OL Caleb Rogers is all in with Texas Tech
Texas Tech hosted 15 official visitors this past weekend, which is a pretty sizable group for any school in the country. Since Saturday, six (6) of those recruits have committed to the Red Raiders. One of only four (4) already committed players entering the weekend, Mansfield Lake Ridge OL Caleb Rogers really enjoyed spending time on the South Plains and hanging out with his future teammates and coaches.
"It was my first official so it was definitely different than any previous unofficial visits. It was awesome, I was there with my whole family. My grandparents live in Amarillo so they came down on Friday night and I got to hang out with them and take pictures with them. My older brother was there and my dad was too, they weren't there on my first visit (for Junior Day)."
I mean it was just awesome, my whole family got to see Tech and we got to be around all the coaches. I got to meet all the guys and I was able to convince a couple players to commit. Just getting to meet my new family at Tech so it was an awesome experience."
Rogers' player-host for the weekend was sophomore offensive lineman Casey Verhulst, who showed Rogers what being a Red Raider was all about.
"My host was Casey Verhulst, he was a great guy. He was really straight up about everything, he was super nice, he was really funny. He took us around and he was just super nice. I couldn't have asked anything else from him really."
Rogers also had a great time catching up with his future offensive line coach, Steve Farmer and the rest of the staff.
"It was great see him, I really liked seeing coach Farmer. We talked about where we stand as an offensive line group and how we're going to fit into the position group as a whole. So I got to talk to him about that and then I got to bond with the rest of the coaches too, we were able to play games and stuff so really I was able to make a bond with every coach this weekend, whether it was strength and conditioning or the wide receivers coach."
The 3-star lineman played a big role in Texas Tech's run of commitments, showing his fellow official visitors that Tech is the place to play.
"It was awesome. The day before we got there we had Clinton (Anokwuru) commit, he committed Thursday night. I already knew a lot of the guys who were coming in like Myles (Price) and Quin (Bright) but it was just awesome. I got to see all the other recruits truly fall in love with Texas Tech, just like I did.
We had so many big time players in this weekend and everyone that we got is really good. So I was just super stoked about that and I really do believe in Tech, where we're going and we're going to do big things. Everyone else is believing in Tech too."
Rogers' Lake Ridge team will play Quin Bright's Cedar Hill team on October 18th of this season, and while the two haven't talked about that game specifically, it is a game Rogers is looking forward to. Caleb and Quin are also working on another Cedar Hill Longhorn to add to the fold among other prospects.
"We haven't talked about that game but I'm definitely excited for it. We got Quin this weekend but we also want Courtland Ford, he also plays at Cedar Hill. He was an LSU commit and he recently decommitted. Zero promises on that but I'm definitely gonna try to get him to come.
But I'm just excited. Jabar (Muhammad) was there this weekend, he's an OSU commit. He really seemed to like Tech though. Him and I talked about this year's game where we won on the last play of the game against DeSoto. But no, Quin and I haven't talked about any upcoming games."
Since Caleb's commitment on May 12, he has picked up one new offer, from Georgia Tech. However after this weekend, he feels like he is completely solid with Texas Tech and doesn't see himself considering other schools.
"At this point I think I'm just about completely shut down. This was truly just the perfect weekend, the way they took care of my family, they showed me more than they already had. Tech is home."
While Caleb would like to enroll early at Texas Tech, right now it's looking like his plan is to get to Lubbock in the summer of 2020.
"I would really love to (enroll early) but I don't think it will be an option for me because of how my school is, my schedule and stuff."
The 6-foot-4, 275-pound lineman will start off at tackle for Texas Tech but also has the ability to slide inside and play guard or center. Rogers' other offers to date include Georgia Tech, Arkansas State, Louisiana-Monroe, New Mexico and William & Mary.