A bit of background on the commitments of Demariyon Houston and Marques Caldwell …
Texas picked up two commitments on Saturday, but the truth is, decisions on both had been in the works for a while.
While in Atlanta for the Five-Star Challenge about a week-and-a-half ago, I heard through the grapevine that Marcus Major would be committing to Oklahoma (he would do it a few days later) and that Demariyon Houston was favoring Texas if he was to decide at that time. On June 30, the same night of Major’s commitment to OU, Houston announced he would be committing on July 7. Obviously, things looked good for Texas – which is why I mentioned on the board that UT’s chances were better than most realized – but I hadn’t yet received confirmation from Houston or anyone close to him that the pick was for sure Texas.
On Thursday of this week, I caught up with Houston’s coaches and it was confirmed that the choice was definitely Texas, and they gave me quotes on the decision. As it turns out, this race wasn’t nearly as close as everyone thought. Houston actually told his coaches over a week ago that he was committing to Texas (one of them told me he had texted someone at UT to let them know but I can’t confirm that), so the talk of Oklahoma State being a big threat was a bit overblown. It turns out, Houston has felt really good about Texas ever since he visited way back in March, and his mind was made up a while ago.
One thing I was told about Houston … he’s a hard worker who has a real drive to be great. And he’ll come to Austin with a chip on his shoulder after Oklahoma went out and plucked three receivers from the state of Texas without ever giving Houston an offer.
On Caldwell, that one has pretty much been a no-brainer for anyone who has been paying attention, but it did take a little while longer for his UT commitment to come to fruition than most thought.
Looking back through my old text messages, Caldwell actually told me back on May 22 that he was a silent commitment to Texas but things needed to be finalized because Tom Herman had to sign off on the commitment. From what I’ve gathered in talking to other sources, it wasn’t a case of Caldwell “directly” giving Texas a silent commitment … instead it was more a case that he made the decision in his mind. I actually had a commitment story and Rivals.com commitment graphic made up and have been sitting on those for a month and a half.
Texas preferred that Caldwell officially decommit from Oregon before flipping his decision and Caldwell did struggle with that a bit, but after taking an unofficial visit to UT just before the dead period started in late June, Caldwell and his family were sold. He decommitted from Oregon a couple days later and the writing was on the wall at that point. Caldwell notified me on Tuesday of this week that he’d be committing on Saturday, and the news came out this afternoon at 2:30.
Big day for Texas, and congratulations to both young men on their commitments.
Texas picked up two commitments on Saturday, but the truth is, decisions on both had been in the works for a while.
While in Atlanta for the Five-Star Challenge about a week-and-a-half ago, I heard through the grapevine that Marcus Major would be committing to Oklahoma (he would do it a few days later) and that Demariyon Houston was favoring Texas if he was to decide at that time. On June 30, the same night of Major’s commitment to OU, Houston announced he would be committing on July 7. Obviously, things looked good for Texas – which is why I mentioned on the board that UT’s chances were better than most realized – but I hadn’t yet received confirmation from Houston or anyone close to him that the pick was for sure Texas.
On Thursday of this week, I caught up with Houston’s coaches and it was confirmed that the choice was definitely Texas, and they gave me quotes on the decision. As it turns out, this race wasn’t nearly as close as everyone thought. Houston actually told his coaches over a week ago that he was committing to Texas (one of them told me he had texted someone at UT to let them know but I can’t confirm that), so the talk of Oklahoma State being a big threat was a bit overblown. It turns out, Houston has felt really good about Texas ever since he visited way back in March, and his mind was made up a while ago.
One thing I was told about Houston … he’s a hard worker who has a real drive to be great. And he’ll come to Austin with a chip on his shoulder after Oklahoma went out and plucked three receivers from the state of Texas without ever giving Houston an offer.
On Caldwell, that one has pretty much been a no-brainer for anyone who has been paying attention, but it did take a little while longer for his UT commitment to come to fruition than most thought.
Looking back through my old text messages, Caldwell actually told me back on May 22 that he was a silent commitment to Texas but things needed to be finalized because Tom Herman had to sign off on the commitment. From what I’ve gathered in talking to other sources, it wasn’t a case of Caldwell “directly” giving Texas a silent commitment … instead it was more a case that he made the decision in his mind. I actually had a commitment story and Rivals.com commitment graphic made up and have been sitting on those for a month and a half.
Texas preferred that Caldwell officially decommit from Oregon before flipping his decision and Caldwell did struggle with that a bit, but after taking an unofficial visit to UT just before the dead period started in late June, Caldwell and his family were sold. He decommitted from Oregon a couple days later and the writing was on the wall at that point. Caldwell notified me on Tuesday of this week that he’d be committing on Saturday, and the news came out this afternoon at 2:30.
Big day for Texas, and congratulations to both young men on their commitments.
