On the Diamond

I can’t keep up with all of the accolades coming in for softball, but I do want you to know that D1 Softball have them as the 13th best team in the nation in their Preseason Top 25 Poll. They will open the season on February 6th in Florida.

Texas Tech baseball will have their Baseball Tailgate Dinner on February 7th at Cagle Steaks and BBQ. Tickets are $40 each and must be purchased in advance. Their season will start on February 14th.

On the Court

The Lady Raiders downed Houston, 62-44 yesterday afternoon, led by Jasmine Shavers with 15 points and was the only player in double-figures. Still 22 turnovers. Can’t quite get over how much they turn the ball over. According to T-Rank, the ladies are set to face 6 tough games and they are predicted to lose all of them, although the first 3 they are predicted to lose by a total of 10 or so points, so they should be close.

In my post-game thoughts I wrote that Texas Tech would play Oklahoma State on Saturday and that is incorrect. They will host the Cowboys on Sunday of all things with the game still set for tip-off at 2:00 p.m. Why?

On the Gridiron

2026 Amarillo Tascosa defensive tackle Krush Johnson (6-4/275) committed to Texas Tech on Monday. Johnson is currently not rated by any service and has one other offer from UTEP. Johnson is obviously physically gifted, but some of the offensive line blocking is atrocious. That’s not Johnson’s fault. Regardless, Johnson moves really well for his size, he carries that 275 really well. This is exactly the type of player that Texas Tech should go after. His Hudl profile says that he runs a 5.1 and that’s probably pretty legitimate, while squatting 435. (Rivals | 24/7 Sports | On3).

#AGTG After a great junior day and a lot of thinking I have committed to Texas Tech University! #wreckem #GunsUp @JoeyMcGuireTTU @jkbtjc_53 @CoachZFitch @CoachCochranTTU @_Red_Raiders_ _ @ShielWood @THS_FB @king_doerue @MathisGaius pic.twitter.com/S0by9K16F5

— Krush (@krushjohnson71) January 22, 2025

ESPN ranked the top 100 players this past season and RB Tahj Brooks was the 90th best player:

Brooks became Texas Tech’s all-time leading rusher (4,557) this season and was the only Power 4 running back to top 100 yards in every game he played in this year, finishing with 1,505 yards in 11 games. He was second in the Big 12 in rushing to UCF’s RJ Harvey and fifth in the FBS. Brooks scored 17 touchdowns, including three scores in three different games, including the regular-season finale against West Virginia when he had 188 rushing yards. His 23 career 100-yard games are the most in school history and fourth in Big 12 history behind Cedric Benson, Darren Sproles and Ricky Williams. — Wilson

CBS Sports has their way too early top 25 and Texas Tech checks in at No. 24:

The Red Raiders are ready to bust out in Year 4 under Joey McGuire. It’s a remake as McGuire brought in 17 transfers, including seven four-stars (No. 3 class nationally.) Tech won eight for the second time in three years including wins over the Big 12 championship finalists Arizona State and Iowa State. Quarterback Behren Morton returns from shoulder surgery.

A quick story. Texas Tech just offered Aljour Miles II, a receiver from Kaufman, which is the town where myself and my family live. Miles is from what I can tell a great kid, incredibly talented, terrific family, etc. Miles is being offered by everyone right now. As an aside, I took Youssouf to the Red Oak @ Kaufman game on Tuesday night (same night as the Cincinnati game) as Yo and I know a handful of the coaches that are at Red Oak because he plays club basketball for Showtyme, which the head coach of Red Oak, Chris Davis, oversees that program.

Aljour plays basketball for Kaufman and during the game, the Miles family sits right in front of us, his dad is right in front of me, and that day Aljour was offered by Oklahoma State and the coach that was there that offered him was Josh Gonzales, who was sitting right in front of Youssouf. So we were able to hear a good chunk of the recruiting pitch and it was exactly what you would expect . . . which was just talking about the school and very pleasant conversation. I know that you might be hoping for some dirt, but that’s not what I’m here to do and that’s not at all what happened. More than anything else, just really neat to see it sort of happen and unfold more than anything else.

I have no idea where Aljour will end up, I do know that Oklahoma and Emmett Jones was in really early, before his junior year. The same day that Jones offered Aljour, he saw Youssouf in the weight room and wanted to know who he was. The Kaufman head coach said that he’d need to wait a few years as he was in 6th grade at the time.

After a great conversation with @CoachCochranTTU , I am blessed to receive an offer from Texas Tech University. @drobalwayzopen @KaufFootball_TX @TexasTechFB @DanielStantz @ParkerThune pic.twitter.com/D6f5eE1gV5

— Aljour Miles II (@AljourMilesII) January 17, 2025