Texas Tech hosts first Junior Day, picks up defensive end pledge

Coming into the event, the Red Raiders already had three commitments in the class of 2014 and were able to add another one with the addition of Munday (Texas) defensive end LJ Collier. Unranked by the services, perhaps because Munday competes in Class A football, Collier is the teammate of 2013 Texas Tech signee Dee Paul and has substantial athletic pedigree.

Viva the Matadors editor Seth C. believes that Collier’s commitment is made more significant because he’s another West Texas prospect the Red Raiders managed to secure, an area that he feels Tech should dominate.

Even with the commitment of Collier, the big news of the day was probably the fact that Mount Pleasant (Texas) wide receiver Kd Cannon was in attendance -- he’s one of the top prospects in the state of Texas and an immensely talented deep threat who would represent an incredible coup for Kingsbury if he could secure a commitment from him.

It seems that Cannon enjoyed his visit:

Cannon opted to make the journey out to Lubbock instead of attending the first Texas Junior Day, in and of itself a significant accomplishment for the Red Raiders. Throw in the fact that Cannon has expressed the desire to play in a pass-heavy offense in college and suddenly it’s easy to see Kingsbury and Tech as contenders for Cannon, though his recruitment is thought to be pretty open at this point.

Another high-profile visitor was Whitehouse (Texas) quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who has a tie to the Tech program because his favorite target from last year, Dylan Cantrell, signed with the Red Raiders last week. Mahomes currently holds offer from Texas Tech and Rice and should see his recruitment gain some serious steam during the spring evaluation period.

Mahomes has been invited to the LSU Junior Day next weekend, as well.

Roosevelt defensive back Arrion Springs was also in attendance. Currently holding offers from Oklahoma and Texas Tech, Springs told SB Nation Recruiting last summer that he grew up a USC fan and doesn’t like the Longhorns, so Red Raider fans won’t have to worry about that in-state power recruiting Springs, who said on Twitter that he enjoyed his visit:

Springs also believes that Tech has a bright future:

Another San Antonio-area product who tripped out to the Llano Estacado was Cibolo (Texas) Steele defensive end Josh Malin, whose former head coach Mike Jinks is now the running backs coach for the Red Raiders, which could help establish a pipeline from San Antonio out to the plains of West Texas.

Malin, who had six sacks and four forced fumbles last season despite rarely playing in the second half for the dominant Knights, apparently has some high expectations for his future:

Of the prospects currently committed in the class, Princeton (Texas) wide receiver Jakari Dillard was in attendance. At 6-4 and 190 pounds, Dillard is also a basketball player who can use his leaping ability to high-point the football over smaller defensive backs.

He tweeted out a picture from Instagram with Kingsbury:

Running back commit Justin Stockton, another Cibolo (Texas) Steele prospect, was also in attendance. Now holding an offer from Oklahoma, the tie to his former head coach should help keep him in the fold for the Red Raiders.

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