While everyone in Raiderland is still buzzing about the 2024 Texas Tech recruiting class given the recent commitment of 5-star WR Micah Hudson, Joey McGuire and his coaching staff are already starting to assemble their next recruiting haul. On Tuesday, the 2025 class got off the ground when ultra-productive wide receiver, Tristian Gentry gave his verbal commitment to the Red Raiders.
It is so early in the 2025 recruiting cycle that most recruiting services haven’t even begun ranking players or labeling them as three-, four-, or five-star prospects. But what is obvious is that Gentry is tearing up the Texas high school football ranks this season.
A 6-foot-1, 160-pound native of Stephenville, he is one of the most productive wide receivers in the country thus far. In just four games played, he has 33 receptions for 726 yards and 8 TDs.
With a long reception of 81 yards, Gentry is averaging an insane 22.0 yards per catch. He’s also putting up 181.5 yards per game.
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As a sophomore in 2022, he amassed 1,110 yards and 14 TDs on 61 catches in 12 games. This year, he’s had two 100-yard games and even a 252-yard performance on just eight catches against Midlothian.
Restocking the wide receiver room will be important for Tech this offseason as well as in the 2025 class. With Myles Price, Jerand Bradley, Xavier White, Drae McCray, Nehemiah Martinez, Loic Fouonji, and Jordan Brown all set to depart the program before Gentry arrives, there will be opportunities for incoming players in his class to make an impact early in their careers.
What’s interesting, though, is that the 2024 recruiting class lists only two players labeled as wide receivers. While two more current 3-star commits are tabbed “athletes” meaning they could potentially be deployed as receivers, that’s a surprisingly low number for any Red Raider class.
Of course, the transfer portal could always be a means of adding to that position group. That’s how players such as White, McCray, and Brown arrived and it will be an avenue that McGuire will undoubtedly use again this offseason.
Still, keeping the high school pipeline flowing will be important for the health of this program, and adding a player of Gentry’s skill set is a nice way to start. Like Hudson, he is a player with extreme juice making him a potential home-run threat each time he touches the ball.
That’s something that Tech has been missing from the offense for far too long. In fact, it’s been since Jakeem Grant was breaking ankles in Lubbock in 2015 that there was a Red Raider who could make something out of nothing at any moment.
A lack of playmaking is why this coaching staff has prioritized speed over almost any other measurable when putting together its recruiting classes. When announcing his 2023 class in February, McGuire claimed to have signed the fastest class in the country and now he’s continuing to add explosiveness to his program by starting the 2025 class off with Gentry.
It will be a while before Gentry arrives on campus, nearly two calendar years, and with Hudson’s arrival next fall, all eyes will be on the first five-star player to ever sign with Tech out of high school. However, surrounding Hudson with players of Gentry’s talent is also important because Tech needs multiple weapons in the passing game in order for this offense to get back to being as potent as fans in Lubbock expect it to be on a yearly basis.