Friday can only mean one thing for the discriminating Red Raider fan: time for another edition of the Red Raider Confidential. As always, we begin this session with the ground rules. Everything that is reported in the Red Raider Confidential must stay well… confidential. That's the way this deal works. The Red Raider Confidential is posted in the premium forum to ensure that this information stays exclusively within the Raider Nation.
This will continue to be successful only if everyone helps out, so let’s all work together and keep the discussions limited to this board.
Room for Hyder?
With a limited number of spaces left in this year’s class, Kerry Hyder’s spot in the class appears to be somewhat up in the air.
Hyder maintains that Tech is still his favorite, with Iowa State sitting at a close second.
“Yeah Tech’s still out in front,” he said. “They’re out there and then Iowa State. I didn’t get to visit them like I’d hoped, but I’ll be making it out there sooner or later. Who knows when, but I’ll visit there. I don’t know when I’ll commit either, but it probably won’t be too late in the year.”
Still, even though Hyder is high on Tech, it remains to be seen whether or not Tech has room for him in this year’s class. A lot of it will have to do with how McKinner Dixon’s situation shakes out, which might not be clear for some time.
Closing Up Shop
In the zany world of recruiting, good (and bad) things seem to come in bunches at times. Such was the case this week, as Tech received verbal commitments from two of their top targets, safety Terrance Bullitt and offensive lineman Joel Gray.
Both commitments were huge not only because of the duo’s talent level, but also because of the fact that they filled two huge needs in this class.
So, with Bullitt and Gray now on board, this class will look a lot different moving forward. Several positions that were being worked on no longer appear to be in Tech’s plans moving forward. Tech has all but closed up shop on several position groups, including running back, wide receiver, linebacker, corner, and safety.
For now, by our math, Tech has 17 scholarships available for this class and they have 15 commitments right now, so we are looking for roughly two more prospects in this year’s class. Now, that’s always subject to change, as this week’s McKinner Dixon news has shown us, but for now, we’re expecting them to proceed as though they’re going to take two more guys in this class.
Here’s what we expect:
Offensive line: We’re looking for them to take one more offensive lineman right now. Obviously, with Dominique Delpeche still being on scholarship, this is subject to change. If Delpeche doesn’t end up remaining on scholarship, they will likely look to ink two more offensive linemen. LaAdrian Waddle is atop the list of linemen on Tech’s radar for now, but we wouldn’t be surprised if a new wave of offers went out over the next few weeks.
Defensive Line: This is where it gets a little hairy. First of all, Tech really wants to take a defensive tackle. Romario Cathey is the name to remember here. Now, after that, things can get a little fuzzy. If McKinner Dixon’s situation ends poorly, then we wouldn’t be surprised if they go after a guy like Kerry Hyder with some serious vigor. Again, this is going to be an interesting situation to keep an eye on.
Now, as always, keep in mind that this is not only likely to change, it’s almost guaranteed to do so. Attrition happens, de-commitments happen, non-qualifiers happen, this is a crazy game and the inherent volatility of the process will mandate that nothing happens according to plan.
Also keep in mind that regardless of what Tech’s planning on, there are a small handful of elite prospects that simply can’t (and won’t) be turned away.
The bottom line is that this week’s events severely altered the look of this recruiting class and however the math shakes out, the fact is that available spaces in this class just got a lot tighter.
Men’s basketball quick hits
1. One hoops prospect that is no longer under consideration for a scholarship to Texas Tech is Fort Wayne point guard Justin Jordan. Two things played into that situation with the first being that he didn't play well in a recent AAU Tournament and then when you add to the fact that Tyree Graham should be here this fall it alleviates the immediate need for a point guard some.
2. The two high school prospects that Texas Tech is heavily involved with right now are Mike Davis (also goes by Aaron Davis or Aaron Mike Davis) who will visit unofficially very soon it looks like and then again officially this fall. The other one is four-star swingman Nick Russell who also will officially visit this fall.
3. As far as junior college prospects go there is a compiled list of thirteen that the staff will check in on and monitor as the season gets going. The three main targets among that group are David Tairu of South Plains College, Brad Reese of Gulf Coast College and Torye Pelham of Chipola College.
4. While junior college prospects are in the mix the heavy focus right now is on those two high schoolers and in the end we'd expect to see a class of five prospects inked which means they still have four spots to fill to go along with Jaye Crockett.
5. We are told that if signee Tyree Graham doesn't play much this year that it will be a great sign because the guys ahead of him (Voskuil, Roberson and Okorie) will be playing extremely well. Graham is right around 6-foot-2 and 195-pounds right now so he certainly looks the part when it comes to being a Big 12 guard.
6. We're told that if the season started today you'd likely see a starting five that includes: Voskuil, Roberson, Singletary or Cook, Roberts and Darko. Apparently Cook has been very consistent this summer and Singletary has played really well at times and other times he hasn't. Also notice that Roberts is included in that mix which speaks volumes about the summer he's had at this point.
7. It also becoming very clear that new strength coach Chris Braden has made a difference in this program. Everyone is talking about it from the players to the staff. Pat Knight indicated this week that Braden's presence is the equivalent of adding a top player to your roster because he's been that good with the roster this summer.
Tech baseball news
As Yogi Berra might say, "This is like deja vu all over again."
The talk about a minor league baseball stadium has reemerged in Lubbock and again Tech baseball has been asked to be part of the mix. An ownership group is looking into the possibility of putting a stadium in the Depot District and luring a minor league franchise to the Hub City. This is a different ownership group than the previous West Texas Professional Baseball group. The owners would pay Tech a flat fee every year in exchange for the Red Raiders playing off campus. Other revenue details other trying to be hammered out as part of the proposal.
For obvious reasons Tech is looking into the situation. The flip side is that it hampers Larry Hays in his Dan Law fundraising efforts. Hays retired from coaching in June and has been concentrating on trying to raise the necessary funds to start the renovations to The Law. The minor league situation has certainly clouded that situation.
Any affiliated minor league team that moved to Lubbock would have to be at least a Double A because of proximity of the leagues. Unlike when the Crickets played here, a Double A team would start their season in April which certainly would cause scheduling problems with the Red Raiders. A short season league would probably be an ideal team to partner with but there is not a league close enough to make a Lubbock team a good fit.
Pay attention to this situation as it moves forward.
-Speaking of baseball, we had the chance to talk to Dan Spencer recently and he's excited about the possibilities for the Tech pitching staff in '09. Chad Bettis and Nate Karns have spent the summer pitching in the Cape Cod League and both have been outstanding. "Both of those guys are Friday night guys," Spencer said. The Tech coach thinks Karns will surprise people next spring. "He was never completely healthy in '08 but we had to use him."
But those two are not the only reason to think the pitching here will be vastly improved. Sophomore-to-be Robbie Kilcrease spent the summer in the Northwood League and has shown tremendous improvement. Kilcrease, who has been a starter during the summer, recently struck out 13 in an outing.
Also, Brian Cloud spent the summer in Lodi, California and pitched well in the Sierra League. Cloud was named an all-star before having to return home with a minor injury situation but should be ready to go in the fall.
Throw in the addition of a load of freshmen, including Texas 5A pitcher of the year Ben Flora, along with Colton Farrar, and you have to think Spencer will see improvement to a staff that had a 6.34 ERA last spring.
Spencer added that A.J. Ramos is progressing on his rehab from Tommy John surgery. Ramos recently was able to start tossing a baseball and has been diligent in his recovery. If Ramos can return completely healthy, Spencer said he likely would be the third weekend guy. If he is not ready health wise, they would consider a redshirt for him. Also, Miles Morgan has reemerged on the scene, throwing well at times this summer, and he'll get another look this fall.
Final Update On Leach’s Contract Extension
Lots of angst the past couple of weeks about the Leach contract situation. Suffice to say that Tech officials are doing their part to get this done. Everyone in the administration wants to extend the contract. Tech fans can do their part by buying season tickets and donating to the Red Raider Club.
On August 29th the Red Raider Confidential Will Return
Folks, to be honest with you we really struggled to put this latest Red Raider Confidential together because of everything going on and in some cases the lack of things going on. We've thrown every resource we have at covering practice because we felt like that was important to you all to get that covered every single day and get it covered better than anyone else.
There also just isn't a whole lot going on as it relates to recruiting right now other than the basketball stuff we listed above. This football class as it stands today only has room for two more additions which we'd expect to go to an offensive lineman and a defensive lineman. When it's all said and done we expect their class to include 18-20 signees but right now things are slow after the commitments of Terrance Bullitt and Joel Gray earlier this week.
So, we are going to hold off on doing an RRC until the Friday before the season opener because with practice going on and the lack of activity as it relates to recruiting will prohibit us from making this report worth your time.
Having said that though you can rest assured that if something goes on as it relates to recruiting that you need to know about we will report on it right then as opposed to holding anything back.
Also keep in mind that once September gets here there will be a small list of 2010 prospects that will earn an offer from the Red Raiders to go along with the offers we already know about to DE Jackson Richards (committed), LB V.J. Fehoko and QB Zach Lee.
To view previous installments of the Red Raider Confidential, visit the archives by clicking here.
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This will only be successful if everyone helps make it work, so let’s all work together and keep the discussions limited to this board.
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