BY DON WILLIAMS
AVALANCHE-JOURNAL

With national signing day coming up on Wednesday, Texas Tech had a busy final weekend of football recruiting.

Keller Fossil Ridge linebacker Brandon Mahoney and Carrollton Newman Smith defensive end Aundrey Barr said Sunday that they made oral commitments to sign with Tech. In addition, all-state defensive end Chris Knighton from Longview told his hometown newspaper that he has committed to the Red Raiders.

The 6-foot-2, 210-pound Mahoney, a member of the Avalanche-Journal state Top 100 list, is the most high-profile prospect. He had been an Oklahoma pledge since mid-April and attracted a slew of major-college offers.

The past two weekends, Mahoney visited Texas A&M and Tech and said Missouri coaches tried to get him to visit.

What swung him to Tech?

“I would have to say the coaches and the fact that I knew people there — it’ll be an easier transition for me than any other school,’’ Mahoney said. “They’re starting to build a winning tradition back up again, and I just want to be part of it.’’

Tech nose tackle Chris Perry and another Tech pledge, wide receiver Aaron Fisher, also are from Fossil Ridge. Among Mahoney’s scholarship offers were ones from OU, Missouri, A&M, Arizona, Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin and Kansas.

Mahoney seemed for eight months set to sign with OU, but questions about his ability to meet freshman eligibility requirements led to Mahoney and Sooners coaches parting ways.

“They said that the scholarship committee was unsure if I was going to qualify,’’ Mahoney said, “But by the same token, y’all are quitting the race before it’s even finished. That pretty much tells me that they don’t want me. I took that as I don’t want to do it anymore. Half the time communication was bad between us anyway, and things were not as good as I wanted them to be. I’m not blaming them. Half of this is my fault as well.’’

Mahoney said it’s his understanding that he will qualify if he finishes high school with a 2.6 grade-point average. He said he has a 2.48 GPA now.

If the Raiders can get him in, he could be a difference maker. Mahoney is ranked as the state’s No. 7 linebacker prospect in the season-recap winter edition of Dave Campbell’s Texas Football magazine. He played middle linebacker throughout a three-varsity career at Fossil Ridge, but will play outside for Tech.

“I think they’re going to send me on a lot of blitzes and cover outside and help contain outside with my speed,’’ he said.

Tech, which lost defensive ends Jake Ratliff and Brandon Williams off its 11-win Cotton Bowl team, helped replenish the position this weekend. Barr (6-3, 234) chose Tech over offers from Air Force, Texas State, New Mexico and Tulane. Nebraska also showed late interest in him.

“I saw the facilities and campus and stuff and I liked it,’’ he said of his Tech visit. “I didn’t really hesitate. When I went into the coach’s office, they asked me how I felt and I told them I liked the fit.’’

Barr’s high school coach, Paul Ressa, described him as a late comer who has gained more than 30 pounds over the last two years and bounced back strong from a torn knee ligament that sidelined him for all of his junior year. In 2008, he had 31 tackles, 10 for loss and four sacks.

“I didn’t know (Tech) was so defensive minded,’’ Barr said. “They wanted me to go out there and be an athlete on the defensive line. It sounds good to me.’’

Longview’s Knighton (6-3, 235) was named to the Texas Sports Writers Association Class 4A all-state first team on Thursday. The Lobos went 13-3 in 2008. Knighton played a big part, getting credit for 90 tackles, 15 for loss and nine sacks.

Knighton told the Longview News-Journal for a story Sunday that he had committed to Tech.
“It just feels like home,’’ he said in the News-Journal story. “I really like it.’’