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It appears that Texas Tech found their final offensive line recruit in Terrence Steele from Cibolo Steele. Just to catch everyone up, Cibolo is the high school that Texas Tech running backs coach Mike Jinks was last at before arriving at Texas Tech and Jinks obviously has some connections there.
The most interesting thing about Steele is that he wasn't rated by any of the services and just became a 2-star player some time yesterday at 24/7 Sports. But then, you have a situation where he was offered by some mid-major programs, like BYU and Colorado and Houston. There was no in-between with Steele, and no lower-level schools that have made him an offer, which is odd because those guys will give out offers to guys on the fringe, programs like UTSA and Texas State come to mind, especially since Steele is in the San Antonio area. And to clarify, when I started writing this profile on Steele on Monday morning, his only offers were from Houston, Colorado, and BYU, and after Steele's commitment, he received offers from North Texas and UTSA. They came to the party just a bit late.
Either way, this was a surprise commitment last Sunday evening. Let's get to the player profile.
| OFFENSIVE LINE | |
|---|---|
| TERRENCE STEELE | GUARD |
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HT/WT: 6-5/295 FORTY: 5.36 HIGH SCHOOL: Cibolo Steele (San Antonio, TX) VIDEO: YouTube RECRUITING SERVICES: Rivals N/R | Scout N/R | ESPN N/R | 24/7 Sports  78 CUMULATIVE RANKING: 0.7800 VTM PROFILE DATE: November 5, 2014 OFFERS: Brigham Young, Colorado, Houston, Texas Tech, North Texas, Texas-San Antonio |
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THE PLAYER SPEAKS: Via RaiderPower, Steele said that his size makes him a unique player and thinks he'll play tackle:
"My size is what makes me unique as a lineman, definitely. I can play both left tackle and right tackle, and I think that's where I'll stay in college," Steele said. "I've grown a lot since my junior season; I'm a lot smarter and I know my position much better."
Additionally, via SAEN, Steele's current head coach talked about how Steele would want to stay close to home, which makes a bit of sense since at the time, Steele's only offers were from Colorado and BYU, with the only local offer being Houston.
SCOUTING REPORT: The interesting thing to figure out on commitments like this, that come out of no where and the player isn't rated at all, which is odd at this point in the game, and how this does happen. There is this article from the LAJ that notes that Steele lost 50 pounds and made him a more attractive player to colleges. Still, a player with Steele's frame at 6'5" and being 350 isn't morbidly obese, or certainly not big enough to scare off smaller programs from offering. But apparently Steele's body needed enough work to where he wasn't really being considered to receiving those mid-major offers like Texas Tech and BYU. And there is a part of me that considers the programs that are offering and Robert Anae seems to know road-grading offensive linemen pretty well (he coached at Texas Tech many moons ago) and Mike McIntyre knows a thing or two about turning around a program and that Colorado team may be one of the better teams with an awful record in the country.
As far as Steele as a player, he's really pretty danged mobile for 295 and he does punish players really well. Steele does play with a certain nastiness and he finishes blocks well. I don't know about Steele's ability, long-term, to play tackle, but that's fine. Road-grading guys like this can play really well inside. Not only that, but he does appear to have long-arms and that's a luxury for guys that play inside and I think he'd do really well at either guard position. Not only that, but Texas Techhas a blockbuster recruting class, with Madison Akamnonu, Conner Dyer, Trace Ellison and Lio Lafaele. I don't know who plays inside, but they are all four terrific players that can make an impact.
Terrence, welcome to Texas Tech and Git Your Guns Up!
2015 Texas Tech Football Commits
| QUARTERBACKS | |
|---|---|
| JARRETT STIDHAM | QUARTERBACK |
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HT/WT: 6-3/190 FORTY: 4.57-4.66 HIGH SCHOOL: Stephenville (Stephenville, TX) VIDEO: Clip 1 RECRUITING SERVICES: Rivals 6.0 | Scout | ESPN 86 | 24/7 Sports 98 CUMULATIVE RANKING: 0.9881 VTM PROFILE DATE: March 7, 2014 OFFERS: Texas Tech, Alabama, Baylor, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Arizona St. Auburn, Clemson, Florida, Kentucky, Miami, Michigan, Ohio St., Oklahoma St., Ole Miss, Penn St., TCU, Texas, Vanderbilt, Washington St. |
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| RUNNING BACKS | |
| COREY DAUPHINE | RUNNING BACK |
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HT/WT: 6-1/180 FORTY: 4.45 HIGH SCHOOL: Memorial (Port Arthur, TX) VIDEO: Clip 1 RECRUITING SERVICES: Rivals 5.5 | Scout | ESPN 77 | 24/7 Sports 84 CUMULATIVE RANKING: 0.8605 VTM PROFILE DATE: February 3, 2014 OFFERS: Houston, Lamar, Texas Tech and Washington St. |
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| RECEIVERS | |
| CARLOS STRICKLAND | WIDE RECEIVER |
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HT/WT: 6-4/195 FORTY: 4.54 HIGH SCHOOL: Skyline (Dallas, TX) VIDEO: Hudl | YouTube RECRUITING SERVICES: Rivals 5.9 | Scout | ESPN 82 | 24/7 Sports 90 CUMULATIVE RANKING: 0.9367 VTM PROFILE DATE: October 29, 2014 OFFERS: Texas Tech, TCU, California, UCLA, Alabama, Clemson, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Kansas State, Louisville, LSU, Miami, Mississippi State, North Texas, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, SMU, Texas UNLV, Wisconsin |
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| OFFENSIVE LINE | |
| LIO LAFAELE | GUARD |
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HT/WT: 6-4/310 FORTY: N/A JUCO: Riverside C.C. (Corona, CA) VIDEO: Clip 1 RECRUITING SERVICES: Rivals 5.7 | Scout | ESPN N/R | 24/7 Sports 87 CUMULATIVE RANKING: 0.8826 VTM PROFILE DATE: March 9, 2014 OFFERS: Ole Miss, Texas Tech, Washington St. |
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| TRACE ELLISON | TACKLE |
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HT/WT: 6-6/285 FORTY: N/A HIGH SCHOOL: Centennial (Frisco, TX) VIDEO: Clip 1 RECRUITING SERVICES: Rivals 5.5 | Scout | ESPN 77 | 24/7 Sports 83 CUMULATIVE RANKING: 0.8382 VTM PROFILE DATE: March 31, 2014 OFFERS: Arkansas St., Illinois, Texas Tech |
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| CONNER DYER | GUARD/TACKLE |
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HT/WT: 6-5/275 FORTY: 5.20 HIGH SCHOOL: Horn (Mesquite, TX) VIDEO: Clip 1 RECRUITING SERVICES: Rivals 5.9 | Scout | ESPN 80 | 24/7 Sports 90 CUMULATIVE RANKING: 0.9071 VTM PROFILE DATE: July 30, 2014 OFFERS: Arizona St., Arkansas, Baylor, California, Connecticut, Kentucky, LSU, Miami, Navy, Nebraska, Ohio St., Oklahoma, Oklahoma St., Ole Miss, Oregon, SMU, Stanford, TCU, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Toledo, UCLA Virginia |
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| MADISON AKAMNONU | OFFENSIVE TACKLE |
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HT/WT: 6-5/275 FORTY: 5.20 HIGH SCHOOL: Bowie (Arlington, TX) VIDEO: Clip 1 RECRUITING SERVICES: Rivals 5.5 | Scout | ESPN 81 | 24/7 Sports 93 CUMULATIVE RANKING: 0.8952 VTM PROFILE DATE: August 10, 2014 OFFERS: Oklahoma, Texas, Texas Tech, Baylor, Kansas St., Missouri, TCU, Arizona St., Arkansas St., Colorado St., Connecticut, Houston, Mississippi St., North Texas, Ole Miss, Southern Miss, Texas St., Wake Forest |
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| TERRENCE STEELE | GUARD |
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HT/WT: 6-5/295 FORTY: 5.36 HIGH SCHOOL: Cibolo Steele (San Antonio, TX) VIDEO: YouTube RECRUITING SERVICES: Rivals N/R | Scout N/R | ESPN N/R | 24/7 Sports 78 CUMULATIVE RANKING: 0.7800 VTM PROFILE DATE: November #, 2014 OFFERS: Brigham Young, Colorado, Houston, Texas Tech, North Texas, Texas-San Antonio |
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| DEFENSIVE LINE | |
| DEFENSIVE TACKLE | BREIDEN FEHOKO |
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HT/WT: 6-3/290 FORTY: N/A HIGH SCHOOL: Farrington (Honolulu, HI) VIDEO: Clip 1 RECRUITING SERVICES: Rivals 5.9 | Scout | ESPN 85 | 24/7 Sports 97CUMULATIVE RANKING: 0.9736 VTM PROFILE DATE: April 14th, 2014 OFFERS: Alabama, Arizona St., BYU, California, Clemson, Hawaii, Kansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Oregon, Oregon St., Pittsburgh, San Diego St., Stanford, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Utah, Utah St., Vanderbilt, Washington St., Weber St., Wisconsin |
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| BRODERICK WASHINGTON | DEFENSIVE TACKLE |
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HT/WT: 6-3/285 FORTY: N/A HIGH SCHOOL: Longview (Longview, TX) VIDEO: Clip 1 RECRUITING SERVICES: Rivals | Scout | ESPN N/R | 24/7 Sports CUMULATIVE RANKING: 0.8093 VTM PROFILE DATE: September 23, 2014 OFFERS: Arkansas State, Houston, Lamar, Louisiana-Layfayette, New Mexico, North Texas, Texas-San Antonio |
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| COURTNEY WALLACE, JR. | DEFENSIVE TACKLE |
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HT/WT: 6-2/309 FORTY: N/A HIGH SCHOOL: Neville (Monroe, LA) VIDEO: Hudl RECRUITING SERVICES: Rivals 5.4 | Scout | ESPN 75 | 24/7 Sports 83 CUMULATIVE RANKING: 0.8206 VTM PROFILE DATE: October 13, 2014 OFFERS: Arkansas State, Central Arkansas, Grambling State, Louisiana Tech, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe, McNeese State, South Alabama, South Florida, Southern Miss, Southern University and Texas Tech |
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| LINEBACKERS | |
| D'VONTA HINTON | INSIDE LINEBACKER |
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HT/WT: 5-10/201 FORTY: 4.56 HIGH SCHOOL: Texas City (Texas City, TX) VIDEO: Clip 1 RECRUITING SERVICES: Rivals 5.5 | Scout | ESPN 77 | 24/7 Sports 82 CUMULATIVE RANKING: 0.8389 VTM PROFILE DATE: April 13, 2014 OFFERS: Louisiana Tech, Maryland, Utah, Texas Tech |
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| ATHLETE | |
| JONATHAN GILES | ATHLETE |
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HT/WT: 5-11/175 FORTY: 4.55 HIGH SCHOOL: Elkins (Missouri City, TX) VIDEO: Clip 1 RECRUITING SERVICES: Rivals 5.5 | Scout | ESPN 77 | 24/7 Sports 84 CUMULATIVE RANKING: 0.8272 VTM PROFILE DATE: May 10, 2014 OFFERS: Colorado, Fresno St., Houston, Indiana, Maryland, Missouri, North Texas, SMU and Texas Tech |
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PREVIOUS CLASSES ON VTM:
2014 Commits
2013 Commits
2012 Commits
2011 Commits
2010 Commits
2009 Commits