Welcome back to the weekly RedRaiderSports.com staff mailbag. Do continue to send in your questions as those arise, whether that be ITT or in the coming days when we get a new thread up. Let’s dive into this week’s questions.
What does the staff see as Robert Jennings' ideal position? Is he going to be an undersized 5 for his whole career or are we trying to position him to play the 4 along with a traditional big? - @RandomRaiderTTU
It is hard to say with Jennings, but from my perspective, if he was truly going to evolve into a steady 4, he would have had to have added a lot more to his game offensively this season, which we just haven’t seen. I can’t really tell you what the plan is from the staff’s perspective, but if this season is any indication, I’m led to believe he’s probably on the route of being an undersized 5.
His role this season has been dependent on several other factors, the lack of size beyond Warren Washington is essentially forcing RJ to continue playing that 5 spot. We haven’t seen them get much run together, the first time barely coming the other night, and that is because their skill sets offensively don’t compliment each other to warrant them playing on the floor together very much. It’s not a knock on either of them, Washington has been fantastic and RJ has come on strong, but I would have liked to see more development from the latter this season, particularly with at least adding a mid range jumper of some sorts. With the kind of offense this team runs, it’s not ideal to run two bigs who can’t space the floor.
IF Jennings were to take a significant step into his junior campaign and IF the staff can bring on more talent/depth/size at the 5 spot, he could potentially play more of a 4 role. The verdict has basically been decided this season, beyond that is dependent on how his game evolves and who else the staff brings in.
Do you think we have the talent to make a run at the CWS this year? - @Bettycawkder
I’ve been on record that I believe this is the most talented Tech team since the fabled Covid-wiped 2020 team. You have two pre-season All-Americans in Gavin Kash and Kevin Bazzell with a standout rest of the infield. The Gonzaga transfer Cade McGee is going to turn some heads while the freshman TJ Pompey has worked his way into the starting lineup. We all know what Tracer Lopez can do from his strong freshman season last year. The infield is as good as it gets offensively, and I expect it to be strong defensively too.
On the mound is obviously the concern, and if Mason Molina would have stayed, I firmly believe that this team would be in the top ten of most polls out there. However he didn’t and Tech is lighter than they were expecting, but I wouldn’t call it light or even frightening. Kyle Robinson and Zane Petty have the chance to be really, really good and if Jack Washburn can get to his 2022 Ole Miss form, you could have as good of a top three as anyone. The bullpen is strong and the Red Raiders have another 3-4 arms that are stretched out to be multi-inning relievers or mid-week starters.
The way that Tech scheduled this season is another key. Tech will have the opportunity to play an immense amount of RPI-boosting games that will give them an excellent chance to host a regional, or even a super-regional, which does wonders for a team’s pursuit of Omaha.
Overall, Tech seems to be getting snubbed a bit in the polls, especially the Big 12 poll, in my opinion. This is a very talented team and it is time for them to get back. This is likely the year for this core to make some noise with Kash, Bazzell, McGee, Robinson and plenty of others draft eligible after this season. Don’t want to call it “Omaha or Bust,” but man, it sure feels like you have to get close. - @J. Apodaca
Any big targets to watch for 2024 recruiting class? - @Dtown66
Are we talking basketball or football?
If basketball, one of the top targets on the board is three-star guard Leon Horner III. Horner visited Lubbock for the game vs Cincinnati in early February, and while he doesn’t hold an offer from Tech yet, sources say the Red Raiders do like Horner III a lot.
I think it’ll come down to whether the staff elects to take a 2024 prospect or not. If they do, I like the chances of it being the combo guard from Dynamic Prep.
It doesn’t hurt that Horner III is teammates with 2025 big man and Rivals100 prospect Jaden Toombs.
If we’re talking football, the 2024 signing class is done. The coaches might add another walk on or two over the following months.
Some top targets for 2025 include RB Shelton Fuller, WR Kelshaun Johnson, WR Terry Shelton, OL Marcus Garcia, OL Keiton Jones, OL Henry Fenuku, DL Chace Sims, EDGE Chad Woodfork, EDGE Smith Orogbo, LB Mason Posa, CB Coleman Patmon, CB Micah Strickland, DB Swayde Griffin and ATH Cameron Dyer among others. - @B. Golan
Warren Washington? - From a variety of personalities on this website
Apologies for this not being answered sooner, but we were able to get official word on the big man’s status from the head coach yesterday and the outlook is a positive one. Let’s flip the view on this however, to just how lucky Tech is to have not lost him for significant time. During my research for my thoughts on Iowa State (shameless plug), I was surprised to find some interesting numbers on Washington.
Were you aware that Washington is No. 25 in the Big 12 in scoring average with 11.9 points per game? He’s seventh in the conference in rebounding, averaging 6.7 per game, as well as tied for the lead in blocks with UCF’s Ibrahima Diallo at 1.5 a night. Also, though the sample size is much smaller, Washington is also the Big 12’s field goal percentage leader, shooting 64.9 percent from the field. While his numbers in the grand scheme of the conference are not eye-opening by any means, he’s been way more consistent in this stretch and I think we all became aware of how valuable he is to this team when they were without him against Baylor. I’d argue Tech would have won that game with Washington in the lineup.
I don’t say all of this to just regurgitate some numbers at you, but to put it into perspective how fortunate Tech is not to have lost Washington for either the season or even significant time in general. To be determined what his true health is for tomorrow’s game, but man if he can be back against TCU or sometime soon you will have dodged a serious bullet.
What’s on your Burger King Make-A-Whopper burger? - @jakporte32
Figured I would also take this one to be silly. Though I don’t frequent Burger King much, if at all, these days, I did go through a short phase in high school where it was a cheap spot for lunch. The $1.49 chicken nuggets were clutch. However, on the burger side, they had this one burger at one time, they might still have it I’m not sure, but it was a double cheeseburger with onion rings and A1 sauce. Insane combination, but that burger was unreal. Alas, that’s enough BK talk for today.
Keep firing away for us! Thank you all
What does the staff see as Robert Jennings' ideal position? Is he going to be an undersized 5 for his whole career or are we trying to position him to play the 4 along with a traditional big? - @RandomRaiderTTU
It is hard to say with Jennings, but from my perspective, if he was truly going to evolve into a steady 4, he would have had to have added a lot more to his game offensively this season, which we just haven’t seen. I can’t really tell you what the plan is from the staff’s perspective, but if this season is any indication, I’m led to believe he’s probably on the route of being an undersized 5.
His role this season has been dependent on several other factors, the lack of size beyond Warren Washington is essentially forcing RJ to continue playing that 5 spot. We haven’t seen them get much run together, the first time barely coming the other night, and that is because their skill sets offensively don’t compliment each other to warrant them playing on the floor together very much. It’s not a knock on either of them, Washington has been fantastic and RJ has come on strong, but I would have liked to see more development from the latter this season, particularly with at least adding a mid range jumper of some sorts. With the kind of offense this team runs, it’s not ideal to run two bigs who can’t space the floor.
IF Jennings were to take a significant step into his junior campaign and IF the staff can bring on more talent/depth/size at the 5 spot, he could potentially play more of a 4 role. The verdict has basically been decided this season, beyond that is dependent on how his game evolves and who else the staff brings in.
Do you think we have the talent to make a run at the CWS this year? - @Bettycawkder
I’ve been on record that I believe this is the most talented Tech team since the fabled Covid-wiped 2020 team. You have two pre-season All-Americans in Gavin Kash and Kevin Bazzell with a standout rest of the infield. The Gonzaga transfer Cade McGee is going to turn some heads while the freshman TJ Pompey has worked his way into the starting lineup. We all know what Tracer Lopez can do from his strong freshman season last year. The infield is as good as it gets offensively, and I expect it to be strong defensively too.
On the mound is obviously the concern, and if Mason Molina would have stayed, I firmly believe that this team would be in the top ten of most polls out there. However he didn’t and Tech is lighter than they were expecting, but I wouldn’t call it light or even frightening. Kyle Robinson and Zane Petty have the chance to be really, really good and if Jack Washburn can get to his 2022 Ole Miss form, you could have as good of a top three as anyone. The bullpen is strong and the Red Raiders have another 3-4 arms that are stretched out to be multi-inning relievers or mid-week starters.
The way that Tech scheduled this season is another key. Tech will have the opportunity to play an immense amount of RPI-boosting games that will give them an excellent chance to host a regional, or even a super-regional, which does wonders for a team’s pursuit of Omaha.
Overall, Tech seems to be getting snubbed a bit in the polls, especially the Big 12 poll, in my opinion. This is a very talented team and it is time for them to get back. This is likely the year for this core to make some noise with Kash, Bazzell, McGee, Robinson and plenty of others draft eligible after this season. Don’t want to call it “Omaha or Bust,” but man, it sure feels like you have to get close. - @J. Apodaca
Any big targets to watch for 2024 recruiting class? - @Dtown66
Are we talking basketball or football?
If basketball, one of the top targets on the board is three-star guard Leon Horner III. Horner visited Lubbock for the game vs Cincinnati in early February, and while he doesn’t hold an offer from Tech yet, sources say the Red Raiders do like Horner III a lot.
I think it’ll come down to whether the staff elects to take a 2024 prospect or not. If they do, I like the chances of it being the combo guard from Dynamic Prep.
It doesn’t hurt that Horner III is teammates with 2025 big man and Rivals100 prospect Jaden Toombs.
If we’re talking football, the 2024 signing class is done. The coaches might add another walk on or two over the following months.
Some top targets for 2025 include RB Shelton Fuller, WR Kelshaun Johnson, WR Terry Shelton, OL Marcus Garcia, OL Keiton Jones, OL Henry Fenuku, DL Chace Sims, EDGE Chad Woodfork, EDGE Smith Orogbo, LB Mason Posa, CB Coleman Patmon, CB Micah Strickland, DB Swayde Griffin and ATH Cameron Dyer among others. - @B. Golan
Warren Washington? - From a variety of personalities on this website
Apologies for this not being answered sooner, but we were able to get official word on the big man’s status from the head coach yesterday and the outlook is a positive one. Let’s flip the view on this however, to just how lucky Tech is to have not lost him for significant time. During my research for my thoughts on Iowa State (shameless plug), I was surprised to find some interesting numbers on Washington.
Were you aware that Washington is No. 25 in the Big 12 in scoring average with 11.9 points per game? He’s seventh in the conference in rebounding, averaging 6.7 per game, as well as tied for the lead in blocks with UCF’s Ibrahima Diallo at 1.5 a night. Also, though the sample size is much smaller, Washington is also the Big 12’s field goal percentage leader, shooting 64.9 percent from the field. While his numbers in the grand scheme of the conference are not eye-opening by any means, he’s been way more consistent in this stretch and I think we all became aware of how valuable he is to this team when they were without him against Baylor. I’d argue Tech would have won that game with Washington in the lineup.
I don’t say all of this to just regurgitate some numbers at you, but to put it into perspective how fortunate Tech is not to have lost Washington for either the season or even significant time in general. To be determined what his true health is for tomorrow’s game, but man if he can be back against TCU or sometime soon you will have dodged a serious bullet.
What’s on your Burger King Make-A-Whopper burger? - @jakporte32
Figured I would also take this one to be silly. Though I don’t frequent Burger King much, if at all, these days, I did go through a short phase in high school where it was a cheap spot for lunch. The $1.49 chicken nuggets were clutch. However, on the burger side, they had this one burger at one time, they might still have it I’m not sure, but it was a double cheeseburger with onion rings and A1 sauce. Insane combination, but that burger was unreal. Alas, that’s enough BK talk for today.
Keep firing away for us! Thank you all
