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5 Texas Tech football recruits who can make or break early signing day
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- 5 Texas Tech football recruits who can make or break early signing day
Former Texas Tech football coach Spike Dykes used to say "the hay's in the barn" when preparation was complete for a particular task. Often, Dykes said it a day or so before a game.
It can apply to national signing day, too, in this case, for the current Red Raiders .
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The three-day early national signing period gets under way on Wednesday, Dec. 3, and Tech coach Joey McGuire said he's not expecting to sign any recruits beyond the 20 who've already given non-binding commitments. He's not holding a spot for any late swings to the Red Raiders . The hay's in the barn, in other words.
More: Texas Tech football recruiting needs for early signing day: A primer
More: Where Texas Tech football sits in recruiting rankings pre-signing day
The Red Raiders just have to make sure there aren't any defections. Given that they've rounded up a consensus top-20 class, according to recruiting services, there are, no doubt, Tech pledges that other programs would love to have. Offensive tackle Felix Ojo and edge defender LaDamion Guyton are ranked No. 13 and No. 15 on the 247Sports composite index of top national recruits. Wide receiver Chase Campbell is No. 94, and offensive tackle Bryce Gilmore is No. 184.
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They are among the make-or-break recruits for Tech signing day. Losing any would sting. Fortunately for Tech, there's no indication the players named below are having any second thoughts.
Texas Tech football top recruiting commitments
Felix Ojo, offensive tackle, Mansfield Lake Ridge
Texas Tech's already had an offensive tackle from Mansfield Lake Ridge who made 55 career starts and moved on as an NFL third-round draft choice. That was Caleb Rogers , who was a solid, not spectacular recruit. Ojo, listed at 6-foot-6 and 275 pounds, is among the bluest of blue chips, picking Tech over Texas, Ohio State , Michigan and Florida .
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LaDamion Guyton, edge defender, Savannah (Ga.) Benedictine Military
Pulling a five-star recruit out of SEC country is doing something, especially persuading that recruit to turn down his home-state power Georgia, and now the Red Raiders are close to closing the deal. Guyton, 6-foot-3 and 225 pounds, is projected for the same position as Tech's destructive tandem of David Bailey and Romello Height . He chose the Red Raiders over Georgia, Tennessee and South Carolina .
LaDamion Guyton (3) of Savannah (Ga.) Benedictine Military Academy zeros in on Buford's Dylan McCoy during Benedictine's home opener on Friday, August 22, 2025 at Memorial Stadium.
Chase Campbell, wide receiver, Frenship
Makes sense that Texas Tech should be able to sign a Frenship star whose mother is a Tech senior associate athletics director. Campbell's not a gimme for the Red Raiders, though, given his parents were Arkansas athletes, his father in football, his mother in track and field. And the huge numbers he put up at Frenship attracted a long list of programs that also included Baylor, Kansas State, Tennessee and Ole Miss .
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Bryce Gilmore, offensive tackle, Prosper
Gilmore represents another recruiting win for the Big 12 versus the SEC. Tech's staff got the 6-foot-5, 297-pound lineman to switch allegiances after he had committed to Arkansas. Some 40 schools offered Gilmore a scholarship, and he took visits at Vanderbilt, Arizona State and Ole Miss. He's the No. 26 prospect in Texas on the 247Sports composite.
Kaegan Ash, linebacker, Mount Enterprise
Ash might be a shade below others on this list and more out of the way, playing for a Class 2A school in a town of about 500. No one's been more productive, though, and no one's had more exposure lately as Mount Enterprise is sailing through the playoffs with a 13-0 record.
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Last week, according to MaxPreps, Ash broke a national high-school record for single-season points with 476. He also has about 3,800 rushing yards this season, putting him within range of the state single-season record — 4,045 yards by Kenneth Hall , "the Sugar Land Express." Hall did it in 12 games in 1953.
Another target: The national high-school record for single-season touchdowns is 72, according to MaxPreps. Ash has 69.
Tech plans to use the 5-11, 205-pound Ash at linebacker. The 247Sports Composite has him as the No. 65 prospect in the state.
Texas Tech football recruiting class rankings
∎ ESPN: No. 18 in the nation, No. 1 in the Big 12
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∎ On3: No. 20 in the nation, No. 1 in the Big 12
∎ 247Sports composite index: No. 19 in the nation, No. 1 in the Big 12
When is early signing day?
High-school and junior-college recruits can sign from Wednesday, Dec. 3, through Friday, Dec. 5.
When is the regular signing day?
The traditional signing period begins the first Wednesday in February, the date for this year being Feb. 4, 2026.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech football recruiting targets — 5 musts on early signing day
