The 2014 Football class is almost over, and since I've done almost everyone Tech still has a chance it, I will probably start reviewing the 2015 class (along with 2014 Basketball class). I will still give updates on what the 2014 recruits are doing, just got give an entire insight on there offers/skills/interest like in the past. An example of that is what I am doing with Jackson Davis and Leon Gilmore this week. Speaking of those two, lets jump right into it:
Jackson Davis - Small/Power Forward (Lafayette HS, Lexington, KY)
Height: 6'8" Weight: 220 lbs
Ratings: NR by 247 / 71 by ESPN / NR by Rivals
Interest: Indiana (Warm), Louisville (Warm), Texas Tech (Warm), Purdue (Warm)
Out of those 4, only Texas Tech have offered him a scholarship. Ivy League schools like Princeton, Penn and Colombia have offered too, showing that Jackson Davis must be smart. The reason why I believe we can grab this kid, is the connection Tubby Smith has with his dad, Johnathan Davis. He was recruited about 25 odd years ago by assistant Tubby Smith to play for him at South Carolina. Johnathan Davis chose Kentucky, but just 3 years later was coached by Tubby Smith, who just earned the Head Coaching job there. Apparently Davis stayed in Lexington and kept in touch with Tubby, who saw Jackson play at a young age. Also makes sense why Jackson is such a big fan of Tubby. I found two pieces of film on him, the first which shows his never-give-up ability at the rim and his range, the other showing his power and clutch shots. He has only visited Tech (back in August) and is right now leaning toward them.
Leon Gilmore - Small Forward (Manvel HS, Manvel TX)
Height: 6'7" Weight: 200 lbs
Ratings: 92 by 247 / 80 by ESPN / 3-star by Rivals
Interests: Houston (Warm), Nebraska (Warm), UNLV (Warm), Texas Tech (Cool)
The recruiting websites are all over the place on this one. I have no idea really where this guy stands with anyone. I do know, however, that he has visited Houston a lot (lives near Houston), visited Nebraska and the good guys have visited him. We haven't offered a scholarship to this kid, but hopefully Tubby does soon. What I like about his film is his ability to score near the rim. He uses his length, quickness and strength to ether lay it up or throw down a vicious dunk. If that's not working for some reason, he looks to have a descant shot to knock it down. Leon will be visiting Tech this week for the Texas State game. Hopefully Tubby will be able to snag him away from Houston or Nebraska.
Here are some other update over the past week:
Football Recruiting 2014:
- Owen Williams was offered yesterday by Texas Tech. According to 247, we are the only team to do so. He is from El Durado, Kansas, has a height of 6'2", weight of 285 lbs and a 4.85 40 time. That is all the information I could find right now.
- Sylvester Towes visited West Virginia over the weekend. Towes will be visiting Texas Tech sometime later on in the season.
- A handful of Tech recruits visited A&M over the weekend for that SEC game that looked like a Big XII game. Just to name a few; Tony Brown (FB 2014), Alex Roberson (BB 2014), Chris Warren (FB 2015), Kyler Murray (FB 2015) and Justin Dunning (FB 2015)
- Ian Sadler has a vist from Coach Kingsbury and Coach Morris during his game last Friday. I'm not sure why they did so, but could be to keep Ian Sadler interested in Tech or maybe to look at 2015 Argyle recruits.
- Vincent Jackson, a 2014 LB recruit, will visit either TCU or Texas Tech soon. It looks like he's leaning towards Ohio State right now, but Kliff can work some magic.
- There was a story on rivals (behind a paywall) where the title hinted that Tech will be looking at JUCO players to fill out the rest of this class. We already have a handful of High Schoolers and not a single JUCO left, plus all the JUCO players are usually still in a major process in recruiting. While JUCO players are more ready for Division 1 football, they sometimes still need to time to learn a system and only have 2 years to play for the school they pick. So which one would be better at this point in the recruiting process?
Basketball Recruiting 2014:
- Keenan Evans was visited Tubby Smith last Tuesday, and visited Tech during the TCU game last Thursday. He isn't ranked by any of the recruiting services and 247 doesn't even list the kid. He is a 6'1" PG out of Richardson Texas that has high interest in Western Kentucky and Utah State.
- Jeff Newberry had a busy weekend. First he cancelled his Memphis, then had Tech and Texas A&M visit him last Monday .Later he went on to visit Tech during the TCU game this Thursday. He is apparently very interested in the Red Raiders, even telling Tech fans to take a look at his team, Jamill Powell. I am impressed with both of these guys shots, along with there ability to create space and create diversions. Newberry cut down to 3 schools today, with UConn, Oklahoma State and Tech.
- Josh Gray visited Florida state last Friday and committed there on Saturday. Congrats to him, and hope he plays well in Florida.
Football Recruiting 2015+:
- Josh Moore, a 2015 Weak-Side Defensive End from Kansas, was offered by the Red Raiders this past week. He is not rated by 247 right now, but has a good size in 6'5" and a pretty good weight in 250 lbs. Texas Tech is the only school after him thus far.
- Deshawn Capers-Smith, a 2015 Athlete/Cornerback/Dual-Threat QB/Boss from the Big Easy, was rated by 247 as an 89 last week. Tech, Mizzou, A&M and Utah have attracted the most interest from him so far. He was one of the guys that visited A&M during the Big XII looking SEC game last Saturday.
- Collin Wilder visited Tech during the SFA game two weekends ago. The offer he has received is from Tech, but A&M is also drawing interest from him