Texas Tech football: Could Tech land Nebraska transfer DT?

For the second time in his collegiate career, defensive tackle Jahkeem Green is being recruited by the Texas Tech football program.

Back in 2019, the Texas Tech football program went hard after 300-pound JUCO defensive tackle Jahkeem Green.  In fact, that summer, he took a late official visit to Tech despite being verbally committed to Nebraska at the time.  Though he would eventually enroll at Nebraska, his career there never took off, and now, he’s in the transfer portal making us once again monitor his status.

There’s no doubt that Tech needs help at defensive tackle.  While Jaylon Hutchings is entrenched as the starter, this season’s departure of Nick McCann has made the position rather thin behind Hutchings, who had 21 tackles (3.5 for loss) this season.

Green would be a terrific option to solidify the interior of the defensive line.  Though his stats are modest as he registered only four tackles in eight career games playing behind the solid pair of tackles Ty Robinson and Damion Daniels (who had 17 and 18 tackles respectively in 2020), his former pedigree suggests that there may still be an impact player somewhere inside his uniform.

Coming out of high school, the South Carolina native was one of the top defensive tackles in the nation.  At the time, he even held offers from Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee.  But despite being committed to his home state university, USC,  he had to go the JUCO route because of academics.

Then, in 2019, he was again committed to the Gamecocks but a technicality in an SEC rule prevented him from enrolling there.  So his recruitment came down to Tech and Nebraska.

Now, it appears that Tech and South Carolina might be his two top options as he tries to find a home for the third time in his career.  Of course, USC is under new leadership now with Shane Beamer taking over as head coach after spending the last three years as an assistant at Oklahoma.

Thus, one has to believe that the relationship with the current Texas Tech coaching staff goes back much further.  And the fact that he’s already been on campus in Lubbock is important given the fact that recruits are not allowed to make in-person visits thanks to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.

On the other hand, it seems as if Green’s goal all along has been to play for his home state university and that draw may be too much to pass up should it now be an option, which we have to assume it will be given that his credits from Nebraska shouldn’t be a holdup.

Still, this is a name for Tech fans to watch over the upcoming days and weeks.  Green is a player who fits the bill physically and who plays a position of need for the Red Raiders.  So as Matt Wells continues to fish in the transfer portal, let’s hope that this time, Jahkeen Green takes the bait.