Possible Red Raiders: A Weekly Recruiting Update - 9/15/2014

Joseph "JoJo" Wicker - Defensive Tackle (Long Beach Poly, Long Beach, CA)

Ratings: 91 by 247 (247th overall) / 82 by ESPN (185th overall) / 5.8 by Rivals / 4-star by Scout (231st overall)

Interest: UCLA (Warm), Arizona State (Warm), Texas Tech (Warm), Washington (Warm)

We first found out about Joseph Wicker a week and a half ago when Texas Tech offered the 4-star Defensive Tackle, their 2nd Defensive Linemen offer in the last 2 weeks. We have seen an increase in defensive linemen offers lately because of Tech's lack of young talent on the D-line. Tech picked up 4 JUCO D-linemen last class, but failed to receive a commitment from a High Schooler. Another possible reason for the increase in offers may be because Tech might be losing ground on some D-line recruits, but I doubt this is the case. The Red Raiders are in the top 2 for both Jalen Bates and Reggie Walker, plus Tech already has a commitment from Breiden Fehoko. Texas Tech is in good shape for some big time defensive linemen this class. Now let's get back to talking about Joseph. According to this article, Wicker was a defensive end his junior year of high school, but only recorded 6 sacks on the year. However, he moved over to defensive tackle this season and so far his stats have skyrocket. So far this season, he has record 10 sacks and 3 forced fumbles in 3 games. Just ridiculous numbers. The schools so far that are standing out to Wicker are UCLA, Arizona State and Washington, with UCLA looking like they're in the lead. The only official visit he has planned so far is to Arizona State in October, but according to 247sports, he is considering visiting Texas Tech for the Oklahoma game. Now let's take a look at what Joseph Wicker can on film. What I like about Wicker is his explosive first step off the line. He jumps off the line fast and quickly makes his way to the ball carrier. He's also has enough speed to be a threat even when the ball carrier has passed him. Another thing I like about Wicker is his length. He can wrap up and disrupt the opposition more often than some players because he has a longer reach. It also helps when trying to force a turnover. Hopefully we can get Joseph Wicker to visit to Lubbock and consider the Red Raiders.

Tony Brown - Wide Receiver (La Mirada HS, La Mirada, CA)

Ratings: 82 by 247 / 78 by ESPN / 5.5 by Rivals / 3-star by Scout

Interest: Nebraska (Warm), Purdue (Warm), Washington State (Warm), Texas Tech (Warm)

Texas Tech decided to offer another WR last week, this time in 3-star Tony Brown from California. Tech only has one WR (Giles) committed to their class thus far and are looking to add 2-3 more receivers to the class. Tony Brown is like most of the Wide Receivers offered this class because of his height and size. Brown has roughly 10 offers currently, ranging from Nebraska to SMU to Colorado. There is no clear leader currently for Brown, but according to Scout, Brown is going to visit Nebraska at some point. Brown has not yet set any other official visits at this time. I'm not sure how serious Tech is about Brown or how hard they're going after him. Carlos Strickland and Tyron Johnson still have Tech high on their list, but not many WRs are considering Tech outside of them. Brown could be a guy we see at Tech if those recruits don't work out. Now let's take a look at what Brown can do on the field. One thing I like about Tony is his route running ability. He knows when to cut to get himself open and looks like he runs his routes correctly. Brown also can go up and get the ball in the air. He grabs the ball when it's at the highest point and isn't afraid to get rough with the defenders. Tony Brown would be a nice addition at outside receiver if other targets don't work out.

Here are some more updates:

Football 2015:

• Tyron Johnson, 97 rated WR, did not visit Tech for the Arkansas game. Johnson had a game Friday afternoon that got delayed to Saturday afternoon. The next home game for Texas Tech is against West Virginia.
• Jalen Bates, 89 rated DE, took his official visit to Tech this past weekend. He will announce his decision sometime next week. Likely will be between Mississippi State, Arizona State and Texas Tech.
• Conner Dyer, 90 rated OT commit, visited Texas Tech for the Arkansas game. His prediction for the game was a little off (55-14 Tech).
• Jarrett Stidham, 98 rated DT QB commit, took his official visit last weekend. He has already visited Lubbock several times since committing in February.
• Ryan Davis, 88 rated WR, is planning to visit Texas Tech sometime this week according to Lynden Ostrander of the Tampa Tribune. Ryan visited Maryland (40-37 loss to WVU) and also plans to visit Ole Miss. He hopes to commit in about a week or two.
• Christian Taylor, 85 rated S, will officially visit Texas Tech for the West Virginia game. Christian Taylor is predicted to go to Texas Tech according to 247's crystal ball prediction.

Basketball 2015:

• Mickey Mitchell, 94 rated SF, recommitted to Ohio State last week, after decommitting from Ohio State roughly 9 days before. He visited OSU with a teammate and decided that Ohio State was the school for him.
• Paul Thomas, NR PF/C, officially visited Texas Tech last weekend. This is my first time hearing about Paul Thomas, so I don't know much about him at the moment. TexasTechHoopsFans has said that he plans to commit on September 30th.
• Jarvis Johnson, 91 rated PG, committed to Minnesota last week. Tech was on Johnson early one, but it looks like he wants to stay home in Minnesota.
• Esa Ahmad, 94 rated PF, committed to West Virginia last week. Tech offered the PF, but appeared that they were never real contenders. Many people (including myself) thought he would pick Ohio State, but chose West Virginia instead.

Football 2016+:

• McKinley Mitchell, 88 rated OLB/S, visited Texas Tech this weekend. His brother, Mike Mitchell, decided to transfer to Texas Tech a few months ago.
• DeOnte Williams, 87 rated OLB, received an offer from Texas Tech last week. DeOnte also has offers from Baylor and TCU thus far.

Baseball:

Texas Tech received a commitment from Erikson Lanning yesterday, a Left Handed Pitcher form Sequoyah HS in Georgia. He is a 6'2" pitcher that has a 86-88 mph Fastball (topping out at 90 mph), a 73 mph Curveball, and a 78 mph Change-up. He made Second Team All Georgia this upcoming season and made the Perfect Game Pre-season All American 2nd team as a junior. Erikson committed Sunday afternoon, so I didn't really get a chance to find any film on him. This is all I could find. Congrats to Erikson for committing to the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

How did the 2014 class do?

How did the 2015 class do?