Freeman is commit No. 9 for 2022

Matt Wells and the Red Raider coaching staff added a commitment to the 2022 recruiting class over the weekend, landing a verbal commitment from Heritage Hall (Okla.) athlete Gavin Freeman a day after offering and hosting him on campus for an unofficial visit.

The standout athlete has been in touch with the Texas Tech coaches for a while now, and did not hesitate on making his commitment once the coaches offered him a full ride scholarship.

"I started hearing from the Tech coaches earlier this year, it was the beginning of the summer and I had posted a video of me jumping out of a pool on social media. I believe it was Coach (Luke) Wells that followed me, and then a few weeks later he invited me to a camp at Texas Tech. I attended the camp in Lubbock and performed pretty well.

"The coaches and I stayed in touch, and they were starting to show a lot of interest in me since then. I talked with them, and the coaches wanted to watch my senior film and continued to say that they really liked me as a player. I mostly kept in touch with Coach (Luke) Wells, Coach (Preston) Pehrson and the recruiting staff."

Freeman continued to build a relationship with the Tech coaches over the past few months, and they called last week to invite him and his family to the game this weekend.

"We started talking more and more, and the coaches kept calling me, so I knew they were interested. Coach Wells called my Dad and asked if we could get to Lubbock for a visit. He called later that night and we all talked, setup the visit for this past weekend. We made the trip and arrived in Lubbock on Friday afternoon.

"It was me, my Dad, my Mom and my brother on the visit. When we first arrived, I was able to watch the team practice and go through the walk through. From there, we went on a tour of the program and facilities. I was able to see some of that when I visited for the camp, but this time I was able to spend more time looking around and talking with the coaches during the tour."

After touring the faclities, Freeman and his family met with head coach Matt Wells in his office.

"When we were done with the tour, the coaches took us to meet with Matt Wells and that is when they offered me a full ride scholarship to play at Texas Tech. I was in there with my parents and my brother, and at first we were just catching up and they were talking with my family. My Dad has known the Wells brothers for a while, becuase my Dad and Luke Wells played football together at Oklahoma.

"I cannot remember exactly how it happened, but at some point in the conversation, we shifted to talking about me and how much they liked me as a player. Coach (Matt) Wells said they wanted to offer me a full ride scholarship to play for them at Texas Tech, and even though I felt like an offer was coming, it felt like a surprise and I don't really remember what else we talked about because I was just excited."

Freeman went on to share more about receiving the offer, then making his commitment to the coaching staff only moments later.

"I knew that I wanted to commit and had talked about it with my parents, but after Coach Wells offered me in the meeting, we started to leave and go take a photoshoot in the Tech uniforms. Before we left, we took a picture with Coach Wells outside of his office. I stopped Coach Wells in the hallway and told him that I wanted to commit, and everyone started to get excited and cheering right there. The entire coaching staff was excited, especially Coach Wells."

The 5-foot-10, 170-pound athlete also shared what the coaches like about him as a prospect and how he can fit into the Tech program as a player.

"Coach (Luke) Wells was telling me that I can do great things with my abilities in the Tech offense. The coaches see me playing slot receiver, and they like my versatility to help on special teams with kick returns and punt returns. They also mentioned my speed, my hands and my quickness when running routes at receiver."

Freeman grew up watching Big 12 football, including Texas Tech football, and knew he wanted the opportunity to play college football in the conference.

"My Dad went to Oklahoma and played there, and I grew up watching Big 12 football my entire life. I watched both Oklahoma and Texas Tech over the years, and I always knew that Texas Tech was somewhere I wanted to play. Some of the biggest games and best atmospheres are found in the Big 12 conference, and I'm excited to become a part of that at Tech.

"Of course Wes Welker played at Tech, and everyone knows he played at Heritage Hall, but the main reason I wanted to make my commitment to Texas Tech was the coaching staff. The way they treat you, the way they talk about you and how much success that I can have there as a Red Raider. The relationships I built with the Tech coaches were a huge part of my decision, I felt completely comfortable with them."

The game did not go Texas Tech's way on Saturday, but Freeman and his family enjoyed getting to experience the game day atmosphere in Lubbock.

"Honestly, getting to be around the stadium and watching the game, that is when it really hit me that I had just committed to become a Red Raider. The atmosphere at the game, the all-black uniforms and the fans were going crazy. It was a lot of fun, and it was a great feeling after making my commitment the night before."

The opportunity to learn more about Texas Tech and the city of Lubbock outside of football was limited during this trip, but Freeman shared his plans on a potential major and what he plans on learning more about moving forward.

"I'm considering Electrical Engineering, I like to work on stuff and fix things. I would like to become an Engineer one day. We didn't get to do a full tour during this visit, but I was able to tour the campus and see the Engineering building. I'm going to come back for an official visit, and the coaches mentioned I will be able to meet with the school and learn more about the academic support for the players."

Freeman is already friends with one of the other Tech commitments in the 2022 class and has already been introduced to the other commitments since announcing his decision over the weekend.

"Jocelyn (Malaska) and I are really close, we have been friends for a while now. We both played for the Sooner 7v7 team and we both attended a few of the same camps this summer, including the Tech camp. I kept talking with him the whole time, and remember him getting the offer and committing to Texas Tech. He told me that I needed to get the Tech offer and commit, then a few months later it happened and I called him right afterwards.

"It was great, he was in town for the visit this weekend as well, so you could say it all happened the way it was supposed to and we are both very excited to play together at the next level. I was put into a group chat with the other 2022 commitments and a few of the other guys were saying congrats, but it has only been a few days and I still need to talk with most of them."

Although it has only been a few days since his commitment, Freeman says his recruitment is shut down and that he is ready to sign with the Red Raiders.

"I'm 100-percent done with recruiting, I'm with Texas Tech and nothing is changing. I haven't even thought about signing day, but I'm most likely signing this December. The coaches and I talked about enrolling early, but I need to discuss it with my parents and look into my high school credits to make sure I can do it."

Currently rated a 5.3 two-star prospect, Freeman finished his junior season with 35 receptions for 702 yards and nine (9) touchdowns along with 27 rushing attempts for 246 yards and two (2) touchdowns. He added one (1) punt return for a touchdown and two (2) kick returns for touchdowns.

Freeman is also a member of the Heritage Hall varsity track and field team, and finished with a season best 10.8 second time in the 100m event. He also recorded a 4.4 second 40-yard dash and a 4.12 second shuttle time at various camps this off-season.