Texas Tech football may have moved on to the 2019 recruiting cycle at this point, but they're still on the lookout for a few late additions to this year's team.
The Red Raiders have already tapped into the grad transfer market, adding Oregon State grad transfer receiver Seth Collins, Rice grad transfer defensive tackle Preston Gordon, and are pursuing Cal grad transfer running back Tre Watson.
But today things shift to junior college, as Texas Tech has offered Shawnee (Kansas) Butler County Community College cornerback Duron Lowe, who would be a late addition to the 2018 class.
Lowe, who has two years of eligibility left and would arrive on campus this summer, is excited to pick up his first FBS offer from the Red Raiders, who he already has quite a bit of familiarity with thanks to some old teammates.
"It's a great opportunity. I love that they're giving it to me," said Lowe. "It's a great school to go to, obviously. I have two former teammates from Butler with me now at Texas Tech, Tony Jones and Octavious Morgan, and they've just been saying great things about it, too."
Morgan and Jones came to Texas Tech last summer, both becoming major contributors to the Red Raiders' defensive turnaround in 2017. Both have shared their thoughts on their first year in Lubbock with Lowe.
"I've heard good things about the coaches, how the coaches really care. That's one thing I look at too, on and off the field. Are the coaches going to take care of you? That's one of the main things they talked about. You also can't go wrong with living in Texas."
The coach that's been in contact with Lowe the most so far has been linebackers coach Zac Spavital. The two are building a relationship, something the Kansas City, Kansas native has enjoyed.
"I've been talking with Coach Spavital a lot. He's been hitting me up," he said. "It's going pretty good. He's been telling me to finish up the semester strong, that he can't wait to get me up there. He's trying to build a relationship with me, like other coaches are, and I really like that, too."
So, what is it that the Tech defensive staff likes about Lowe?
"They just like my DB abilities. I'm very fast, athletic, and that's why they like me. That's what they liked out of Octavious when they brought him in, too. I pretty much have the same capabilities."
The interesting thing about the Butler prospect is that corner isn't his original position. He was a running back out of high school and made the switch to DB at the JUCO level.
"DB is a hard position to play. It's just about focusing up, committing to your assignment. I actually came into Butler as a running back. I moved to DB. I learned from Octavious and Coach Sanders. They've taught me a lot, gave me a lot of confidence. I just worked day by day and got better."
Texas Tech isn't the only team interested, either. He's picked up a handful of FCS offers already, and Houston, TCU, Kansas State, and South Alabama have all shown interest.
For now, Lowe is focused on finishing out his semester at Butler before looking to take some visits, including to Texas Tech.
"I'm just taking it day by day. I'm going to sit at the table with my folks. Like I said, I'm focusing on on finishing school over these next two weeks, and then I'll let everything else take care of itself."
