Texas Tech football is showing its mettle on the college football recruiting trail. The Red Raiders shook up the landscape by grabbing the top-ranked 2027 prospect Thursday. Five-star LaDamion Guyton is Lubbock bound.
Guyton chose TTU over Florida State, Tennessee and Georgia per Hayes Fawcett of On3/Rivals. He's the outlet's No. 1 overall talent for his graduation class.
The 6-foot-3, 235-pounder also is the top talent in the state of Georgia. As he stars for Benedictine Military School in Savannah. Though he rose to recruiting fame at Savannah Christian in his early prep years. Guyton looks advanced already as a pass rusher.
“Explosive, powerful pass rusher with elite bend around the edge at an early stage,” wrote Charles Power of On3/Rivals. “Flashes high-end first-step quickness. Stays very low while running the arc, dipping his shoulder to shirk offensive tackles. Converts speed to power with ease. Also shows early signs of good hand usage, quickly disengaging on contact. Plays with a high motor and pursues plays from sideline to sideline.”
Texas Tech unleashing new, aggressive recruiting tactics
The Red Raiders historically lose out on landing the No. 1 overall prospect for any class. In-state powers Texas and Texas A&M often win out those high-caliber recruits. TTU also faces competition to grab the top prospect from the clutches of other Southeastern Conference representatives. A la LSU, Alabama and Georgia.
Head coach Joey McGuire leads a far different initiative when it comes to recruiting. They've turned to NIL in ramping up the efforts on the trail.
The NIL tactics worked wonders for another five-star. Felix Ojo pulled the stunner by choosing Texas Tech on July 5. The tackle prospect agreed to a $2.3 million revenue sharing contract to solidify his verbal commitment.
The Big 12 program even flipped a prominent Big Ten commit. Former Michigan four-star pledge Donovan Webb pivoted to the Red Raiders. Texas Tech earned a new safety to kick off its aggressive July.
Ironically, Guyton was predicted to land with Texas Tech already. Ojo's commitment opened the door for that possibility back on July 7. McGuire and the Red Raiders coaching staff made it happen indeed for Guyton.
