Recruiting update: great games and great responsibilities

After two weeks of silence, let’s have an update about the young guys currently in the recruitment process. Many things happened since the game against Arizona State, in which many prospects came to Lubbock, and many others are expected to be in town this weekend, as the Cowboys visit the Red Raiders.

I think almost nobody could expect the only undefeated team approaching this game would have been Texas Tech, and this has to be a strength to offer to the visitors, as well as (I hope) a full and noisy stadium that has to be the right frame to this nationally televised match.

Let’s go back to the news.

Texas Tech officially offered a scholarship to 2019 class wide receiver Garrett Wilson, from Austin, TX. He’s a consensus 4-star prospect who’s already drawn attention from all over the country and already has 15 offers. This won’t be an easy process, but wide receivers coach Emmett Jones seems to have positively impressed the kid. Wilson is actually ranked as the 21st wide receiver in the nation according to Rivals.com.

He’s not the only 2019 recruit the Red Raiders are following, and among other offers, we can highlight some prospects:

- Vershaud Richardson, defensive end from Paris, TX. He’s a pass rusher who’s under the radar of some southern D-I schools and is not ranked yet;

- Breylon Garcia, defensive end from Luflin, TX. He’s a 3-star recruit who began his transition to the defensive side of the ball only one year ago, so he’s an interesting upside that recruiting coordinator Zac Spavital is trying to land in Lubbock;

- Jayden Jernigan, defensive lineman from Allen, TX. He’s a 3-star recruit who’s played all over the defensive line in high school. He’s drawn interest from many important schools, like USC, UCLA, Washington, and Notre Dame, despite not being offered by them yet. Listed at 280 pounds, Jernigan is imagined by many recruiters as a defensive end, while many others see him as a tackle. Texas Tech seems to be the only school that will allow him to compete for both positions, and this could be a slight advantage during the entire process;

- Dylan Wright, wide receiver from Emmit, TX. Coach Jones is heavily working on this 6-foot-5 receiver, who’s a three or four-star recruit according to different scouting websites. He’s transitioning from quarterback to wide receiver, and he’s actually hearing from many Big 12 universities, like Oklahoma, Baylor, and Kansas;

- Brannon Brown, offensive guard, from Helotes, TX. He’s the younger brother of former Red Raider Baylen, a guard himself. He already has some scholarship offers from medium-level schools, but the hope is that he’ll follow his brother’s legacy.

The game against the Sun Devils was the second home game of the season and the occasion for many 2018 verbal commits to officially spend some time on the campus. We already talked about them in some articles during the offseason.

• Alan Bowman (quarterback)
• Clayton Franks, Troy Bradshaw (offensive linemen)
• Sterling Galban (wide receiver)
• Xavier Benson (outside linebacker)

In addition, other players enjoyed the atmosphere in that weekend, like 2019 class dual-threat quarterback Peyton Powell, 2019 verbal commit Cameron Cantrell -we all know who his brother is-, 3-star defensive end Otito Ogbonnia, and 4-star safety Cam Jones, who ‘s at the moment committed to UCLA. The last two are part of the 2018 class.

The big Oklahoma State game will be the occasion for two notable prospects to visit the town.

- Hunter Spears, defensive end, from Sachse, TX, Class of 2019. We can see the pass rush is heavily addressed, as Spears is the umpteenth target in this position. He’s a 4-star prospect, he’s uncommitted, and already has some important offers, Alabama and Notre Dame among many others.

- Demarcus Marshall, offensive guard, Class of 2018. He’s already committed to Texas Tech, and according to Rivals.com, he’s the only 4-star recruit of next year’s class. We know how things go, and many other schools are still following him, in particular after he won the offensive line MVP award at the spring Rivals Camp.