Micah Hudson’s journey has come full circle. After a short and unexpected stint with Texas A&M, the former five-star wide receiver returned to his original stomping grounds—Texas Tech. Hudson, the No. 22 overall recruit in the 2024 ESPN 300, entered the transfer portal after a tough freshman year in Lubbock. But was the move really because of the play time? Or is it just a misconception? Well, when the dust settles, it’s often more than meets the eye.Hudson’s freshman year fell short of expectations. Unlike fellow top recruits Jeremiah Smith, Ryan Williams, and Cam Coleman, he struggled, finishing with only eight catches for 123 yards before a stress fracture ended his season early. The pressure of being Texas Tech’s highest-ranked recruit, coupled with high expectations and limited playing time, clearly affected him.Now, that playtime became a major concern for the entire Texas Tech fan base, but it was his health that restricted his move. “I think probably the misconception is that he should have played more last year than he played. And the reason why I say that is because people looked at him and thought, ‘Okay, five-star receiver, been—have heard about this guy forever, super highly ranked recruit, he should walk in and start on day one.’ But what people were not taking into account was, specifically, his health,” Don Williams of 365 Sports revealed.Micah Hudson’s spring injury slowed things down for him a bit. Worst part? He already had a surgery just coming off of his HS. “I think his arthroscopic-type knee surgery was done coming out of high school. So that happened, I think, right around the time that he arrived at Tech. So, [he] was not [healthy]—[he] didn’t work in spring practice last year and didn’t really return until right around the start of, preseason practice in August last year. Played some, but, you know, he had not had that benefit of spring practice,” Williams said.Just as he was gaining momentum mid-season, the injury derailed his progress. His late-season injury prevented a potential breakout, leaving him sidelined when he was finally starting to shine. The timing was devastating; his promising start was abruptly halted. Instead of a stellar debut, Hudson spent the season’s end on the bench, watching his opportunity slip away. Texas Tech, meanwhile, is far from idle. Their impressive transfer haul, including standout receiver Reggie Virgil (Miami, Ohio) and tight end Terrance Carter (Louisiana), might be the nation’s best.Add returning starters Caleb Douglas and Coy Eakin, and the Red Raiders are primed for a Big 12 title run and even a College Football Playoff appearance. With Hudson’s return, they could have the offensive firepower to win it all.So, if it was just injury keeping him on the sidelines, then what made Micah Hudson hit the portal?What pushed Micah Hudson to hit the portal?Now, when you come off as the highest-ranked recruit in the program’s history and couldn’t make much of an impact, it sure takes a toll on you. And when fellow five-star recruits like Jeremiah Smith or Ryan Williams shine as freshmen while you struggle to earn a significant role, things can spiral quickly. So, Micah Hudson entered the portal in the winter window and spent roughly a month with Texas A&M before making his way back to Joey McGuire‘s team before the spring.Many believed that Micah came back to Texas Tech following a big check, as back in December, a tweet went viral that Micah Hudson was demanding a whopping $700,000 NIL. But it was all fluff, as it was more of a fit thing. And at Red Raiders, he felt like he belonged despite those early issues. As he talked about his portal move, Don Williams said, “Well, now, we only got to hear from him once, so we hadn’t really heard Micah’s side of the story. The time we got to hear from him was in August last year, so I can only speculate on that. But, you know, Joey MaGuire said last week he thought they both made mistakes. He said he felt like he put way too much pressure on Micah.”But McGuire even admitted that Micah Hudson was one of the most talented players Joey McGuire ever coached. “Joey said that he was better than—he—there are like four professional football receivers that Joey coached in high school at Cedar Hill, and Joey said, ‘None of those guys are as good as Micah Hudson,'” Williams revealed. On top of that, Joey McGuire once said that no freshman would ever get a single-digit jersey number. But then he gave Micah Hudson the number one jersey, which was a big deal. It was Micah’s gameplay and maturity that sealed the deal for him.Now, playtime was an obvious concern, but let’s be real: if a player isn’t in his best form, it’s hard for a coach to give him more time on the field. Still, bad advice might have influenced Micah’s mindset. “I guess some people maybe closer to them—to him—were probably also disgruntled that he—not only did he not catch 60 passes for 1,000 yards or pick your statistics—he also just didn’t play a whole lot, much less start. And so Joey kind of implied that Micah was maybe getting some bad advice from somewhere,” Williams explained.Well, now that Micah Hudson is back with the Red Raiders, let’s see if he can finally cross that 1,000-yard mark…The post Micah Hudson’s Concerning Intel Emerges as Real Reason for Ditching Texas Tech Revealed appeared first on EssentiallySports.