Recruiting on the South Plains | CB Olaoluwa Falemi

RECRUITING ON THE HIGH PLAINS Measurables OLAOLUWA FALEMI Position: CB Ht: 5'11" | Wt: 170 lbs | Forty: 4.40 JUCO: Los Angeles Harbor C.C. (Wilmington, CA) DTN Profile Video: Clip 1 Rivals | Scout | ESPN | 24/7 Sports N/A Cumulative Ranking: Incomplete Rankings Rivals | , 5.5 Rivals Rating Scout | ESPN | N/R 24/7 Sports | , 70 24/7 Sports Rating

This just might be the first commit for new defensive back's coach, John Lovett. According to Falemi's Rival's profile, Lovett is responsible for recruiting Texas Tech's newest commit, Olaoluwa Falemi, also known as Ola, and talks a bit about Lovett initially contacting him last week. So I find this a bit interesting in that this is a guy that Lovett targeted, and the other interesting thing is that I couldn't find where Falemi was being offered by any other major college and affirms that in his statements below. He was certainly interested in some other schools, but I couldn't find any verification that the feeling was mutual.

The Player Speaks

Falemi spoke with LAJ's Don Williams about his trip to Lubbock this weekend and Williams also spoke with Falemi's defensive coordinator in JUCO:

“Ola has come a long way,” L.A. Harbor defensive coordinator Reuben Ale said. “His first year here, he was a part-time starter. This past year, he just blossomed. He really did some great things for us. He was our top cover corner.

“He led our special teams in tackles as well. He never came out of the game (defensively). Super kid, super athlete. He’s going to do some good things at the next level.”

Falemi also says that Morgan St. and Idaho were offering, so there's that.

DMN's Mike Graham spoke with Falemi who says that he expects to start:

"I was just waiting for a phone call, and Texas Tech hit me up," Falemi told RedRaiderSports.com. "(Secondary) coach John Lovett called me, he saw my tape, he needed a corner to come in and play and start. He found my highlight tape and he told me he wanted me and needed me here."

"They expect me to come in and fight for a starting job," Falemi told RedRaiderSports.com. "I'm a JUCO player, I'm coming into start but, at the same time, I have to fight for the position. They said it's up for grabs. They said I have the talent to start, I just have to come here and show it."

Scouting Report

In checking out Falemi's video on Hudl (see the link on the box on the right, Falemi is actually playing some pretty nice cornerback. A lot of man coverage and a lot of plays on special teams. At cornerback, Falemi looks fairly adept, however, the problem is that I don't have any idea as to the competition. In fact, most JUCO's are listed in the NJCAA (National Junior College Athletics Association), but Los Angeles Harbor C.C. is no where to be found. You can see his season statistics for 2011 and he was third on the team in tackles with 60 tackles, 3.5 TFL, 1 INT and 4 passes broken-up. Again, the problem is that there's not telling how good the competition is in this particular instance.

On special teams, Falemi looks like a go-getter, more than willing to be a gunner on special teams and go make some plays. The more I think about this, the more that this feels like a guy that can fill in some gaps in a handful of spots, much like IR/RB/PR/KR Sadale Foster, from cornerback to being a special teams coverage maven.

I've given Falemi an "Incomplete" as of right now. As you may or may not know, these cumulative rankings are dependent on at least a couple of these services actually rate the player and right now, Falemi is only rated by Rivals, so he gets an incomplete for now.

Olaoluwa, welcome to Texas Tech and Git Your Guns Up!

The recruiting table is after the jump.

The 2012 Class