From Lubbock to the Buckeyes: Isaiah Kema Watches Texas Tech’s Rise with Pride
Isaiah Kema knows Lubbock. He played high school football at Frenship, just outside the city limits, and even though his college journey took him far from West Texas, he still carries that hometown identity with him. Now a freshman offensive lineman at Ohio State, Kema finds himself fielding a surprising number of questions from teammates-not about the Buckeyes, but about the Red Raiders.
Texas Tech’s unexpected surge this season has turned heads across the college football landscape. And for Kema, who once had a scholarship offer from Tech, it’s been a wild thing to watch-especially from inside one of the sport’s blue-blood programs.
“People ask me all the time, ‘Who is Cody Campbell?’” Kema said during Cotton Bowl media day. “I don’t know… Who is that?”
Campbell, of course, is a major donor and former Tech offensive lineman whose name has become synonymous with the Red Raiders’ recent investment in football infrastructure. But Kema’s confusion is understandable-when he was coming out of high school, Texas Tech was still a program trying to find its footing.
And then there are the questions about Lubbock itself.
“I tell them it’s all dirty,” Kema said with a laugh. “I mean, yeah, I love the people there, but it’s kind of an ugly place. Have you been there?”
He wasn’t throwing shade-just being real about the wind, the sandstorms, and the endless stretch of West Texas flatland. But he was quick to double back and give credit where it’s due.
“I love the town, and the people. The people there are great,” he said.
“I think a lot of people in Lubbock would agree-it’s a lot of dirt. There’s sandstorms and stuff like that, or dirt storms.”
But what’s happening with Texas Tech football right now? That’s not dirt-it’s gold.
The Red Raiders are riding high after winning the Big 12 for the first time, and they’re headed to the Orange Bowl for a College Football Playoff quarterfinal matchup with Oregon. It’s not a fluke.
This is the product of serious investment-financial, cultural, and strategic. Years of building under head coach Joey McGuire have finally paid off.
For fans and alumni, it’s been a dream season. For Kema, it’s been a pleasant surprise-but not a total shock.
“I don’t think it’s weird for me to see Tech doing well, because I grew up around a bunch of people from Texas and I know there is a lot of talent,” he said. “It just makes sense to be able to be a good team eventually.”
Kema’s father, Troy, is a longtime college assistant coach and currently serves as the director of player engagement at Texas A&M. The family moved around often, and Isaiah’s time in Lubbock was limited to high school. Still, it left a mark.
Texas Tech made a push to land him out of high school, offering him a scholarship. But like a lot of recruits at the time, Kema saw a program that hadn’t quite figured it out.
Even with Patrick Mahomes under center a few years earlier, Tech was still stuck in the middle of the pack. The Mike Leach era felt like a distant memory.
Kema originally committed to Oklahoma State in 2023, but never suited up for the Cowboys. Instead, he spent two years on a church mission in New Zealand. When he returned to the U.S., he made a new choice-this time, Ohio State.
By the time he committed to the Buckeyes in August 2025, the Red Raiders were just beginning to turn heads. But no one could’ve predicted this kind of leap. What Tech has done under McGuire isn’t just a turnaround-it’s a full-on transformation.
Still, Kema can’t help but watch with pride.
“I did think that eventually they would be a good program because there is good football played in West Texas,” he said. “When I was in high school, they were still struggling, so it was hard to see that in the future. But I am proud to be from Lubbock, and to see what they are doing.”
For a kid who grew up surrounded by dust and dirt storms, watching his hometown team rise to the national stage feels like a win-even from 1,200 miles away in Columbus.
And there’s nothing dirty about that.