Austin Regents School dual-threat quarterback Wilson Long became the first commitment for the Red Raiders in the 2020 class earlier this evening.
Long started talking with the Texas Tech coaches this summer and received an offer from the Red Raiders in late July.
"My head coach actually got in touch with the Texas Tech coaches earlier this spring and shared my highlights, told them more about me," Long said. "From there, I had a chance to call the coaching staff and I talked with Coach (Adam) Schier and Coach (Kliff) Kingsbury. Then I received an offer from them shortly after we started talking.
"Coach Kingsbury told me that he likes the fact that I can move around the pocket, use my legs to extend plays or gain yards, and ultimately he just really liked my play and mentioned that I would be a really good fit in their offense at Tech."
The 6-foot, 185-pound quarterback has since taken two unofficial visits to Lubbock and shared his thoughts on the campus, the Tech football program and more.
"I came out during the summer for an unofficial visit and went back for the game against Houston earlier this season," Long said. "I would say the culture, the support for the program and just how much the team is dedicated to one another really stood out to me. The whole program is really committed to winning, plus everyone I met just seemed extremely nice and everyone was very welcoming.
"Being there for the game and being on the field for warmups was awesome. Then the offense went out and tore it up, scored a ton of points that day and it was just great to see. The campus is beautiful, they have amazing facilities and I really think they have something special building there at Texas Tech."
Long actually committed to the Texas Tech coaching staff earlier this week on Monday and shared more from the moment.
"I called Coach Kingsbury, told him that I have been wanting to make this call for a while and that I just needed to make sure it was the right decision," Long said. "I told him that I want to commit to Texas Tech and he was really excited. He told me they were all happy to have me, then I started receiving a ton of texts from the other Tech coaches and it was a really cool moment."
So as a 2020 recruit with nearly a year and a half left to make a decision, why Texas Tech and why now?
"Well, I really like the Texas Tech coaching staff," Long said. "But really the biggest thing was choosing the right school for me. I talked about that a lot with my parents, prayed about it and I can say that 100-percent, Texas Tech is the right school for me and I believe that it is where I'm meant to be.
"Plus, Coach Kingsbury is a legend when it comes to the quarterback position and you only have to look at all of the quarterbacks he has helped to develop. I'm super excited to get the opportunity to play for him and his staff at Texas Tech."
Although he is a 2020 prospect, Long mentioned that he is glad to finally be committed now.
"I'm extremely excited," Long said. "I'm glad that I committed and I feel really good about this decision. I'm committed now and I'm done with my recruitment. I'm 100-percent committed to Texas Tech.
"Moving forward, I think that I will definitely reach out to some kids in my class who have offers from Texas Tech and encourage them to join me and let them know that Tech is a special place. I want to help with getting more 2020 commits on board, really just however I can help."
Currently rated a 5.6 three-star prospect, Long is the No. 73 overall prospect on the Rivals.com Texas Top 75 for the 2020 class.
As a sophomore, Long finished with 2,953 yards passing and 27 touchdowns along with 1,023 yards rushing and 14 touchdowns last season.
Through eight games this season, Long currently has 1,402 yards passing and 15 touchdowns along with 666 yards rushing and four touchdowns.