Why is having less scholarships actually better this year?

Last year, we saw Kliff and Tubby grab a bunch of recruits in their first year as head coaches. Recruits were transferring out of football and the basketball team was going through a struggle, so the amount of scholarships available were huge. This year though, neither program has quite as much scholarships as the year before. The football team will have roughly 20 scholarships (if anyone knows the actual number, I would like to know) and the basketball team will have 3 scholarships. Having less scholarships for both sports this year though was actually a good thing. Here's why.

In the first year of recruiting, both Tubby and Kliff needed bodies for their roster, which is why both squads saw a large amount of commits. By doing this, they had to recruit a lot of 2014 players they haven't had relationships with during the previous year. However, by visiting numerous recruits for the 2014 recruiting class, they were able to meet and develop relationships with the 2015 and 2016 class. One example is Dominique Robertson at Riverside CC. When Kliff and Co were recruiting Robertson and trying to get him to come to Tech, they started forming a relationship with 2015 JUCO OT Lio Lafaele. Lafaele ended up committing to the class in March, earlier than most JUCO recruits. The wide spread of recruiting in 2014 ended up being helpful in that instance. Tech recruited Skyline HS commit Derrick Dixon in 2014, and are now going after teammate Carlos Strickland. The Red Raiders also recruited Payton Hendrix in Bishop Dunne last year and are now recruiting teammates Darrion Daniels and 2017 OLB Loren Mondy. Here are some more examples of how wide spread recruiting in 2014 could help the Red Raiders in 2015 and beyond:

Now for the 2015 class, those built relationships and lack  of scholarships will help the Red Raiders. With less scholarships, Texas Tech can focus more on highly rated recruits. While it is harder to get higher rated recruits than lower rated ones, with less scholarships, Tech doesn't have to worry about it as much. If the Red Raiders needed a lot of players, they couldn't go after so many higher rated guys, needing many recruits to help fill out the class. Since they have less scholarships though, they can go after more higher rated guys, not having to worry as much about filling out the class.

For the football team, they have about 6 less scholarships as last year. While that doesn't seem like a lot less, that's still roughly 6 guys you don't have to worry about. Not only that, but with 85 scholar players, you don't necessarily need to use every single scholarship. While we won't be able to fill out a 25 scholarship class with 4-stars and high 3-stars like Texas or Oklahoma, Tech has a chance of getting more highly rated guys with less scholarships. That's why you see Tech going after recruits like 5-star Tyron Johnson, Conner Dyer and Kris Boyd, along with the already committed Jarrett Stidham and Breiden Fehoko.

As for the basketball team, they only have half the amount of scholarships as they did last year. Tubby was able to bring in some athlete high schoolers and impressive JUCOs last year, but this year Tubby has only 3 scholarships (instead of 6) and a lot of top recruits they could get. As of right now, the coaching staff has highly perused athletes like Jarvis Johnson, Samir Sehic and Malik Beasley just to name a few. Tech has a descent shot to get at least one highly rated recruit for the 2015 class, along with more athletic recruits like in the 2014 class.

Texas Tech has a good opportunity to get great recruits for the 2015 class in both basketball and football, partially due to lack of players needed. Getting high recruits in 2015 could lead to a better record, more confidence within the coaching staff and attention from 2016 recruits. That is why it is good that the Red Raiders have less scholarships this year. What's your thoughts about the scholarship count?