Acy recaps his official visit to Texas Tech
For most programs, the month of January is full of official visits and offers to new prospects in the weeks before National Signing Day. That is not the case at Texas Tech for this 2016 recruiting class. The coaches had over 20 verbal commitments before the season even started and most of the usual 'drama' that comes along with this time of year has been absent.
That is until Wilmer-Hutchins (Texas) defensive back DeMarkus Acy decided to take an official visit to the South Plains this weekend.
The coaches offered Acy this past April and have been in contact with him for several months, but a commitment to Missouri in October left him off the radar for most. Despite his commitment, Acy stayed in contact with Coach Emmett Jones from Texas Tech and decided to setup an official visit to see the South Plains this past weekend.
"Coach Jones and I have a great relationship," Acy said. "He is from the Dallas area too and needs help on defense to help change the Texas Tech program around. We have been talking for a while now and I feel that he will always have my back.
"He introduced me to Coach (David) Gibbs and Coach (Zac) Spavital this weekend. They talked with me about playing corner, nickel, and some safety in their defense. We watched film on both positions and Coach Gibbs showed me the two-step shuffle. He told me that once I mastered that, then I could move from corner to playing other positions."
The coaches also took Acy around the campus and showed him the academic side of things at Texas Tech.
"It was cool, my family enojyed the visit and I really got a first hand look on how they run the program at Texas Tech," Acy said. "The town of Lubbock is cool, it's mostly a football town and the fans love the football players. Texas Tech is a good school all around and they already have the No. 2 offense in the nation. They just need the right guys on defense to help take them to that next level.
"The coaches took me around and showed me the new indoor facility they are building. They have some updates and other renovations coming to the stadium as well. It all looked very nice. We also toured the academic support center for the athletes and I was able to learn more about the academic options provided at Texas Tech."
The campus and program were a little quiet this weekend with classes not starting back until next week, but Acy was able to spend time with a handful of Tech players over the weekend.
"I hung out with Ondre (Pipkins) this weekend," Acy said. "It was a quiet because the students weren't back to campus yet, but Jett (Duffey) and Johnathan (Picone) were moving in and I got to meet them as well. I mostly spent time with the coaches though.
"I'm also friends with Da'Leon (Ward), Joe (Wallace), and Clarence (Henderson) from Skyline. They are all from this area and have recruited me to join them at Texas Tech as well. Those guys are all ready to make an impact at Texas Tech and get things changed around."
While he enjoyed the visit to Texas Tech, Acy did reaffirm his commitment to Missouri and talked about the decision to take his official visit.
"I still feel good about my commitment to Missouri," Acy said. "It is further away from home, but I wanted to take another visit and bring my family along with me. The coaches did give me a lot to think about this weekend though.
"I had an official visit setup to Texas, but I'm not sure what is going to happen with that one. I need to speak with the coaches and get things planned. I might end up going on that visit, but I'm not sure."
Rated a three-star prospect, the 6-foot-1, 182-pound defensive back earned District 6-4A Defensive MVP and APSE Class 4A All-State First Team Defense honors this season.