Texas Tech football lands 3-star defensive tackle Cooper Laake

Cooper Laake, a three-star defensive tackle from Austin, Texas has committed to the Texas Tech football program.

The Texas Tech football program may not have had success on the field this past weekend but on the recruiting trail, it won a couple of key victories.  One of those came when three-star defensive tackle Cooper Laake from Austin, Texas verbally committed to the Red Raiders.

Laake is rated as the No. 109 defensive tackle in the nation and No. 222 overall player in Texas by 247Sports.com.  In addition to Tech, he has offers from Colorado State, Houston, Oregon, Purdue, Rice, Tulsa and Texas State.

At 6-foot-3, 270-pounds, Laake should be able to easily carry more weight and become sturdy enough to to play nose tackle for the Red Raiders.  And after a recent season-ending knee injury, he will have plenty of time to bulk up in the weight room.

More from Wreck'Em Red

• Texas Tech football: Red Raider fans need to know about these Mountaineers
• Texas Tech football: Red Raiders land first commit for class of 2025
• Texas Tech football: Why have the Red Raiders struggled on the road under McGuire?
• Texas Tech football: Why the Red Raiders can compete for a Big 12 title
• Texas Tech football: Plenty of questions remain as conference play arrives

Laake will be treated as a “blue shirt” meaning that he will join the program next year but will sit out next season and will not count against the program’s scholarship numbers.  In 2019, the Red Raiders look to be in great shape at the defensive tackle position with Broderick Washington, Joe Wallace and Nic McCann all returning meaning the Red Raiders will not have to press their newest recruit into action before he is ready.

Laake is the first defensive tackle to join the 2019 Red Raider recruiting class.  His addition pushes the class to 19 members.  Overall, the Texas Tech class ranks 42nd in the nation by 247sports and fifth in the Big 12.

Meanwhile, Rivals.com has Texas Tech’s class at No. 39 in the country.  That is quite an improvement from the previous class which was rated just 73rd overall in the country.

But 2018’s low ranking was due largely to the small size of the class, which included just 17 players.  In fact, with an average ranking of 2.76 per prospect, the 2018 class is actually a bit stronger than the 2019 class which has an average ranking of 2.74 per prospect.

From December 19th to December 21st, college football recruits can sign their letters of intent or they may wait until February 6th.  With the majority prospects expected to sign in the early window, teams are working tirelessly to round out their classes in the next few weeks.

Laake was the second 2019 prospect to commit to Texas Tech this weekend joining running back Velton Gardner.  The former Kansas State pledge joined the Red Raiders just two days after renouncing his commitment to the Wildcats.

Therefore, it will be important for Texas Tech athletic directory Kirby Hocutt to make a decision about Kliff Kingsbury’s status as head coach with enough time for the program to keep the majority of its commits on board.  Also, do not be surprised to see the Red Raiders add a handful of other recruits to the mix as more prospects begin to make their decisions in the upcoming weeks.