Wells Announces 11 Signees to Kick Off 2019 Class
Matt Wells and his staff welcomed 11 new Red Raiders to the football program Wednesday
LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech head coach Matt Wells announced the first additions to his initial signing class Wednesday as 11 student-athletes inked National Letters of Intent to join the Red Raider football program.
The 11 signees kick off the 2019 class for Wells, who landed a solid core of commitments less than three weeks after being named the 16th head coach in program history. He and his staff will add to that number Feb. 6 when high school and junior college prospects are again able to sign with prospective universities.
“This is a good start to this signing class,” Wells said. “The thing that I appreciate about this class is their willingness to open up their homes and their hearts to our staff and just allow us to listen to their story. This is a solid start and there are more to come in January.”
The early-signing class represents 10 high-school prospects along with a junior-college addition in tight end Travis Koontz, who was the only signee to hail from outside the state of Texas. Tech landed recruits from all across the state, including Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth and West Texas.
Below is a full listing of the class along with bios on each signee.
2019 TEXAS TECH EARLY SIGNING CLASS
Name POS HT WT Hometown (Previous School)
Cameron Cantrell WR 6-1 180 Whitehouse, Texas (Whitehouse H.S.)
Trey Cleveland WR 6-4 180 Arlington, Texas (Arlington H.S.)
Simon Gonzalez* TE 6-4 220 Magnolia, Texas (Magnolia West H.S.)
Alex Hogan DB 5-11 170 Houston, Texas (Lamar H.S.)
Gilbert Ibeneme DE 6-3 255 Pearland, Texas (Pearland H.S.)
Travis Koontz TE 6-5 260 Austintown, Ohio (Boardman H.S./Ventura C.C.)
Tyrique Matthews LB 5-11 205 Houston, Texas (Eisenhower H.S.)
Maverick McIvor QB 6-3 195 San Angelo, Texas (Central H.S.)
Landon Peterson OL 6-6 265 Odessa, Texas (Permian H.S.)
Trevor Roberson* OL 6-11 345 Wellington, Texas (Wellington H.S.)
Bryce Robinson LB 6-0 235 Sachse, Texas (Sachse H.S.)
* Indicates January enrollees
CAMERON CANTRELL
WR | Whitehouse, Texas | Whitehouse H.S.
Signed National Letter of Intent … attended Whitehouse High School in Whitehouse, Texas … garnered All-District 9-5A first team honors as a senior in 2018 … caught 30 passes for 497 yards and six touchdowns as a senior … ended his three-year career at Whitehouse with 113 receptions for 1,486 yards and 13 touchdowns … best season came as a junior with 51 receptions for 620 yards and six touchdowns … hauled in 40 catches for 521 yards and a pair of touchdowns as a sophomore in 2016, earning second team All-District honors in the process … listed as a three-star prospect by 247Sports and ESPN and a two-star recruit by Rivals … committed to Texas Tech after his sophomore season at Whitehouse … younger brother of Red Raider great Dylan Cantrell (2013-14, 2016-17), who is currently on the Los Angeles Chargers’ roster … joins his brother and Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes II (2014-16) as notable Whitehouse alumni to sign with Texas Tech recently.
TREY CLEVELAND
WR | Arlington, Texas | Arlington H.S.
Signed National Letter of Intent … attended Arlington High School in Arlington, Texas … second team All-District selection as a junior … caught 50 passes for 970 yards and 12 touchdowns in 11 games during his senior year … also had 100 kickoff return yards to end his final season with 1,070 all-purpose yards … had 22 receptions in five games his junior year … scored five touchdowns during his junior campaign … concluded his high school career with 17 touchdowns and a 17.7 yards-per-catch average … three-star prospect according to 247Sports, ESPN and Rivals … CHOSE TEXAS TECH OVER: Southern Illinois
SIMON GONZALEZ
TE | Magnolia, Texas | Magnolia West H.S.
Signed National Letter of Intent … attended Magnolia West High School in Magnolia, Texas … earned first team All-District honors as a junior … caught 31 passes for 499 yards, a 16.1 average yard-per-catch, and scored five times during his senior year … also racked up 401 receiving yards on 22 receptions and scored five times during his junior campaign … scored 10 touchdowns and finished his two-year varsity stint with 900 total yards … three-star prospect according to 247Sports, ESPN and Rivals … ranked as the No. 26 TE in the 2019 class by ESPN … CHOSE TEXAS TECH OVER: Arizona, Arizona State, Boise State, SMU, Utah State, Virginia Tech
ALEX HOGAN
DB | Houston, Texas | Lamar H.S.
Signed National Letter of Intent … attended Lamar High School in Houston, Texas … six-time Max Preps Player of the Game for his efforts on both defense and special teams … scored five times on special teams as both a kickoff and punt return specialist … racked up 1,013 kickoff return yards and 516 punt return yards in his three years on Lamar’s varsity squad … also recorded three interceptions during his senior campaign as a defensive back … finished his career with 1,283 all-purpose yards and 10 touchdowns … three-star prospect according 247Sports, ESPN and Rivals … ranked as the No. 58 defensive back in the 2019 class by Rivals … CHOSE TEXAS TECH OVER: Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa State, Louisville, Memphis, Minnesota, SMU, Utah
GILBERT IBENEME
DE | Pearland, Texas | Pearland H.S.
Signed National Letter of Intent … attended Pearland High School in Pearland, Texas … second team All-District selection in 2016, his sophomore year … amassed 30 total tackles in nine games during his senior campaign … totaled five sacks, one fumble recovery and 16 quarterback hurries … helped lead Pearland to an undefeated district record and a 10-1 overall record in 2018, including an appearance in the 2018 6A Division-I Bi-District round … missed the majority of his junior season due to an injury … four-star prospect by Rivals … listed as a three-star recruit by both 247Sports and ESPN … ranked as the No. 29 defensive end in his class and the No. 43 overall player in the state of Texas by Rivals … CHOSE TEXAS TECH OVER: Arkansas, Houston, Indiana, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, TCU, Texas A&M and Virginia
TRAVIS KOONTZ
TE | Youngstown, Ohio | Boardman H.S./Ventura C.C. (Calif.)
Signed National Letter of Intent … attended Ventura Community College in California prior to signing with the Red Raiders … caught 16 passes for 206 yards and three touchdowns as a sophomore at Ventura College in 2018 … helped lead the Pirates to an 11-2 season and an appearance in the California Community College Athletic Association title game … unanimous selection to the All-Northern League first team by the Southern California Football Association coaches … played his first season collegiately at Pierce Community College in Los Angeles … three-star prospect according to 247Sports, ESPN and Rivals … ranked as the No. 2 TE in the 2019 class by 247Sports … ranked among the top 50 junior-college prospects in the country by both Rivals and 247Sports … CHOSE TEXAS TECH OVER: Boise State, Connecticut, Georgia, Louisville, LSU, Maryland, Michigan State, Pittsburgh, San Diego State, TCU
TYRIQUE MATTHEWS
LB | Houston, Texas | Aldine Eisenhower H.S.
Signed National Letter of Intent … attended Aldine Eisenhower High School in Houston, Texas … played both sides of the ball during his junior and senior seasons … recorded 53 yards and one score on offense, playing at both receiver and running back over his career … averaged 6.2 tackles a game as a senior after finishing the year with 31 total tackles … also intercepted a pass … rated as a three-star recruit by 247Sports, ESPN and Rivals … ranked as the No. 37 outside linebacker in the 2019 class by Rivals … CHOSE TEXAS TECH OVER: Arkansas State, Army, Fresno State, Lamar, New Mexico, North Texas, SMU, Southern Miss, Texas State, Tulsa and UTSA
MAVERICK MCIVOR
QB | San Angelo, Texas | Central H.S.
Signed National Letter of Intent … attended Central High School in San Angelo, Texas … recorded his best season as a junior, throwing for 3,415 yards while rushing for 870 yards … accounted for 52 total touchdowns that season en route to being named the District 2-6A MVP … notched 43 passing touchdowns on the season with only eight interceptions … averaged 5.2 yards per carry over his 166 attempts on the ground … senior season was ended early in the year due to an injury … previously garnered second team All-District honors as a wide receiver his sophomore season … caught 35 passes that season for 532 yards and seven touchdowns … was also the backup quarterback, accounting for 290 passing yards and three touchdowns … consensus three-star prospect by the likes of 247Sports, Rivals and ESPN … rated the No. 18 dual-threat quarterback in the country by 247Sports … named one of the top 100 recruits in the country by all three publications … CHOSE TEXAS TECH OVER: Arizona State, Boise State, Colorado State, Iowa, Miami (Fla.), Minnesota, Ole Miss, North Carolina, North Texas, Rutgers, USC, UCLA, UTEP, UTSA and Washington State.
LANDON PETERSON
OL | Odessa, Texas | Permian H.S.
Signed National Letter of Intent … attended Permian High School in Odessa, Texas … helped lead Permian to an 8-4 record as a senior and an appearance in the Class 6A area round … named a unanimous first team All-District 2-6A selection as a senior … collected second team All-District honors his junior year … three-star prospect according to 247Sports, ESPN and Rivals … ranked as the No. 66 OL in the 2019 class by 247Sports … joins two other Permian graduates in recent years to join the Red Raiders in defensive backs Desmon Smith and Jax Welch … CHOSE TEXAS TECH OVER: Baylor, Colorado, Colorado State, Illinois, Nevada, North Texas, SMU, Virginia and Washington State
TREVOR ROBERSON
OL | Wellington, Texas | Wellington H.S.
Signed National Letter of Intent … attended Wellington High School in Wellington, Texas … was an Associated Press Class 2A honorable mention all-state selection in 2017 … first team All-District in 2016 as a sophomore … recorded a staggering 231 pancake blocks in his four years as a member of Wellington’s varsity squad … also amassed 126 tackles on the defensive line, including 61 during his senior year … racked up three sacks, seven pass deflections, a blocked punt and a blocked field goal over his sophomore and junior years … three-star recruit according to 247Sports, ESPN and Rivals … ranked as the No. 45 OT in the 2019 class by 247Sports … CHOSE TEXAS TECH OVER: Arkansas, Baylor, Houston, Iowa State, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, TCU, USC and Virginia
BRYCE ROBINSON
LB | Sachse, Texas | Sachse H.S.
Signed National Letter of Intent … first team All-District as a junior … finished his senior year with 103 total tackles, including 9.0 for loss … recorded 10.0 tackles for loss and 115 total tackles as a junior … finished his high school career with 272 tackles and 22.0 tackles for loss … also racked up eight sacks over his junior and senior seasons … caused four fumbles and recovered two over his career … caused a safety as a junior as well … three-star recruit according to 247Sports and ESPN … ranked as the No. 65 inside linebacker in the 2019 class by 247Sports … CHOSE TEXAS TECH OVER: Illinois State, Louisiana-Monroe, New Mexico State, North Texas, Texas State, UTSA
–TECH–
Matt Dowdy
