Texas Tech football loses 4-star 2019 WR commit La’Vontae Shenault
The Texas Tech football team has suffered another hit to the 2019 recruiting class as 4-star wide receiver La’Vontae Shenault has decomitted.
The Texas Tech football team has lost its top 2019 verbal commitment for the second time since Matt Wells took over as head coach. Ten days ago, 4-star defensive end Steven Parker from Dallas reopened his recruitment and late Tuesday night, 4-star receiver La’Vontae Shenault did the same.
The 6-foot-1, 186-pound receiver from DeSoto, Texas is the No. 29 receiver in the nation and the No. 23 overall player in Texas according to Rivals.com. He holds offers from Arizona State, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Purdue, TCU, Utah and West Virginia among others.
One must wonder if Colorado is now the frontrunner for his services because that is where his older brother Laviska, the Buffalos’ leading receiver in 2018, has become a star in the Pac 12. It would also make sense for Kansas, where former Texas Tech receivers coach Emmett Jones has been hired to Les Miles’ staff, to throw its hat in the ring. Jones has deep ties to the Dallas area and was instrumental in Shenault’s recruitment to Texas Tech and is likely reaching out on behalf of his new employer.
I would like to thank the current and former staffs at Texas Tech, but at this time I will be decommitting and opening my recruiting .
— La’Vontae Shenault 🤩 (@0vontae) December 12, 2018
This news further compounds the loss of 2018 leading receiver Antoine Wesley who on Monday declared his intentions to skip his senior season and enter the NFL Draft. Yesterday, we theorized that Shenault could help the Red Raiders compensate for Wesley’s absence but now Tech will have to find answers elsewhere.
For his prep career, he caught 136 passes for 1,807 yards and 15 touchdowns. He’s been committed to the Red Raiders since June but he took an official visit to Colorado in October.
This news is particularly devastating because Texas Tech is already tasked with having to replace its top two receivers from 2018, Wesley and Ja’Deion High, as well as Zach Austin and DeQuan Bowman. Currently, there are only two wide receivers in the Red Raiders’ 2019 class.
Three-star prospect Trey Cleveland, a 6-foot-3 pass-catcher from Arlington and three-star wide out Cameron Cantrell from Whitehouse, Texas (younger brother of former Texas Tech receiver Dylan Cantrell) are still in the fold. And according to Cleveland’s Twitter, he is sticking with his pledge to the Red Raiders.
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
It is fair to wonder if Shenault and other receivers are being influenced by the end of the “Air Raid” era of Texas Tech football as we have come to know it. While Wells has a history of putting up plenty of points (his Utah State team was third in the nation in the regular season with 47.2 points per game), his scheme under new offensive coordinator David Yost will look different than Kliff Kignsbury’s offenses have.
This year, the Aggies ran the ball 440 times and threw it 422. Meanwhile, Tech attempted 535 passes and ran the ball 437 times. Tech passed for 756 more yards than Utah State despite being limited in the passing game by injuries to all three scholarship quarterbacks on the roster.
Additionally, Yost has said that he likes to have a tight end on the field for the vast majority of the offensive snaps which will take a receiver out of game plan. Tech currently has three-star tight end Simon Gonzalez from Magnolia, Texas verbally committed and recently offered a scholarship to 3-star JUCO tight end Travis Koontz from Ventura College in California.
dark. Next. Texas Tech lands 3-star OT Landon Peterson
Shenault’s defection drops Texas Tech’s current class to 14 members just over a week before the early signing window. 247Sports.com ranks the class just 8th in the Big 12 and 61st overall as the loss of two 4-star players in the span of under two weeks has depleted what was at one time a solid 2019 haul.