Zina Umeozulu has struggled for several months in trying to come to a final decision on his college destination, but he began to feel a sense of clarity last week. Moments ago, Umeozulu let the world know of his intentions it was good news for the Texas Longhorns.
A Rivals250 member out of Allen, Umeozulu becomes the Longhorns’ 17th commitment in the 2024 class and becomes UT’s third defensive end commitment, joining Colin Simmons and Melvin Hills.
Umeozulu had narrowed his focus down to three schools – Texas, Texas A&M and Oklahoma – and took multiple visits to each program, including official visits to all three schools in June. He always maintained it was a close race but most spectators felt Texas had the inside track for a number of reasons, including the fact that Umeozulu’s brother, Neto, is a current offensive lineman on the UT roster.
“I feel like Texas, I believe in what coach Sark can do,” Umeozulu told Orangeblods.com earlier this week.
The 6-4, 220-pound Umeozulu has been a top target for the Texas coaches for well over a year. He was actually in Austin for the Longhorns’ season-opening win over Rice, and the UT staff has stressed to him that they needed a talent like his in Austin.
“They said they need some elite guys in the SEC (next year). I feel like I fit that description,” Umeozulu said. “They’ve been saying if I was to come with Colin, we could come in and play together and dominate.”
Umeozulu burst onto the scenes as a sophomore, recording 46 tackles in 14 games, including 6 sacks and 8 QB hurries, earning District 5-6A Newcomer of the Year honors. He backed that up with another strong performance last year, notching 43 tackles, 3 sacks and 11 QB hurries in just nine games.
Umeozulu is ranked as a four-star prospect by Rivals.com and ranks No. 192 on the Rivals250.
