Possible Red Raiders: A Weekly Recruiting Update - 1/19/2015

Henry Black - Cornerback (Woodlawn HS, Shreveport, LA)

Ratings: 85 by 247 / 74 by ESPN / 5.6 by Rivals / 3-star by Scout

Interest: Texas Tech (Warm), Baylor (Warm), Houston (Cool), Louisiana Tech (Cool)

We first learned about Henry Black a couple weeks ago when the Red Raiders offered him. Tech visited Shreveport after the season and likely looked at Henry Black while they were there. Baylor also apparently saw interest in Black, as they offered around the same time. Henry them scheduled officials to both Texas Tech and Baylor, visiting Lubbock last weekend and heading to Waco this weekend. He'll likely choose between the two schools. Tech only has two DB's committed this class, but none of them are cornerbacks. Tech doesn't have any big Corners outside Nelson and Polite-Bray, so adding someone like Black would help the Red Raiders. Now let's look at what Black can do on film. Henry Black is a big physical Defensive Back who can push around Wide Receivers and compete at the line of scrimmage. Nelson and Polite-Bray aren't as strong and Tech could use a strong DB. He's also a playmaker who can create turnovers, which is what David Gibbs like. Since Tech's defensive isn't strong right now, they could use someone who can create turnovers. Finally, Henry seems to have good positioning. He's at the right place at the right time and can make plays because of where he is. I expect a decision from Henry Black sometime after his visit with Baylor.

Arico Evans - Athlete (Hillcrest HS, Dallas, TX)

Ratings: 83 by 247 / 76 by ESPN / 5,5 by Rivals / 2-star by Scout

Interest: Kansas (Committed), Texas Tech (Warm), TCU (Warm), Arkansas *(Warm)

We first learned about Arico Evans back in December when Texas Tech offered. Arico visited Kansas two days later, and then committed shortly after his visit. However, that doesn't mean his recruitment is over. He took a visit to Tech last weekend, will visit TCU this weekend and visit Arkansas after that, who hasn't even offered yet. Evans will likely make a decision around National Signing Day. I'm not sure what position he'll play at Tech (he's listed at WR and DB), but David Gibbs visited him this past week, so I bet Tech is recruiting him as a Defensive Back. Now let's take a look at what Evans brings to the football field. There isn't any film of him playing DB, but there are some attribute I like. From what I can tell, Arico can move his feet quick and cut fast, which is good for corners or safeties. He also a big body, which could be good when covering big receivers or hitting the ball away. Tech had some disadvantages last year when dealing with tall receivers, so adding someone like Arico would help. Hopefully Arico will switch his commitment to the Red Raiders when it's all said and done.

Antoine Stephens - Cornerback (Kimball HS, Dallas, TX)

Ratings: 89 by 247 / 79 by ESPN / 5.6 by Rivals / NR by Scout

Interest: Oklahoma (Committed), Texas Tech (Warm), Baylor (Warm), SMU (Warm)

Texas Tech offered Antoine Stephens two weeks ago, around the same time Oklahoma and Baylor did. Antoine didn't have a lot of offers before then, but started to see the offers rolling in once the new year arrived. He scheduled visits with Oklahoma (1/16), Texas Tech (1/23) and Washington State (1/30), but since then has canceled his WSU visit. Antoine later announced his Top 3 to 247sports, which would consist of Baylor, Oklahoma and Texas Tech. However, he committed to Oklahoma after his visit this weekend, but Tech is not out of it. Earlier in the week, he tweeted that he would be making a decision and not a commitment. That could mean that he committed to OU, but could flip to a school like Texas Tech is he likes Lubbock enough. So we'll see where he ends up once National Signing Day arrives. Now let's see what Antoine can do on film. I think Antoine is similar to Black when it comes to his skill set. He's a taller corner who is more physical than most tall corners but can also make plays on the ball. However, what I think separates him from most big cornerbacks is the way he tackles. He hits hard and makes sure his guy goes to the ground. Sort of reminds me of the Seahawks and Patriots, who have both bought into the big, tough secondary guys who can cover and hit the opposition hard. Stephens has a lot of potential and could do well in the Big XII. We'll see where Antoine stands after his visit.

Here are some more recruiting updates:

Football 2015:

• Chris Warren, 96 rated ATH, will decide on National Signing Day. It appears the schools in contentionare Texas Tech, Texas, A&M, Washington and Oklahoma State.
• Louis Brown, 94 rated ATH, decommitted from Texas last week. Tech was after him early, but it unknown if he is still interested in Tech or not.
• Semisi Uluave, 91 rated OT, visited Texas Tech this past weekend and appeared to like his time in Lubbock. If he were to commit to Tech, we might not see him for 2 years however. This is because he might take a 2 year journey, like Tanner Jacobson. So we could end up getting him in 2017 instead.
• Darrion Daniels, 88 rated DT, will be taking an official visit to Iowa this weekend, but more importantly for us, he stated on twitter that he could "see me and Fehoko wrecking everyone". Good to know Tech is still in it for the leagcy. It'll likely be between Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Iowa.
• Maurice Smitherman, 87 rated CB, canceled his visit to Texas Tech on Friday. Not sure why he canceled the visit. My bet is that he flips to South Carolina.m
• Kevin Thomas, 87 rated WR, will be visiting the Red Raiders this weekend. He is currently committed to Kansas, but could be flipping if the visit goes well.
• Arthur McGinnis, 86 rated LB, will be taking an official visit to Texas Tech this weekend. He announced via Twitter that he could visit the Red Raiders. He visited Arizona last weekend and will visit OU in two weeks.
• Dwaine Thomas, 86 rated LB, committed to Texas A&M after his visit to College Station this past weekend. Tech had offered a couple weeks ago.
• Quan Shorts, 85 rated WR, visited Tulane last weekend. He said on twitter afterwords that he was 100% committed to Texas Tech
• Darryl Godfrey, 84 rated S, will visit Texas Tech the weekend of the 30th. He also has a visit planned for Arizona State the weekend before. The Red Raiders have not offered yet.
• AD Miller, 84 rated WR, decommitted from Illinois on Sunday. Tech offered a while back, but it is unknown if Tech is still in contention.
• Tony Brown, 82 rated WR, visited UCLA last weekend. He choose Tech over Colorado last month, with UCLA not being in consideration.
• Lenoy Jones JR, 78 rated LB, committed to Baylor after the Bears visited him on Thursday. Many thought he could join the Red Raiders with Coach Gibbs leaving Houston for Tech. However, it appears that's not the case.
• Lonzell Gilmore, 78 rated DE, seemed to really enjoy his visit and said he will take no more official visits.Gilmore received an offer from Baylor last week.

Basketball 2015:

• CJ Williamson, 87 rated PG commit, was nominated for the McDonald's All American Game. That doesn't mean he'll be playing in the game, it's nice to hear a basketball commit be nominated to an All American Game.
• Ronnie Suggs, 86 rated SG, will decided between Texas Tech, VCU, Butler, Rice and Duquesne in the Spring according to Adam Zagoria. Suggs decommitted from Missouri (where he's from) a while back.

Football 2016+:

• Shane Buechele, 93 rated 2016 DT QB, will be taking an unofficial visit to Texas Tech sometime this month according to 247sports. With Tech possibly not getting a QB in the 2015 class, it's important Tech gets one for 2016.
• Kofi Boateng, 87 rated 2016 WR, will also be taking an unofficial visit to Texas Tech this month. Tech was his 2nd offer and the Red Raiders seem to have great interest in Boateng.
• Michael Eletise, 91 rated 2016 OG, received his 2nd offer from Texas Tech on Thursday. Tech been recruiting in Hawaii lately and are starting to find some good talent there.

NORAD Kliff Tracker:

The dead period officially ended on Thursday, which means that the Coaches could go out of recruit players face to face. This is period where we find out who the last 2015 recruits are and who are the top targets for the 2016 class. The coaches were everywhere this past week, so let's take a look at who they visited.

• January 13th, 2015 (Tuesday) - Joe Esposito was recruiting in Georgia this past week. The basketball coaching staff have counted to recruit in Georgia, even almost signing Kaiser Gates for the 2015 class.
• January 15th, 2015 (Thursday) - Texas Tech visited Isaac Warren (87 rated CB)  on Thursday. He was likely one of the players Tech scouted after the season was over. He decommitted from Purdue roughly a month ago. Tech doesn't have a visit schedule and hasn't offered a scholarship.
• January 15th, 2015 (Thursday) - New Coach Zac Spavital visited Arico Evans (83 rated ATH) early Thursday in Dallas. He is currently committed to Kansas, but is looking at his options, including the Red Raiders. He visited Tech this past weekend.
• January 15th, 2015 (Thursday) - Kliff Kingsbury and Eric Morris visited Mesquite to visit Tech commit Conner Dyer (4-star OT). He also could've looked at other players at Horn for the 2016 and 2017 class.
• January 15th, 2015 (Thursday) - New DC David Gibbs paid a visit to Spring HS commit Lonzell Gilmore (78 rated DE commit) Thursday morning. He's someone to keep an eye on with a new Baylor offer.
• January 15th, 2015 (Thursday) - David Gibbs was in Texas City to visit with commit D'Vonta Hinton (82 rated LB commit). From what I've heard, he likes the Gibbs hire.
• January 15th, 2015 (Thursday) - Kliff Kingsbury and Eric Morris visited Allen HS on Thursday to look at several recruits. Some recruits he could've visited are Kyler Murray (98 rated DT QB), Jalen Guyton (87 rated WR), Jaylon Jones (89 rated 2016 DB), and Greg Little (99 rated 2016 OT).
• January 15th, 2015 (Thursday) - Kliff Kingsbury and Eric Morris were at Skyline HS to talk with Carlos Strickland (90 rated WR), however, from what I've heard, they didn't talk to Kylan Johnson (87 rated ATH). Tech appears to be out of favor with Johnson, but are still going after the former commit in Strickland.
• January 15th, 2015 (Thursday) - Kliff Kingsbury, Eric Morris and Darrin Chiaverini visited Arlington Bowie to pay a visit to Tech commit Madison Akamnonu (93 rated OT commit).
• January 15th, 2015 (Thursday) - The coaching staff was also in Martin according to several of their players. Not quite sure who Tech would be looking at here. Looks like it could be some LB's though.
• January 15th, 2015 (Thursday) - I have not proven this, but I believe that Texas Tech could've also visited Arlington Lamar on Thursday. This would explain the scheduled unofficial visits for Shane Buechele and Kofi Boateng.
• January 15th, 2015 (Thursday) - Texas Tech (likely Gibbs or Kingsbury) visited Darrion Daniels (88 rated DT) last Thursday. Daniels is one of Tech's top targets on the board for the 2015 class.
• January 15th, 2015 (Thursday) - Texas Tech paid a visit to Arthur McGinnis (86 rated LB) this week. McGinnis didn't say who it was, but it was likely Kevin Curtis, who basically lives in Louisiana now.
• January 15th, 2015 (Thursday) - Kliff Kingsbury, Eric Morris, Mike Jinks and Darrin Chiaverini all went back to Mesquite to visit Conner Dyer in his home. I think Tech really likes this guy.
• January 15th, 2015 (Thursday) - Texas Tech (likely Kevin Curtis) talked with Louisiana Linebacker Giovanni LaFrance (NR 2016 LB) on Thursday. Tech are looking at a lot of LB's for 2016.
• January 16th, 2015 (Friday) - Texas Tech went to Frisco to visit Jacob Todora (NR 2016 OG). It wouldn't surprise me if they also visited Trace Ellison (83 rated OT commit).