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

Texas Tech received a commitment Saturday evening, Brandon Thorpe, a defensive end from Highland Community College and teammate of fellow Texas Tech commit Marcus Smith.

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

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.

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
Devin Lauderdale WR 5-11/170 Navarro College (Corsicana, TX) December 28, 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
Dontae Levingston OL 6-5/285 Santa Monica C.C. (Santa Monica, CA) December 22, 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
Rika Levi DT 6-2/350 College of San Mateo (San Mateo, CA) January 16, 2014
Brandon Thorpe DT/DE 6-5/275 Highland C.C. (Highland, KS) January 19, 2014
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
Payton Hendrix S 6-3/190 Bishop Dunne (Dallas, TX) December 27, 2013
Nigel Bethel CB 5-9/170 Booker T. Washington (Miami, FL) January 9, 2014