Recruiting on the South Plains | ATH Casey Gladney

RECRUITING ON THE HIGH PLAINS Measurables CASEY GLADNEY Position: ATH Ht: 6'1" | Wt: 180 lbs | Forty: 4.45 High School: Columbia (Columbia, SC) DTN Profile Video: Clip 1 | Clip 2 Rivals | Scout | ESPN | 24/7 Sports Cumulative Ranking: 74.2 Rankings Rivals | , 5.5 Rivals Rating Scout | ESPN | , 80 Grade 24/7 Sports | , 89 Rating

This was the surprise commitment from Wednesday and it's one of those pleasant surprises, but there's a reason why Gladney flipped from Alabama to Texas Tech. When Gladney initially committed to Alabama, it was with the caveat that Gladney would need to work in order to qualify. That is apparently still the case, and there's certainly nothing wrong with taking a chance on a kid might qualify. Add to this situation and the SEC is now limiting their recruiting classes to 25 and I'm guessing that a school like Alabama cannot take a chance on signing a player that has a very good chance of not qualifying academically. Texas Tech, obviously still can, and the mere fact that Alabama thought that Gladney had value very early is a nice indicator of his potential. I wouldn't expect any news on Gladney qualifying until after summer school.

As you'll note, I've listed Gladney as an athlete as he played both receiver and defensive back in high school. On NSD, OC Neal Brown talked a bit about what he could do on offense and then Tuberville talked about him on defense. And don't chalk this up to confusion on the staff's part, at least that's not what I think, but rather I think that he has that sort of potential to be an impact athlete on either side of the ball.

The Player Speaks

When Gladney committed, per the St. Andrews Patch, he said that he has a chance to qualify:

"Gladney said he expects to be on the field in his first season at Texas Tech.

'I've got a positive chance to qualify and I'm ready to go,' he said. "

Like a lot of kids, he said he expects to be on the field, but there's a long list of players that are in front of him. Gladney also admitted that he knew he has faults:

"I know I'm going to have my downfalls," he said, "but I'm going to play hard on the field and study hard in the classroom."

Scouting Report

Per the LAJ, I thought I'd offer up what OC Neal Brown had to say on NSD:

"He was committed to Alabama through the whole process," Brown said, "versatile athlete, can play either side of the ball. If we get to use him, which hopefully we can, he’s a long kid who plays outside receiver, has got really good ball skills and really good speed for his size. He’s explosive. So a guy that can make a lot of plays in our system."

And also per the LAJ, Tuberville thinks highly of Gladney:

Tuberville called Gladney "an exact replica" of San Francisco 49ers Pro Bowl cornerback Carlos Rogers, whom he coached at Auburn.

"Gladney is one of those same guys," Tuberville said. "He could probably come in tomorrow and be a starter or backup for us at corner with his athletic ability and his height."

I think that Gladney represents really good value (I hate talking about a human being like this, but I'll continue) as he has the same types of measurables as guys like LaDarius Newbold and Thierry Nguema, around 6-1/180 and can run a 4.40 (obviously a fake 40-yard dash time, but that's what's reported). Newbold was considered one of the players that needed to sign with Texas Tech to be considered a successful class and I think it's encouraging that Gladney is a similar player in terms of size and speed. The size and speed combination are not necessarily common qualities for cornerbacks, at least for Texas Tech and as I think back on the current roster, the only cornerback that is over six feet is Tre Porter. Now, there are potentially three cornerbacks with some height. Gladney is a long athlete and he does have a long stride on the video that makes me think that Tuberville's assessment is accurate:

Casey Gladney (via mansfief100)

And when Tuberville says that he can be a starter, I think that Tuberville is saying is that he has the athletic ability to start right now, which I think he does, but I don't think that he probably has the technique to start. Not only that, with a kid that struggles with grades, I've somewhat thought that it might take a bit of time to adjust to the college life and it might be smart to just focus on academics for a while.

Casey, welcome to Texas Tech and Git Your Guns Up!

The 2012 Class

After the jump.

Cumulative ranking explanation here. Cumulative ranking data here. Quick and easy explanation:

The idea is to take all of the data from all of the recruiting services and put it into just one number. Thus, the idea is that a grade of 68 or 69 is a thee-star player, while a ranking of 83 or 84 is a four-star player. Anything in between those numbers or lower means that the player most likely has a lower grade with one service or another. For example, Quinton White is thought of by all the recruiting experts as a solid three-star player. While a player like Clayton Nicholas is mostly a three-star player but ESPN does give him a four-star grade, so his grade is a bit higher.