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Texas Tech football offers 3-star 2019 DB Ainias Smith

By Matthew Conner

HOUSTON, TX - DECEMBER 29: Members of the Texas Tech Red Raiders take the field on the field before the start of their game against the LSU Tigers during the AdvoCare V100 Texas Bowl at NRG Stadium on December 29, 2015 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TX - DECEMBER 29: Members of the Texas Tech Red Raiders take the field on the field before the start of their game against the LSU Tigers during the AdvoCare V100 Texas Bowl at NRG Stadium on December 29, 2015 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images) /
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The Texas Tech football team continues its work on the recruiting trail offering 3-star corner Ainias Smith from Sugar Land.

If you have been paying close attention to what the new Texas Tech football coaching staff has been doing on the recruiting trail in recent days, you will get an idea about what position group they believe needs a talent infusion.  Tuesday, they entered the race for yet another defensive back when they extended an offer to Ainias Smith, a 3-star corner from Sugar Land, Texas.

This is the third 2019 defensive back to receive an offer from the Red Raiders in the past week.  Thursday, Dequan Watts, a 3-star prospect from Georgia and Friday, JaTravis McCloud a 3-star prospect from Oklahoma both picked up offers from Matt Wells and company.  Whats more, 2020 safety Xavion Alford also picked up an offer earlier this week.

The emphasis on defensive back recruiting comes as no surprise.  Tech is coming off a season in which it finished second-to-last in the nation against the pass and must replace starting safeties Jah’Shawn Johnson and Vaughnte Dorsey.  What’s more, the Red Raiders’ 2019 class currently has only one defensive back, 3-star corner Alex Hogan from Houston.

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As for Smith, the 5-foot-10, 187-pounder is rated by 247Sports.com as the No. 96 overall player in Texas and the No. 44 athlete in the nation.  The designation of athlete means that he is being considered as a prospect at multiple positions but Texas Tech would certainly want him to play in the secondary.

In addition to Texas Tech, Smith holds offers from Texas A&M, Duke, Georgia, Indiana, Northwestern, SMU, Rice, Syracuse, Utah and Vanderbilt.  He is currently a Texas A&M verbal commit making it seem like a long shot that the Red Raiders would be able to flip him.

In 2018, Smith was a two-way player earning district MVP honors.  In addition to intercepting three passes, he rushed for 481 yards and caught 54 passes for 718 yards.

With National Signing Day under a month away, the Red Raiders have little time to try to court this highly-coveted prospect.  Perhaps new safeties coach Kerry Cooks can work some of his recruiting magic.  The former Oklahoma defensive backs coach was the 2017 247Sports.com recruiter of the year in the Big 12 and it would not be surprising to find out that he has already built a relationship with Smith over the course of the 2019 recruiting cycle.

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While it does not seem likely that Tech will win the bidding for Smith’s services, this is an indication that the Red Raider coaching staff knows that he would fill a critical need for this team.  Without question, Matt Wells and his assistants are attempting to replenish the team’s depth in the secondary, which is a must in the Big 12.

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