Possible Red Raiders: A Weekly Recruiting Update - 1/21/14

The dead period officially ended this Wednesday, and the recruiting scene went made. Teams were visiting with players, offering them, and doing all they could to either get them at the top of their list or commit there. Safe to say that Texas Tech was part of that crowd on Thursday and Friday, meeting with current commits and recruits to persuade them to come to Tech. I'll get to that later on in the post. Right now, I'll talk about why the hiring of Chiaverini is also important from a recruiting standpoint. Coaching in California, he knows a lot of the recruits in that area already and could help them come to Tech. He coached at Riverside CC, where 3 former Red Raiders played (Bruce Jones, Will Smith, and Sadale Foster). Tech could see some more Riverside guys come in the next year. Let's look at some 2015 Defensive Linemen, starting with Breiden Fehoko, Darrion Daniels and Chris Biggurs

Breiden Fehoko - Defensive Tackle, Defensive End (Farrington, Honolulu, HI)

Height: 6'3" Weight: 270 lbs Bench: 315 lbs Vertical: 24.7 Power Throw: 35

Ratings: 97 by 247 / 82 by ESPN / 5.9 by Rivals

Interest: USC* (Warmer), Alabama (Warm), Oklahoma (Warm), Texas Tech (Warm)

I'm sure all of you have heard of Breiden Fehoko by now. He comes from an athletic family with 3 other brothers, including Sam Fehoko, who played a few years here, and V.J. Fehoko, who will be transferring here from Utah. Not only that, but his dad was once the mascot for the Hawaii Warriors. Fehoko has gone to camps for USC and Alabama during last summer, and last month, Oklahoma visited him. However, USC has not offered him and Ed Orgeron, his recruiter, left USC. While Tech isn't in the lead, they aren't that far behind, now having two of the Fehoko brothers already. Let's look at his film. He isn't big (by big I mean fat) like some of the other DTs we've looked at, but his strength is there and his slimmer body makes him more athletic than most DTs. Athletic enough where he could play DE at a lot of colleges too. He breaks through the line and his fast enough to stop the ball carrier and bring him down. Not only that, but he has the speed to catch up too. There is no doubt in my mind that he will make noise at the next level. If I had to compare him to someone, I would guess Geno Atkins of the Bengals, a 6'1", 300 lb DT that is athletic, strong, and at the top of his craft. Breiden Fehoko has a long road in front of him, and hopefully the next step is in Lubbock.

Darrion Daniels - Defensive Tackle (Bishop Dunne, Dallas, TX)

Height: 6'4" Weight: 290 lbs

Ratings: 88 by 247 / 3-star by ESPN / 5.9 by Rivals

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

Two things may seem similar when it comes to Darrion Daniels. The first is his father, who is none other than Tony Daniels, a Defensive End with Texas Tech for few years, who ended up playing for the Green Bay Packers. The other is his school, Bishop Dunne, where Peyton Hendrix played. However, another teammate, Javon Pruitt, went there, now playing for Arkansas who is also interested in Daniels. So with that being said, Daniels had said that Tech is high on his list, along with the schools above and SMU. So far, his only visit was to the Norte Dame/Arizona State game at Cowboys AT&T stadium. Hopefully at some point he will visit Texas Tech with his dad. Let's look at his film. There isn't a lot of film where Daniels breaks past the O-line for a sack or tackle for loss, but he keeps his position. The bull rush is what Daniels uses the most, simply pushing guys back, getting them of him, and going towards the QB. However, the the speed isn't great, so him squeezing between linemen or chasing down a QB won't happen often. When he does get someone, he lays a nasty hit on them, showing his power even more. Darrion Daniels in no where near down looking at college, and his interest in SMU shows that he might not pick a high profile program. Hopefully Daniels follows his dad.

Chris Biggurs - Defensive End ( Coppell HS, Coppell, TX)

Height: 6'3" Weight: 245 lbs

Ratings: NR by 247 / 3-star by Scout

Interest: Texas Tech* (Cool), Alabama* (Cool), Texas* (Cool), Oklahoma* (Cool)

Biggurs hasn't really been looked at by the recruiting websites so far, with Scout being the only site to actually give him a recruiting profile and rate him. This is another Tech legacy, as his father Charlie Biggurs played OT for Tech in the 90's. Also, Tech has been the only school he has visited, but it looks like he also has been to UT and Alabama camps, as there is video of him doing 1 on 1 drills at these schools (he's not doing bad either). One reason why Biggurs may not be getting attention is the level at talent on that D-Line, mainly Solomon Thomas. With Thomas heading to a D1 school next year, it'll be easier to tell how good Biggurs really is. Let's look at what he did last year. There isn't a whole bunch of plays on his hudl, but he has a lot of moves. He has a bull rush, speed rush and swim move. Biggurs is only 245 (according to Coppell, recruiting sites have him around 230), so he'll probably need to put on a few pounds before he makes a serious impact in college. His speed is good, as well as agility, and if he can get stronger, be aware of him. Some plays he made at the Alabama and UT camps were very impressive, and hopefully that translates well on the field. He reminds me a lot of Dwight Freeny with his assortment of moves he can use, and although similar size, still needs more weight before he can be like him. Very interested to see how he does next year and if his Tech legacy helps him pick the Red Raiders.

Here are some more updates:

Football 2014:

• Rika Levi, 91 rated JUCO DT, committed to the Red Raiders this past week. He said he picked up what Texas Tech has doing, and felt he could do it. Also tweeted that Tech gave him the most attention, making his descion easier. Huge pick-up for Tech, as they are in need of a DT that can play right away.
• Brandon Thorpe, 84 rated JUCO DE, also committed to the Red Raiders this past week. He said that Tech was the most consistent out of the coaches, and John Scott really pushed him to become a Red Raider. Like how Scott and Curtis are really pushing for these guy in the end, and hope they do it next year. He has a scheduled visit with UCF, not sure if he is still taking it.
• LaDarrius Kidd, NR rated DT, visited last weekend, really enjoyed his visit and was offered a scholarship. I expect Kidd to commit soon, and even though he's a 2-star, he has very good measurables, and has room to develop with JUCOs in front of him.
• Michael Coley, 79 rated ATH, has Tech as his favorite after his visit to Lubbock last weekend. He also has a visit to Louisiana Tech coming next weekend, then will probably make his decision after that. Was a WR and Safety at Irving, my guess is Tech wants him to be a WR.
• Dominique Robertson, 85 rated JUCO OT, committed to Kansas State over the weekend. It looked like Tech had a shot at him signing Chiaverini as the ST coach, but he picked Kansas State after all. Good luck to him there.
• Mildren Montgomery, 81 rated OT, decommitted from Texas Tech and committed to Tulsa yesterday. Apparently according to 247, Tech wanted to greyshirt him, and he didn't want to sit out a year, so he went to Tulsa instead
• LJ Collier, 83 rated DE, decommitted from Texas Tech and followed Cumbie to TCU. Same situation as Mildren, he didn't want to be greyshirted, and left to go elsewhere. Apparently, recruits don't like the color grey.
• Derrick Neal, 85 rated ATH, decided not to play with his twin at UTA, and instead will play football at Kansas. I don't know why he decided to do this after all, but either way, it's a good pick-up for Kansas, who usually lacks good recruits.
• AJ Allen, 88 rated JUCO OT, will visit Texas Tech next weekend. AJ Allen has a similar body frame to Justin Murphy, but more developed. Can easily push guys around. Hopefully with the lose of two (maybe three) O-linemen, he'll choose to come here.
• Vincent Jackson JR, 83 rated OLB, had a home visit from Mizzou Thursday and visited South Florida this weekend. Next weekend will be to Mizzou, and it looks like he may be leaning there.
• Jah'Shawn Johnson, 85 rated S commit, looked like he enjoyed his Texas visit. Right now there is no news about him committing to Texas, but something to keep an eye on.
• Deinote Noel, 83 rated OT commit, enjoyed his visit to Houston. With Mildren gone, the chances on Deionte leaving are less likely. We'll see what happens over the next couple weeks.
• Corey Avery, 85 rated ATH, visited UT this past weekend. With Nebraska going hard after him, and UT coming back in the race, the chances of getting Avery are slim to none. He also has an official to Nebraska this weekend and Kansas the weekend after that.
• Demetrius Jackson, 90 rated DE, is no longer considering Texas Tech. He tweeted this last week, but still visited Miami and is still visiting Arkansas. With Arky's new DL coach, I expect him to go there.
• Daniel Wise, 86 rated DE, picked Kansas this past week. Was a Tech target for a long time, but no there no news about Wise until this commit. Good luck to him at Kansas.
• Peyton Hendrix, Texas Tech safety commit, changed rating from an 85 to 88 this week. This makes him the highest ranked recruit according to 247composite. One of 3 commits to play in an All-American game. Others were Patrick Mahomes and Robert Castaneda.

Basketball 2014:

• Zach Smith, 70 rated SF commit, was at the TCU game and enjoyed the victory over TCU. Zach Smith is getting some more playing time this year and is making the most of it. Recently he dunked the ball from around 12 ft out. Beast.
• Here is some interesting news, apparently Jabari Hill, Florida track commit, will be visiting Tech on 1/31. He runs the 110m hurdles and 400m. He also plays basketball at his high school, and his he doesn't look that bad. Not sure if he switches to Tech if he will take up a track or basketball scholarship.

Football 2015+:

• Chris Clark, 88 rated 2015 TE, got an coaching visit from Ohio State is past week, as long as sealing a visit with Georgia and Ohio State . Clark has really picked up on his recruiting, and it'll be hard to get him to come here.
• Jarrett Stidham, 96 rated QB, is also gaining lots of attention, getting home visits from Baylor, TCU, and both UTs. He has visited Tech, but Tech hasn't visited him personally recently.
• Ronald Jones II, 90 rated ATH, had a coaching visit from Baylor this week. His first offer was from Tech, but Texas, Baylor and OU has gotten his attention as of late.
• Texas has visited a lot of Tech targets this past week, including Anthony Wheeler, Carlos Strickland, James Lockhart and Malik Jefferson. Strong is getting his recruiting started ASAP
• Kirk Merritt, 2015 NR WR, was offered by Texas Tech this week. He has many offer right now, and it seems Mississippi State has gone after him the most so far.

Basketball 2015+:

• Shaggy Allmond, 2015 6'2" combo guard from Jacksonville, FL, was looked at by Texas Tech scouts yesterday. Also there were Texas and USF scouts. None of the recruiting services have info him yet, and there's not a lot of film out there yet on him.
• Some more (probably the same) scouts were spotted later at a Jacksonville basketball game at Ribault HS. Not sure who they were looking at here

NORAD KLIFF TRACKER:

If you have a a child who believes in Santa, you might have heard of the NORAD Santa Tracker. I've followed it since I was young, seeing where Santa was in world. The site used computer animation to show him flying in the air and the site also a bunch of Santa games they release starting December 1st. So in inspiration of that, I'm introducing the NORAD Kliff Tracker, tracking where Kliff will be leading up to National Signing Day. Shout out to those high schoolers who tweeted during school who shouldn't be. So let's begin:

January 16th, 2014 (Morning): Kliff and EMO were visiting Midway HS in emeny territory Waco, TX. They kept up with 87 rated WR DeVontre Stricklin and offering 86 rated S Kahlil Haughton.

January 16th, 2014 (Morning): Not sure if Kevin Curtis was officially in Missouri City, but he did offer 5-star DB Kendall Sheffield, who has a lot of offers and a lot of people visiting him this week. Bold move by Curtis.

January 16th, 2014 (Afternoon): Kliff and EMO were spotted in Pflugerville, TX. Not sure what his purpose was there, but there is a lot of D-1 talent in Pflugerville, probably trying to get the recruits attention.

January 16th, 2014 (Afternoon): There was a coach (My guess is Trey Haverty) visiting Peyton Hendrix, along with Darrion Daniels. Make sure Hendrix is solid and trying to get Daniels to go where his dad played.

January 16th 2014 (Afternoon): Kliff and EMO were spotted in Round Rock talking with Robert Castaneda and his teammates. Tech has some recruits in Round Rock, like Justin Gamble. Wonder if he went and visited them too.

January 17th, 2014 (Afternoon): Kliff and EMO spotted in Ceder Park to talk to a QB about being a walk-on. We already have 3 QB's walking on this next year, with two more looking.

January 20th, 2014 (Morning): Kliff and EMO paying a visit to Cameron Baston in OKC. Mildren is also from OKC, but flipped commitments before Kliff visited there.

January 20th, 2014 (Afternoon): Kliff, EMO and Havarty all visited Jah'shawn Johnson in his home, who visited Texas and enjoyed his visit the past weekend. Doesn't look like they visited any other Ennis recruits while in Ennis.

TBD: Someone, not sure who, will visit Ryan Newsome is upcoming week. Got the info from Matt Clare.

UPDATE: Gunner Linhart, 6'2" 215lb DE from Austin TX, will walk-on from Texas Tech. First to report it this afternoon. Visited Oklahoma Panhandle State University last weekend, decided today via twitter to try and walk-on at Tech. In my opinion, looks like he could be a MLB in college.

UPDATE 2: Ty Barrett decommits from TCU on Tuesday. Says they're still in the race, visited ASU and UCF. Only weekend open to host Barrett would be Jan 31, same weekend as AJ Allen. Don't expect to get him