Total class: 25
ESPN 150: 0
By position: CB 5, DE 5, S 4, OT 3, DT 3, OLB 2, WR 1, RB 1, QB 1.
By state: Texas 13, Florida 4, Louisiana 3, Oklahoma 2, Arkansas 1, Maryland 1, Hawaii 1.
Already enrolled in school: 2.
The big ones: Jackson Richards, the nation’s No. 31 defensive end prospect, should provide some help at an area where Coach Tommy Tuberville is desperately looking for an upgrade. Shawn Corker, the nation’s No. 47 wide receiver, left South Florida to come to Lubbock because of the program’s burgeoning reputation for developing wide receivers under Mike Leach. He stayed firm with his commitment even after Leach was fired.
Sleeper: DT Donald Langley originally committed to Tennnesse out of high school but ended up at Copiah-Lincoln Community College in Mississippi as a non-qualifier. He's a 290-pound run stuffer – something the Red Raiders’ defense desperately needs.
Needs met: The Red Raiders needed to find some defensive linemen because of the turnover in the roster from four graduating players this year and losingn nose tackle Colby Whitlock after 2010. Seven additions keyed by Richards, Dartwan Bush and Coby Coleman will help. Keeping quarterback recruit Scotty Young was imperative as the Red Raiders will lose graduating seniors Steven Sheffield and Taylor Potts after one more season. Speedy, squat running back Delans Griffin looks like a prototypical Tech back because of his catching and running abilities.
Analysis: Considering he had only three weeks to keep the recruiting class together, Tuberville did a masterful job. He addressed the program’s defensive needs with a group heavily tilted to that side of the ball. It signals a change in thinking around the Tech program and one that likely would be necessary if the Red Raiders ever become consistent Big 12 title-game participants. Young seems to be similar to the long line of quarterbacks that Tech has always attracted under Leach. And Corker symbolizes the Red Raiders’ emerging national reach under Leach after players like Michael Crabtree have developed in the program. It will be interesting if that trend continues with Tuberville, or if his staff turns back to a more regionalized approach.
What Tommy Tuberville said: "It's been a tough situation that we've put our coaches in, but I'm proud of what they did and how they did it. We did keep a few that had previously committed . . . and some for obvious reasons went other directions. Looking at this, it's going to be a class that we can look back on and say, 'You know? For a three-week period of time, it was pretty dang good.’ This group is going to win a lot of games.”
Scouts Inc. grade/rankings: C-plus, eighth in Big 12.