Surprise Visits Spice Up Longhorns’ Recruiting Efforts

With National Signing Day exactly two weeks away, the Texas coaching staff is hustling to put the finishing touches on a class that should rank in the nation’s top 10 despite the recent de-commitments of Tim Irvin and Louis Brown.

Two key weekends remain where the Longhorns hope to impress their remaining visitors. This weekend Texas expects to host a group that includes one of the nation’s top running back prospects, according to Rivals, Soso Jamabo of Plano West. Rivals ranks Jamabo as a 5-star prospect and the top running back and player in Texas.

Though high profile, Jamabo may not be the highest profile recruit to visit Austin. On Wednesday afternoon, the Longhorns’ staff received unofficial visits from two offensive players who have five state championship rings between them. Allen quarterback Kyler Murray and Cedar Hill receiver DaMarkus Lodge spent Wednesday on the 40 Acres, according to Gigem247. Murray, a 5-star quarterback committed to A&M, and Lodge, a 4-star receiver previously committed to A&M but also considering LSU and Ole Miss, tweeted out pictures of Longhorns jerseys with their numbers. Texas Football Magazine named Murray its 6A Player of the Year this season. He’s also the Gatorade National Player of the Year and the Texas Associated Press Sports Editors 6A Player of the Year.

Should he surprise many and switch from A&M to Texas, Murray would give the Longhorns another option to compete with[s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)] junior Tyrone Swoopes, redshirt freshman Jerrod Heard and Zach Gentry, a 4-star commit from New Mexico. Most expect he’d be in the mix to compete for playing time as soon as he steps on campus. He’s the nation’s top rated dual threat quarterback according to ESPN and 13^th ranked player overall. Rivals, which ranks Murray 71^st overall and the seventh best quarterback, still classifies him as a solid verbal commitment to A&M.

Lodge earned second-team all 6A honors after leading his Longhorns to back-to-back titles. He’s a tall, athletic receiver who makes plays all over the field. He ranks 61^st nationally according to Rivals, 57^th according to ESPN, which rates him as the seventh best receiver in the class.

The Longhorns have had 5-star running backs in recent years in Malcolm Brown and Johnathan Gray, but both have dealt with injuries, proving that too many running backs is never enough. Though 4-star recruits Kirk Johnson and Tristan Houston have already committed, a commitment from Jamabo would be a huge win for Strong’s staff.

The Longhorns hosted 4-star Rockwall running back Chris Warren III, the son of former NFL running back Chris Warren, in December. At 6-2, 235, Warren could be seen as a taller version of former Pflugerville Hendrickson star Samaje Perine, who left Central Texas to set the NCAA single game rushing record at Oklahoma this past season. ESPN thinks the Longhorns remain the school to beat for Warren, though he’ll visit Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and Washington before signing day.

Warren told HornSports.com http://www.hornsports.com/forums/topic/9461-burnt-ends-1-19/, though, that he isn’t crazy about being one of several running backs in a class, and if Jamabo or even Nick Brossette commit, he would take that information into consideration before announcing his destination on signing day.

Part of Charlie Strong’s recruiting class has already arrived. As many as six of them, Burnt Orange Nation reported last week, are early enrollees who began classes on Jan. 20. They’ll have a head start on the rest of the recruits by participating in off-season weight workouts and going through spring practice.

Irvin was supposed to be one of the early enrollees, but he flipped to Auburn over the weekend and enrolled there, according to the Ledger-Enquirer.

Strong and his staff have had a successful recruiting year to this point. Coming out of the NCAA-mandated dead period, where coaches weren’t allowed contact with recruits, Texas’ list of commitments ranked 8^th nationally according to ESPN.

Longhorns coaches – not to mention players and fans – hope that ranking climbs in the next two weeks. Before signing day, Texas welcomes visits from a pair of five-star defensive backs, a five-star running back and hopes to add to the class’ overall depth by adding quantity as well as high-end quality.

Texas expects to bring in as many as 31 new players – either incoming freshmen or transfers from junior college or other schools. Among the early enrollees is the class’ only 5-star commit Malik Jefferson, the outside linebacker from Mesquite.

With Irvin’s decommitment, the Longhorns need last weekend’s visits from ESPN top 300 players Holton Hill and Kris Boyd  to result in commitments. Both are Rivals 4-star prospects who rank 105 (Boyd) and 109 (Hill) on Rivals top 250 list. Both are defensive backs.

Despite the commitment of 4-star quarterback Gentry, a top 100-player as rated by both Rivals and ESPN, and prior to the possibility of 5-star Murray (which may prompt Gentry to look elsewhere, possibly Michigan), many believe Texas is still in the market for a quarterback and possibly for a graduate transfer who could play right away, reports Ty Duffy for The Big Lead.

Last Friday the American-Statesman reported that Connor Brewer, who transferred from Texas to Arizona in 2012 has been given his release from the Wildcats, will graduate this spring and is looking to transfer, possibly back to Texas. Brewer loved his time in Austin before leaving and was highly recruited out of Chapparal High in Arizona, but he’s thrown just as many college passes as Heard.

According to ESPN’s junior college player rankings, the highest rated quarterback, Chad Kelly, signed with Ole Miss. Rivals ranked JUCO quarterbacks Todd Mays (Oklahoma State) and Trent Hosick (BYU) higher than Kelly. A commitment from Murray, though, could negate the need for a transfer quarterback.

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