Wednesday, the Texas Tech football made the top-8 for 3-star WR Keith Miller, a former Red Raider pledge who decomitted in the wake of last fall’s coaching change.
One of the biggest tasks facing new Texas Tech football coach Matt Wells when he replaced Kliff Kingsbury last fall was trying to keep players already committed to the program in the fold. One such recruit that the Red Raiders are trying to hang on to is 3-star wide receiver Keith Miller.
Wednesday, the 6-foot-4, 200-pound product of The Colony, Texas released his top eight schools and Tech made the cut. He also listed Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Kansas State, SMU, Washington State and Tulsa.
Rated as the No. 123 player in Texas and the No. 156 wide receiver in the nation by 247Sports.com, he also holds offers from Boston College, North Texas and Southern Mississippi. During his junior season, he caught 31 passes for 697 yards and eight touchdowns and showed a propensity for making amazing catches thanks to his large frame.
Miller originally committed to Texas Tech back on November 10th, just one day after receiver an offer from the Kingsbury staff. But on December 14th, he reopened his recruitment and since then, he’s picked up ten new scholarship offers.
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"Gabe Brooks of 247Sports says that Miller is, “A big-framed prospect, [who] possesses outstanding size and the space to add more bulk and strength once he’s at the college level. He could provide a truly big outside receiver option for Texas Tech. Miller shows encouraging ability after the catch thanks to above average top-end speed aided by his long-striding gait that helps him build speed. He owns a large catch radius and should become a red-zone terror given his height, length, and high-pointing potential.”"
The Red Raiders look to be in good shape at the receiver position in terms of depth. With only two outside receivers set to exhaust their eligibility after the 2019 season (Seth Collins and Donta Thompson), Tech has a number of young talented players like Erik Ezukanma, Myller Royals and Corey Fulcher ready to potentially step up in 2020. Additionally, junior T.J. Vasher is primed to be a breakout star this season and could be one of the top receivers in the nation over the next two years if he realizes his enormous potential.
What’s more, Tech signed two outside receivers in the class of 2019 in Trey Cleveland and Cameron Cantrell (both 3-star prospects). But as is always the case with spread teams, Tech is constantly looking to add more elite talent to their receiving corps.
Currently, 18 receivers in the class of 2020 hold offers from the Red Raiders. In addition to Miller, keep an eye on Loic Fouonji from Midland. The 6-foot-4, 4-star prospect was on campus last weekend for Texas Tech’s junior day event.
If Wells can get Miller back on board, it will not be the first time he has won over a player that defected following Kingsbury’s dismissal. Houston defensive back Alex Hogan, San Angelo QB Maverick McIvor and Wellington OT Trevor Roberson all either decomitted or entertained other programs during the transition to the new staff only to eventually become Red Raiders.
Unfortunately, there were some other players that Wells could not bring back into the 2019 class such as 4-star DE Steven Parker and 3-star RB Velton Gardner. Here’s hoping Keith Miller eventually falls into the former category.