Recruiting on the South Plains | JUCO DE Brandon Thorpe Commits to Texas Tech

PLAYER: Brandon Thorpe

POSITION: Defensive End
HEIGHT: 6'5"
WEIGHT: 275
FORTY: 4.9
JUCO: Highland C.C. (Highland, KS)
VIDEO: Clip 1
RECRUITING SERVICES: Rivals 5.5 | Scout | ESPN 71 | 24/7 Sports 84
CUMULATIVE RANKING: 0.8178
VTM PROFILE DATE: January 19, 2014

OFFERS | Middle Tennessee St., North Texas, South Florida, Texas Tech UAB, UCF, Western Kentucky.

STATS | Thorpe had 31 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, 2 pass break-ups and 5 force fumbles.

THE PLAYER SPEAKS | Thrope spoke with Rivals (via DMN) about committing to Texas Tech:

"Before I was just going off of what Coach John Scott Jr. was telling me about the program and everything," Thorpe told Rivals.com. "Once I got here and started taking my visit, I really liked it and how everything was going.

"Just talking to them about the defense, everything that they need on the d-line, where I’ll be playing, my position and everything. I liked everything I heard and I bought into it."

SCOUTING REPORT | Thorpe really did see a lot of time at defensive end and I think I've either written this or thought that it's a total blessing to be able to play a 275 pound guy at defensive end at the JUCO level. That's just unheard of I would think. Plenty in the 250 range, but not many 275 pound defensive ends on a JUCO team.

There's really a lot to like. I really like the idea of Thorpe taking on defensive tackles rather than anyone else from the endge. This is really just a fantastic replacement for someone like Kerry Hyder, who was a bit bigger, but could play that defensive end. The same could be said about Branden Jackson, who is supposed to be making all sorts of attempts to gain weight through the offseason to play defnsive end at 275. Well, Thorpe is already there at 275 and as you all know, any and all added size along the defensive line is going to be truly beneficial for this team.

This is just terrific added depth and Texas Tech is making every push to make a play for defensive line defenders. The way that the coaching staff is attempting to close out this class is impressive. We've all know about the immediate need at defensive tackle and Texas Tech is going after guys that fit that need. Also, Thorpe credits John Scott, Jr. as his recruiter. Thorpe and Scott are both from Georgia and I'm sure that helps the process, having soem familiarity about where they are from and moving to Lubbock.

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

The 2014 Class | I am sure that there is gonig to be some movement on some of these players, especially as guys like Jah'Shawn Johnson (Texas), Deionte Noel (Houston) and L.J. Collier ((TCU) at taking visits to other programs. For example, Collier isn't even being shown as having an offer from Texas Tech any longer. I suppose that's as official as it's going to be, but I'll wait a bit, probably over the weekend before I do anything.