Possible Red Raiders: A Weekly Recruiting Update - 9/29/2014

Donte Jackson - Wide Receiver / Cornerback (Riverdale HS, New Orleans, LA)

Ratings: 97  by 247 (46th overall) / 81 by ESPN (217th overall) / 5.8 by Rivals (190th overall) / 4-star by Scout (96 overall)

Interest: Georgia (Favorite), LSU (Warmer), Texas Tech (Warmer), USC (Warm)

Texas Tech first offered Donte Jackson back in May, his 10th offer, and have been on his trail since. Donte was first receiving offers back in April, when the favorites in Georgia offered Jackson. He since then has been reeling in offers and has become one of the most recruited players in the nation. We haven't heard a lot of info about him and Tech, but that's because there simply hasn't been a lot of info. Texas Tech wasn't in Jackson's Top 5 early on, but in June, Tech was listed among his Top 5. Georgia is currently Jackson's clear favorite, who was the first to offer him. He has visited Georgia twice and received a home visit from one of their choices. LSU is right behind them, being close to home and having produced some highly drafted DBs in the last several years (Patrick Peterson, Morris Claibourne, Eric Reid, etc). Texas Tech is roughly right behind them along with USC, Notre Dame and Oregon. Even though Texas Tech isn't leading for Jackson, there still is a chance we would grab the athlete from Louisiana. Consistency and a good visit could convince Jackson to become a Red Raider. I don't know who Jackson's recruiter is, but I would bet good money that it's Kevin Curtis, who is going after a lot of top recruits and is responsible for several recruits in Louisiana. Now let's take a look at what Donte Jackson can do on the field. Donte has the athleticism is become a shut-down corner at the next level. He can keep with the receiver and accelerate fast enough to hit away the ball or create a turnover. When he does create a turnover, he has the ability to turn it into something special. I also like the physicality he brings to the secondary. Some corners are not known for their physical play, but Donte isn't afraid to pop someone. He makes several bone crushing tackles in his highlights, which could help prevent large gains and screens on the perimeter. Hopefully Tech can convince Donte to become a Red Raider after his visit.

Kevin Thomas - Wide Receiver (DeSoto HS, DeSoto, TX)

Ratings: 87 by 247 / 79 by ESPN / 5.5 by Rivals / 3-star by Scout

Interest: Kansas (Committed), Texas Tech (Warm), Arizona State (Warm), West Virginia (Warm)

Texas Tech offered Kevin Thomas a while back (I'm not sure when), but I haven't really talked about him. The reason why I haven't talked about him is because he has been committed to Kansas and hasn't been any news regarding Texas Tech and Kevin Thomas. However, after Charlie Weis was fired from Kansas yesterday, Ryan Bartow of 247sports reported that Thomas could decommit and look into other schools. He will talk to his coach soon and then make a decision about whether to stay committed or decommit. Some schools he says are still heavily recruiting him are Texas Tech, Arizona State and West Virginia. In fact, Mike Jinks was at the DeSoto-Cibolo game two weeks ago, likely looking at Thomas (along with Mark Jackson, Bryson Denley and teammate Kadarrian Nixon). Since Texas Tech doesn't have a tall WR this class, it makes since that they are still pursuing Thomas. They have offered many tall WRs as of late (AD Miller and Issac Whitney) because they are trying to get bigger at the WR position. Thomas has a good height of 6'2" and is exactly what Tech is looking for. Now let's see what Kevin Thomas can do on the field. What I like about Thomas is the range he brings to the position. Kevin has good hands and good length, giving him a wider ranger to catch the football. He makes some spectacular catches throughout the film, including one mid-air at the beginning, one where he catches the ball at the pylon and another where he catches a tipped ball one-handed behind him. Thomas is making some difficult catches. I also like Thomas' route running, faking out DBs and getting up down the field. Kevin Thomas is someone I think Texas Tech could really use. If Kevin Thomas decommits from Kansas, he could be someone we see rise up on Texas Tech's radar.

Here are some more updates:

Football 2015:

• Jalen Bates, 89 rated DE, released a Top 3 last week, listing MSU, Arizona State and ULL. He also pushed his descion date to October 7th, after his October 4th visit to MSU. Tech isn't doomed, and could still get the 3-star DE.
• Broaderick Washington, 85 rated C, committed to Texas Tech last Tuesday as a DT. Tech is in need of some young D-line bodies, and they got one in Washington last week. Washington has good technique and could develop into a good Defensive Tackle.
• Corey Dauphine is now a 92 rated RB on 247sports and a Top 250 player. Dauphine has done extraordinary this season and has recently gotten on many teams radar, including Florida and Norte Dame. He plans to take all his official visits just to see the schools. He says he's still solid to Tech.
• Conner Dyer has dropped to a 87 rated OT on 247sports, but is still a 4-star composite recruit, I'm not sure why he dropped, but he's still a great player and glad he's a Red Raider commit.
• Johnathan Giles is now an 86 rated ATH by 247. He was originally an 84 rated ATH, but went up in the ratings after an impressive season thus far.
• AD Miller, 84 rated WR, has a chance on flipping to Texas Tech according to Daniel Paulling. He plans to visit Texas Tech for the West Virginia game and to make sure he made the right decision or not. Tech has offered many tall receivers so far this class, including Miller.
• Carlos Strickland, 90 rated WR, was looked at by Kliff Kingsbury this week at the Dallas Skyline / Irving High School game. Other possible targets at the game were Anthony Wheeler and Rice commit Zach Abercrumbia.
• Moe Sekona, 86 rated DT, was looked at by Texas Tech this weekend, likely Darrin Chiaverini. Moe recently named Texas Tech in his Top 3.
• Kevin Curtis and Mike Jinks were both at the Texas City / Fort Bend Elkins game this weekend. The game featured commits Johnathan Giles and D'Vonta Hinton.

Basketball 2015:

• Paul Thomas, 88 rated PF, has committed to UTEP. He visited there a couple weekends ago and was going to decide between UTEP and Texas Tech, eventually choosing UTEP.
• Kaiser Gates, 93 rated SF, will visit Texas Tech on October 17th. This is big news for the Red Raiders, who are hard on the trail pursuing Gates. Tech has a few scholarships this class and could use a talented player like Gates.

Football 2016+:

• Jean DeLance, NR 2016 OT, received an offer from Texas Tech this past week. This is Jean's second offer, the first being TCU.

Basketball 2016+:

• Steffon Mitchell, NR 2016 SF, was looked at by the Red Raiders last Friday. Tech has been recruiting a lot lately, this time going to Minnesota to look at Mitchell.
• Trae Young, 93 rated 2017 PG, was looked at by the Red Raiders last week along with Oklahoma and Pepperdine. Trae was Texas Tech's first 2017 offer.
• Nate Pierre-Louis, 93 rated 2017 PG, was offered by Texas Tech. Esposito went up to New England last week to recruit and apparently offer Pierre-Louis while he was there.
• Tyrique Jones, 87 rated 2016 PF, was offered by Texas Tech last week. Tech got a lot of guards and small forwards in the previous class and would like to add some big men soon.
• Trevon Duval, 98 rated 2017 PG, was offered by Texas Tech last week also. The Red Raiders have offered a lot of 2017 PGs thus far.

Baseball:

JD Murders, a 2016 SS/2B, committed to Texas Tech last week. There isn't a whole lot of info on Murders unfortunately (and no film), but there is some info on him. He is 6'1" Middle Infielder who bats left and throws right. He runs from home to 1st in 4.24 seconds and runs from home to 2nd base in 7.10 seconds.

How did the 2014 commits do?

How did the 2015 commits do?