a visit. They asked me if I
could see myself playing there and I said ‘yes.’ I woke the next morning and I
have all these coaches from other schools, calling me and mad at me that I
committed to another school.
“I don’t know what happened. I told Oklahoma State that everything was good and
I guess they took it and ran with it.
“The home visit went well. They have a good coaching staff out there and
everything. I’m just not sold on going there yet. I still like Texas Tech and
LSU. I need some more time to think. I can’t sign till November anyways.”
It seems that the Cowboys did nothing but hurt themselves with their false
commitment cry last week.
“I would have to say that I like Texas Tech and LSU over all the other schools.
They’re my top two now.”
This is big news for the Red Raiders. Even though the trip to Lubbock this
weekend will only be Reese’s third official visit, he says he’ll be ready to
commit soon after. Tech will have a great chance to pull ahead of LSU this
weekend. Head coach
Pat Knight will have to play a major role in that.
“Coach Knight is a laid back and a cool dude. He tells you how it is. He’s like
the new generation coach. He’s different than his dad. He’s a player’s coach.
He’s the kind of guy that you can go in his office and go talk to him. Young
kids growing up playing ball are going to want to play for Coach Knight. He’s
down to earth and you can talk to him about coaching. He’s a disciplined coach.
There’s not many like him these days.
“He came for an in-home visit two times this year. He’s been recruiting me since
last spring since he got the job at Texas Tech.”
Though Knight has been on Reese for quite some time, assistant coach
Chris
Beard has been in contact with this special talent since his high
school days. That’s right, three years ago.
“I like Coach Beard. He’s my favorite coach that’s recruiting me. He’s one of a
kind. He tells you how it is. He came to my school with an offer from Tech and I
liked him. He’s straight up with me. From day one, he told me where I’d be and
what’s up. He’s a real cool dude.”
It almost seems like it’s a perfect storm with Reese taking his last visit to
Tech. Not to mention, with one of his good friends.
“I play against
Torye Pelham. We’re in the same conference and we’re both
good players. It’s going to be a blast because I know him and we played in a
tournament this summer at a camp.
“We know each other pretty well. We stay in touch and we play each other three
times a year. We might run into each other again public and chat a little bit
every now and then. He’s a real cool dude.”
The idea of playing on the same court with Pelham is already running through Reese’s mind.
“It’s a real cool thought. You already know somebody who is there. You’ll feel
comfortable in the situation and not going by yourself and not knowing anyone.”
Pelham’s play on and off the court is something he would love to have in a
teammate at the next level as well.
“He’s a workhorse and he plays hard. I like guys that play hard. He’s a class
act and he’s going to be around good people.”
With everything seeming to come together for the Red Raiders, could Reese go
home as a commitment of the Texas Tech 2009 class?
“I’m going to take this visit and see how it goes and the look at the situation.
I’m going to come back and talk to my parents and I’ll probably know by then.
You just have to take these things slow. I would never commit on a visit because
that’s not my style.”
Davis' family OK after Hurricane Ike
The latest addition to Texas Tech’s 2009 recruiting class happens to hail from
the Houston area, but
Mike Davis says his family was fortunate enough to escape
the tragic storm fairly unscathed.
“I talked to them when it first happened and they just said we had some damage
on the roof, but not the actual house,” said Davis. “Not too much damage, but
there was a little leakage and there was some water in the house. But other than
that, everything’s fine, and no one got hurt.”
Keep in mind that Tech has several commits (football and basketball) that live
in areas affected by the hurricane, so please keep them and their families in
your thoughts and prayers.
Why the increased number of deep, downfield passes?
Texas Tech
inside receivers coach
Lincoln Riley explains:
"I think it’s a combination of two things. I think
Graham [Harrell]’’s more willing to go down the field with the ball,
which is good. We’ve urged him to do that because I think last year we relied on
that short stuff so much that people came away, came down and took away some of
that, and played that more aggressively and we really had some chances over the
top that we didn’t take, so we’re really happy with him doing that and we’ve
made some really big plays. But we’re trying to take what they give us. We feel
like we should execute no matter what they give us. But definitely, I know I for
sure and
Mike [Leach] really enjoys us going down the field with it
because that changes the way the game’s played. Even if you don’t complete it -
we expect to complete it, and we’ve completed a lot of ‘em - but even if you
don’t, that scares defensive coordinators and defenses. That’ll loosen ‘em up
and open up some of the other stuff. Especially when teams watch us on file,
they’re going to see us go down field, we don’t hesitate to do that, and so I
expect that underneath stuff to really open up, and, you know, and we’ll take
more advantage of it as the season goes on."
Pelham plans to get it done in the classroom
Earlier in the
week,
we documented the academic struggles that combo point guard
Torye Pelham has had. Currently at Chipola Junior College
in Marianna Florida, Pelham’s GPA is a 2.5.
He says that he’s going to get it done this time. He’s also enjoying playing for
the basketball team there as well.
“A junior college doesn’t get any better than this. We’re ranked second right
now but once we beat the number one team then we’ll be number one. That’s how
they did us last year.”
Last season, Pelham lead Chipola to the JUCO National Tournament, where they
fell two games short of the championship with a 35-2 record.
“I’m one of the captains so I’m always making sure that everyone is doing their
job and they just play. We have a lot of talent on our team. It’s not one guy
taking over the whole team.”
On the recruiting trail, Pelham talked about Oklahoma and Texas Tech as his two
favorites. Head coach
Pat Knight has come to see him twice already.
“He’s a nice guy. He’s nothing like Bobby Knight, but he’s a good guy. He seems
like he knows what he’s talking about and the plans he has for me, it seems
pretty good.
“I used to watch Tech when Bobby Knight was there but I wasn’t necessarily a big
fan. But with his son, I like him, it’s different. I really don’t know too much
about it but I’m going to get to know about it.”
“I’ve been to Texas. I’ve never been to Lubbock. I’ve heard that it was alright
up there. I heard that a lot of people tell me about it say that it’s something
like Marianna but it’s bigger. As long as it’s somewhere I can be focused, it
doesn’t matter to me.”
With the Red Raiders slated to have a big visit weekend, is there a chance that
Pelham could see what he likes around him and pull the trigger?
“No, I don’t think so. If I like it, the chances are very slim. I told them I
was going to sign late anyways. So they know that it’s going to be a while
before I come up with my final decision.”
Stephens seriously considering Tech?
When we spoke to
four-star running back
Eric Stephens earlier this week, he was certainly
playing
everything close to the vest. The standout athlete was hesitant to
talk about any school but Minnesota.
“I’ve been talking to another school, two actually, but I’m not sure I want to
put their names out there,” he said. “My coach says some other schools are
calling, but I’m mainly talking to two schools here in Texas.”
However, after a couple of questions, Stephens admitted he’d been talking to
Tech (TCU was the other school that had called).
“Texas Tech is one of them, yes sir,” he said. “Seth
Littrell and I have been talking and chatting about stuff.”
Stephens went on to explain that he wasn’t looking to take any official visits
and re-affirmed his commitment to Minnesota, stating that that is where he would
attend school.
However, we spoke to him again on Wednesday night, and Stephens finally opened
up, and in the process, confirmed what we’d suspected all along- that he is
indeed considering Texas Tech.
Here’s the full Q&A:
Eric, does it still look like you’re not going to visit anywhere besides
Minnesota?
ES: No, it doesn’t, I’ve decided I’m going to visit Texas Tech.
Wow, have you told Minnesota yet?
ES: I plan on telling them here pretty quick. I don’t really
want this out there all over the place right off the bat, because I don’t want
them finding out from reading or from someone calling them and telling them. I
want to tell them myself, so I appreciate you holding off on this for a day or
two.
No problem at all. Which game are you visiting for?
ES: The Nebraska game. I believe it’s October 11th.
Well, I guess this is an obvious question, but, what changed?
ES: Well, for me growing up in Texas, I’ve always been a fan of
all the big schools here, really. Tech isn’t really far away like Minnesota is,
and I guess I’m already used to the weather and everything.
So is this a deal where you just want to travel, or are you seriously
considering Tech?
ES: Well, it has to at least hold up to what Minnesota was, or
maybe even exceed that if I’m going to switch over to be honest with you.
Who’s coming with you?
ES: My mom and my sister. We didn’t really travel much, so it’s
like a family trip for us.
I know that Rivals has you as one of the top five backs in the country in the
category for “Best in Space.” Is it a big deal to you that Tech tends to get
their backs the ball in space?
ES: Oh absolutely. As a back, you love being in space and the
fact is that they get creative about getting their backs out there in the open.
That’s a big thing to me. I’m versatile, and I know that they find different
ways to get their backs the ball, which I love.
Premium Q&A: Nick Russell
What visits have you been on thus
far?
NR: I went to Iowa last week. This week I go to Texas Tech.
Next week I go to Kansas State. Then October 3rd, I go to UCLA. I might have a
fifth, I’m not so sure right now. I’m still looking at some schools. I really
don’t know right now.
Who are some of your candidates for a fifth visit?
NR: Oklahoma, SMU, Wake Forest, and Colorado State, and
possibly Duke
When looking for a school, what are your biggest factors?
NR: I want them to be able to trust me. I don’t want to feel
like I’m having to look over my shoulder when I’m taking shots. I also want to
know that I can trust them and when they tell me something, I know it’s going to
happen.
Can you talk about your visit to Iowa last weekend?
NR: They actually set the standard real high. It was fine. I
had a great time. I felt great about the visit. I know what to expect now when I
got on visits. I pretty much got the feel for it. As far as other schools, I
would have to say that the bar is high. They set it pretty high.
Is there anything that happened that you were surprised about? That you feel is
going to be hard for another school to beat?
NR: Iowa fans seem like they were very involved. When I first
got to Iowa, they supported me instantly. At the football game, they were
chanting my name. It was crazy. They expected me to be there. If somebody was to
top that, then they would have to do that again. That was crazy. I was not
expecting that really. That’s pretty much it, really. And the fact that I felt
good and comfortable down there.
Can you tell us about Texas Tech?
NR: I know that they need a point guard real bad. That’s what
they’ve been telling me. That’s one reason why I’m going down there because they
really need me. They have a lot of interest. I know they have good players to
play with. I’ve been to Lubbock a couple of times but I have never spent time to
look at the campus. From what I’ve seen, it seems like a good campus. I want to
see more and see what the players, coaches, fans, and faculty is like.
When have you been to Lubbock?
NR: I’ve been to Lubbock because we have a school in our
district that we play against, Lubbock Christian. In order to get to that
school, we pass by Tech all the time.
Has the Tech coaching staff come by to see you?
NR: They came by last Monday. It was last week. It was coach
Knight and coach Bubba Jennings.
How was that?
NR: It was real good. They’re really easy to talk to. They told
me exactly what they needed form me and that’s one reason why I gave them an
official visit. They told me what they wanted and needed from me and to come in
right now and make an impact.
Can you tell us about Coach Knight?
NR: He’s funny. He’s a funny guy. He seems real laid back but
not so laid back to where he doesn’t care. But he seems like he’s cool and he’s
someone you can talk to and if you have a problem, you can tell him. He has a
great background. His father is Bob Knight so he knows a lot from him. He’s a
good coach. I know he’s a good coach.
And Bubba Jennings?
NR: He’s the one that’s done most of my recruiting. He’s easy
to talk to as well. He seems like a good guy. From when I talked to him, he
seemed real excited to come down to take a visit.
What do you know about Tech?
NR: I honestly don’t know much. I know that it’s a good school.
I’ve known a lot of people that go there and I know that in Texas with a Texas
Tech degree, you can get pretty far.
Is there a possibility that you might commit this weekend?
NR: There could be. I really don’t know right now. Possibly,
there could be. I might not take all five. I might take all four. But as of
right now I can’t really say. I don’t really know.
Fisher: Their offense is beefy
It’s a bittersweet start to the
season for Keller (TX) Fossil Ridge wide receiver
Aaron Fisher. With three touchdowns and 17 catches for 406
yards, it seems at first glance that Fisher should be all smiles.
“It’s going pretty good,” said Fisher. “Our team is not doing well as a unit,
but I feel like I’m doing pretty good. We’re 0-3 right now which is quite
terrible. It’s pretty bad. All of the games have been down to the wire except
for one. It was bad though. Our offense hasn’t been clicking like we’re supposed
to do."
In this time of need, Fisher is doing everything he can to get his team back on
track.
“I’m just trying to lead the team and I’ll kind of get onto people if they mess
up. I just want to be a leader the best I can. Whether it’s by them watching me
and playing the best I can or physically telling them to play well."
How has recruiting been going?
“It’s slowed down. I get mail still a little bit. But other than that, I talk to
Tech a lot. I don’t even really know who all is sending me letters. My dad gets
it and keeps it. He tells me I still get some stuff, I just don’t see it.”
With Fisher’s carefree attitude about recruiting mail, that’s got to be a good
sign for the Red Raiders.
“The mail I have seen, it’s just other stuff. If it is important, my dad tells
me. But I’m locked into Tech right now.”
With once eight offers in hand, Fisher hasn’t even received any phone calls
since the open period began. It’s a different aspect for the 6-foot-3,
175-pounder, but things are going great with Texas Tech.
“It’s sweet. I went up there this past week when they played SMU. Their offense
is beefy. Their defense is pretty good, too. The atmosphere was crazy. I got to
go on the field and watch them warm-up. I also got to talk to my friend
Chris Perry. The atmosphere was crazy during the game.
“That whole place was like a student section. Everyone was standing up and
yelling. I couldn’t even tell where the student section was, to be honest with
you.”
It was the first Tech game that Fisher has ever been to. As one of the 2009
commitments, the future Red Raider receiver got special treatment from the
current players.
“Like I said, I know Chris Perry and he introduced me to a couple of other guys.
I just talked to them about Tech and everything. I talked to the redshirt
freshman quarterback
Seth
Doege about the workouts. He said they’re hard but it gets you
right.”
Fisher was impressed with Tech’s offense, yet the general concept right now is
that it has still been struggling. The fact that they’re not playing 100%
absolutely gets Fisher giddy for the type of offense he can expect to play in.
“From any team’s standpoint, it looks like its clicking. To them, they know it’s
not right and they need to do better. They’ll score two series in the row and
then mess up a series. They started slow in the beginning but then just started
throwing touchdowns and airing it out. They’ll get it right though.
“I had no idea that their defense was that good. They were flying around. They
were real fast and looked good. They ran a little more than I thought, too. I
also saw
Michael Crabtree and he’s a beat, he’s a great blocker.
He’s real big.”
The relationship with the Red Raider coaching staff has remained strong for
Fisher.
“They call me and then I call them sometimes, it’s mutual. I talked to Coach
[Carlos] Mainord a couple of days ago on Monday. I like
Coach Mainord. He’s a real down to earth guy. He’s real cool. He’s just nice.
“I was supposed to go out there this weekend but I can’t make it. I need to call
him tomorrow and tell him.”
The Metroplex standout got to strengthen his relationships with his soon-to-be
position coaches when he was in Lubbock last weekend as well.
“I talked to Coach
Lincoln [Riley] and Coach
[Dennis] Simmons. They were basically just talking about
how they’re going to continue to throw the ball around when I get there so I
need to get ready for it.”
It was an unofficial trip for Fisher last weekend. Don’t worry, the three-star
receiver knows exactly when he’ll be back on his official.
“I want to take my official visit when they play Texas. It’s the biggest game of
the year and it’s at their place. They have come close to beating Texas a couple
of years in a row and it’s time.”
Being at the game last weekend and thinking about the Texas game does nothing
but amp up Fisher for the rest of the season.
“It gets me excited. It shows how much better I have to be to play on that
level. It makes me drive harder this football season.”
To view previous installments of the Red Raider Confidential, you can visit the
archives by
clicking here.
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This post was edited on 9/19 7:58 AM by A. Dickens
