Possible Red Raiders: A Weekly Recruiting Update - 2/4/2014

Tomorrow is National Signing Day, and with Texas Tech having now 27 commits this class, the class is just about over with. But there are a few more targets out there that could end up picking Texas Tech tomorrow. Let's have a look at those now.

• Vincent Jackson Jr (83 rated OLB) - It's no lie that you guys want Vincent Jackson Jr. Always asking how he's doing and how close we to him. Unfortunately, I don't a commit from him. Over the last 3 weeks, he's had coaching visits from Virigina (twice), USF (twice), and Mizzou, also having official visits to all three as well. Number of times Tech has visited; none. While there still is a chance he comes here, a commit seems unlikely. I think he picks his hometown USF.
• Michael Coley (79 rated ATH) - Over the past three weekends, he has visited Texas Tech, Louisiana Tech and Vanderbilt. The decision I believe will be down to Texas Tech and Vanderbilt, and I think he'll end up picking Vanderbilt. Soonest visit and really looked like he enjoyed himself.
• Deionte Noel (83 rated OT) - He was once committed to Texas Tech, but a greyshirt cause him to visit Houston (1/17) and decommit. He did visit Texas Tech (1/24) and look like he enjoyed himself with Tech players and commits, but decided to decommit when he got home. He recently got an offer from Boise State and visited there this weekend. I believe that he'll pick Boise State
• LaDarrius Kidd (78 rated DT) - Some or none of you may know about this but according to Level, Kidd was no longer verbal to Tech as of last night. I don't know what happened, whether Tech tired to greyshirt someone again, or Oklahoma and Oregon stormed in there and made him think twice.

Also, I found out this weekend that Texas Tech's junior day will be on February 22nd this year, and a few recruits have already announced they are going. Now let's take a look at 2015 Defensive Backs Holton Hill, Jamile Johnson, and PJ Locke, who could be in Tech's secondary in upcoming years

Holton Hill - Cornerback (Lamar HS, Houston, TX)

Height: 6'2" Weight: 175 lbs 40 time: 4.5

Ratings: 91 by 247 / 79 by ESPN / 5.7 by Rivals

Interest: Baylor (Warm), Texas *(Warm), Texas Tech (Warm), TCU (Warm)

Holton Hill went to a bunch of camps last year, including Baylor, Texas, TCU, Texas Tech and Colorado, getting offers from every program except Texas. 247sports has Texas listed as the top school right now, which makes me think if Texas offers, there is a good chance he commits there. However, I'm not sure when the last time his page was updated and if he stills feel that way. I do know that he has been tweeting Baylor a lot lately, but that''s because he just went to their junior day. The only other tweet I saw was him wearing a Tech football shirt. Anyway, I think that Hill will go to Texas Tech's junior day, since he's been to our camp. Let's take a look what he can do right now. When I look at Holton's film, the reason I believe he was rated so high is his ability to press coverage and be physical with receivers. There is plenty of times where he can out physicaled receivers out of the plays or presses them enough where it's a jump ball. He also benefits with his good size, being able to tip away balls away from tall receivers. Holton Hill was actually teamates with John Plattenburg, a 4-star CB this year who ended up commiting to USC in November. Let's hope he goes to Tech's junior day and is impressed my the Red Raiders

Jamile Johnson Jr - Safety (South Oak Cliff HS, Dallas, TX)

Height: 6'1" Weight: 175 lbs 40-time: 4.5

Ratings: 89 by 247 / 3-star by ESPN / 5.7 by Rivals

Interest: Oklahoma (Warm), Maryland (Warm), Texas Tech (Cool), Arkansas (Cool)

Jamile has gotten a lot of attention lately, with schools constantly stopping by and visiting him at South Oak Cliff, including Kingsbury (January 22nd). Lately he has been offered by Maryland, and talked with 247 about his recruitment. Although that info is behind a paywall, Texas, USC and Florida State, along with Maryland, have been listed atop on the site. The only visit he's had so far is an unofficial with Oklahoma, and it looks like he went to their junior day too. Now, Jamile does have interest in Tech, having a photo wearing Tech gear on his twitter and talking with the Texas Tech 247 crew about them, so it's not like we're out of the picture. Hopefully, Jamile will be able to come to our upcoming junior day. On to his film. Jamile seems to play a lot of zone type coverages in high school, and what makes him good with them is he can read the QBs eyes and figure out where the ball is going. He also knows where to be at the right time, making plays on the ball and tackling defenders in the open field. The last thing I like about him is his hip movement, so he can explode towards the ball when it's headed his way. Dallas has some good high school competition, so the fact he's doing good at a high level is impressive. We'll see how big Tech has an impact on him in the future.

James "PJ" Locke - Safety (Central Senior, Beaumont, TX)

Height: 5'11" Weight: 180 lbs 40 time: 4.5

Ratings: 81 by 247 / 3-star by ESPN / 5.6 by Rivals

Interest: Northwestern (Cool), SMU (Cool), Texas Tech *(Cool), Baylor *(Cool)

PJ Locke has been getting visits from a bunch of colleges over the past week, including schools like Texas A&M, Auburn and Oklahoma, one of them being Texas Tech. The only offers that PJ has gotten so far however is Northwestern and SMU. He's been tweeting a lot about Tech as of late, including following myself and retweeting my tweet about our first 2015 commit (Prestige!). So it looks like he does have some interest in Texas Tech, which is always a good thing. The only schools Locke has visited so far is Baylor, Texas A&M and SMU, but he did go to a Texas Tech camp. So with that being said, lets look at what PJ can do on the field. The thing that I like the most about PJ Locke is his ability to tackle the open man. He has good form tackling that gets the ball carrier to the ground. It looks like they played Zone a lot on his film, with only a play or two showing man, but he's a safety for the man aspect shouldn't be used too much. We'll see if Texas Tech chooses to look at him more in the future.

Here are some more updates:

Football 2014:

• Shaquille Davis, 80 rated JUCO OT, has committed to Texas Tech. Our new ST coached convinced him to visit, and he did and committed after his visit on Sunday. Was about to commit to Fresno State last Wednesday. He's 6'4" and about 300lbs, will try to earn the starting spot at the O-line next season.
• Dontae Levingston, 81 rated JUCO OT, decommitted from Texas Tech this weekend. He wanted to play for the Red Raiders. but his classes didn't transfer. He visited East Carolina over the weekend, and will decide between them, Kansas and Marshall
• Byron Daniels, 85 rated WR commit, visited Texas Tech over the weekend. Apparently he had a good time with Kliff and Co and really enjoyed himself out there.
• JahShawn Johnson, 86 rated S commit, visited Lubbock over the weekend and also enjoyed his visit. On the 104.3 Victory Bells podcast, he said that he was now fully committed to Texas Tech. He visited Texas 2 weeks ago but they never offered.
• Rika Levi, 91 rated DT commit, was having plans to visit Oregon, but cancelled them and will sign with Texas Tech on National Signing Day. Having a teammate commit there and being close to home, thoughts were he would visit and recommit there. Doesn't look like it anymore.
• Grant Bouma, NR ILB, has committed to Texas Tech and will be a preferred Walk-on. He came from a same school in California, and looks like he got overlooked there. He is coming to Tech to earn a degree is agriculture.
• Ivan Thomas, 84 rated DT, will walk on at Oklahoma State next fall. He was once a commit for Texas Tech, but decommitted for a reason we don't know.
• Krondis Larry, 76 rated Samford commit, visited Texas Tech over the weekend. He was looking to go for Track for Texas Tech, although hasn't said anything yet. He would also have a chance to walk-on to the football team. Teammates with Tech commit Nigel Bethel II.

Basketball 2014:

• Jabari Hill, a track athlete who is committed to Florida, visited Texas Tech over the weekend and enjoyed his time. He also played basketball in high school., but I don't believe he will play basketball in college.

Football 2015+:

• Corey Dauphine, NR 2015 RB, is the first commit to the 2015 recruiting class. He has said that Tech is his favorite school and committed a day after they offered him on Saturday. He's 6'1", 200 lbs and has a 4.5 speed. I believe he will be a high 3-star rating. Also offered by
• Kameron Martin, NR 2016 RB, talked to 247 about his commitment, and referred to Dauphine as his "best friend". Martin is one of the most recruited players in 2016, having offers from Texas Tech, Baylor and Texas A&M.
• Jarrett Stidham, 96 rated 2015 QB, has a new leader on his 247 page, and that is Texas Tech. He has been talking about Tech lately, and caused many people to believe that Tech are his leaders. He recently got offers from OU and Auburn, and visits with offers from Alabama and Texas. He also doesn't plan on committing any time soon.
• Kyler Murray, 97 rated 2015 QB, released his top 5 on Thrusday, with Clemson, Florida, Oregon, Texas A&M and Texas Tech on the list. A&M may be the favorite, having the QB already visit during the Junior Day and his dad attending A&M in the 80's as their QB.
• Chris Warren III, 91 rated ATH, will visit Tech on it;s junior day on February 22nd (according to Dan Meyer of 247) and during the spring game (according to Rivals). With Tech in his top 3, looks like he is getting serious about coming here.
• Richard Moore, 83 rated OLB, go an offer from Texas Tech on Saturday, and will visit Texas Tech for their junior day. Baylor and Oklahoma look to be in the lead right now.
• Louis Brown, 89 rated ATH, has a top 2 right now. Unfortunately, that info is behind a paywall, so I don't know the info. However, Landon Wright, Tech's 247 guy, wrote the story, so maybe Texas Tech is one of them.
• Zach Abercrumbia, NR 2015 DT, is the latest to be offered by Texas Tech. He also will visit Texas Tech during their junior day. Teammates with fellow commit Derrick Dixon and two Texas Tech targets.

Basketball 2015+:

• Hunter Shelton, 2015 6'6" guard, will be taking a unofficial visit to Texas Tech next month. Right now he is getting a lot of attention and leaning towards Ole Miss. Let's see if Tubby and crew can get him.

NORAD Kliff (and Tubby) Tracker:

This is probaby going to be the last NORAD Kliff Tracker until April 14th. The reason why is because right now we have a dead period (coaches can only call recruits) until February 6th. After that, Tech goes in a quiet period, where they can call recruits and can only talk to them in person if they are on campus. After April 14 however, it's the evaluation period, where recruiters can go watch them perform. The only conversations they may have though is on the college campus or through call. So let's begin our last NORAD Kliff tracker until we hang it up for a couple months. However, the basketball recruiting period last until March 31st, so we'll still have some updates.

• January 29th 2014: Mike Smith was spotted in Hawaii to talk to Breiden Fehoko. Smith is close with the Fehoko family and Breiden will visit Texas Tech during their spring game to see his brother.
• January 29th, 2014: Texas Tech was spotted at Santiago HS in California. The only recruit listed there is the 6th ranked Pro QB in the nation, Norte Dame commit Blake Barnett. Is there anyone else to look at there?
• January 29th, 2014: Tubby and Crew were spotted at the Missouri State West Plains game. There are a lot of Tech targets on that team, including Justin Jamison.
• January 29th,2014: Kliff and Haverty were spotted in Whitehouse visiting Patrick Mahomes. Some other plays on that team what to play for Tech, including their 2016 RB Shemar Smith.
• January 30th, 2014: Joe Espostio was spotted in Florida visiting CJ Williamson. He is racking up offers from everywhere, including Kansas State and a serious look from Louisville
• January 30th, 2014: Kliff and Co were spotted at Kilgore HS to look at some 2015 recruits. A lot of talent goes unseen in Kilgore.
• January 30th, 2014: Kliff and Co went be Beaumont to see James "PJ" Locke. I talked about him earlier in the story.
• February 3rd, 2014: Tubby and Co were in Alabama last night. Not sure who he is going to recruit there. However, there is a lot of Tech targets in Georgia.