Over the years Texas Tech has received commitments from its fair share of the state’s top talent, but on Friday night they picked up what might be their biggest commit yet as Stephenville, Texas 247Sports Composite five-star quarterback Jarrett Stidham has decided to be a Red Raider.

Stidham is the highest-rated recruit to commit to Texas Tech in more than a decade.

“I’m officially committed to Texas Tech now,” Stidham told WreckEm247 moments after calling Kliff Kingsbury personally to deliver the news. “I’m a Red Raider! It feels great.”

It’s been a long time coming for Stidham, who has wanted to end the process for a while now. Over the past few months he was pretty sure Lubbock was the place for him, but a trip this past weekend out west solidified those feelings.

“I thought I knew before this weekend, but after taking a visit there on Sunday really made everything clear for me,” Stidham said. “I’d say within the first hour of me being on campus on Sunday I just knew. I was thinking to myself ‘this is it, this is what I want’ and it was just clear. I knew right away that I wanted to be there.”

The 6-foot-4, 190-pound signal caller had more than his fair share of options to choose from and had offers from some of college football’s biggest names including Alabama, Ohio State, Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Oregon and more.

None felt like home to Stidham quite like Texas Tech, however.

“Just being comfortable there was such a major deal for me,” he explained. “Having that comfortable level with the school, the town and the coaches was really big.”

“I love Lubbock and I love the school,” Stidham added. “It’s just Texas Tech as a whole honestly. The entire university from the student body to the campus to the gameday experience is something I really felt at ease with. Everything feels so natural and right there to me. I just get a really good vibe from the place and know that it’s right for me.”

Of course there were a couple of other factors that played into his decision as well, with the main ones being the coaching staff and the direction that Kingsbury is taking the program.

“Those guys are great,” said Stidham. “The coaching staff is very young and many of them played there, so they know what we’re going through right now which is very cool to me. They’ve been in my shoes as a recruit, they’ll have been in my shoes as a student and athlete at Texas Tech, and that’s something most coaching staffs can’t say. I think what they’re doing with that program is spectacular and I want to be a part of it.”

Now, with his decision out of the way, the Stephenville will begin to help his future team as much as possible both on and off the field.

“I don’t have to worry about it anymore which is great in my book,” Stidham said. “I can focus on getting better as a player and working on getting more recruits to Lubbock. I’m definitely ready to help however I can, that’s for sure.”

Last season he completed 156-of-254 passes for 2,613 yards, 30 touchdowns and just five interceptions and carried the ball 138 times for 821 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Stidham is considered to be a five-star prospect in the 247Sports Composite rankings and is ranked the No. 2 dual-threat quarterback and No. 32 prospect overall, regardless of position, nationally.