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A bit more on five-star running back Trey Sanders, who told OB this week that Texas is very high on his list after his recent UT visit (see our initial report here if you missed it) ...
The Texas coaches have obviously made Sanders a priority, but the Longhorns have a few others working on the IMG Academy standout as well. Sanders mentioned that guys like Kenyatta Watson and Jordan Whittington are recruiting him, and he said former IMG teammate and current Longhorn Dele Adeoye is in his ear as well.
“My former teammate, Dele, he always talks to me about going to Texas,” Sanders said. “I tell him, play with him, say ‘Hey man, I’m going to commit to Texas right now.’ He’s always like, ‘Stop playing with me man, stop playing with me.’ But yeah, they’re talking to me quite a bit.
“I talk to a lot of Texas recruits like Kenyatta (Watson) and all those boys that are committed. Jordan Whittington, they always stay on me about coming to Texas, things like that. They’re in my DMs all the time and I was hanging out with Jordan when I was at Texas. Even when we were in the facility, he was hounding me about committing.”
Of course, Texas is recruiting a couple of Sanders’ IMG teammates in running back Noah Cain and offensive lineman Chris Akporoghene as well. I asked Sanders if he and his teammates ever talk about playing together in college and he said they do, especially him and Cain. On the surface, the odds of two top running backs from the same high school attending the same college would seem very low, but Sanders said it’s not out of the question.
“That’s very possible. I feel like we know what we can do with each other, so I feel like that’s a high chance,” Sanders said.
One potential wildcard in this one is that Sanders’ brother, linebacker Umstead Sanders, just enrolled at Florida on Thursday. Sanders admitted that having his brother in Gainesville does help Florida’s chances.
“It helps a lot. I’ve always wanted to play with my brother in college,” Sanders said. “We always talk about it, but even if I don’t go to Florida, I’m going to tear his head off if I see him on the field. I tell him that all the time too.”
For Texas to have a legitimate shot in this one, getting Sanders back to campus will be imperative. He did tell me he wants to try to return to Austin later this summer and will “probably” set up an official visit, so Texas should have another chance or two to make an impression.
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Kentwood (LA) wide receiver Trey Palmer is a Rivals100 member. He’s going to be very tough to pull away from LSU, but Palmer did tell me at the Rivals100 Five-Star Challenge that he’s planning to take an official visit to Texas, if the UT staff wants to roll the dice and bring him in.
“I’ve always liked them. I use to play them in (video) games and stuff,” Palmer said. “I like their wide receivers coach and I want to go check out their academic programs and things.”
Palmer admitted that LSU is a major player for him and said he’s realistically looking at about five schools. We’ll see if Texas actually pushes for a visit in this one since there are other receivers who seem like stronger possibilities, but it’s not out of the question that Palmer does come in for a visit in the fall.
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Speaking of more likely receivers, I was able to catch up with Elijah Higgins at Five-Star check-in to pick his brain.
On his status:
“I’m narrowing it down. I want to narrow it down and kind of get things out of the way, focus on what I really want to focus on. I don’t have much time left. I probably have close to a month in a half where I really want to sit down and figure things out for myself.”
On how many schools he’s going to keep on his list:
“I’ll probably do anywhere from five to six, because those are really the schools I can see myself going to. I’m not really one to throw in schools just for fun. I really want to start narrowing things down, being honest with myself, basically, being true to myself.”
On Texas making the cut:
“Oh yeah, they’re in there … they’ll be in there for sure.”
On his recent unofficial visits to Texas:
“Usually on visits, you kind of just meet with the coaches, get a feel for where they’re at. But I’ve already passed that stage, I know what the coaches are like, I have a relationship build there with coach Beck and coach Mehringer, coach Herman. All the coaches there, really – coach Washington. So it was really just me sitting down with them, in the film room and seeing what it was really about and them comparing me to different players and things (the staff compared him to Lil’Jordan Humphrey), where they could see me fitting in for them.”
On committing this summer and whether or not he’ll still take official visits:
“That will probably be the only official. Some schools don’t care if you go out and have fun, if you want to enjoy it. But some schools once you’re done, kind of want you to be done. Really I guess that’s up to me. I feel like if I’m unsigned, a person can’t really tell me what I can and can’t do, but I’m going to respect wherever I go and their influence on me and what they want me to do.”
On Ohio State, where he has visited officially and unofficially:
“Just what they have right now. It’s an established franchise, I guess. Urban Meyer there, one of the best coaches in college football. Garrett Wilson is one of my good friends, so he’s pulling for me to. It was fun. It was really just me getting my family up there, my parents, my brother and sister. I hyped it up. I loved it when I went there for an unofficial, I went with Grant Gunnell. It was an amazing time, and amazing place. I wanted them to see that and understand where I was coming from. I think they got it. … It was a great experience, probably one of the best officials I’ll ever take. It was a lot of fun.”
On Florida, where he visited unofficially recently:
“Growing up a Florida fan – I don’t watch much college football – but I was really surrounded by Florida Gators, orange and blue. Once I got up there, it was like a home feeling for me. The coaches were really nice, really great people. Everything was just structured in a way that it was really for me. It just felt like home, family, they let us right in. Just a great place overall.”
On how close the race is between the five or six schools on his mind:
“Oh, it’s close. It’s really close for me. Really it’s day by day. Every day I wake up and see a different name in my head. I’m really just waiting for consistency at this point. I think that consistency is going to come with me sitting down and really evaluating schools, seeing where I see myself fitting. That’s what is going to win, after I sit myself down.”
On how he’ll find one school to choose:
“My family is there for me, my dad and my mom are who I rely on the most. My dad really knows what he’s talking about. He’s a big college fanatic, so he knows the coaches and things like that. But for me, it’s really about feeling what’s right. It sounds a little cliché and cheesy, but it’s really true, the more you get around, the more you understand what you feel and don’t feel. I think that’s really going to play a role in this.”
On what Texas has to offer that’s different than the other schools in the mix:
“Hometown, obviously. I think what they’re trying to do there is a lot different than a lot of schools. Obviously they’ve been very successful in the past. I think they’re at a point right before the peak. I think that’s what’s really different with them than other schools. I think they’re going to prove really soon that they’re Texas. That’s what’s really cool about them is that I think they’re going to do really great things in the near future.”
On if his parents want him to stay close to home:
“They’re cool. She enjoyed Ohio State a lot. I can tell they don’t care where I go. I’ve lived in Columbus before. I know what it’s like, they know what it’s like. I lived in Florida, so everyone knows what it’s like there too. I have ties all over. I don’t think that’s really a factor for me. I think the only factor is that Austin is right there, and it’s a lot different for them to recruit me than other schools. I think that’s the only factor as far as location is concerned is that Austin is right there for me.”
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Wide receiver Makiya Tongue released a top three of Georgia, Texas and Arizona State this week, and while there’s been some buzz about Georgia after Tongue took an official visit there a couple weeks ago, we have reason to believe the Longhorns are in a better spot right now than most realize.
Georgia is definitely a threat here with Arizona being a wildcard, but with Tongue hoping to make his decision this summer, we heard this week that this one could fall Texas’ way for the Baton Rouge University Lab product.
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A quick update on Lake Travis wide receiver Garrett Wilson, who was once again exceptional at the Five-Star Challenge. Wilson chose Ohio State over Texas, but said the UT staff does stay in touch.
“They still text me. They asked me to go to the pool thing they had a couple weeks ago. They’re taking it a little easier but they’re still hitting me up a little bit,” Wilson said. “When they check in with me, I always talk back with them. There’s no hate, we’re just talking. They try to get me to come by campus, things like that. But it’s never too much. I just take it for what it is.”
So does Texas have a chance?
“I’m pretty locked in on the Buckeyes. I’m going to be a Buckeye whenever it’s time for college. I love the Longhorns, but that’s pretty much where it’s at,” Wilson said.
In reading Wilson’s body language and tone, this one feels like it’s going to be extremely tough for Texas to get him to reconsider his Ohio State pledge.
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While in Atlanta this week, I had the chance to pick the brain of Ralph Amsden, who covers recruiting for ArizonaVarsity.com and ASUDevils.com. Amsden has covered Jake Smith and Brayden Liebrock for the past couple years and has seen them live on numerous occasions, so I figured he’d be a good source for some background on Texas commitments Jake Smith and Brayden Liebrock.
On what Smith brings to the table:
“The best thing about Jake Smith is his acceleration. We haven’t had a player like him in the state of Arizona who can get to his top speed as fast as him. He’s probably, I’d say, the number two guy on the West Coast outside of Sean Dollars, as far as being able to get into his top speed right away. His hands are very good. His ability to adjust his speed when the ball is in the air, and his ability to get around the corner are probably the best two parts of his game. The other thing that’s huge for him, as a lacrosse player, he understands finding open space and he’s all about the physicality. He’s definitely not soft, and he’s definitely not somebody who I’ve seen get flustered by someone trying to jam him or anything like that. Then again, he gets moved around so much that it’s really tough to gauge where he’s coming from and what he’s going to do.”
On what Smith will bring to the Texas program:
“The nice thing about going to Texas, I think he sees that he won’t necessarily just be a package guy. … I think he wants to be on the field all the time. I think with some patience and with some development out there, I think obviously you utilize speed like that as quickly as you can, but he’s to me a guy you can depend on at receiver. I think he saw that opportunity at Texas more than anywhere else. It remains to be seen – Arizona kids aren’t exactly known for faring well in the Big 12. We sent Connor Brewer your way and that didn’t work out so well. But speed kills and it translates everywhere, and that’s what he brings to the table.”
On what Brayden Liebrock brings to the table:
“A couple things with him. He has 4.7 speed at 6-5, when you have a completely undeveloped frame, is exciting for any type of player. But his route running ability and his hands, I think he’s shown by dominating 7 on 7 competition all off-season. I know some people say ‘Well that’s not real football’ but the guy is out there embarrassing some of the best players in the Southwest, some of the best players in Florida, some of the best players from California. Part of it is that he has really great chemistry with quarterback Jacob Conover (BYU commitment) and another part of it is just a combination of speed, route running, intelligence and hands. I think some areas of opportunity, you’re going to have to build him up a little bit to be a reliable blocker. That’s something that needs a little bit of work on his part. The other thing is relative inexperience. He didn’t score a touchdown until the first game of the playoffs of his junior year. Gunner Romney was the guy there where most of the targets went. He really only came alive in the playoffs and then in the Geico Bowl against a team out of Florida that he absolutely destroyed. So his emergence is so sudden that you want to see if he has the ability to sustain it against top level competition when he’s receiver 1A from Chandler High.”
On what he feels is allowing Texas to have so much success in recruiting Arizona this year:
“I think it’s twofold. I think the talent level in Arizona is increasing to the point where they had 16 Power 5 commits last year, this year they’re going to have around 35 or 40. And next year they’ve already got seven guys in the Rivals250. The boom in Arizona is out of control right now. Tim Beck came from Saguoro High School out in Scottsdale so he has some familiarity. I think when they look at Arizona, they see that ASU hasn’t been able to keep kids home, UofA hasn’t been able to keep kids home, and the people that have traditionally feasted on that are USC and Oregon. Now that there’s more for everybody, you’re seeing the Big 12 start to show up. I think Texas looks at that and says, why not? When they go out, they’re very intentional, they know the area, they make the kids feel wanted in a way that the other schools in the area haven’t been. To pull Jake Smith away from what he essentially called his dream school and to pull Brayden Liebrock away from the potential opportunity to play with his high school quarterback at Arizona State, that’s big. Both of them basically said we’ve never seen anything like this city (Austin), and they just felt wanted. When the Texas coaches come out to Arizona, they go in the morning and they don’t leave. They stay until well into practice and just watch and observe. Just being around like that and showing that you want these players is everything to these guys. You have to make them feel wanted and right now the in-state schools aren’t doing it.”
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The running backs coach at the Five-Star Challenge was none other than former Longhorn great Priest Holmes. I was able to grab him for a couple minutes in between drills to get his thoughts on a few topics …
On how closely he follows the Texas program:
“Very closely. I’m retired and back in San Antonio so I have a lot more time on my hands to be able to do nonprofit work, give out scholarships and support my Longhorns (Note: Holmes provides educational scholarships through the Priest Holmes Foundation. Find out more at priestholmesfoundation.org). I’m excited. I was up at UT this past November of last year. I had a great opportunity to be there. We actually were not on the same schedule so I didn’t have an opportunity to meet (Tom) Herman there, but he opened up the doorways and that’s what we really like. The fact that with him coming in, he’s making sure that the former players that have had many years of success there are able to come back and it’s kind of an open-door policy to get back involved with the school.”
On what kind of progress he sees in Herman’s time on the job at Texas:
“I’ve heard a lot of great things about him. He has a wonderful track record coming over from Houston. I think also, just because of that pedigree and having that tie to the University of Texas at Austin, it’s one thing you always love to do is have the boosters on your side. I think he has that and people have said a lot of great things about him. As far as just corralling the players, making them believe in his system, I believe that’s taken place. It’s just a matter of giving him a little bit of time and I think we’ll see some success. We’re excited to know that we can know that we have to put a quarterback product out there that can show some impact, and I think that they have the ability to do that.
“It always comes back to quarterback play, especially in that conference, so you definitely want to put the best product out there, but you better make sure the team believes in what you’re putting out there at quarterback and he has to have the leadership skills to move the team forward.”
On Texas trying to get back to having a stable of backs like when he played:
“We had a great run. It was running back by committee. Me and Shon (Mitchell) always said they needed to get us out of the way so they could put a fullback in front of Ricky and let him do his thing. You saw what he did when they put a fullback in front of him. He broke tons of records.”
On his best memory from his time at Texas:
“Some of my greatest memories were the bowl games where I was able to have some success. The Sun Bowl was something that I definitely had fun playing in that game, having that comeback victory over North Carolina. Mack Brown was actually the coach there at the time, so there’s some irony there. But then, my freshman year. We came in with some chips on our shoulders. We had Mike Adams, Lovell Pinkney, a big receiver out of the D.C. area, Kenny Harrison. We just felt like we really had a special rookie class coming in. The majority of our guys that year, actually had a chance to start that year at some point of the year. So that was really big for us because we were a really tight-knit group.”
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This week, Texas hosted Elkins (Fort Bend) 2019 guard Donovan Williams on Monday, and today Pearce (Richardson) 2019 big Drew Timme was on campus for a visit. Let’s start with Williams.
“I thought the visit was great. The facilities are top notch. The coaches are great, real nice personalities. The players hold each other accountable, nice to meet them and talk to them,” said Williams. “I was able to watch a workout in the weight room and it really opened my eyes to some different things.”
Williams goes way back with Texas assistant coach Jai Lucas. In fact, Williams said he’ll spend his free time coming up in the gym with Jai’s father, John Lucas. As for a Texas offer, the Longhorns told Williams they’ll be watching him closely during the July evaluation period.
“They said they wanted to see me more in July. I was supposed to go to their team camp, but I’m going to see my sister. They want to see me a little more,” said the Rivals150 guard.
Williams said he’d like to have a decision made by November, and aims to sign in the first period. He also visited SMU, who he hears often from, and is also hearing a lot from recent offers Arizona State and Miami. After talking to him again, my thinking remains the same: Texas would be tough to beat if it offers.
Timme was on his way back to Dallas when I talked to him, and he’s been busy. The nation’s No. 48 prospect visited Baylor earlier this week, and tomorrow his high school team will be in Lubbock for the Texas Tech team camp.
Like Williams, Timme mentioned the facilities, and they’ve changed since Timme was last on campus about a year ago.
“It was good. Caught up with the whole staff again,” he said about the UT visit. “They talked about how they see me, seeing the facilities. Way nicer since than the last time I saw them.”
Timme said the Longhorns talked a lot about how they’d use him, which is important to him because he’s a uniquely skilled big that can profile in a number of ways. He’s also a guy that does his homework about previous and current players at his position or similar.
“Every school that’s recruited me I dig into their record of guys that play the same position as me or similar. That’s how I do my research… I’m not a typical four or five, so it’s important to see how they’ve used their big guys,” said the four-star prospect.
It seemed like the Longhorns recent history with big guys has his attention, but Timme also described his approach to listing schools right now as “political,” and isn’t ready to name any school ahead of another because so many are showing interest. However, the Dallas-area prospect did state he’d like to have a list after Peach Jam. Right now, I think Timme is still taking it all in and evaluating all the programs closely. The vibe on campus after his visit is that it went very well. (McComas)
