Possible Red Raiders: A Weekly Recruiting Update - 12/8/2014

Christian Gaylord - Offensive Tackle (Baldwin, Baldwin City, KS)

Height	Weight	40 time	Shuttle	Vertical	Bench	Squat	GPA
6'7"	290 lbs	4.9	4.45	28"	300 lbs	340 lbs	3.5

Ratings: 90 by 247 / 78 by ESPN / 5.7 by Rivals / 3-star by Scout

Interest: Nebraska (Committed), Texas Tech (Cool), LSU (Cool), Ohio State (Cool)

Christian Gaylord was offered by Texas Tech about a week ago, and it comes at an appropriate time. As many of y'all know, Bo Pelini was fired from Nebraska last week and this caused many recruits to rethink their commitment. We have already seen Red Raider target Kendall Bussey decommit, and now we are seeing other recruits decommit too. Christian is still committed to the program, but he's someone that could flip with Pelini gone. He's been committed since February, but when a coach leaves, things change. That's why Tech is just offering him now, with new possible interest and the fact that he's probably less committed to Nebraska then back in the Spring time. I'm not sure what he'll do or when he'll make a final position, but hopefully the Red Raiders can get their chance at him and try to get him to Lubbock. Tech has 4 offensive linemen committed and will likely add another one or two. Now let's take a look at what Christian Gaylord can do on film. Christian has a big frame that could develop him into a great linemen. He's 6'7" and almost 300 pounds, along with a wide body to help keep players in front of him. He does a good job of this too, allowing his QB more time to throw or find a hole at the line of scrimmage. I also like his ability to create holes in the rushing game. He gets in front of his defender and positions himself where it's tough for the defender to get the ball carrier. He seals them off and creates a bigger hole for his teammates. Christian Gaylord's only official visit so far has been to Nebraska, so maybe he'll take more visits to see where he wants to go. Hopefully he takes one to Texas Tech.

Riley Daniel - Offensive Guard (Ringling HS, Ringling, OK)

Height	Weight	40 time	Bench	Squat
6'6"	310 lbs	5.23	350 lbs	455 lbs

Ratings: 81 by 247 / NR by ESPN / 5.4 by Rivals / 2-star by Scout

Interest: Houston (Committed), Baylor (Cool), Texas Tech (Cool), Kansas State (Cool)

Riley Daniel was offered by Texas Tech last Monday, adding to the list of linemen recently offered by Texas Tech. Riley has been committed to Houston since June, but has been getting a lot of interest as of late. That interest not only includes Tech, but Baylor, whom he visited a few weeks back, getting an offer a few days after his visit. He spoke with RaiderPower.com recently about this Tech offer, and said that Tech has only been recruiting him for a couple weeks. He doesn't know a whole lot about Tech, but would like to visit Lubbock and see what Texas Tech is about. Coach Hays prefers him as tackle with his length, but he could play guard at the next level, depending on what Tech needs. Now let's look at what Riley Daniel can do on film. What I like about Riley is his mean streak. He plays hard and takes care of his defender. He'll keep on pushing and dominating them until he brings them to the ground, then he goes to the next guy. He has the type of attitude you want out of your offensive linemen. He's also pretty strong, taking care of his linemen throughout the film. Now he does play for a smaller school, which is why he's not rated very high, but he has a good frame and body for the college game. He's a linemen we can see us taking for the 2015 class.

Here are some more updates:

Football 2015:

• Tyron Johnson, 97 rated WR, named his Top 5 on Friday. Texas Tech was listed  on top, followed by Georgia, LSU, Oklahoma State and Auburn. I'm not sure if it's in order of not, but nice to see Tech on top. He will visit LSU this weekend.
• Chris Warren, 96 rated ATH, named Texas Tech in his Top 4 along with Texas, Washington and Oklahoma State via Twitter. Tech has been mentioned in his favorites several times, much like Tech was in Carlos Strickland's Top group for a long time.
• Arden Key, 95 rated DE, will postpone his visit to Texas Tech, whom he was supposed to visit last weekend, according to WreckEm247. On the bright side, the South Carolina commit said Tech is on even ground with South Carolina, Georgia, LSU and Miami.
• Fred Ulu Perry, 95 rated C, told WreckEm247 that he loved the coaches at Tech, but the Red Raiders were pretty much out of the picture. He still will take more visits, however, to enjoy them.
• DeAndre McNeal, 93 rated LB, listed Texas Tech in his Top 5 via Twitter along with UCLA, A&M, UT and Alabama. After not hearing a lot about McNeal for a while, it's nice seeing Tech in still in the race.
• Semisi Uluave, 91 rated OT, confirmed with Daniel Paulling of WreckEm247 that he will visit in January. He also plans to visit UCLA soon. He visited Oregon back in late October/early November. Oregon, UCLA and Texas Tech are in his Top 3.
• Richard Moore, 87 rated LB, decommitted from Texas A&M last week. I'm not why he decommitted, but it could be due to their DC being fired. He was recruited by Tech early on, but I don't know if he's still being recruited by the Red Raiders.
• Arthur McGinnis, 86 rated LB, named his Top 5 via Twitter on Saturday, which included Texas Tech, Arizona, Oklahoma, Georgia and Texas A&M. Surprised UCLA didn't make it, who seemed to be ahead for a while. McGinnis plans to visit Tech at some point. Tech and Georgia are the only schools on both McGinnis' and Johnson's Top 5 (they are teammates).
• Dave Bolisomi, 86 rated OT, committed to TCU last week. He was offered by Texas Tech two weeks ago, but Bolisomi decided TCU was the school for him.
• Christian Taylor, 85 rated S, named Texas Tech his favorite this week. He visited Baylor a couple weeks back, but has yet to receive an offer from them.
• Darreon Jackson, 83 rated S, named Texas Tech in his Top 4 along with Boise State, Kansas State and Kansas. He also visited Tech last week for his official visit according to this tweet.
• Lonzell Gilmore, 78 rated DE, named Texas Tech in his Top 6 along with Colorado State, Kansas State, Illinois, Nevada and Purdue via Twitter. Tech just offered Gilmore a few weeks ago.

Basketball 2015:

• Jordan Jackson, 84 rated G commit, was on Double T 104.3 on Friday and spoke with Chris Level. He said his game consist of him playing in the passing lanes and being a knock-down shooter. He says he needs to work on consistency and develop his leadership skills. He also goes into detail about his famous dunk.
• Dusan Kovacevic, NR PF, was offer by Texas Tech on Saturday. He is from Serbia and is currently playing in Georgia. It looks like Tech has no open scholarships, so I don't know how this would work out if he were to commit.

Football 2016:

• Lil'Jordan Humphrey, NR 2016 RB, received an offer from Texas Tech on Thursday. Tech was his 5th offer. He also is receiving interest from A&M and Texas.
• Brandon Bowen, NR 2016 DE, was offered by Texas Tech this past week. He also has offers from Oklahoma and TCU.

Basketball 2016:

• Denzale Henderson, NR 2016 C, was offered by Texas Tech this past week. His only other offer thus far is from Incarnate Word

How did the 2015 commits do?

Jarrett Stidham	Stephenville loses to Graham 35-24	Jarrett Stidham didn't do real well, completing 11 of 20 passes for 142 yards, a TD and 2 INTs (He only had one coming into the game). He also ran 16 times for 36 yards for 2 TDs.
Carlos Strickland	Dallas Skyline beats Klein Oak 38-20	Skyline advances to Semis. Carlos Strickland caught 4 passes for 96 yards and 2 TDs.
Courtney Wallace	Neville beats Franklinton 32-8	Neville will play in the State Championship game against Tyron Johnson's and Arhtur McGinnis' Warren Easton squad.
Terrence Steele	Cibolo Steele beats Brandeis 31-28	Cibolo Steele came back down 14 in the 4th to beat Brandeis. They will face Collin Wilder's Katy team in the Semi-Finals.

Under Armor All American Game:

The Under Armor All American rosters were released last Wednesday and we saw where our commits were going to play. Here is a look at who will be playing on what team and what you need to be looking out for in the game.

• Jarrett Stidham (Team White) - Stidham will likely be the 2nd QB up for the White squad. This doesn't mean that he won't play, it simply means he'll play second. Of course, this is speculation. Being the QB, Stidham has the chance to impress some 2015 recruits that haven't decided and some 2016 recruits watching the stage. I have a feeling he'll make us proud.
• Breiden Fehoko (Team White) - Well, well, well. It looks like the two Red Raider commits will be on the same team. I'm hoping Fehoko will do the same defensively for Tech as Stidham will do offensively for Tech. However, Fehoko may have one job that Stidham won't have. And that is recruit Arden Key
• Arden Key (Team White) - How fortunate is this for Tech. The defensive linemen you want to get is on the same team as your commits. Lucky us. Not only that, but Fehoko will play right next to him all day. Maybe Key likes what he sees and wants to join Red Raider nation to continue the duo. There is a South Carolina and Georgia commit on that D-line as well.
• Tyron Johnson (Team Black) - Being on the black team won't affect his recruiting at all. That is because Tyron Johnson plans to announce during the game. Just adding more drama for your viewing experience. If Johnson selects Texas Tech on national TV, it could be huge exposure for us. There was 5-star Louisiana last year (Speedy Noil) who was deciding between LSU and a high powered offense throughout the year before picking the high power offense (Texas A&M). Hopefully that happens again.
• Fred Ulu Perry (Team Black) - Even though it seems like Tech is out of the picture, it'll be cool seeing Fehoko going head-to-head with the Hawaiian.

The game is January 2nd at 3 pm on ESPN. Tech has only had one commit play in the Under Armor All American game before this year (Jackson Richards).

NORAD Kliff Tracker:

It's back! Since the football season ended earlier than expected, the coaches have a chance to get on the recruiting trail and go after those big time recruits they're trying to bring to Lubbock. This includes guys like Chris Warren (last week), Tyron Johnson, Arthur McGinnis and others. I'll also look at what the basketball staff has been doing this week, since they have a week to recruit due to finals. Here we go:

• December 1st, 2014 (Monday) - 8 coaches (basically everyone but Kliff Kingsbury) visited Tyron Johnson on Monday according to Johnson's twitter. Johnson is a top priority for Tech and is also considering LSU, Auburn, UGA and OKST. There are currently 3 WR commits in the 2015 class.
• December 1st, 2014 (Monday) - Some of the coaches also paid a visit to Johnson''s teammate Arthur McGinnis Monday also via McGinnis' Twitter. I'm not sure if all 8 coaches visited him too or just a few. He is an important LB prospect for the Red Raiders. Tech only has one LB this class (not including Mike Mitchell)
• December 1st, 2014 (Monday) - Lee Hays visited Riley Daniel and offered him on the same day. I talked about Riley Daniel earlier in this post
• December 3rd, 2014 (Wednesday) - Kevin Curtis paid a visit to Ryan Davis (88 rated WR) on Wednesday according to Lynden Ostrander of the Tampa Tribune. He also had visits from . Davis is still a big target for Tech. USF, Kentucky and Ole Miss visited him also.
• December 3rd, 2014 (Wednesday) - Kliff Kingsbury visited D'Eriq King (91 rated 2016 ATH) last Wednesday via King's twitter. King seems to be one of Tech's top priorities for the 2016 class. He listed Tech in his Top 3 a while back with UCLA and Texas.
• December 3rd, 2014 (Wednesday) - Kevin Curtis and Trey Haverty visited Calvary Baptist Academy and saw Andraez Williams (93 rated 2016 CB) and Chanse Sylvie (5.5 rated 2016 CB). He could've also looked at Rodarius Williams (5.5 rated 2016 DB) and Shea Patterson (95 rated QB). Tech's lone 2016 commit thus far is Safety Collin Wilder (86 rated S)
• December 3rd, 2014 (Wednesday) - Texas Tech visited John Tyler HS in Tyler, TX on Wednesday. Some players they could've looked at are Braylon Jones (90 rated 2016 DT) and a handful of 2015 recruits.
• December 3rd, 2014 (Wednesday) - Kliff Kingsbury and Darrin Chiaverini paid a visit to Jonathan Giles (86 rated ATH) last Wednesday. Giles was the 7th commit of the 2015 class.
• December 3rd, 2014 (Wednesday) - Kevin Curtis visited Tech commit Courtney Wallace (83 rated DT) on Wednesday. Wallace will play in the Louisiana state championship game.
• December 3rd, 2014 (Wednesday) - Kliff Kingsbury visited Dontavious Jackson (94 rated 2016 ILB) while in Houston on Wednesday. Tech is looking at a lot of linebacker for 2016.
• December 4th, 2014 (Thursday) - Darrin Chiaverini visited Tony Brown this weekend. The Cali WR was a Nebraska lean, but with Bo Pelini leaving, Nebraska may be losing ground.
• December 4th, 2014 (Thursday) - Kliff Kingsbury and Mike Jinks paid a visit to Corey Dauphine (92 rated RB) on Thursday. The Tech commit ended his recruitment last month and hasn't taken another visit since. He also has a cool billboard of him in this hometown
• December 4th, 2014 (Thursday) - Kliff Kingsbury and Mike Jinks visited Keith Corbin (88 rated 2016 WR) last Thursday. Texas Tech was the first to offer Corbin back in August.
• December 4th, 2014 (Thursday) - Trey Haverty visited Levi Onwuzurike (NR 2016 DE) last week. Tech was the 2nd offer for the DE from Allen.
• December 4th, 2014 (Thursday) - Joe Esposito traveled to Georgia to take a look at some recruits. One player he looked at was Dusan Kovacevic. The staff has a week off with Finals going on.
• December 5th, 2014 (Friday) - Joe Esposito and Tubby Smith then head to the Carolinas to recruit. One of their stops was to view the Sound Doctrine Christian Academy game in Charleston, SC. One player they talked too was Shawntrez Davis (89 rated PF).
• December 5th, 2014 (Friday) - Texas Tech visited Maciah Long (92 rated 2016 ILB) on Friday. Maciah is one of many LB offers.
• December 5th, 2014 (Friday) - Trey Haverty visited DeAndre McNeal (93 rated LB) on Friday. He hasn't visited Tech in a while (he was at the Baylor game though) and may visited before he decides in December.
• December 5th, 2014 (Friday) - Trey Haverty and Matt Brock visited Darreon Jackson (83 rated S) last week. Jackson was a late offer that appeared of Tech's radar in November. He visited this weekend.
• December 5th, 2014 (Friday) - Eric Morris watched Jarrett Stidham play in his playoff game this weekend. Stephenville lost their Quarterfinal game to Graham.
• December 7th, 2014 (Sunday) - Kliff Kingsbury and Eric Morris paid a visit to Jarrett Stidham. Stidham will join the Red Raiders in the Spring for Spring ball.
• December 7th, 2014 (Sunday) - Kliff Kingsbury, Eric Morris, Trey Haverty and Kevin Curtis paid a visit to Kahlil Haughton (92 rated S) yesterday. Tech is one of the schools Haughton is considering, including Baylor, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Nebraska.