The newest Red Raider commitment - Vian (Okla.) defensive tackle Solomon Wright - is no stranger to the Big 12 conference. In fact, his father, Kenyatta Wright, was a 4-year starter at Oklahoma State before playing 74 career games in the NFL between the Bills and the Jets.
Kenyatta was a two time All-Big 12 Conference selection during his time in Stillwater, where he racked up 267 career tackles. We caught up with Kenyatta to get his perspective on his son choosing to commit to Texas Tech.
What were the things about Texas Tech and the coaches that stood out to you as someone who has been through this process before?
"The biggest thing that I can say is that that staff recruited the family more than just Solomon or me or our coaching staff here at Vian. All of them recruited our family and made us feel comfortable with the decision that he wanted to make today. That was one of the biggest differences and they were obviously open with their plans and their recruiting plans.
There are a lot of muddy waters in recruiting a lot of times, but Solomon really fell in love with coach Wells, coach Patterson, coach Jones and obviously coach Randolph, his position coach, and just felt real comfortable when we visited there."
For those who haven't seen Solomon play, what are some things that he brings to the field?
"I think the biggest thing that he's had his whole life is that he's a real twitchy big guy that can move. He played running back and all that stuff growing up, but he's just been playing defensive line for about the last three years.
He's an exceptional talent, and he has speed and strength that a lot of defensive tackles may not possess this early in their careers. I think that just his tenacity, his first step and his power is something that everyone should be excited about in Red Raiderland."
Obviously you played at Oklahoma State, but was this something that you wanted Solomon to make his own decision or did you pressure him at all to go to OSU?
"Well, from day one with both of my sons, I told them I want them to write their own stories. I challenged them to pick the place that best fits them.
I didn't push them to Oklahoma State. Frankly, I believe, personally, that his fit was not there. There's a better position and better role for him in the defense that Texas Tech plays that is really a gap control defense that fits him. The culture fits him and just everything about Texas Tech fits him.
So that's what I told him: if you like it, then you should go there. I wanted them to write their own stories, and that's what Solomon is going to do at Texas Tech."
