Zach Marcheselli – Outside Linebacker (Broken Arrow HS, Broken Arrow, OK)

Ratings: 87 by 247 / NR by ESPN / 5.6 by Rivals / 86.27 by 247composite

Interest: Eastern Michigan (Cool), North Texas (Cool), Texas Tech (Cool), Tulsa (Cool)

Texas Tech gave Marcheselli his second offer (his first was North Texas) in early February, the day before the National Signing Day. Currently, he has only has four offers, with the Red Raiders being his only Power 5 offers. Perhaps the most interesting part about Marscheselli is his performance on the mat. The junior from Broken Arrow has won three wrestling state championships at the Class 6A level in Oklahoma. Broken Arrow was also home to a former Tech recruit Rowdt Frederick, who was highly considering the Red Raiders before going to Tulsa. Let’s look at what Marcheselli can do. You can tell right away that Marcheselli is a hitter. The first few highlights are him using his speed to get to the ballcarrier and laying him out. Another thing that sticks out is his coverage. There’s a lot of passing in the Big 12, so it’s key that a linebacker can cover well, and it appears he can do so. Marcheselli is also an athlete, with his speed, strength and ability to accelerate quickly. He is one of the most underrated prospects I’ve looked at so far I believe, and would be a good addition for Tech.

Anthony Watkins – Safety (South Hills HS, Fort Worth, TX)

Ratings: NR by 247 / NR by ESPN / NR by Rivals / NR by 247composite

Interest: North Texas (Cool), Texas Tech (Cool), UMass (Cool)

Watkins received an offer from the Red Raiders about three weeks ago, his third behind North Texas and Massachusetts. UMass offered back in 2017, and North Texas about two months ago. However, although no leader is named, we can assume Texas Tech has an advantage over the other two schools. First off, Tech is the only Power 5 school and may be able to offer something the other schools can’t. Secondly, Watkins has some familiarity with Texas Tech, as his mom played basketball with the Lady Raiders back in the day. This is the only non-four star safety Tech has offered so far, and probably the one they are most in play for. However, it is possible the Red Raiders are looking at him as a running back. Watkins also visited Lubbock last weekend for their junior day according to Zach Tanner of Inside the Red Raiders.  Now let’s take a look at what Watkins can do. Offensively, Watkins keeps his legs moving, making him a little more difficult to bring down. He has pretty good speed for a guy his size and can make the right reads at the line of scrimmage. On defense, he has good awareness of the situation. He jumps in front a pass for a touchdown, and recovers a blocked kick in the endzone and takes it back for a touchdown. We’ll see more from his recruiting development as he gets more offers.

Now let’s take a look at our recruiting updates:

Football 2019:

• Steven Parker, 90 rated SDE, talked to Rivals about his recruitment. He mentions his relationship with the Tech staff and his recruitment still being open.
• Brannon Brown, 87 rated OG, committed to TCU this past week. I mention this because he is the brother of former Tech offensive lineman Baylen Brown.
• Jacob Zeno, 87 rated Pro QB, visited Texas Tech this past weekend. Zeno is one of Texas Tech’s top quarterback targets and has gotten a lot of offers as of late.
• Jaylen Hearst, 83 rated WR, received an offer from Texas Tech on Monday. Hearst was a visitor for Texas Tech’s junior day, as well as North Texas’ junior day a couple weekends ago.

Basketball 2018:

• J’Raan Brooks, 92 rated PF, committed to USC on Sunday. Brooks was one of the main targets left for the 2018 class. Brooks was originally committed to USC before he decommited and committed to Providence before committing back.

Basketball 2019+:

• Che Evans, 95 rated 2020 SF, received an offer from Texas Tech on Monday. Evans already has about a dozen offers so far.