Monday is check-in for the All-American Bowl in San Antonio, and OB will be on hand to catch up with the Texas commitments in attendance, as well as a couple uncommitted guys that have been on the Longhorns’ recruiting radar.
A look at what we’ll be watching …
Alfred Collins – Without question, the biggest story of the week for Texas fans from a recruiting perspective. The Bastrop Cedar Creek product is one of the few uncommitted prospects that have been on UT’s radar for a while, so it’ll be good to check in with Collins to find out from him where things stand as he hits the home stretch. Despite a lot of people predicting that he’d commit early (even way back in the spring), Collins has stuck to his guns about announcing in February. This one appears to be a three-team race with Texas, Oklahoma and Baylor all still in the race. Interestingly, I’ve heard there’s confidence from all three sides over the last month or so. With Texas hiring Chris Ash as DC and Oscar Giles expected to remain on staff, we’ll gauge Collins’ feelings on the Texas defensive staff and find out if he plans to make any unofficial visits once the dead period is over. I’ve had Texas as the leader in this one for as long as I remember and while OU and Baylor have made it very interesting, I still tend to favor the Longhorns ever so slightly.
Kelee Ringo – The five-star corner has gone quiet of late, but that should change today when he arrives and meets with the media. The plan for Ringo has always been for him to announce at this game on January 4, so we’ll see if that’s still in the works. The rumor of late is that Ringo signed in December (largely based on a tweet he made hinting that he’d signed). If that’s true, and he didn’t take a Texas official visit, you can pretty much write this one off.
Bijan Robinson – He’s always a guy that people want to hear from, so it’ll be nice to catch up with the five-star back. With Robinson, I’ll be interested to hear his thoughts on new offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich, how important it was for him to have Stan Drayton remain on staff and if there ever really was a moment when he wavered on his commitment. On the field, these games usually aren’t set up for the offenses to thrive, especially the running game because so much of that is about timing and these guys are just thrown together for a few practices, but I’ll be excited to see how Robinson matches up. He more than held his own at the Five-Star Challenge over the summer so I’d expect the same this week.
Andrej Karic – Karic is pretty much a ghost when it comes to the media, so getting some face time with him today will be good. He committed early and never wavered so there’s no real sexy stories to discuss, but I’m as curious to see him on the field this week as maybe any other player I’ll be covering. My guess is that he’s going to surprise some people.
Prince Dorbah – He’s similar to Karic in that recruitment didn’t really have any mystery to it, but I’ll be interested to hear his thoughts on Chris Ash and find out if he’s had any discussions with Texas’ new DC.
Xavion Alford – I just talked to Alford a couple weeks ago so there won’t be anything new to report here. He’ll be in San Antonio but won’t be participating as he works to recover from a knee injury that kept him out of most of his senior season. Alford, an early enrollee, told me a couple weeks ago he should be ready to go for spring practices.
L.V. Bunkley-Shelton – This one’s pretty much dead as it relates to Texas, but I’ll check in with him nonetheless for those who are interested in where he’ll wind up. The Longhorns were always a team Bunkley-Shelton liked, but getting him to Austin was always going to be tough for a variety of reasons.
Full roster for the game HERE.
A look at what we’ll be watching …
Alfred Collins – Without question, the biggest story of the week for Texas fans from a recruiting perspective. The Bastrop Cedar Creek product is one of the few uncommitted prospects that have been on UT’s radar for a while, so it’ll be good to check in with Collins to find out from him where things stand as he hits the home stretch. Despite a lot of people predicting that he’d commit early (even way back in the spring), Collins has stuck to his guns about announcing in February. This one appears to be a three-team race with Texas, Oklahoma and Baylor all still in the race. Interestingly, I’ve heard there’s confidence from all three sides over the last month or so. With Texas hiring Chris Ash as DC and Oscar Giles expected to remain on staff, we’ll gauge Collins’ feelings on the Texas defensive staff and find out if he plans to make any unofficial visits once the dead period is over. I’ve had Texas as the leader in this one for as long as I remember and while OU and Baylor have made it very interesting, I still tend to favor the Longhorns ever so slightly.
Kelee Ringo – The five-star corner has gone quiet of late, but that should change today when he arrives and meets with the media. The plan for Ringo has always been for him to announce at this game on January 4, so we’ll see if that’s still in the works. The rumor of late is that Ringo signed in December (largely based on a tweet he made hinting that he’d signed). If that’s true, and he didn’t take a Texas official visit, you can pretty much write this one off.
Bijan Robinson – He’s always a guy that people want to hear from, so it’ll be nice to catch up with the five-star back. With Robinson, I’ll be interested to hear his thoughts on new offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich, how important it was for him to have Stan Drayton remain on staff and if there ever really was a moment when he wavered on his commitment. On the field, these games usually aren’t set up for the offenses to thrive, especially the running game because so much of that is about timing and these guys are just thrown together for a few practices, but I’ll be excited to see how Robinson matches up. He more than held his own at the Five-Star Challenge over the summer so I’d expect the same this week.
Andrej Karic – Karic is pretty much a ghost when it comes to the media, so getting some face time with him today will be good. He committed early and never wavered so there’s no real sexy stories to discuss, but I’m as curious to see him on the field this week as maybe any other player I’ll be covering. My guess is that he’s going to surprise some people.
Prince Dorbah – He’s similar to Karic in that recruitment didn’t really have any mystery to it, but I’ll be interested to hear his thoughts on Chris Ash and find out if he’s had any discussions with Texas’ new DC.
Xavion Alford – I just talked to Alford a couple weeks ago so there won’t be anything new to report here. He’ll be in San Antonio but won’t be participating as he works to recover from a knee injury that kept him out of most of his senior season. Alford, an early enrollee, told me a couple weeks ago he should be ready to go for spring practices.
L.V. Bunkley-Shelton – This one’s pretty much dead as it relates to Texas, but I’ll check in with him nonetheless for those who are interested in where he’ll wind up. The Longhorns were always a team Bunkley-Shelton liked, but getting him to Austin was always going to be tough for a variety of reasons.
Full roster for the game HERE.
