Kevin Wagner spent every Friday night this fall playing cornerback for the Estacado High School football team. He spent every Saturday morning watching Texas Tech practice basketball.

The dual-sport athlete said Saturday that this will be his last season playing football, but he intends to stick with basketball long enough to suit up for the Red Raiders. He committed this weekend.

“My mom can come down to my games,” Wagner said of staying so close to home. “She’s my biggest fan and my biggest critic, so I’d love to have her here all the time.”

Wagner has started since his freshman year at Estacado, where his father Tony Wagner is the head boys basketball coach. Kevin helped carry the Matadors all the way to last season’s state championship game, where they lost 68-66 in overtime to Madison.

He said Tech coach Pat Knight has a style he feels fairly familiar with.

“I like the way Pat coaches; it reminds me of my dad,” Wagner said. “I play for my dad now, so it will be easy to adapt.”

Wagner is a 5-foot-8 point guard who said his biggest strength is penetrating the lane; his dunking ability demonstrates just that. He scored 16 points on 6-of-17 shooting in the Class 3A championship game.

He said he received interest from other schools, including Marquette, but was adamant about staying close to home.

 “I’m just ready to get it all over with. Recruiting is crazy, so I just wanted to play now and not have to worry about anything.”

As for the Raiders, those weeks of watching practice have left Wagner convinced that Tech is headed for improvement this season.

“They’re going to be good this year. They have more athletes, more people who can score on offense, so as long as they get their defense together they should be good.”