Signing Day Arrives . . . Finally
The past few years, today seemed more like a marathon, but this year, with everything else that's happened, it's felt more like a sprint. And considering that all I do is sit at a computer and type, I can't imagine what this staff has had to endure to keep as many players on the same page. My last count, head coach Tommy Tuberville was unable to retain 5 commits: RB Aaron Spikes; OL Denton Simek; DE Kedrick Dial; LB Fred Harvey; and OL Javious Townsend. Tuberville had about 24 to 25 commits when he was hired at Texas Tech and he was able to retain (crossing fingers) the other 20 players. That's not too bad, about an 80% retention rate, which I can live with. There's also the thought that with some of these players, Tuberville may have stopped recruiting some of these players and with the others, they may have changed on their own. That's a natural part of the process, especially when the head coach is making fairly significant changes on defense.
Breaking News
Just a reminder to everyone not to post any premium information. I'll be busy for most of the day, but I'll be checking in and I'm just asking that we just not post premium material. The news is going to be pretty fast and furious today and if anyone breaks any news, I'd really appreciate it if you could always provide a link to where you're getting the information. Here's a few resources you might use:
Texas Tech official site -- 2010 Signing Day Central which also includes a link to a press conference that is supposed to start at 3:00 p.m and it sounds like it's going to be fee to watch.
Twitter search for Texas Tech -- Don't laugh, you'd be amazed how much news is broken by folks by Twitter, but I'd just warn you that you may want to link to actual traditional media folks rather than Bill in Muleshoe (no offense Bill).
LAJ's Don Williams - Raider Rants blog - Williams hasn't updated his blog since before Tuberville was hired.
LAJ's Adam Zuvanich - Zuvie's Views blog - Zuvie updates his blog relatively frequently.
Channel 11's Sportstacular Pete Christy's Twitter - Not afraid to post what ever information he is hearing.
RRS.com's Chris Level's Twitter - although he hasn't posted much information in quite some time.
Feel free to post any other links or websites in the comments, but this should be a start.
[Note by Seth C, 02/03/10 6:38 AM CST ] I wanted to link to the SB Nation National Signing Day story stream, which will have all of your nationwide stories.
In the News
More on Warren and Whigham: LAJ's Don Williams has some up quotes from relatively recent commits, Florida DB Phillip Warren and DB Lavaughn Whigham, and what they bring to the table (they both attend Miami's Southridge HS). Here's their high school coach on Warren:
“Phillip Warren is a great man-to-man cover corner,’’ Burrows said. “He was a workout warrior for us — the strongest kid, pound for pound on the team, and one of the fastest kids as well. He was a great man-press cornerback that was very good in run support as well. We did a lot of things with him.’’
And on Whigham:
“I think he’s going to have great success,’’ Burrows said. “He has long arms and a good vertical leap. (At cornerback), he was basically a rangy wide receiver that can tackle. A lot of opponents knew that if they did throw the ball to him, he was going to pick it off — not just break it up, but pick it off.’’
Radley is Connected: An interesting piece from ESPN's Ramona Shelburne, who is writing an article about UCLA commit Malcolm Jones, but ends up talking with one of the "on the fence" guys, RB Lucky Radley, who is apparently very connected to a number of the California players:
One of the most well-connected and socially active football players in Southern California is running back Lucky Radley (Woodland Hills, Calif./Taft), who is set to announce his decision at a news conference at the school at 1 p.m. Wednesday.
"Everyone recruits each other," Radley said. "It's much bigger than people realize.
"We all call each other, text each other, post on Facebook. Things like, 'Come on, come be a Bruin with me' or 'Fight on, Let's go Trojans.' When you're unannounced like me, you get a lot more people calling you. It's been nuts. You should see my Facebook page."
Because he is still unannounced -- he's deciding between Michigan, North Carolina, Utah and Texas Tech -- Radley's been on the receiving end of a lot of these phone calls and recruiting pitches.
But because he's probably one of the most savvy teenagers I've ever talked to -- seriously, the kid's going to be an agent someday -- he also has been a fact finder.
Frankly, Radley probably knows more about where the big-name recruits in Southern California are going to commit Wednesday than most of the professional recruiting analysts.
Coaching Change Messes: The Chron's Sam Kahn, Jr. writes about how the coaching change at Texas Tech initially caused some issues for commits OL James Polk and DE Dartwan Bush, both Houston area players:
When Bush learned of Leach's fate at Tech, he, like Polk, was shocked. Unlike Polk, he committed to the Raiders late in the process — doing so after taking an official visit in late December. But the coach who recruited him, Tech offensive line coach Matt Moore, was retained and contacted Bush in the immediate aftermath to inform him of the situation.
Soon thereafter, Bush got in contact with new coach Tommy Tuberville and new defensive coordinator James Willis to talk things over and decided Lubbock still would be his destination.
FoxSports with Randy Rogers: FoxSports Southwest's Brian Smith did a Q&A with recruiting guru Randy Rogers who comments about a bunch of players, but he had this to say about Texas Tech commit QB Scotty Young:
Talk about quarterback Scotty Young (Denton, TX/Ryan) a little. Is he a good fit for Texas Tech’s offensive system?
Well, I thought he was a great fit for what I’ll call the “Pirate” offense. I thought he was the perfect guy for Mike Leach. Obviously, I don’t think you’re going to see Tommy Tuberville throw the ball all over the park like Mike Leach did. That’s not been his history.
But having said that, I still think Scotty Young is the best quarterback prospect coming, particularly if you want to spread, because he can make all the throws. He’s got good size, and he doesn’t take a lot of hits. He’ll throw the ball away and go back to the huddle. For as many balls as he’s thrown, his body hasn’t taken a lot of hits, and for the number of touchdowns he’s thrown, he’s got great touch deep. He’s got terrific anticipation of receivers moving. I just think he’s really good.
On the Fence
There are handful of players that are on the fence about whether or not they'll be choosing Texas Tech today. There's probably a lot more than this, but this list is what I've gathered over the past week or so and actually located quite a bit of their information over the weekend. I'm not sure what my expectations are in regards to any of these players
Kadron Boone
Position: WR : YouTube: Clip 1 Clip 2 : Rivals Profile
: Scout Profile : ESPN Profile 81 Grade
Ht: 6'1" : Wt: 197 lbs : Forty: 4.50 : High School: Trinity Catholic (Ocala, FL)
J.R. Ferguson
Position: DE : YouTube: Clip 1 : Clip 2 : Rivals Profile : Scout Profile : ESPN Profile 81 Grade
Ht: 6'3 : Wt: 272 lbs. Forty: 4.90 : High School: Hargrave Military Academy (Chatham, VA)
Lucky Radley
Position: RB : YouTube: Clip 1 : Rivals Profile : Scout Profile : ESPN Profile 74 Grade
Ht: 5'9" : Wt: 185 lbs. Forty: 4.43 : High School: Taft (Woodland Hills, CA)
Darrin Kitchens
Position: LB : YouTube: N/A : Rivals Profile : Scout Profile : ESPN Profile 40 Grade
Ht: 6'3" : Wt: 215 lbs. Forty: 4.55 : High School: Homestead (Homestead, FL)
Trevor Gillette
Position: TE/LS : YouTube: Clip 1 : Rivals Profile : Scout Profile : ESPN Profile 40 Grade
Ht: 6'3" : Wt: 215 lbs. Forty: 4.58 : High School: Lake Travis (Austin, TX)
There's a list of current commits after the jump with links to their profiles, any clips that I could find on YouTube about any of these commits. Things could obviously changes, but I feel pretty good about the group of commits listed below.
Current Commits
Dartwan Bush
Position: DE : YouTube: N/A : Rivals Profile : Scout Profile : ESPN Profile 77 Grade
Ht: 6'1" : Wt: 245 lbs : Forty: 4.89 : High School: Brazoswood (Freeport, TX)
Aleon Calhoun
Position: OL : YouTube: Clip 1 : Rivals Profile : Scout Profile : ESPN Profile 76 Grade :
Ht: 6'7" : Wt: 320 lbs : Forty: 5.30High School: Navasota (Navasota, TX)
Joe Carmical
Position: QB/OLB : YouTube: Clip 1 : Rivals Profile : Scout Profile : ESPN Profile 77 Grade
Ht: 6'2" : Wt: 225 lbs : Forty: 4.70 : High School: Monticello (Monticello, AR)
Beau Carpenter
Position: OT : YouTube: N/A : : Rivals Profile : Scout Profile : ESPN Profile 78 Grade
Ht: 6'7" : Wt: 245 lbs : Forty: 4.79 : High School: Sulphur Springs (Sulphur Springs, TX) :
Coby Coleman
Position: DT : YouTube: Clip 1 : Rivals Profile : Scout Profile : ESPN Profile 77 Grade
Ht: 6'3" : Wt: 280 lbs : Forty: 4.74 : High School: Frankston (Frankston, TX) :
Shawn Corker
Position: WR : YouTube: Clip 1 : Rivals Profile : Scout Profile : ESPN Profile 78 Grade
Ht: 6'1" : Wt: 180 lbs : Forty: 4.45 secs : High School: Cardinal Gibbons (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) :
Delans Griffin
Position: RB : YouTube: Clip 1 : Rivals Profile : Scout Profile : ESPN Profile 78 Grade
Ht: 5'10" : Wt: 180 lbs : Forty: 4.49 : High School: Clinton (Clinton, OK)
Urell Johnson
Position: DB : YouTube: N/A : Rivals Profile : Scout Profile : ESPN Profile 76 Grade
Ht: 6'0" : Wt: 180 lbs : Forty: 4.50 : High School: O. Perry Walker (New Orleans, LA)
Mike Jones
Position: DT : YouTube: Clip 1 : Rivals Profile : Scout Profile : ESPN Profile 40
Ht: 6'3" : Wt: 260 lbs : Forty: 4.92 : High School: Kempner (Sugar Land, TX)
Donald Langley
Position: DT : YouTube: N/A : Rivals Profile : Scout Profile : ESPN Profile NA Grade
Ht: 6'2" : Wt: 295 lbs : Forty: NA : JUCO: Copiah-Lincoln CC (Wesson, MS)
Desmond Martin
Position: S : YouTube: N/A : Rivals Profile : Scout Profile : ESPN Profile 78 Grade
Ht: 6'1" : Wt: 177 lbs : Forty: 4.60 secs : High School: Stony Point (Round Rock, TX)
Ben McRoy
Position: WR : YouTube: Clip 1 : Clip 2 : Rivals Profile : Scout Profile : ESPN Profile 76 Grade
Ht: 5'9" : Wt: 165 lbs : Forty: 4.40 secs : High School: Lakeland (Lakeland, FL)
James Polk
Position: OL : YouTube: N/A : Rivals Profile : Scout Profile : ESPN Profile 71 Grade
Ht: 6'6" : Wt: 290 lbs : Forty: 5.60 secs : High School: Alief (Houston, TX)
Russell Polk
Position: S : YouTube: N/A : Rivals Profile : Scout Profile : ESPN Profile 73 Grade
Ht: 5'11" : Wt: 200 lbs : Forty: 4.50 secs : High School: Carter (Dallas, TX)
Tre'Vante Porter
Position: DB : YouTube: N/A : Rivals Profile : Scout Profile : ESPN Profile 77 Grade
Ht: 6'0" : Wt: 185 lbs : Forty: 4.40 secs : High School: Carl Albert (Midwest City, OK)
Jackson Richards
Position: DE : YouTube: Clip 1 : Clip 2 : Rivals Profile : Scout Profile : ESPN Profile 79
Ht: 6'4" : Wt: 235 lbs : Forty: 4.80 secs : High School: Carroll (Southlake, TX)
Lawrence Rumph
Position: DT : YouTube: N/A : Rivals Profile : Scout Profile : ESPN Profile NA
Ht: 6'3" : Wt: 270 lbs : Forty: 4.80 secs : JUCO: Navarro J.C. (Corsicana, TX) :
Brandon Smith
Position: CB : YouTube: Clip 1 : Rivals Profile : Scout Profile : ESPN Profile 76 Grade
Ht: 6'1" : Wt: 170 lbs : Forty: 4.43 : High School: Central Lafourche (Raceland, LA)
Scott Smith
Position: DE : YouTube: N/A : Rivals Profile : Scout Profile : ESPN Profile NA Grade
Ht: 6'7" : Wt: 275 lbs : Forty: NA : JUCO: Butler Community College (El Dorado, KH)
Javius Townsend
Position: OL : YouTube: N/A : Rivals Profile : Scout Profile : ESPN Profile 75 Grade
Ht: 6'2" : Wt: 300 lbs : Forty: 5.50 secs : High School: James Madison (Dallas, TX)
Position: CB : YouTube: Clip 1 : Rivals Profile : Scout Profile
: ESPN Profile 40Ht: 5'9" : Wt: 177 lbs : Forty: 4.38 : High School: Southridge (Miami, FL)
Position: DB : YouTube: Clip 1 : Rivals Profile : Scout Profile : ESPN Profile 40 Grade
Ht: 6'1" : Wt: 175 lbs : Forty: 4.58 : High School: Southridge (Miami, FL)
Zachary Winbush
Position: LB : YouTube: N/A : Rivals Profile : Scout Profile : ESPN Profile 77 Grade
Ht: 6'1" : Wt: 195 lbs : Forty: 4.60 : High School: Samuel Clemens (Schertz, TX)
Scotty Young
Position: QB : YouTube: Clip 1 : Rivals Profile : Scout Profile : ESPN Profile 75 Grade
Ht: 6'3" : Wt: 190 lbs : Forty: 4.80 : High School: Ryan (Denton, TX)