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Recruiting on the South Plains | JUCO Defensive Tackle Marcus Smith Commits to Texas Tech

Highland defensive tackle Marcus Smith made it two commitments today as he committed to the Red Raiders.

Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

PLAYER: Marcus Smith

POSITION: Defensive Tackle
HEIGHT: 6'3"
WEIGHT: 305
FORTY: N/A
JUCO: Highland C.C. (Highland, KS)
VIDEO: Clip 1
RECRUITING SERVICES: Rivals 5.4 | Scout | ESPN N/R | 24/7 Sports 80
CUMULATIVE RANKING: 0.7926
VTM PROFILE DATE: December 15, 2013

OFFERS | Charlotte, Memphis, Middle Tennessee St., New Mexico St., North Texas, Temple, Texas St., Texas Tech, UAB, UTEP, and Western Kentucky.

STATS | For Highland this year, Smith had 49 tackles for the year, averaging 4.9 a game, 4.5 sacks, and 3.5 tackles for loss. Obviously, the TFL usually includes sacks, but the JUCO stats separate them (which I like).

THE PLAYER SPEAKS | Per RP, Smith took the visit and made the commitment:

"I took my visit this weekend and I told the coaches I feel home, I've felt home the whole week," Smith said. "I met with our defensive coordinator (Matt Wallerstedt) and we talked football, we talked about life and I like his scheme. I like where the program is headed. I like the opportunity to be a big-time player for Texas Tech."

Smith said it wasn't just his visit with Wallerstedt that sealed the deal. He liked coach Kliff Kingsbury, the players and how he saw the program operate Saturday up at the football facility.

"Friday, I had a great time with the coaches and a great time with the players and then Saturday I watched them practice," Smith said. "Basically after watching them in practice, watching film with them and talking football with

SCOUTING REPORT | Smith holds up well at the point of attack, can take on two offensive linemen and still make a really good play. He's pretty relentless. Smith does a really nice job of holding the line and isn't getting pushed around. It's strange considering his listed strength, only benching 385, but he's really good at the point of attack. I don't know if this speaks to the competition, but the Jayhawk Conference is pretty good in terms of JUCO play.

Smith really carries his weight well, he's not just a big guy that's taking up space. I have this immediately thought of comparing Smith to Wesley, who also played his JUCO ball in Kansas. Smith isn't exactly quick off the ball, and if I had my way, he'd be pretty much limited to being inside between the tackles, but not on the end.

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

THE 2014 CLASS |

Player Position Ht/Wt School VTM Profile
Patrick Mahomes QB 6-3/198 Whitehouse (Whitehouse, TX) April 24, 2013
Justin Stockton RB 5-9/175 Steele (Cibolo, TX) January 21, 2013
Demarcus Felton RB 5-7/179 Dekaney (Spring, TX) April 18, 2013
Jakari Dillard WR 6-4/185 Princeton (Princeton, TX) August 13, 2012
Cameron Batson IR 5-9/165 Milwood (Oklahoma City, OK) April 23, 2013
Ian Sadler WR 5-11/192 Argyle (Argyle, TX) April 25, 2013
Byron Daniels WR 6-0/170 Madison (San Antonio, TX) May 8, 2013
Deionte Noel OL 6-3/300 Steele (Cibolo, TX) April 17, 2013
Mildren Montgomery OL 6-4/245 Douglass (Oklahoma City, OK) June 4, 2013
Justin Murphy OL 6-8/275 Belton (Belton, TX) June 10, 2013
Robert Castaneda OL 6-5/315 Round Rock (Round Rock, TX) June 10, 2013
Drew Sarvary OL 6-7/310 Tyler J.C. (Tyler, TX) October 2, 2013
L.J. Collier DE 6-3/235 Munday (Munday, TX) February 10, 2013
Keland McElrath DT 6-5/290 Coahoma C.C. (Clarksdale, MS) September 25, 2013
Marcus Smith DT 6-3/305 Highland C.C. (Highland, KS) December 15, 2013
Dakota Allen LB 6-2/225 Summer Creek (Humble, TX) August 17, 2013
Tevin Madison CB 5-10/160 Fayette County (Fayette, AL) April 26, 2013
Derrick Dixon S 5-9/187 Skyline (Dallas, TX) June 19, 2013
Joseph Clark DB 5-9/180 Chapel Hill (Tyler, TX) July 28, 2013
Jah’Shawn Johnson DB 5-10/172 Ennis (Ennis, TX) August 13, 2013
Connor Wilson S 6-2/205 Argyle (Argyle, TX) September 18, 2013
Jamarcus Howard CB 5-11/190 Coffeyville C.C. (Coffeyville, KS) November 4, 2013
Josh Keys DB 6-2/190 Miss. Gulf Coast C.C. (Perkinston, MS) December 15, 2013