Possible Red Raiders: A Weekly Recruiting Updates - 6/10/14

For those that don't know, camping season is among us. This means that Texas Tech will be hosting several camps across the state for recruits to attend and show their talents. The players will range from 5-star recruits to some you probably never heard of before. Today, we're going to see what big names currently, and possibly down the road, attended these camps, along with the Texas Tech camping schedule. Right now, let's take a look at two Texas Tech recruits in RB D.J. Brown and DE Jalen Bates.

D.J. Brown - Running Back (North Little Rock, Little Rock, AR)

Ratings: 83 by 247 / NR by ESPN / 5.4 by Rivals

Interest: Illinois (Warm), Northern Illinois (Warm), Southern Miss (Warm), Texas Tech *(Cool)

D.J. Brown has been on Texas Tech's radar for a while now. Texas Tech looked at the running back in April when visiting with teammate and 4-star receiver KJ Hill. Even though Tech did not offer Brown, they did show interest in the running back. At the time, he was rated a high 2-star recruit, but since then has been bumped to a 3-star. There seems to be a clear leader in Illinois at the moment, who have visited with Brown twice and hosted him for their junior day. Illinois is probably the biggest school to offer him at the moment (except for maybe Northern Illinois), but an offer from a school like Texas Tech or South Carolina (who also scouted him the same day as Tech) could possibly change his position in recruiting. Let's take a look at what D.J, Brown can do on film. Brown impresses me with his vision on the football field. He can find holes that his offensive line creates and either gets open down the sideline or up the middle of the field. He has good enough speed where he starts to break off once he gets in the open field. Another impressive attribute is that he's hard to bring down. Brown has good balance when he runs, so when players try to tackle him without squaring up, he can push them off and be able to keep on running. There were some points in the film where he was about to be taken down for a five yard gain, then turns it into a touchdown or 30 yard run. While it looks like DJ Brown is leaning towards Illinois, maybe a Texas Tech offer could convince him to pick the Red Raiders.

Jalen Bates - Weak Side Defensive End (Kaplan HS, Kaplan, LA)

Ratings: 89 by 247 / NR by ESPN / 5.7 by Rivals

Interest: LSU *(Warmer), Oklahoma *(Warm), TCU (Warm), Texas Tech (Warm)

Jalen Bates is the definition of raw when it comes to scouting athletes. Bates has incredibly speed for his size and posses a ton of strength. While his abilities aren't quite polished, he could turn into one of college football's elite players with the right staff coaching him up. Texas Tech offered the DE back in early April, about a week before a bunch of big time programs decided to offer. Since then, many programs have offered Jalen Bates, including TCU, Michigan, Ole Miss and Oregon State. LSU has yet to offer Jalen, but an offer from the Tigers could convince Bates to commit to LSU. With Texas Tech doing some heavy recruiting in Louisiana this year, don't be surprised if we bring in a couple big recruits from the state just east of Texas. Let's take a look at what Jalen Bates can do on film. What I like the most about Bates is the pure strength he posses. At the snap of the ball, he quickly gets off the line and uses his arms to push linemen out of the way with ease. He showed this on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball. Another great ability Bates has is his speed when he's in the open field. His hudl says that he has a 40 time of 4.75, which is great for a linemen. His feet aren't the best at the moment, but if a defensive line coach can teach him to use his body more, look out. Hopefully Tech will able to bring Bates to Tech and transform him into a juggernaut.

Here are some more updates:

Football 2014:

• Patrick Mahomes, 87 rated QB commit, was not drafted in the first 10 rounds of the MLB draft and decided he will attend Tech. He ended up being drafted in the 39th round, likely because he said he wouldn't play pro baseball yet.

Basketball 2014:

• Shane Henry, NR PF, has committed to Virginia Tech after his visit there this weekend. He visited Louisiana Tech, Texas Tech and Virginia Tech and ultimately choose the VT.
• Zach Smith, 70 rated SF commit, is a freak of nature.

Football 2015:

• James Proche, 87 rated WR, committed to SMU last Tuesday. He was a target of Texas Tech, but Tech never offered Proche. He is the 2nd recruit to commit to SMU as of late.
• Clay Johnston, 80 rated OLB, committed to Baylor last week. Texas Tech just offered him the weekend before he pulled the trigger and committed to the Bears.
• Kingsley KeKe, 89 rated DE, committed to Texas A&M last week. Tech was recruiting Kingsley as an offensive tackle, but KeKe ultimately choose the Aggies.
• Denver Johnson, 82 rated WR, committed to Tulsa a few days ago. There was interest from several programs (including Tech), but Tulsa was the lone school to offer.
• Kahlil McKenzie, 98 rated DT, gave hints on twitter that he has decided where he will commit and it seems like it's between Tennessee and Arizona. Tech was showing interest and pursuing Tech (along with Fehoko), but it didn't look like we impressed McKenzie enough.
• Louis Brown, 94 rated ATH, has decommitted from Baylor. The recruit out of Burton was committed for the last 3 months, but for whatever reason opened his recruitment back up. Interesting to see if Tech becomes a player for the ATH.

Basketball 2015:

• Justin Jenifer, 90 rated PG, committed to Cincinnati yesterday. We learned two weeks ago about Jenifer listing Tech in his top 3, but a visit to Cincinnati sealed the deal for the point guard.

Football 2016+:

• Mike Williams, NR 2016 DT, was offered by the Red Raiders last week, giving Williams 8 offers. He also camped with Texas Tech yesterday.
• Anthony Hines, NR 2017 OLB/RB, got an offer from Texas Tech while at camp yesterday. The OLB/RB is currently committed to Mississippi State and holds a ton of offers.
• Shane Buechele, NR 2016 DT QB, received an offer from the Red Raiders yesterday. The Arlington product currently holds offers from TCU and Kentucky, and is son of former Texas Ranger 3B Steve Buechele.

Texas Tech Camping Season:

The Red Raiders kicked off their Texas Tech camps on Sunday. Basically, this is where recruits attend and show case their talents to the coaching staff. Also gives the coaches an opportunity to meet with the players and offer them if they like what they see. First off, here is the schedule for these camps:

Now, let's take a look at who attended the camps in Euless and Lancaster:

• Jack Anderson, NR 2017 C, attended the Euless Trinity camp (I don't have any info on that camp, so that's all I got)
• Malik Jefferson, 98 rated OLB, attended the Lancaster camp along with teammate DeAndre McNeal, an 88 rated OLB
• Chris Orr, NR OLB, attended the Lancaster camp. Damon Sayles (ESPN Big XII writer) snapped a picture of Orr with the Mesquite duo
• Chris Warren III, 92 rated ATH, attended the Lancaster camp. Latest news we have is that he's taking visits and will name a Top 5 in the summer.
• Conner Dyer, 90 rated OT, attended the Lancaster camp. Tech is high on his list and could shorten that list soon.
• Shane Buechele, NR 2016 QB, attended the Lancaster camp, which is where he picked up his offer.
• Anthony Hines, NR 2017 OLB, attended the Lancaster camp, which is where he picked up his offer. He is currently committed to Miss St.
• Loren Mondy, NR 2017 ILB, attended the Lancaster camp also. He is currently committed to Arizona State. He is teammates with Tech signee Peyton Hendrix and Tech target Darrion Daniels.
• A whole bunch of South Oak Cliff kids attended the visit. Here is a photo of them (from Damon Sayles twitter)
• Kirk Johnson, NR 2016 WR, attended the camp. Could be someone to look out for in the future.
• Johhny Durham, NR 2015 CB, attended the camp. Sayles thinks the Durham could be a sleeper. State Champion and teammates with Ryan Newsome (who currently is visiting schools in California)
• Juwan Washington, NR 2015 RB, attended the camp, but committed to San Diego State later that night.

Also, I will be writing a recruiting post about the baseball class (because you can hardly find anything on the internet) sometime after the baseball team is over with, so look out for that.