Red Raider Sports Magazine Dec|Jan 23

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RED RAIDER sports

Managing Editor

Aaron Dickens

Cover Photo

Elise Bressler

Photographers

Elise Bressler

Brandon Brieger

Elizabeth Hertel

Artie Limmer

Michaela Schumacher

Katie Perkins

Writers

Wes Bloomquist

Ben Golan

Terry Greenberg

Casey Montavlo

Al Pickett

Brandon Soliz

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RECRUITING ADVANTAGE

By Ben Golan and Brandon Soliz

Roy Philpott was handling ESPN’s play-by-play announcing of Texas Tech’s TaxAct Texas Bowl win over Mississippi with a bit more than ten minutes left in the game when he said:

“We mentioned the six-year contract extension for Joey McGuire … it was announced about three hours before kickoff. The $200 million football facility upgrade in Lubbock … ” said Philpott, trailing off before his broadcast partner Andre Ware jumped with the Red Raiders on the way to a 42-25 victory.

“We mentioned the six-year contract extension for Joey McGuire … it was announced about three hours before kickoff. The $200 million football facility upgrade in Lubbock … ” said Philpott, trailing off before his broadcast partner Andre Ware jumped with the Red Raiders on the way to a 42-25 victory.

“That helps in recruiting in terms of upgrading the facilities. You know your coach is going to be around for a long time and then you go out and do this in a bowl game. You think that doesn’t help the foundation of every program, which is recruiting,” said Ware, the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Tech faced in the Southwest Conference when he led the Houston Cougars more than 30 years ago.

Now he was in Houston’s NRG Stadium talking up the Red Raiders.

Two weeks before Tech’s victory to finish 8-5 in McGuire’s first season, the coach spent a few minutes after practice to discuss the excitement over the $200 million project – the intertwined Womble Football Center and South End Zone –which will be ready for the 2024 season.

He echoed Ware’s future comments.

“It’s huge for us in recruiting,” he said, telling potential Red Raiders, “You can get a great education, you can study anything you want, you’re going to play big-time football and you’re going to do it in the best facility in the country.”

When recruits and their families are shown drawings of the project, “they’re blown away,” McGuire said.

The football staff also sells the financial support the facility’s already received.

“When you’re putting in that kind of money behind what you’re doing, when you’re able to go to these in-home visits and show them where we’re at – a lot of parents understand how real it is in supporting their son,” he said.

Texas Tech has raised more than $85 million raised for the project and that thrills McGuire.

“For a guy who’s never at a loss for words, I don’t know if I can put into words how big this has been for Texas Tech,” he said.

“When this project is done, we will have the best facilities in the country,” said the coach, which will benefit the players, program and fans.

“Jones AT&T Stadium is already a tough place to play – you can see that from our record this year,” said McGuire. His Red Raiders went 6-1 at home this year, which included the first time beating Texas and Oklahoma in the same season – both overtime thrillers.

It was the first time Tech was 6-1 at home since the 2009 season – that was also the last season the Red Raiders had a winning conference record.

“Our fans helped that tremendously,” McGuire said, adding the south end zone renovation should amp up the home field advantage.

“When you’re in the stadium, it’s going to be much louder because it’s going to be more enclosed. The speaker system is getting an up -

grade. You’ll have two more Jumbotrons,” he said about the experience for fans.

“It’s just going to be amazing,” McGuire added.

The iconic Double T scoreboard was removed shortly after Tech’s last home game and demolition of the south end zone structure has begun to make way for its dramatic rebirth, cloaked in the university’s distinctive Spanish Renaissance architecture and a new Double T scoreboard.

Current Tech players who will be able to use the new Womble facility are also excited, as are the staff that will work with them in their new home.

“The players are excited … the Womble facility will be so player centered, from the players’ lounge to their recovery to the locker room,” he said.

“The training staff’s excited … a lot of upgrades for recovery, rehab. The strength staff’s excited because of the size of the weight room and the things they’re going to be doing. It’s going to be hooked on to the indoor (Sports Performance Center) so you’re going to be able to go from the weight room right into the indoor,” he said.

McGuire can’t thank donors enough and makes calls to say thanks.

“I just tell them how much we appreciate what they’re doing. It’s going to make an impact. Not only for this football team, you’re impacting the total Athletic Department and impacting Texas Tech University. So I can’t thank them enough for what they’re doing,” he said.

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The year 2022 ended with a Texas Tech party in Houston at the TaxAct Texas Bowl, where our Red Raiders beat favored Mississippi 42-25. It was great to see so many Red Raiders in Houston!

• Coach Joey McGuire’s Red Raiders finished the season 8-5, had a winning Big 12 Conference record for the first time since 2009 and we beat Texas and Oklahoma for the first time in one season.

• Men’s basketball made the Sweet Sixteen in Coach Mark Adams’ first season.

• Men’s golf finished in the top eight in the country.

• Women’s track and field finished seventh and the men’s team ninth at the NCAA Championships.

• Texas Tech had the most Academic Big 12 selections – 41 – in the conference.

• Our student athletes notched at least a 3.0 grade point average for the 15th consecutive term after the spring.

Thank you for everything you do to make all of these things possible!

Your support of the Red Raider Club provides more than 400 student athletes with scholarships and academic support, nutrition, medical and mental health, facilities, professional development opportunities and more.

Our coaches and student athletes make it happen, but all of you provide the support to fuel those successes.

If you have Red Raider friends who are not members of the Red Raider Club, please encourage them to join us and contribute to our

Annual Fund – the lifeblood of Texas Tech Athletics that provides so much of that support I mentioned above.

Heading into 2023, Texas Tech Athletics will continue an upward trajectory as we continue to be – as Director of Athletics Kirby Hocutt says – in the national conversation.

Football recruiting is strong, Coach McGuire signed a six-year extension and work has started on the final project in our Campaign for Fearless Champions – the Womble Football Center/South End Zone renovation that will be ready for the 2024 season.

This facility will undoubtedly be one of the best college football facilities in the country. Our goal is to raise $100 million toward the $200 million price tag. We’ve raised $85 million to date. Thank you to everyone who’s supported this project that will build on what Coach McGuire and the football program have started. We need all of you!

Also in 2023, the Big 12 Conference will welcome four new members – Cincinnati, Houston, University of Central Florida and BYU. We’ll renew a conference rivalry with the Houston Cougars going back to our Southwest Conference years and start new rivalries with programs that will give all of us new places to visit to support our Red Raiders.

Happy New Year from all of us at the Red Raider Club!

Tyler Shough threw for 242 yards and a touchdown and ran for two more scores as Texas Tech took advantage of three early turnovers to build a big lead and hold on for a 4225 win over Ole Miss in the Texas Bowl.

BY AL PICKETT

McGuire Signs Consensus Top 25 Class

When Joey McGuire was hired back in 2021, he and his coaching staff had about 6 weeks to put together a recruiting class before the beginning of the Early Signing Period. McGuire, Director of Player Personnel James Blanchard and the rest of the staff did an excellent job, adding several highly-regarded prospects such as Joseph Adedire, Jalon Peoples, Ty Kana and Trevon McAlpine.

Given a full year, the Texas Tech coaches took the Red Raiders to a place they haven’t been in a while, the top 25 of the recruiting class rankings. Led by consensus four-star prospect Jordan Sanford, Texas Tech signed its highest-ranked class since 2011.

All four major recruiting services ranked the Red Raiders inside the top 25. Texas Tech was ranked No. 23 by Rivals, No. 22 by ESPN, No. 25th by On3 and No. 23 by 247Sports.

“This is one of the highest-ranked classes we’ve had at Texas Tech,” McGuire said. “This program will be built with guys up front, and we really met a lot of the needs on our roster like on the offensive and defensive lines today. We also wanted to bring in speed, and we did so with what I consider the fastest class in the country. It’s legit speed and really good football players at that speed. As we develop them, they’ll play even faster with what they can do. We’re excited to get this class on campus.”

Tech’s signees are not only ranked highly by the recruiting services, they also graded out extremely well athletically.

Of the top 20 fastest recruits coming into the Big 12 in the 100-meter dash, Texas Tech had five of them: Jordan Sanford (10.55), Macho Stevenson (10.59), TJ West (10.74), JMaury Davis (10.74) and Miquel Dingle Jr (10.92).

Texas Tech also had six of the top 20 fastest recruits coming into the Big 12 in the 200-meter dash.

According to Tracking Football, Texas Tech had more ‘speed tag’ prospects than any other program in the country. A prospect earns a ‘speed tag’ when he is faster than 75 percent of college football players via verified track times.

Tech Adds Two Impact Defenders Before Signing Day

The final weekend before the Early Signing Period was the last time college football coaches could bring in recruits on visits. Texas Tech looked to the defense side of the ball and it paid off with commitments from John Curtis (La.) linebacker Justin Horne and C.E. King (Texas) pass rusher Dylan Spencer. Both were committed elsewhere going into the weekend - Spencer to Texas and Horne to Louisiana-Lafayette - but both decided to be Red Raiders after their official visits.

As a senior Horne put up 144 tackles, 17 tackles-for-loss and 6 sacks, helping lead John Curtis to a Division I Select Louisiana State Championship. He says it was his relationship with James Blanchard that was the key factor in his decision.

“Back in the summer I had to get my official visit canceled because somebody committed already, so I had a non-committable offer. So once somebody got their offer removed or they decommitted, it was one or the other I’m not sure, once that happened it was a different position and coach McGuire immediately told coach Blanchard that that spot is open.

“Since like August/September, coach Blanchard’s been texting my phone, calling my phone every single day trying to get me down there, trying to get me interested in Tech and trying to make sure that they had me locked in and stuff. He never gave up on me, he refused to give up.”

Spencer is universally ranked among the top 100 prospects in Texas, after putting up 75 tackles, 20 tackles-for-loss and 9 sacks in 2022. He chose Texas Tech over Texas, Arizona State, Baylor, Houston, LSU, SMU, Texas A&M and USC.

On signing day McGuire noted that Spencer is expected to play the field outside linebacker spot manned by likely future first-round pick Tyree Wilson this past season.

Transfer Portal Giveth and Taketh Away

The transfer portal has overall been very good for Texas Tech. Red Raider players like Tyler Shough, Baylor Cupp, Marquis Waters and Malik Dunlap have come to Lubbock from programs all over the country.

This year was more of the same. Texas Tech added four key transfers to the roster, all who are expected to play major roles in 2023.

Western Kentucky center Rusty Staats will play his last year of college football as a Red Raider. Staats, of course, was coached by Texas Tech offensive coordinator Zach Kittley and offensive line coach Stephen Hamby at WKU in 2021.

“Rusty is one of the top centers in the country who really understands this offense well,” McGuire said. “We really like the depth we’ve added in our offensive line in the last two days. We can’t wait to get Rusty on campus here in a few weeks.”

Austin Peay wide receiver Drae McCray committed to Texas Tech after being an All-American at the FCS level. McCray is another relationship addition, as Texas Tech tight ends coach Josh Cochran and offensive analyst Kirk Bryant were at Austin Peay for McCray’s freshman season.

BY AL PICKETT

The Sky is the Limit For Lady Raider Freshman Bailey Maupin

You might call it returning to their roots.

In this era of the transfer portal and nationwide recruiting, the Texas Tech Lady Raiders stayed in West Texas to land its most recent talented basketball recruit. Texas Tech head coach Krista Gerlich knows all about the importance of recruiting the top talent in the South Plains and the Texas Panhandle. Gerlich played her high school basketball at Spearman and was a member of the Lady Raiders’ 1993 national championship team, a roster that was West Texas homegrown including small-town players from Brownfield, Nazareth, Loraine and Sweetwater, as well as Lubbock.

The latest West Texas standout to join the Lady Raiders is 5-10 freshman Bailey Maupin from the small town of Gruver at the top of the Panhandle. Gruver may be just a Class 2A school, but Maupin isn’t just any small-town basketball player.

She was named Miss Texas Basketball by Dave Campbell after leading Gruver to a perfect 33-0 record, the first in school history, and the Class 2A state championship last year. Maupin scored 22 points a game and 7.5 rebounds per contest a year ago and was named the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches’ Class 2A Player of the Year. She scored 16 points and had 14 rebounds in the state championship game was named the Most Valuable Player in the UIL Class 2A state tournament. A three-time district MVP, Maupin was a McDonald’s all-American nominee. She was ranked as the No. 14 prospect at her position and No. 54 overall recruit in the nation by ESPN.

Last summer, she played on the San Antonio Finest team that won the Adidas national championship.

Maupin, who has moved into the Lady Raiders’ starting lineup, has made the adjustment from Class 2A to major college basketball look easy.

“Honestly, it has not been too bad,” Maupin said of the transition to the college game. “It helped that I came in here this summer and worked out with the team. The biggest difference (between high school and college basketball) is the physicality and speed of the college game.”

Maupin is scoring in doubles figures as the Lady Raiders’ third-leading scorer through the team’s non-conference schedule, averaging 11.9 points and 3.8 rebounds per game in helping Tech to 11 straight wins and a league-best 12-1 record. Twice, Maupin has been named the Big 12 Freshman of the Week.

“Bailey has adapted to the college game really well and very quickly,” Gerlich stated. “Her explosiveness has been really evident, and that is what I like most about her, how she can change

gears, speed, agility, jumping, all those things. She is shooting the ball well, too, a big-time scorer, and her defense continues to get better. That is the biggest transition – the defensive effort, just how to defend people who are bigger than you are and faster that you are. She is really gelling and coming into her own. The sky is the limit for her.”

Like most small-town athletes, Maupin did more than just play basketball in high school. She was a state champion in track and field, taking home the gold medal in the high jump and also earning a silver medal in that same event. She has two bronze medals in the triple jump and was a state qualifier in the 4x200 and 4x400 relays. As a member of the Gruver tennis team, she advanced to the regional quarterfinal.

“Doing track kept me in shape,” Maupin said, “and tennis helped my hand-eye coordination. It was a fun way to stay in shape, and I got to play (mixed doubles) tennis with my brother.”

Maupin, who is majoring in business and marketing, said she considered a lot of schools but decided that “Texas Tech was the best fit for me. It was close to home (although Gruver is four hours north of Lubbock).”

Asked to describe the strength of her game, Maupin replied, “My ability to attack inside and shoot the 12-15-foot jumper. I can shoot the 3-ball, too, if left open.”

Maupin said she is feeling good about the start of her collegiate career.

“Of course, it feels good when you are winning games,” she said. “We have played a lot of good teams. Going 12-1 is not easy. We take pride in that. This team has good chemistry and we are looking forward to a good season.”

For Maupin, the Lady Raiders’ latest in a long line of West Texas recruits, it is the first of what she hopes will be four good seasons at Texas Tech.

Making Waves in the Transfer Portal, Set For Exciting Indoor Season

BY AL PICKETT

The Texas Tech men’s and women’s track teams are in an unusual position as they begin preparation for the upcoming indoor season.

“We have a great veteran group and a lot of newcomers,” said Tech coach Wes Kittley.

That seems like an unlikely combination, but that is exactly the situation that Kittley finds himself.

“In my 39 years of coaching, I have never had this many transfers,” he said.

Kittley has brought in 10 transfers for the men’s team, half of whom are graduate transfers with one year of eligibility remaining.

“I was shocked to see their names when I got on the (NCAA transfer) portal,” he continued. “We asked them why they wanted to transfer. Most of them said they loved where they were, but with their COVID (additional year of eligibility) year, they wanted to be on a good team. I told them we didn’t have that much (scholarship) money to give them, but they said that didn’t matter. They just wanted to be a great team. Some of them have placed as high as fourth or fifth at the national meet. What a great honor for our program at Texas Tech. The transfer portal has changed recruiting.”

With basically the entire roster returning from a year ago when the both men’s and women’s teams placed second in the Big 12 meet and the women took 11th and the men 17th at the NCAA Indoor Championships – as well as the addition of the talented group of transfers –this could be an exciting indoor track season for the Red Raiders.

“On paper, this could be our best team,” Kittley acknowledged. “If they come together, they could be a podium team (a top-four team finish) at the NCAA meet.”

Another thing that makes Texas Tech attractive to track and field recruits, according to Kittley, is Tech’s Sports Performance Center.

“It is the best indoor facility in the country,” he enthused. “It is incredible the support Texas Tech and our boosters have for their commitment to the track program. And we get to host the Big 12 Indoor (Championship) every other year.”

The Big 12 meet this year will be in Lubbock on Feb. 27-28, the last of seven indoor meets that Tech is hosting this season. The NCAA meet follows two weeks later in Albuquerque, N.M.

The transfers on the men’s team include 19-foot pole vaulter Zach Bradford from Kansas, sprinter Caleb Dean from Maryland, triple jumper Keyshawn King from Stanford, pole vaulter Warren Miller from Texas, shot putter/discus/weight thrower Devon Roberson from TCU and sprinter Don’Dre Swint from Florida State. Kittley said Swint, a grad transfer, is the brother of Red Raider football player Muddy Waters.

The men’s team has also added freshmen sprinter Shaemar Uter and hurdler Antoine Andrews, who was the World under-20 Champion in the 110-meter hurdles.

The men’ team will be especially strong in the sprints, according to Kittley. The newcomers join Terrence Jones, who set an NCAA record in the 60-meter dash at 6.45 last year, along with de-

fending Big 12 indoor 60-meter champion Jacolby Shelton and Courtney Lindsey.

The veteran Red Raider roster also includes triple jumper Chris Welch, high jumper Caleb Wilborn and 800-meter runner Marco Vilca. Wilburn was third and Vilca fifth in their specialties at the Big 12 meet last year.

Kittley said the strength of the women’s team is the jumps with returnees Brya Brewer, Anna-Susana Foster-Katta, and Ruta Lasmane. Sprinter/ hurdler Demisha Roswell, twin sprinters Nayanna Dubarry-Gay and Kiah Dubarry-Gay, sprinter Lexye Price, pole vaulter Ryleigh Redding, shot putter/weight thrower Malin Smith and 6-2 high jumper Sidney Sapp are back, too.

“We have about the same women’s team back,” Kittley noted. “It is a solid group with help from the newcomers.”

The Lady Raiders have also added sprinter/ jumper Zhane Smith, a transfer from Texas A&M, along with freshman jumper Ayanna Jones from Belton. Jones was the Class 6A state champion in the long jump last spring.

“Our men’s team has a little more depth,” Kittley stated. “I think we will fight it out with Texas for the top two spots in the Big 12 in both the men’s and women’s divisions. Nationally, we want to be a podium team. Our women were seventh outdoors and the men ninth last year. I expect to do better this year.”

Kittley said he hopes to get as many as 15 men and 8-10 women to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships.

BY TERRY GREENBERG

The first time the Texas Tech softball team made an NCAA Tournament, Amanda Renfro Simmons pitched a perfect game, beating South Carolina 1-0 in 1999. There are numbers of reasons Simmons is the only softball player in Texas Tech history to have her jersey retired.

Open the softball record book. Those numbers are everywhere.

Top four lowest earned run averages for a season:

Top four lowest earned run averages for a season:

of your identity. To know I’m the last one to wear number 15 in a Tech uniform is unbelievable. I think others are deserving of the same honor though, Sandy Butler and Kim Martinez come to mind,” said Simmons.

She’s quick to point out it’s harder for college softball pitchers to have the dominance she had for four years at Tech.

“Technology has gotten so advanced, pitchers kind of have a disadvantage. Hitters have gotten smarter. There’s so many metrics, it’s insane – the things they look at to prepare them for a weekend. Plus, bats are so much hotter, now,” she said.

Also, teams don’t rely on one pitcher, like Tech did with Simmons, who would throw most – if not all – a series. When she was playing, a Big 12 Conference series was two games, now they’re three.

“You now have multiple people who can throw,” she said. One might be seen as the staff ace but is willing to share the workload.

‘It Just Kind of Took Off’

Young Amanda Renfro started playing T-ball in a league by her Houston home and found her sport.

“I was always tall as a kid. So I always made AllStars. I really enjoyed it,” she said.

Simmons didn’t start focusing on pitching and taking lessons until she was 12 or 13.

“It just kind of took off. I loved it and made a career out of it,” she said.

That career took her to Texas Tech – one of ten schools she visited.

“My parents were not there. They went to everything. But my mom was battling cancer at the time, so they didn’t get to make the trip. It was kind of bittersweet because it was an amazing game,” she said. He mom beat cancer. “She’s been in remission and fine ever since.”

The Renfros also had family from South Carolina, making the game even more special.

The next season, 2000, Simmons pitched the school’s third no-hitter, a 2-0 win over 22ndranked Illinois-Chicago, with 11 strikeouts. She tossed Tech’s second perfect game her senior year, a 2-0 win over Penn State.

One other Tech pitcher has thrown a perfect game but that was not until 2020.

Once batters see a pitcher a few times, they have a better chance of being successful.

“You have to constantly evolve and change things” to stay ahead of hitters, Simmons said. “You have to be very smart when it comes to pitching and you have to know the game. I feel like I did.”

Her arsenal consisted of five pitches – drop, rise, curve, backdoor curve and a knuckleball.

“The knuckleball was my changeup,” she said.

Her go-to pitch was the riseball.

“That was usually my strikeout pitch – I probably used it 60 percent of the time.

She worked the ladder.

“You start a little lower, then you go a little higher and then go a little higher,” she said.

Raising Three Softball Players

Top four strikeouts for a season:

1. Amanda Renfro (2001) 421

2. Amanda Renfro (2000) 283

3. Amanda Renfro (1999) 273

4. Amanda Renfro (1998) 249

Top four shutouts for a season:

1. Amanda Renfro (2001) 16

2. Amanda Renfro (1998) 13

3. Amanda Renfro (1999) 8

4. Amanda Renfro (2000) 8

Her name appears 28 more times on top ten lists for single-season individual records. It also dots the Big 12 and NCAA record books. She followed teammate Sandy Butler as the second All-American in school history.

“It’s so special to have my number retired. Being an athlete, your number is so important and part

“I went on five official visits and five unofficial visits,” she said. “I really liked the coaches. Bobby Reeves was the one who recruited me. It just really felt like home. It was far from home – but not too far from home.”

The program Simmons joined was just starting over. Texas Tech began competing in softball in 1981, but stopped after the 1985 season, beginning again in 1996.

When she arrived on campus, the team was still playing games on public fields.

“We didn’t even have a locker room,” she said.

Rocky Johnson Field opened her senior year.

“I think I threw out the first pitch,” she said.

The perfect game against South Carolina in California was a special game for Simmons, but not a perfect situation.

After Simmons finished playing, she spent another year as a grad assistant with the softball team.

Simmons’ roommate was dating a guy. He had a cousin who moved to Lubbock. One night all four went to dinner.

She hit it off with Harold Simmons. They moved to Houston, got married and now have three daughters – 17-year-old twins Emily and Kasey and 15-year-old McKenna.

They all play softball and the twins have committed to play at Southeastern Oklahoma State University.

Simmons works as a contracts administrator manager for Supreme Integrated Technology, a hydraulic equipment supplier, which has mostly worked with the oil and gas industry but is diversifying, she said.

1. Amanda Renfro (2001) 1.08

2. Amanda Renfro (1998) 1.28

3. Amanda Renfro (2000) 1.35

4. Amanda Renfro (1999) 1.49

“We handle a lot of military work. We do some stuff for Space X,” she said.

Her Tech degree in Human Development and Family Studies helps.

“I read people very well because of that,” she said.

Simmons is pleased to see so many college softball games on television – something her teams never enjoyed.

“It’s kind of cool to see all these kids on TV now – that could have been us,” she said.

Emily, Kasey and McKenna tease their mom about watching softball.

“I still love the game. If it’s on TV I’m watching it no matter who’s playing, it’s come so far,” she said.

She never played after Tech.

“I put softball behind me for a little while until

my girls started playing. I never lost my love of the game, I just didn’t have the desire to play anymore,” she said.

Simmons is still in touch with former teammate Sandy Butler and both are in Tech’s Hall of Fame. She’s also still connected with Shauna Briggs, Jana Baker and team manager Briana Sperry.

She stays in touch with many others through social media.

Simmons has been to Lubbock a few times in the past four years, her daughters have attended Tech softball camps.

“I’d like to get back more but it’s kind of hard,” she said. “It’s changed so much from when I was there.”

She’s also excited with new coach Craig Snider.

“I’ve heard great things about him. Hopefully he can get the program back on track,” she said. This year was more of the same. Texas Tech added four key transfers to the roster, all who are expected to play major roles in 2023.

Western Kentucky center Rusty Staats will play his last year of college football as a Red Raider. Staats, of course, was coached by Texas Tech offensive coordinator Zach Kittley and offensive line coach Stephen Hamby at WKU in 2021.

“Rusty is one of the top centers in the country who really understands this offense well,” McGuire said. “We really like the depth we’ve added in our offensive line in the last two days. We can’t wait to get Rusty on campus here in a few weeks.”

Austin Peay wide receiver Drae McCray committed to Texas Tech after being an All-American at the FCS level. McCray is another relationship addition, as Texas Tech tight ends coach Josh Cochran and offensive analyst Kirk Bryant were at Austin Peay for McCray’s freshman season.