Osunde a Walk-On: I got up incredibly early this morning and was listening to yesterday's Tech Talk (Quicktime) and Chris Level mentioned that yesterday's commit, CB Junior Osunde is coming to Texas Tech as a walk-on. This seems strange, and I'm not complaining, but Texas Tech has a commit from a 3-star or 2-star cornerback as a walk-on. That's pretty danged good. Also, how do we score this at home? Do we include Osunde in the recruiting class? If we did, then shouldn't we also include DT Michael Odiari (see below)? What if Mansfield RB Damon Bullock (see below) ends up at Texas Tech?
More Walk-On's: Again, in yesterday's post on Osunde, I mentioned in the comments that Texas Tech was getting another player, DT Michael Odiari from Butte College, a junior college. Odiari, originally from Hebron in the DFW area, is 6-0/248 according to the Butte roster. Here's some video of Odiari and he's really active, obviously undersized, but seems to have pretty good speed (look for #22):
I know I'm not supposed to be impressed with highlight film from a buy playing in Butte, but I could see Odiari playing some defensive end in a 4-down linemen alignment. It's nice depth at the very least. This past year, Odiari finished the year with 34 tackles in only 7 games (about 5 tackles a game) and 7.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. That earned Odiari first team all-conference in the NorCal conference (PDF and I really don't know what the NorCal conference is, but you'll have to trust me.)
Now, I bring to you Mansfield RB Damon Bullock, who mentioned in an article in the FWST high school section, DFW Varsity, that Bullock hasn't really received any any offers despite having a fairly successful senior season, but an injured junior season:
"I think it hurt a lot," Bullock said about his shortened junior season. "Every Division I school I have talked to, like Tulsa, North Texas and Texas Tech, they all wonder why I haven't had any Division I offers. It's because of my junior year."
Bullock rushed 239 times for 1,606 yards and 22 touchdowns. That's not bad. I don't have any measurables on Bullock other than his ESPN profile where he's listed at 6-0/185, but his video says that he's 6-0/195 and runs a 4.40. Bullock was named to the Ft. Worth All-Area second team, where he joins current Texas Tech commits, OL Alfredo Morales on the second team and OL Tony Morales on the first team. And there's video:
I would think that this late in the game, Bullock doesn't receive an offer, but I'd love for a guy like Bullock to receive a preferred walk-on status if he doesn't get an offer from any other program. And there are some defensive highlights in the video, mostly at safety, as I'm afraid that the Texas Tech backfield is awfully crowded, but this is the type of player that could add some weight and play some linebacker. He does have good speed, maybe he's not a 4.40, but he does an alright job of getting to the sideline and he does outrun some defenders.
Oversigning: The idea of oversigning was discussed a bit in yesterday's post on Osunde and SI.com's Andy Staples talks to college coaches on oversigning and that the NCAA rule isn't stopping the process. Head coach Tommy Tuberville is featured as a guy that's a fan of oversigning:
Tuberville, who coached at Ole Miss before Auburn, believes oversigning can benefit certain players. It's no coincidence that most of the schools that engage in oversigning are either in states or border states that allow junior college football. A coach will sign players he knows have no chance of qualifying academically and then place those players in junior colleges. In return, the junior college coaches will feed the best of their players back to the FBS programs when those players are ready to transfer. Tuberville believes the practice allowed some players to reach college when they might have otherwise slipped through the cracks.
"I always liked to oversign seven or eight just to sign kids, to motivate them, and then we're going to put you in junior college," Tuberville said. "Once you sign, then we can continue to call you and motivate you to go to class, get your grades higher. Then you go to junior college, and you'll be in a lot better shape. Now, you're not going to be able to do that."
The problem is that the NCAA rule regarding oversigning, as Staples puts it, has very little teeth, but the new rule is that the NCAA will limit the number of signees to 28 starting February 2, 2011, but Staples thinks, and I agree, that this rule will be ignored by a lot of programs, including Texas Tech. Staples also has a handy chart of the worst oversigning offenders, where Texas Tech averaged 25.2 over the past 5 years. Of course, right now, Tuberville has 25 commits and wouldn't surprise me that Texas Tech has 28 signees on signing day with some guys that won't qualify.
Harrell Heads Home: KDAF TV 33 in Dallas has a nice bit on former Red Raider Graham Harrell heading home for the Superbowl. No quotes from Graham, but a good interview of his father, Sam Harrell.
Miscellaneous: Per DFW Varsity's Brent Shirley, there's an update on soon-to-be senior RB Jonathan Gray, son of former Texas Tech running back James Gray . . . Dr. Saturday's Matt Hinton takes his yearly look at recruiting rankings and whether or not they mean anything (they do mean something, they're an indicator, but not the be-all, end-all and this is worth your time if you like recruiting) . . . Turfburner's Jay Beck takes a look at the recruiting rankings for the Big 12 and right now, Texas Tech's class sits 3rd overall in the Big 12 . . . RRS.com's Joe Yeager takes a look at the Texas Tech receivers (I'll be doing my position by position review after national signing day. Need some time to decompress.) . . . Congrats to Oklahoma WR Kenny Stills and DB Tony Jefferson for the excellent start to the offseason's Fulmer Cup (and this is me not throwing stones because I know that people in college like to drink, even if they're underage. I think this is a minor infraction.) . . . CBS Sports' Dennis Dodd has a nice article on former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach and acknowledges that the lawsuits may be limiting his marketability . . .
Jennings Can Still Shoot: LAJ's Courtney Linehan writes that Bubba Jennings is in some national tournament with college coaches because he has the propensity to shoot free-throws at an alarming rate. Kinda funny that in the article, it mentions that head coach Pat Knight was ousted in the first round by New Mexico's Steve Alford. Jennings is now in the sweet sixteen.
Miscellaneous: FWST's Mike Jones takes a look at this week's Big 12 games (I think there was a game last night as K-State beat Baylor) . . . Rush The Court's Owen Kemp checks in on the Big 12 . . .
First Pitch Luncheon: Per the official site:
The Texas Tech baseball and softball teams will be featured at the 10th Anniversary First Pitch Luncheon, scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 16, at the Lubbock Civic Center Banquet Hall. Doors open at 11:30 a.m. while the program will begin at noon.
The annual event, hosted by the Red Raider Club and the Tech Hecklers, will spotlight both the Red Raider baseball and softball teams which are set to begin competition during the middle of February.