Pledges pour in for Red Raiders' 2023 football class
When Texas Tech hired Joey McGuire as its football coach three months ago, it was counting on McGuire's connections and likability among Texas high school coaches to pay off on the recruiting trail.
That aspect seems to be coming to fruition.
Brenden Jordan, a 6-foot, 185-pound safety from Mansfield, committed to the Red Raiders on Sunday. Then on Monday, Jmaury Davis, an all-purpose player from Clarendon, pledged to Tech.
Tech also added a commitment from its own backyard, landing Trinity Christian standout Marcus Ramon-Edwards, an 1,800-yard rusher whom Tech is recruiting to play defense.
Recruiting services have put blue-chip grades on both Jordan and Davis. Jordan is rated the 34th-best prospect in Texas and 127th in the nation among this year's high-school juniors by 247Sports and No. 43 in the state and No. 228 in the nation by Rivals.
Davis is ranked the No. 51 prospect among Texas high-school juniors by Rivals.
"He's a good one," Clarendon coach Clint Conkin said. "He's fast. He's going to be pretty good size. Tech's getting them a good one."
Clarendon went 10-2 this past season with Davis playing outside linebacker and slotback, the latter a wingback-type position in the Broncos' slot-I-formation offense. He was also the team's kicker and punter.
Davis is listed by recruiting services at 6-2 and 190 pounds, but he said he's 6-foot without shoes and 180. Tech is recruiting him to play defense.
"They think I could be an elite, next-level safety if I work on it," Davis said. "Just work on being a safety, because of my athleticism, my speed and the way I'm not scared of contact on defense."
Davis starts on the Clarendon basketball team that won the Class 2A state championship last year and is 15-2 this year. He's attracted football scholarship offers from Kentucky, Purdue, UT-San Antonio and Western Kentucky. Conkin said coaches from Arizona, Texas and Iowa also have shown interest in Davis.
"I get coaches call all the time on him," Conkin said, "but Jmaury's a Texas guy. He wants to stay in Texas, so he jumped on that chance (from Tech) when he got it."
Davis has spent most of his life in Clarendon, though he moved to the Metroplex and went to seventh and eighth grade in Crowley, McGuire's hometown, before returning to the Panhandle.
Davis said he could picture himself playing for the Red Raiders when he visited for the Tech-Stephen F. Austin game in the fall. He was back for the program's recent junior day and impressed by the atmosphere at the Tech-Mississippi State basketball game.
Now he'll be making the jump from Class 2A to the Big 12.
"Obviously, I need to get stronger, get faster," he said. "I think I'm good with my speed right now, but still get faster and try to reach the peak of my potential."
The pledges on back-to-back days give the Red Raiders 13 commitments for their class of 2023 with seven of the 13 being ranked among the state's top 100 prospects by recruiting services. Rivals ranks Tech's collection as the fifth-best in the country and 247Sports ranks it sixth.
Five of the 13 recruits are from West Texas. The latest of those came later Monday when Ramon-Edwards announced for the Red Raiders. Ramon-Edwards is about 6-4, 205 pounds, Trinity Christian coach Kevin Spiller said.
Trinity went 10-4 and reached the TAPPS Division II state title game with Ramon-Edwards rushing for about 1,800 yards and Ethan Phares for about 1,400 in a slot-T offense.
Ramon-Edwards is being recruited by Tech to play defense.
"That's where they're projecting him right now is to begin at safety," Spiller said, "and then get him in there on that training table and put some weight and muscle on him and maybe end up at that outside linebacker.
"But they're also recruiting him as just a phenomenal athlete. He runs a 4.4 40. His vertical is just incredible, and he just keeps getting stronger in the weight room. Give him another season under his belt and there's no telling, because he just has so much upside."
Tech was the first school to offer a scholarship to Ramon-Edwards, who was a second-team running back on the Lone Star Varsity small-school Super Team.
Before Jordan announced for Tech, he listed Arkansas and Arizona as his other short-list favorites. He is known to have scholarship offers from 11 programs with Colorado, Kansas, Mississippi, Mississippi State, SMU and Southern California among them.
Jordan was the District 11-6A defensive sophomore of the year in 2020.
Tech 2023 commitments
The following high-school juniors have made oral commitments to Texas Tech for the Red Raiders' 2023 class. Oral commitments are non-binding until a player signs a letter of intent.
Jake Strong, 6-2, 200, QB, Justin Northwest; Kaleb Smith, 6-1, 175, WR, Frisco Reedy; Tyrone West, 6-2, 185, WR, Humble; Kaden Carr, 6-5, 300, OT, Amarillo; Daniel Sill, 6-5, 260, OT, College Station; Isaiah Crawford, 6-4, 210, OLB, Post; John Curry, 6-3, 187, ILB, Coronado; Anquan Willis, 6-1, 220, OLB-RB, Wichita Falls Rider; Marcus Ramon-Edwards, 6-4, 205, S-OLB, Trinity Christian; Jamaury Davis, 6-0, 180, S, Clarendon; Brenden Jordan, 6-0, 185, S, Mansfield; Chapman Lewis, 6-1, 170, S, Burleson Centennial; Calvin Simpson-Hunt, 6-0, 175, CB, Waxahachie.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: College football: Commitments pour in for Red Raiders' 2023 football recruiting class
