Possible Red Raiders: A weekly recruiting update - 11/5/13

Unfortunately, Tech lost in a not-so-great fashion Saturday night with a 18 point loss to OKST (better than the last few years, so I ain't complaining). But Texas Tech did win, however, on the recruiting field. There were more recruits visiting Tech this weekend then I have fingers and toes, and last time I checked, I'm not missing any. I was going to a lot of campus events this weekend with my friend and cousin coming into town to view the campus, and they actually noticed a lot of guys at the Texas Tech tours and Basketball game Friday night. Let's get started with two recruits that visited Saturday with Suffixes in their names, James Lockhart IV and Chris Warren III

James Lockhart IV - Strong Side Defensive End (Ennis HS, Ennis, TX)

Height: 6'3" Weight: 245 lbs 40 time: 4.85 secs

Bench: 300 lbs Squat: 500 lbs Vertical: 30"

Ratings: 97 by 247 (50th overall) / 82 by ESPN (98th overall) / 5.8 by Rivals

Interest: Texas (Warm), Texas Tech (Warm), Norte Dame (Warm), Oklahoma (Warm)

James has gotten a lot of attention by team, some I didn't include were Ohio State, TCU and Baylor. He goes to school at Ennis High School, where current Texas Tech commit Jah'Shawn Johnson goes to school. Johnson probably hyped Lockhart about Texas Tech and convinced him to visit Tech with him for the Oklahoma State game. Also going with them were fellow teammates Isaiah Santos and Marcus Daggs, however Terence Williams (Baylor commit that could flip over to Tech) did not attend, causing me to believe his Baylor commit is solid. Lockhart tweeted that he really enjoyed visiting Tech and it's atmosphere and hopes to come back to Lubbock soon, so that's always a good sign. Other unofficial visits he has taken are to the Norte Dame game at AT&T stadium and Baylor twice with Terence Williams. Now Lockhart does not have a lot of public film out, however I was able to find this one. James Lockhart is already at a NFL Caliber size, so he can use his long arms and strength to force his way through gaps and linemen. His huge body also helps him seal tackles from runningbacks and quarterbacks trying to escape or run around Lockhart. When he breaks through the hole, he finishes. Even if they somehow escape him, he has good pursuit speed and is able to stop them. Lockhart is really something special, and if Kingsbury's staff and Johnson keep on influencing Lockhart, he could very well be a Red Raider.

Chris Warren III - Athlete, Running Back (Rockwall HS, Rockwall, TX)

Height: 6'2" Weight: 220 lbs 40 time: 4.62 secs

Ratings: 91 by 247 (186th overall) / 81 by ESPN (122nd overall) / 5.9 by Rivals

Interest: Alabama (Warm), Clemson (Warm), Ohio State (Warm), Texas Tech (Warm)

I believe this guy has the biggest interest out of any of the recruits Tech is going after for 2015. He's a big, fast back with the ability to break tackles and break out, which is perfect for a power back. So it's no surprise that all these top programs are going after Chris Warren. He did in fact visit Lubbock this weekend with a bunch of Rockwall athletes. I'm not sure who all visited with Chris Warren, except for David Richardson, a DB from Rockwall-Heath, and Jerek Capdeville, a NR Safety from Rowlett. There is another highly rated OT from Rockwell named Trevor Elbert, but I have no idea if he visited or not. Chris Warren did say he had a good time, and will be visiting other schools soon (like Alabama). Some schools he's already visited are Michigan, Clemson, Texas, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Baylor, A&M, so this isn't an unusual thing for him. I wouldn't get your hopes up, but we're still a possibility. I found two films of him, his hudl and the one below. He uses his speed to get around defenders, and utilizes spin moves and stiff arms to get defender off him. When he does get in a jam, he keeps his feet moving and sometimes is able to break out of tough situations. Where ever he goes, he is likely to stay at his RB position I believe. We'll see what happens in the future.

Here are some other updates:

Basketball 2013:

• I went to the basketball scrimage on Friday was really impressed by the play of some of our new guys. Robert Turner started the game as a SG and was a threat beyond the arc as well as attacking the lane and scoring buckets. Tubby got a steal here. Also, Randy Onwuasor also was impressive beyond the arc. Alex Foster struggled a bit, but it just seemed like first game jitters. Had some good defensive plays though. Looking forward to this group

Football 2014:

• Ivan Thomas decommitted from Texas Tech last night. I'm going to go into his business, simply because it's appears personal (from what I can tell) and I simply don't know all the facts, I'm not going to report false info. People are suspecting a scholarship pull however, which you never want to see happen. Anyway, good luck to Ivan, seemed like a good kid, and hopes he gets what he wishes for.
• Terrell Clinkscales recently named Texas Tech his leader. Clinkscales is a 6'4" JUCO DT that is rated 96 and is the best JUCO DT in the country, and 6th best JUCO recruit.
• Zaycoven Henderson, 3/4-star DT from Longview, really enjoyed his visit and named his top 3. He hasn't said who they are, but it looks like Tech made the cut. I feel like Tech is in a really good spot right now and it'll come down to UT and TTU. He went with other Longview High School recruits, but I'll get to that in a little bit.
• Jamarcus Howard committed to the Red Raiders Saturday. He took his first visit this weekend and loved Tech so much he committed. An 83 rated DB, when asked why he committed, he said enthusiasm and energy. Here is Seth's profile on him.
• Daniel Wise, 86 rated DE out of Carrollton, is reportedly down to 2-3 programs, and Tech seems to be on the list. Daniel has been off the radar for a while be has seemed to still be interested in the Red Raiders.
• Randy Anyanwu and Sylvester Townes did not show up this weekend. They were orginally scheduled to come but didn't end up coming for an unknown reason.
• Joseph Clark, Safety commit from Tyler TX, visited this weekend with teammate Keith Minor. Minor has one offer as of now from Cincinnati.
• Vincent Jackson Jr also visited Texas Tech this past weekend. He has a friend in Justin Gray, who committed to the basketball team this year.
• KD Cannon visited Tech this weekend also. He's visiting a lot of colleges recently, but still says he's fully committed to Baylor. Looked like he hung about with Tech commit Cameron Baston too. Other Tech commits that visited are OL Justin Murphy and DL LJ Collier.

Football 2015+:

• Justin Gamble visited Lubbock this weekend and apparently really enjoyed his visit. Gamble could very well be the first commit to the 2015 class.
• JaMycal Hasty went with fellow teammate Zaycoven Henderon to Texas Tech this weekend. He said that "the student section was crazy" in a story on 247, which I assume he means that he likes the atmosphere of the stadium. Looks like Baylor and Texas are in the lead at the moment,