by Jarrett Johnson for Inside the Red Raiders
Texas Tech added yet another former Power Five starter at a big position of need with the announcement of UCLA cornerback transfer Rayshad Williams joining the Red Raider program. The 6-foot-2 redshirt sophomore started over a dozen games the past two seasons with the Bruins in which he tallied 42 tackles and three pass defenses.
Williams is expected to enroll immediately at Texas Tech and participate in spring ball which is tentatively scheduled to begin in March. He has three seasons of eligibility remaining. The Memphis, Tennessee native was a three-star recruit who signed with UCLA in 2018 over other reported offers from Arkansas, Colorado, Indiana, Memphis, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Virginia and Virginia Tech.
Williams is the fifth transfer Texas Tech has added through the portal this offseason, all of whom are mid-term enrollees. The other four are grad transfer Marquis Waters, a safety from Duke with one season of eligibility remaining, Malik Dunlap, a cornerback transfer from NC State with three season to play, Jesiah Pierre, a linebacker transfer from Florida with four seasons to play and TJ Storment, a second team All-Big 12 offensive tackle from TCU, who announced his commitment to Tech on Friday. The Red Raiders have also bolstered the offensive line position through the junior college ranks as Matt Keeler, an offensive tackle from Coffeyville (KS) Community College with five years to play four seasons, also enrolled this semester.
“As we continue to build this roster we’re kind of doing it as a mix of high school signees mostly from the state of Texas, but we’re also adding to our roster transfers, grad transfers, junior college transfers,” Matt Wells said.
Texas Tech signed 10 high school recruits in December during the early period. Four of them already moved in on campus earlier this month as mid-term enrollees. Those four are Behren Morton, a four-star quarterback out of Eastland (TX), Elite 11 finalist and one of the top overall recruits in the nation, DeSoto (TX) receiver Jerand Bradley, a 6-foot-5, four-star recruit is another major piece of Tech’s recruiting class along with a pair of highly recruited tight end pledges in 6-foot-7 three-star prospect Mason Tharp, out of Klein (TX), and 6-foot-6 three-star pledge Jed Castles, out of Wichita Falls (TX) Rider.
Six other high school pledges signed in December and will be here either in May or this summer ahead of fall camp. Those six are Cam’Ron Valdez, one of the top running back recruits in Texas, out of Rockdale (TX), 6-foot-6, 320-pound offensive lineman Jacoby Jackson, from Mansfield (TX) Summit, fellow highly recruited three-star offensive lineman Jack Tucker, out of Argyle (TX), 6-foot-4, 260-pound defensive end E’maurion Banks out of Wichita Falls (TX) Rider and 6-3, 235-pound defensive end Charles Esters out of Cedar Hill (TX) and Isaac Smith, a 6-foot-5, 235-pound defensive end out of Wagoner (OK) High School.7COMMENTS
The Red Raiders also recently picked up a commitment from Lubbock Coronado cornerback Imari Jones, who is expected to sign with Texas Tech next week. The coaching staff still has approximately two initial counters, or new scholarships to work with in the 2021 recruiting cycle which figures to go to transfers at positions such as defensive line, defensive back and possibly quarterback. There is a scenario where a can’t miss, best available prospect receives one of those spots.
