LUBBOCK, Tx. -College football’s national signing periods start in five and seven months, respectively, and Texas Tech just picked up its ninth oral commitment for the class on Friday. The Red Raiders already have a big chunk of the class’s defensive line in place, though.
DeMeco Roland, a defensive tackle from Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College, made his pledge to the Red Raiders on Friday. He’s the fourth defensive linemen in the class, joining ends E’Maurion Banks from Wichita Falls Rider and Charles Esters III from Cedar Hill and nose tackle Solomon Wright from Vian, Oklahoma.
Hutchinson lists Roland at 6-foot-3 and 306 pounds. As a freshman last season, he was credited with five tackles, including 1 1/2 tackles for loss.
According to recruiting services, Roland also has been offered scholarships by Arkansas, Arkansas State, Nevada, North Texas, Syracuse and UT-San Antonio.
As a high-school senior in 2018, Roland was a starter on the Oklahoma Class 6A state championship team at Broken Arrow. He was credited with 47 tackles, including seven tackles for loss and two sacks, helping Broken Arrow go 13-0.
Before that season, he was listed by The Oklahoman as the state’s No. 23 prospect on the newspaper’s Super 30 list of top recruits.
Roland’s hometown just outside Tulsa, Oklahoma, is 13 miles from that of Texas Tech offensive line coach Steve Farmer, who’s from Coweta, and 82 miles from Tech coach Matt Wells’ hometown of Sallisaw.
Roland committed to North Texas out of high school, but wound up going the junior-college route.
The NJCAA announced on Thursday its recommendation that the majority of fall sports competition move to the spring of 2021 as a precaution against the COVID-19 outbreak. Roland told Red Raider Sports he plans to graduate from Hutchinson in December and then transfer to Tech.