Texas Tech football: Red Raiders battling two SEC schools for coveted JUCO DE

The Texas Tech football program is in the top 3 for big-time JUCO DE Shemar Pearl, who is also considering South Carolina and Missouri.

We’ve talked at length about the need for Matt Wells and the Texas Tech football program to improve the pass rush.  It’s a vital component of surviving in the pass-happy Big 12.

Landing a player the caliber of Shemar Pearl would be a huge step in that direction.  That came one step closer to happening on Friday when the JUCO DE announced that the Red Raiders were in his top three schools along with Missouri and South Carolina.

The 2021 prospect will not be on campus for another year but he is ready to make his college decision.  On Twitter, he announced that he would reveal his destination on June 18.

https://twitter.com/ShemarPearl/status/1271479311565021187?s=20

The 6-foot-5, 235-pounder out of Garden City C.C. was committed to Missouri out of high school but had to go to the JUCO ranks.  But keep in mind that he’s from Plano, Texas, and football recruits are more likely to want to play closer to home than basketball recruits.  Thus, one has to hope that Tech’s proximity to his hometown will play a factor in his decision.

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According to his 247Sports profile page, he had 22 tackles in 2019 with seven for loss including two sacks.  Right now, he has no ranking from that site but when he came out of high school in 2019, he was a 3-star prospect and the No. 42 weakside DE in the nation according to 247Sports.  And how about his high school offer list: Alabama, Arkansas, Baylor, Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, Minnesota, Notre Dame, Purdue, and SMU.

There are no crystal ball predictions for Pearl on his 247Sports page but one would have to think that Missouri is in good shape here given that he’s already committed to head coach Barry Odom once.  And back in 2018 when he made that pledge, he had glowing things to say about the Tigers’ entire coaching staff.

"“I really chose Mizzou due to the coaching staff,” he told Taylor Raglin of the Plano Star Courier … It wasn’t just the defensive staff. It was all of the coaches,” he said. “They’ve been contacting me since the first day they started offering me, and that’s what I really appreciated. Some schools offered me, but they won’t still communicate with me and ask how I’m doing and all of that. That’s what Mizzou did from day one.”"

Hopefully, Wells has been able to close that gap and make Pearl feel like staying closer to home is what is best for him.  After all, Tech can never have too many quality defensive ends.

This season will see four-year starter Eli Howard exhaust his eligibility leaving a huge hole at DE.  With 12 career sacks, he’s by far Tech’s most productive edge rusher and the only end on the roster with more than two career sacks.

To help bolster the depth at that position, Wells has already added one JUCO DE, 2020 signee Devin Drew from Iowa Western C.C. and now, he’s hoping that Shemar Pearl will join Drew in Lubbock.