Possible Red Raiders: A Weekly Recruiting Update - 9/22/2014

Isaac Whitney - Wide Receiver (Riverside CC, Riverside, CA)

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

Interest: California (Warm), Texas Tech (Warm), Washington State (Warm), Fresno State *(Cool)

Texas Tech offered JUCO WR Isaac Whitney last Tuesday, adding another tall WR to the offer list. He has three offers thus far, one from Washington State, who offered on 9/14, and another from Cal, who offered the same day as Texas Tech. According to this article by Scout, Whitney first played football his senior year of high school at Southmore HS in OKC, switching from CB to WR. He didn't get many D-1 looks due to lack of exposure, so he ended up committing to D-2 Central Oklahoma, where he left after his redshirt year. Now he's at Riverside CC, getting looks from schools that include TTU, Cal, WSU, Fresno State and USC. So far his only official visit is to Cal next weekend. but hopefully we can get Whitney to come out of visit Lubbock. Texas Tech has been looking to add a tall receiver or two this class. If Whitney were to come in, I think he would make an impact like Darrin Moore did when he came from Blinn College. Now let's take a look at what Isaac Whitney can do on the football field. There isn't a whole bunch of film on Whitney, so we only have a few plays from Riverside. From what I can tell, Whitney seems to be a downfield threat. He gets pass his corner and gets open down the field. Isaac can catch deep balls down the sideline or in the middle of the field. He may not look super impressive, but I bet "Big Money" has seen enough of him to offer him a scholarship. Of course, as y'all know, he coached there last seen, so he probably knows more about Isaac Whitney than most people. Hopefully he considers visiting Texas Tech and joining the Red Raiders.

Khaylan Thomas - Outside Linebacker (Etiwanda HS, Rancho Cucamonga, CA)

Ratings: 93 by 247 / 78 by ESPN / 5.7 by Rivals / 4-star by Scout

Interest: Arizona (Warm), Arizona State (Warm), Oregon State (Warm), Texas Tech (Cool)

Texas Tech offered Khaylan Thomas last week, an athletic linebacker out of California. Tech only has one Linebacker committed this class in D'Vonta Hinton, but also have former 5-star LB Mike Mitchell coming next year. The Red Raiders will likely want to add another linebacker or two for the class, and Thomas could be one of them. Around May, Khaylan Thomas named his Top 5 schools in Arizona State, Arizona, Oregon State, UCLA and Miami. Then just a month and a half ago, Thomas announced he would take 5 official visits to Arizona State, Arizona, Oregon, Oregon State and Miami. However, that was 6 weeks ago, so maybe that changed. I bet that "Big Money" was once again in California and was the one who offered Khaylan. Now let's take a look at what Khaylan Thomas can do on the field. Thomas is such a freakish athlete. He's got a lot of speed for a linebacker and puts all in energy when he's taking the opposition. He has the ability to run down running backs out of the backfield and take them down. Also, he can force turnovers, which is something the Red Raiders are struggling at this season. SBNation wrote about Thomas back in late May, and this is what they said about it:

Thomas is an athlete with good size at 6’2, 220 pounds. He carries a strong base with room for growth in his upper body, and has the frame to reach 250. He's a fierce striker who is explosive on contact, and his powerful lower body enables him to be a very effective tackler.

Maybe we can convince Thomas to switch on of his official visits to Texas Tech.

Here are some more updates:

Football 2015:

• Tyron Johnson, 97 rated WR, will be visiting for the West Virginia game, which is the Homecoming week. The scheduled for the game was Jack Anderson, but I'm not sure if he's still going to visit or not. Also, Kingsbury and Kevin Curtis were at Johnson's game Friday to watch him play. Oklahoma State was also there.
• Deshon Elliott, 89 rated S, will visit Texas, A&M, Oklahoma and Texas Tech. Deshon choose Texas over Texas A&M a few months ago, but looks like he'll still be visiting colleges this fall.
• Madison Akamnonu, 93 rated OT commit, will be visiting for the Oklahoma game according to Ryan Bartow of 247sports. He has talked to Oklahoma State and Missouri since he committed, but remains solid with Texas Tech
• D'Vonta Hinton, 82 rated LB commit, has told WreckEm247 that he is uncertain of his future with Tech after Wallerstedt left. The info is behind a paywall, so I don't know all the details.
• Jalen Bates, 89 rated DE, seemed to enjoy his visit to Tech last weekend. He also tweeted a few photos of him there. Jalen planned to watch Miss St play LSU, but couldn't make it. Instead he will be visiting Mississippi State on October 4th. He will make his decision this Friday.
• Jozie Milton, 87 rated DT, said that Texas Tech has been recruiting Milton the hardest. He currently committed to South Carolina as a Center.
• Jamile Johnson, 89 rated S, decomitted from UNC and committed to Texas after recieving an offer from them. He was committed to Oklahoma early in process and one point planned to visit Texas Tech. Not sure he will visit Lubbock or not.
• Darrion Daniels, 88 rated DT, is looking at few programs, one of them being Texas Tech. It's good to hear that Texas Tech is still a major contender for Daniels.
• Donte Jackson, 97 rated ATH, was visited by a Texas Tech coach Thursday (whom I believe was Kevin Curtis) and plans to visit Texas Tech sometime this season. His other visits are LSU, Georgia, USC and Notre Dame. He will likely play CB wherever he commits.
• Vaimoe Sekona, 86 rated DT, has named Texas Tech in his Top 3 according to Scout. I'm sure who the other two are, but my guess is UCLA and USC.
• Kendall Bussy, 87 rated ATH, was visited by Kingsbury and Kevin Curtis on Friday. He currently committed to Nebraska, but has been talking to Texas Tech.
• Ryan Davis, 88 rated WR, will receive a visit from Texas Tech sometime in the near future. Will also receive a visit from Florida, Florida State, Kentucky. Maryland and Ole Miss.
• Kahlil Haughton, 86 rated S, is planning to visit for the Texas game. He has already visited Oklahoma and plans to visit Nebraska and Arkansas. Norte Dame recently offered.
• Equanimeous St. Brown, 92 rated WR, received an offer from Texas Tech last night. The 4-star WR is currently predicted to go to Norte Dame and has scheduled an official to South Bend. However, only one official visit to scheduled so far.
• AD Miller, 84 rated WR, received an offer from Texas Tech last night. AD is currently committed to Illinois back in July but is still getting offers. He is a teammate of Darrion Daniels and was a teammate of current Red Raider Payton Hendrix.

Basketball 2015:

• Samir Sehic, 89 rated C, committed to Vanderbilt last Tuesday. He narrowed his list down to Vandy, Wake Forest and Davidson on Monday before committing to Vandy the following day.
• Some big Texas Tech targets were finally ranked this Saturday, as CJ Williamson is now an 87, Jordan Jackson is an 84 and Paul Thomas is an 88.
• Paul Thomas, 88 rated C, visited UTEP last weekend. According to TexasTechHoopsFans, Thomas will commit on September 30th.
• CJ Williamson, 87 rated SF, will announce his decision on October 25th. He visited Missouri this weekend and will visit Texas Tech on October 17th and Virginia Tech on October 22nd before deciding. Texas Tech visited Williamson a week ago.

Football 2016:

• Mark Jackson, 93 rated 2016 DE, and Bryson Denley, 88 rated 2016 RB, were looked at by former Cibolo coach Mike Jinks on Thursday. Also at the game was Kadarrian Nixon, NR 2017 WR, one of the few 2017 offers.
• Clyde Leflore, 93 rated 2016 WR, was looked at by Kingsbury and Kevin Curtis. He plays on the same team as Tyron Johnson.
• Osiris St. Brown, 92 rated 2017 WR, received an offer (along with his brother Equanimeous) from Texas Tech last night. His only other offers are Washington State and Illinois. Texas Tech has offered five 2017 recruits thus far.

Baseball:

Tyler Duck, LHP from Argyle TX, committed to the Red Raiders last week. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any info on his pitches, stats or video. Texas Tech has a lot of LHP in this class thus far.

Update: According to Scott Lacefield, Texas Tech had the 13th ranked class in 2014. Last year Taddlock had the 27th ranked class in the nation.

The Esposito Expresses:

On September 9th, basketball teams were allowed to visit with recruits once again, watching them play and visiting them in their homes. Tech had a few visits last week (including CJ Williamson on September 9th), but the real recruiting started this week. Tubby and Esposito decided to go to Georiga this weekend to look at some 2015, 2016 and 2017 recruits. Tubby coached Georgia from 1995-1997 and Kentucky from 1997-2007, gaining the trust of many coaches in the area. This is why we see a lot of Tech's recruits come from this area. Now let's see who the coaching staff is looking at:

• Alterique Gilbert, 90 rated 2016 PG, was looked at by Texas Tech on Tuesday according to Shun Williams. Alabama and Georgia Tech were also watching Gilbert. The Red Raiders offered Gilbert a couple weeks ago.
• Joe Rosga, NR 2015 SG, recieved a call from Esposito last week and will be looked at by Texas Tech October 2nd. Rosga is from Minnesota, where Tubby last coached.
• Chris Lewis, 89 rated 2016 PF, was visited by Texas Tech, along with other teams, last week. I'm not sure if Texas Tech has offered Lewis or not, but I bet that they did considering they visited him and he's highly ranked.
• Kaiser Gates, 93 rated 2015 SF, received a visit from Texas Tech according to Daniel Pauling. Kaiser Gates is one of Texas Tech's top rated targets.
• Malik Abraham, NR 2015 SG, worked out for Tubby and Esposito on Tuesday. He currently does not have a profile on any recruiting sites.
• Chad Lott, 83 rated PG, received a visit from LSU last week and will receive a visit from Texas Tech this week. Lott recently named Texas Tech in his Top 6 and likes the Red Raiders.
• Trae Young, 93 rated 2017 PG, was looked at by Texas Tech this week along with Tulsa and Missouri State. Texas Tech was Young's first offer and Tech's lone 2017 offer. He is son of former Red Raider Rayford Young.
• Jordan Jackson, 84 rated PG, received a visit from Tubby Smith and Pooh Williamson on Wednesday. He recently visited SFA and has planned a visit to Texas Tech during Homecoming. He has Texas Tech in his Top 6.
• Texas Tech visited Hagerstown CC in Maryland this week. There aren't any names I reconize, so I'm not sure who they're looking at.
• Chris Giles Jr, 93 rated 2017 SG, was looked at by Texas Tech this past week along with Texas A&M and SMU. I believe Tech has not offered Giles yet.

How did the 2015 commits do last week?

Johnathan Giles, D'Vonta Hinton and Breiden Fehoko all had bye weeks last week, so Jarrett Stidham and Corey Dauphine did play.