Sting Factor: Calvin Simpson-Hunt flips from Texas Tech to Ohio State
When a major program loses a key recruit, Rivals.com takes a look at how big of a blow it is to the respective school, analyzing it from a local and national level. To quantify the “sting” of each decommitment, we assign a score from one to 10, with one being no big deal and 10 being a catastrophic hit.
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THE STORYLINE
November was not that long ago and that’s when Calvin Simpson-Hunt landed his first offer from Texas Tech. He committed to the Red Raiders a couple of weeks later.
Fast forward to the last day of June and the four-star cornerback from Waxahachie, Texas was sitting with nearly 30 offers many of them coming from some of the most prominent programs in the country.
In the end, after visits to Texas Tech and Ohio State, Simpson-Hunt had the gut-wrenching decision to make whether to stay committed to the Red Raiders or flip to the Buckeyes.
He chose the Big Ten and national powerhouse.
It was a major loss for this Texas Tech class who also received tough news in recent days when talented running back LJ Martin flipped his pledge from the Red Raiders to Stanford.
Still, coach Joey McGuire is recruiting really well in his first year and Texas Tech has absolutely made in-state recruiting a major focus.
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LOCAL REACTION
Calvin Simpson-Hunt was a great early evaluation and land by Texas Tech’s new coaching staff. After offering in early November 2021, they were able to get him committed a couple weeks later as his only offer. Tech held on strong while Simpson-Hunt started receiving more interest from programs such as Stanford, Texas, LSU, Florida, Notre Dame, Ohio State and many others. After taking official visits to Ohio State and Texas Tech, Simpson-Hunt elected to decommit and has since committed to the Buckeyes.
Simpson-Hunt’s decision really hurts the Red Raiders as one of the better commits in recent school history. Texas Tech recently did get a commitment from Louisiana cornerback Macho Stevenson, and they will now try to find additional targets to add to the class. The only thing keeping this from being a 10 is the fact that it isn’t a quarterback. - Ben Golan, RedRaiderSports.com
Sting factor: 9
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NATIONAL REACTION
Losing Simpson-Hunt hurts because he could have been a game-changer in that Texas Tech secondary. But the Red Raiders’ staff deserves a lot of credit for identifying the Waxahachie standout early, landing his commitment in the first place and doing everything possible to hold on when the big boys came calling. From all indications, Simpson-Hunt had a very difficult time flipping to Ohio State and it was really a gut-wrenching decision for him. Even though Texas Tech lost out on his pledge, the Red Raiders made a huge impression on him throughout his recruitment and that means something moving forward with how this staff will operate. Still, this one has to hurt pretty badly. - Adam Gorney, National Recruiting Director
Sting factor: 9