Lauderdale recommits to Tech
Houston Bellaire receiver and Rivals250 receiver Devin Lauderdale completed a full circle Sunday by re-committing to the Red Raiders after a severe setback when former head coach Tommy Tuberville resigned from the university in December.
Lauderdale is back in the fold and done with the recruiting process.
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We caught up with the Red Raiders' top ranked commit, the lone Rivals.com four-star recruit, shortly after he gave Kliff Kingsbury's staff his word.
"I committed to Texas Tech today," Lauderdale said. "I think that's the best decision for me."
Lauderdale had been a Tech commit since the summer months, but he was startled when Tuberville abruptly resigned. He also sensed the writing was on the wall for Tuberville's staff.
Kingsbury's then-incomplete staff put the full-court press on Lauderdale as soon as they signed on to be pieces of the next Red Raider coaching staff.
"The staff is young and energetic," Lauderdale said. "The staff is just young and energetic and that won me over. I just thought about it and realized it was the best fit for me."
Lauderdale is ranked by Rivals.com as the No. 216 best player in the country, the 26th best receiver in the nation and the 26th best player in Texas.
His commitment is a huge win. The Red Raiders battled West Virginia and Alabama for the standout recruit the first time.
After Lauderdale decommitted Oklahoma and Oklahoma State became serious threats and that meant the receiver could make some sort of direct impact on Tech if he signed with one of them.
The Bellaire product visited Oklahoma on Jan. 11. He meant to visit Ohio State, but one of the coaches recruiting him got sick and asked to postpone the visit. That coach was Tom Herman who swayed former Tech prospects JT Barrett and Mike Mitchell to Columbus, Ohio.
"I'm done with visits," he said. "I'm done with recruiting. I'm signing on National Signing Day."
In talking with other recruits, this weekend's official visitors really meshed together nicely.
Baylor commit and Arizona Western Community College guard Dionte Savage said the Red Raiders helped their case incredibly over the weekend. Ennis (Texas) defensive end Malik Jenkins committed Sunday and other recruits said the Red Raiders jumped on their lists.
Just in sheer numbers of commitments, the Jan. 26 visit weekend is the best in Kingsbury's very young head coaching career and there could be some aftershocks.
"I liked the atmosphere," Lauderdale said. "It feels like home. I just felt the love here."