Hammond was ready to become a Red Raider
The Texas Tech coaches landed a big piece to the 2024 recruiting class this week with the commitment of Hutto pro-style quarterback William 'Will' Hammond.
The three-star prospect announced his commitment on Monday night and felt it was the right time to make his decision.
"I had a lot of conversations with my family and felt like it was a good time. As a quarterback, as you start to recruit a class, the earlier you are in the class and committed the earlier you can build with other recruits in the class. Now I can start recruiting others and can help build a team around me in the 2024 class.
"I was able to visit Lubbock and Texas Tech four (4) times since June. I started with a camp and received the offer from Coach (Zach) Kittley this summer, then I visited for a few of the games this season. Through all of my visits, talking with the coaches and getting a feel for Lubbock, it has always been love. I didn't have a single bad moment in Lubbock or visiting Texas Tech, it felt like home to me."
Hammond built a solid relationship with the Texas Tech Offensive Coordinator Zach Kittley and was encouraged by what he saw from the Red Raiders' offense during gameday visits this Fall.
"I had always known about the Texas Tech offense, but seeing the offense in action this year and they dynamic play-calling was eye-opening for me. As a quarterback it is definitely something that I'm excited to become a part of.
"When Coach Kittley first came to see me last spring, he was able to watch me throw and run the offense in practice. Our offense at Hutto is very quarterback centric and I have a lot of freedom to check plays and run the offense. Coach always points back to that aspect of my game as something he likes in his quarterbacks."
The 6-foot-2, 190-pound quarterback felt the love from the entire Texas Tech coaching staff, including talking with and building a reltionship with head coach Joey McGuire.
"Coach McGuire would text me each week before games. We would share messages here and there, mostly some quotes from Kobe Bryant. It was basically about the confidence that comes from prepartion. I'm big on prepartion and do not feel the same without preparation, especially playing a position like quarterback.
"Coach McGuire has a great presence and he is building an amazing culture at Texas Tech. It is something that I wanted to be a part of and I was excited to talk with him on the phone about my commitment, officially become a Red Raider."
Other staff members were very involved in Hammond's recruitment and helping to coordinate visits to campus.
"Oh definitely, I would say Coach (Kirk) Bryant was another coach that I texted with every week. After September 1st, the coaches could communicate with us directly and I had constant communication with Coach Bryant since then. Coach (James) Blanchard and Coach (Brian) Nance were always in contact too, just keeping me updated on the team, the staff and helping me with setting up my visits to campus."
Hammond shared more about the moment he committed to the Texas Tech staff earlier this week.
"Coach Kittley actually stopped by the school this past week and got to see me throw again. He talked with my head coach and I just felt like the timing was right for me to commit, become a Red Raider. I setup a call with Coach Bryant last night, we talked for a while and then he handed the phone to Coach McGuire.
"I told him that I was committing, then the coaches went wild. Coach McGuire's wife was even in his office at the time and was part of the excitement. Coach Bryant was running up and down the hallway, then every other coach from the Tech staff started texting me and saying congrats."
The standout prospect is planning to graduate early and is exicted to begin building the 2024 recruiting class for Texas Tech.
"Yes sir, my plan is to graduate early this time next year. I have been planning with my school counselors for a while and making sure it can happen, but that is the plan. I was already in the 2024 group chat 20 minutes after my commitment, so I'm already starting to get to know the other commitments. The coaches also shared a list of other targets and I know a few guys here in the Austin area, Micah Hudson and Peyton Morgan, who are being recruited by the Tech coaches."
Going into the holidays and the offseason, Hammond is working on improving his game and will run Track & Field at Hutto this spring.
"I run Track & Field, I run the quarter mile. We run a quarter after every football practice and I just like it. In the offseason, I'm working on getting bigger and preparing my body for the college level. I want to continue developing, making all the throws on the field and just getting better.
"I have great coaches at Hutto and I work with a quarterback trainer who has worked with several of the top quarterbacks in Texas, guys like Hudson Card, Austin Novosad, Jalen Milroe and others.
"Other than that, I have talked with the Texas Tech coaches about getting back on campus in January or February for a junior day event. I want to get there and help recruit, but we are going to figure out the dates sometime soon."
Currently rated a 5.6 three-star prospect, Hammond finished his junior season with 2,763 yards and 30 touchdowns passing along with 728 yards and nine (9) touchdowns rushing - earning the District 12-6A Co-Offensive MVP award.