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

Isaiah Manderson - Center (Oldsmar Christian School, Oldsmar, FL)

Ratings: 88 by 247 / 70 by ESPN / 3-star by Rivals / 3-star by Scout

Interest: Texas Tech (Warm), Temple (Warm), Cleveland State (Warm), Oregon (Warm)

We first got introduced to Isaiah Manderson last week when we learned that Isaiah was released from his Oregon State scholarship and was planning a visit to Texas Tech. After Oregon State hired their new coach this season, the center decided to leave the program and was released from his scholarship (much like how Sam Atoe was released from Cal and joined Tech's roster). There an article after his release about how he needed to raise his ACT score, but my bet would be that it's not an issue because he's visiting schools. Manderson took a visit to Cleveland State early last week, then took a trip to Lubbock last Thursday to take a look at Tubby Smith and the Red Raiders. He took a visit to Temple yesterday and decided on Sunday to visit Oregon this weekend. Isaiah will decide were to play college ball on August 18th. Texas Tech needs a center after Kravic and Tabsopa graduated and Tolbert transferred to SMU (along with Ross being out until January), so adding a high schooler like Manderson to the mix would help tremendously. He responded to a Jaye Crockett tweet about wanting to play for Tech like week, but I'm not sure how true that tweet may be. Either way, I think the Red Raiders have a good chance to land Manderson, and this would definitely be worth a scholarship spot for the 2015 class (we have 3 currently). Now let's take a look at what Isaiah Manderson can do on the court. There isn't much video on Manderson, but he does have a highlight film from a Nike Top 100 camp. From what I can tell, Manderson is lengthy center that plays on both the defensive and offensive end. There wasn't a lot of film of him being physical, but he seems good at blocking the ball and putting the rebound back up for the score. He also looks stronger than he appears, one time dunking the ball, making the basket shake. This is a position the Red Raider desperately need, so hopefully we'll be able to add him Thursday.

Jordan Jackson - Shooting Guard (St. Puis X, Houston, TX)

Ratings: NR by 247 / 78 by ESPN / NR by Rivals / NR by Scout

Interest: Texas Tech (Warm), Bowling Green (Cool), North Texas (Cool), Houston (Cool)

Jordan Jackson was offered by Texas Tech last week, and Red Raider nation took notice. This is because Jordan Jackson is the son of none other than Red Raider legend Sheryl Swoopes. Jackson also took notice of the offer, with Tech being his mom's alma mater and all. In fact, in this interview, he stated that Tech was his front runner for many reasons, including his mom's legacy. I wouldn't be surprised if another reason was to learn from Tubby Smith. Right now he's being coached by TJ Ford (former NCAA POY) and his mom, and adding Tubby to his coaching regime would be impressive. He says in the interview that he will likely decide around the time basketball season starts, and is looking for a school with a good Sports Management (or Computer Engineering) program and fan base. He currently has 14 offers, his most noticeable being Tech, Houston and North Texas. I'm not sure how many more programs are going after him, but I'm sure that list will grow. Now let's look at what Jordan Jackson can do. What I like about Jackson is his quick first step and electric finish at the basket. For a player that's only 6'3", he has a big vertical and is not afraid to throw it down on defenders. Not only does he finish big in the paint, but he his also developing an outside shot. Another atribute I like about Jackson is his hustle on the defensive end, blocking shots and constantly putting pressure on the opposition. I find it strange that ESPN is the only site to rank him (as a high 3-star), and it may be because other sites just haven't ranked him or don't know enough about him. He plays for a private school in Houston, so maybe that possibly has something to do with it. I think Jackson is the guard Tech is most likely to get, and he wouldn't be a bad addition either.

Here are some more updates:

Football 2015:

• Madison Akamnonu, 93 rated OT, committed to Texas Tech on Saturday, becoming the 9th commit of the class and the 4th Blue Chip commit. Many people (including myself), though Akamnonu would pick OU, but picked Tech because of the staff, major, people and family. He becomes the 4th O-linemen of the 2015 class.
• Joshua Jones, 85 rated OT, committed to Oklahoma State yesterday. Tech will likely add one more offensive linemen to the class and that will be it. Players to look at are Semisi Uluave and Tyler Moore
• Jamile Johnson, 89 rated S, named his Top 5 this past week and Texas Tech made the cut. Jamile plans to announce his college decision September 1st, and UNC look to be in the lead, offering right before he decommitted from OU. Has officials planned for UNC and Nebraska and plans on visiting Tech at some point.
• Kahlil Haughton, 86 rated S, decided to push back his decision date until he's taken visits to all his top schools. He doesn't want to commit somewhere and then change his mind.
• Jalen Bates, 89 rated DE, has decided to change his visit from the Central Arkansas game to the Arkansas game, along with pushing his commitment date to September 26th. Bates named Tech in his most recent Top 3.
• Carlos Strickland, 90 rated WR, has named a Top 5 and Texas Tech is included in it along with OKST, LSU, UCLA and Clemson. This is the first we've heard of him in a while, and after Jaelan Austin choose to go to TCU, it's good to know were still in contention for a tall WR.
• Darrion Daniels, 88 rated DT, has named a Top 10, with Texas Tech making the list. However, there was a Top 3 list that came out shortly after that with Baylor, OU and Texas Tech making the list. Fehoko and the coaching staff are trying hard to secure Daniels' commitment.
• Tyler Moore, 88 rated OG, will visit Texas Tech sometime after August 20th. After that he will narrow his list.
• Chris Warren III, 92 rated ATH, planned to cut his list yesterday, but decided to wait due to communication. He did, however, state that his Texas Tech offer came in, which is good.
• Malik Jefferson, 98 rated OLB, said he'll commit in mid-December (the 19th to be exact). Hasn't been a lot of news with him and Tech lately.

Basketball 2015:

• CJ Williamson, NR SF, has cut his Top 6 list to a Top 3, and Texas Tech made the cut along with Virginia Tech and Clemson. He is visiting TTU for the Arky game and will decide in late November.
• Chad Lott, 83 rated PG, has made a Top 6 list, with LSU, SMU, Creighton, UNLV, Houston and Texas Tech making the list. This is only the 2nd time I've heard about Lott, but he should be a name to keep an eye on.
• Kerwin Roach, NR SG, cut his list this past week and Texas Tech did not make the cut. We had just offered Roach a few weeks back and apparently didn't make enough process to keep him interested.
• Jarvis Johnson, 91 rated PG, has named 3 official visits, with Tech not being one. He has two more official visits to take, but I'm not sure if Tech will be one.
• Malik Beasley, 98 rated SG, cut his list, and Tech didn't make the cut. The Red Raiders offered Beasley late in the process, and it appears they arrived too late to make an impact. Tech still looks to be in it for teammates Kaiser Gates and Kobi Simmons though

Football 2016+:

• Jack Anderson, 2017 C, was given a rating of 90 and  ranked #100 on the (way too early) Top 100 players of 2017. Texas Tech was his 1st "Power 5" offer, with the only other offer being Arizona State. Here are the full rankings.

Baseball Recruiting:

Starting this Academic year, I'm going try to pay attention and get more info on baseball recruiting. I'm writing this part late Monday night, so I'm only going to talk about one thing, and that's the commitment of 2016 recruit Ulysses Cantu. From what I can gather, Ulysses was a pitcher and played the field. He made honorable mention as a 3B in the 4A division in just his sophomore year at Boswell HS in Fort Worth. I also found some info on the web that mentioned that Cantu also played some catcher. Currently, Cantu is roughly 5'10", 180 lbs and has three pitches according to Perfect Game (87 mph FB, 75 CB and CH). Getting versatile players on the diamond is always good, and Tadlock was able to nab one here. I'm sure where his other interest were, but from looking at his twitter, I wouldn't be surprised if TCU was one. I'll get to more information on baseball recruiting next week.