On Thursday, the Texas Tech football program received a verbal commitment from Dallas, TX defensive end Steven Parker but he won’t be on campus until 2019. Can Texas Tech keep this highly-coveted prospect in the fold for two years?
In the world of college athletics, recruiting never stops. Nor does the recruiting process seem to begin too early anymore. Such is the case with Dallas, TX high school sophomore Steven Parker who gave a verbal commitment to Kliff Kingsbury and the Texas Tech Red Raiders on Wednesday.
Many are sure to raise an eyebrow at this news while others will shrug it off because Parker will not be on campus for another two years. In the meantime, it is fair to wonder if Tech can keep him committed considering the doubts about whether Kingsbury will still be the Texas Tech head coach by the time his first 2019 recruit is set to arrive.
Parker was offered a scholarship by the Texas Tech staff on Wednesday and he pulled the trigger just a day later. This is not the first time Texas Tech has received an early verbal pledge from a high-profile recruit just because the Red Raiders were first to the party. Two years ago, Texas Tech attempted to use this same tactic and the results were not positive.
In January of 2015, superstar quarterback prospect Tristen Wallace from DeSoto, TX verbally committed to Kingsbury shortly after receiving a scholarship offer. However, Wallace had decommitted by the first week of March.
Wallace was a junior, a year older than Parker is currently, but in both instances the high-profile recruit committed to Texas Tech shortly after receiving the Red Raiders’ offer, which was the first for both.
Currently, Wallace is not playing college football after he was alleged to have perpetrated a sexual assault during his freshman season at Oregon (where he was playing wide receiver). Now he is threatening to sue his former school and his football career is all but over.
In the case of Wallace, Texas Tech appears to have dodged a bullet. And his plight by no means suggests that Steven Parker will follow the same unfortunate road.
What it does illustrate though is the risks of recruiting 15 and 16-year-old kids. But that is what Texas Tech must do to have a shot at top tier talent.
Lacking the national prominence of Oklahoma or Texas and without the recent on-field success of rivals like TCU, Oklahoma State and Baylor, Kingsbury knows that his program must get on talented players early and hope the relationships formed over the course of a few years will pay off.
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In many ways, this is similar to a team that must revert to using trick plays and gimmicks to compete with more talented teams. Sometimes that tactic works (such as in Boise State’s upset of OU in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl) but often the positive results are short-lived.
Virtually nothing in this world is more subject to change than the wishes and plans of a high school sophomore. 16-year-old kids are more malleable than warm potters clay, especially when prominent college football coaches like Bob Stoops, Urban Meyer or Nick Saban start showing interest.
These young prospects are often like a boy that starts a relationship with the first girl he meets because his parents just recently gave him permission to date. Then, a few weeks pass and other girls start to show him attention and he breaks up with his girlfriend so he can take the homecoming queen to the prom while his ex-girlfriend is left out in the cold.
Parker is a blue-chip prospect even though he has no varsity experience. (He is entering his first year at South Oak Cliff High School in Dallas after transferring from another program.)
His size is his greatest attribute. Already 6-foot-4 and 220-pounds, Parker has colleges across the nation drooling over the thought of him developing into the next Myles Garrett who starred at Arlington (TX) Martin HS before being the No. 1 overall draft pick in last week’s NFL draft.
Parker’s explosiveness is on display in the video below posted to Twitter by 247sports.com recruiting analyst EJ Holland. It is easy to see why he is going to be a big prize for college coaches across the nation.
2019 SOC DE Steven Parker is a monster. Best underclassmen I've seen so far. Relentless off the edge. (whistle should've been blown 4 sack) pic.twitter.com/U9BW8boGSx
— "EJ Holland" (@EJHollandOn3) April 25, 2017
Should Parker develop into a player anywhere near the level that Garrett was in high school, it will be almost impossible for Kingsbury to hang on to him for 21 months. That task is more daunting given the uncertainty surrounding the future of the current Texas Tech coaching staff.
Another losing season for the Red Raiders in 2017 will almost certainly spell the end of the Kingsbury era. Should that occur, Parker will be even more likely to listen to the courtship of other programs.
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Still, wooing a high school sophomore with the potential to be a game-changing defender is what Texas Tech must do considering the state of the program. Time will only tell if Steven Parker eventually signs with Texas Tech in 2019 but in between now and then, winning more than five games a season would certainly improve the Red Raiders’ chances.