Texas Tech lands 2028 four-star TE AJ Criss

Criss got a 101-point shootout on his visit, and the next afternoon the Red Raiders had his commitment.

You couldn't ask for a better recruiting pitch. Criss was in the building for a back-and-forth game that wasn't settled until late, and his own words were that he "loved the atmosphere and environment down there in Lubbock." Recruiting visits usually mean a tour and a handshake, but a game like that one sells itself, and Tech's staff got the payoff about 18 hours later.

The kid is a real get, too. Criss is a 6-foot-7, 205-pound tight end ranked as the No. 17 tight end in the country. As a sophomore last season he caught 34 passes for 574 yards and 8 touchdowns. At 205 pounds there's a lot of frame left to fill, and a 6-foot-7 target who already produces at that level is exactly what every Big 12 staff wants down the seam.

There's some loyalty in this one as well. According to RedRaiderSports.com, Texas Tech gave Criss his first football offer, before the rest of the market showed up. Florida State and Kansas State offered him since, so this wasn't a case of Tech being the only school calling. The Red Raiders got in first and held on.

It's an early win. Criss is in the 2028 class, which means he still has 2 more high school seasons ahead of him and a whole lot of time for other schools to come after him. Commitments this early get tested, and if he keeps growing into that frame the blue bloods will come calling. For now Tech has an in-state four-star locked in a full cycle early, and that's how you build a program that's winning games like Saturday night's.

What to watch: whether Criss takes other visits as the offers keep coming, and whether Tech keeps using big home games in Lubbock as a recruiting tool. If every visitor gets a 53-48 thriller, Joey McGuire's staff is going to have a lot more commitments to announce on Sundays.