War Room:
We’re officially less than two weeks away from the early signing period (December 20-22), and things are moving at a fast and furious pace with a number of prospects. Let’s go position by position on where things stand with the Horns’ top targets …
Quarterback
Casey Thompson (UT commitment) – The Newcastle (OK) product will take his official visit to Texas this weekend. Thompson has never given any indication that he’s looking around and I don’t expect that to change at this point. He’ll enroll at Texas in January.
Cameron Rising (UT commitment) – Every time I’ve talked to Rising over the past several months, he’s said the right things about his UT commit and he’s never really given any reason to be concerned. When I spoke with him this week, it was more of the same, but he has yet to completely rule out the possibility of taking a visit to a place like LSU or Arizona State. Texas has done a couple in-homes with him in the past two weeks and Tom Herman is scheduled to do another next week. I feel confident that he sticks with Texas due to his relationship with the coaches, but the slight chance that he may visit elsewhere means this one is still worth watching.
Running back
Keaontay Ingram (UT commitment) – I’m still expecting Ingram to be the only back in this class, and I’d still be shocked if he didn’t wind up at Texas. That being said, he did tell me this week that he’s unsure if he’ll sign in December or wait until February, and he hasn’t completely ruled out the possibility of taking other visits either. Even with all that, Ingram landing anywhere other than Texas would be a shock.
Craig Williams – He’s committed to Baylor, but a coach at his school told another Rivals reporter he had been invited in for an official visit by Texas. I’ll be a little surprised if anything comes of this one, but probably a name worth filing away just in case.
Wide receiver
Brennan Eagles (UT commitment) – He’ll take his official visit this weekend and has been locked in for a while.
Al'Vonte Woodard (UT commitment) – Pretty much the same status as Eagles.
Rondale Moore (UT commitment) – As we mentioned earlier in the week, Moore is not planning on signing in December, per someone close to him. Texas did a good job of tightening up its grip on Moore’s commitment when Moore took his official visit in October, but sources told us this week that Purdue is still a major factor in this one and Moore may visit Purdue next weekend (“That’s the plan as of now,” I was told on Thursday night). Texas is going to have to work to hold onto this one. If he does wind up taking a Purdue OV, the guess here is that calling this one a coin-flip may be a bit generous.
Jaylen Waddle – Expected to visit A&M this week, which pretty much closes the book for Texas.
Terrace Marshall Jr. – Texas is pretty much out of this one.
Tommy Bush – Things have quieted down with this one. It’s not out of the question that the Longhorns could circle back to him and show more interest, but right now there are other areas on which the staff is focusing.
Julon Williams – He doesn’t have an offer, but has been in talks with Texas and he could be a guy the coaches try to target if something happens with Rondale Moore.
Tight end
Malcolm Epps (UT commitment) – He’ll take his UT official visit this weekend. Epps has been solid for a long time.
Luke Ford – Ford recently listed a top three of Alabama, Georgia and Auburn, but the Longhorns aren’t giving up. Corby Meekins has done in-home visits the past two weeks, but this one doesn’t look like it’ll fall UT’s way..
Dominick Anderson – Anderson doesn’t talk much, but according to a teammate of his, Texas is still in the mix. It would be a pretty odd story to see him re-commit to the Longhorns, and he’s supposed to take an official visit to A&M this weekend. I’m not expecting Texas to be much of a factor in this one, but Anderson’s a bit of a ghost so it’s hard to tell what he’s thinking.
Nic McTear – He visited for a game recently and really likes Texas, but doesn’t have an offer at this time.
Offensive line
Reese Moore (UT commitment) – He’ll visit this weekend and is locked in.
Rafiti Ghirmai (UT commitment) – He’ll visit this weekend as well. He has talked about taking other visits, but I’ll be a little surprised if that happens.
Junior Angilau – I’ve long-believed that Texas was the team to beat for Angilau. If his mother has her way, he’ll be a Longhorn. He’s planning to take some other visits, but the guess here is that he winds up at Texas.
Badara Traore – Committed to LSU on Thursday evening. Tough blow for Texas there.
Cameron Wire – He’s committed to LSU and may visit Texas at some point, but pulling a committed player from Louisiana away from LSU seems unlikely.
Mikey Grandy – A new JUCO offer, Grandy is supposed to visit Texas next weekend. A recent UCLA offer muddied the waters a bit on this one, but Texas still has a very good chance at landing him based on my conversation with Grandy last week.
Jahmir Johnson – Ultra-athletic JUCO tackle told OB he’ll take a Texas official visit on December 15. He has already visited Arkansas, will visit Missouri this weekend and USC on January 19. Too early to predict how this one will play out but Johnson becomes a bigger priority with Traore off the board.
Kaitori Leveston – He told Rivals.com last week that he’ll be sticking with his Kansas State pledge, but I don’t expect Texas to just throw in the towel. If the Longhorns can get him on campus, he’d be a strong flip candidate.
Trevor Elbert – There’s been talk that JUCO OL Elbert could join Johnson and Grandy on an official visit next week, but I’m still working to confirm that one.
Defensive line
Keondre Coburn (UT commitment) – Coburn will visit Texas this weekend. As of right now, he’s planning on taking other official visits and it may be tough for UT to talk him out of that since he’s been saying for months he wanted to see other places. Having a key DL commit take visits isn’t good, but I wouldn’t lose too much sleep about Coburn flipping elsewhere. He said this week the other visits would just be so he could verify that he made the right choice with Texas, which I expect will happen.
Moro Ojomo – Texas offered this week and this one looks to be heading in the right direction. Ojomo told OB he’ll take a UT visit in January and he’s been hoping for the Texas offer for a while. Would be a nice addition to the class and I think it happens.
Vernon Jackson – He’s still committed to Alabama but is planning to visit Texas in January. If Bama starts to fill up before then, or if Jackson just decides he wants to stay closer to home, this one looks pretty good for Texas.
Bobby Brown – Texas is staying on him but I don’t see that one happening. He likely sticks with A&M.
Max Wright – Same story as Bobby Brown.
Daniel Carson – He visited UT, but he doesn’t tip his hand at all so it’s tough to say what he might be thinking. He’s supposed to visit Miami this weekend.
Jarrett Jackson – The current Louisville commitment has visited Texas and South Carolina. He’ll take his official visit to Louisville this weekend and told us everyone will know of his final decision on December 20. Jackson says he’s torn, but if his twitter action means anything, Louisville looks like a safe bet to hold onto his pledge.
Joshua Landry – He doesn’t have a Texas offer yet, but could factor in if things don’t shape up well with some other guys.
Linbacker
Byron Hobbs (UT commitment) – Nobody is more locked in to his commitment than Hobbs.
Ayodele Adeoye (UT commitment) – He’s supposed to visit this weekend but it’s hard to tell what Adeoye is thinking. The last time Rivals interviewed him, he said the right things about his commitment status but he has already taken one other official visit. This is one we’ll be watching until he actually signs his LOI.
DaShaun White – The coaching change at A&M has made this one tough to predict. Whereas I thought White would wind up at either Texas or Oklahoma before Jimbo Fisher was hired, I’m not quite sure where he’s leaning now. Texas continues to make him a priority but there’s a lot of buzz about OU, and he is still technically committed to A&M.
Joseph Ossai – There’s been talk for a while that Ossai would be making a decision, but things have slowed down a bit with A&M’s coaching change. It’ll be either Texas or A&M, and if the Aggies retain DL coach Terry Price (which appears likely), Ossai probably sides with A&M.
Nikolas Bonitto – He has already visited Texas and Louisville. He’ll visit OU next weekend and may visit Alabama as well. Louisville has been on him the longest so a lot of people think that’s where he’ll wind up, but Bonitto told OB on Thursday that he doesn’t have any favorites.
Amari Gainer – He was going to visit Texas this weekend but FSU did an in-home and shut that one down.
Damone Clark – Clark enjoyed his Texas official visit, but it’s hard to see the Longhorns pulling a Baton Rouge kid away from his LSU commitment.
Defensive back
Caden Sterns – He’s locked in. Nothing to worry about here.
DeMarvion Overshown – He tweeted this week that he’s all ready to sign in a couple weeks.
B.J. Foster – Arguably the highest upside of anyone in the class. Locked in, will enroll early .
D'Shawn Jamison – Texas’ most recent commitment, from back in October. Will visit this weekend and is locked in.
Jalen Green – There’s talk of schools like LSU and A&M trying to make a run at Green but I’m not expecting anything crazy to happen. He’ll visit this weekend as well.
Anthony Cook – Same story, different day for Cook. I wish I had something new to report, but I don’t. Texas or LSU, with Ohio State on the outside looking in. His decision could literally come at any moment, and it’s an extremely close race. I continue to feel that Texas looks good with Holton Hill opening up an opportunity for early playing time.
Kicker
Cameron Dicker – Locked in.
(Suchomel)
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A quick update on quarterback
Tanner McKee, out of Corona (CA) Centennial …
McKee, who will be a member of the 2020 class after taking a two-year mission following his high school graduation, was paid an in-home visit by Tim Beck this week.
“The visit went great. Really enjoyed it,” McKee said via text.
McKee said Beck spoke to him about how well he would fit into what Texas does on offense.
So far, he has taken official visits to Texas, Texas A&M and Alabama. He’ll visit Stanford in January but that will be it (no BYU official visit).
As for the Longhorns …
“Texas definitely fits in. That’s why I’m still talking with them,” McKee said. “I like what they are doing and I like the coaches.” (Suchomel)
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Keaontay Ingram and his Carthage teammates continue to march on in the state playoffs. Last week, Carthage won handily, and Ingram had a huge game, going for 161 yards and 2 TDs on just 8 carries, along with a 59-yard TD reception.
For Ingram, it was just another day at the office.
“I felt like I had an okay game,” Ingram said.
Okay? What would he consider a good game?
“Probably like 275 yards,” Ingram said.
Tom Herman and Stan Drayton did an in-home visit with Ingram last week, and Ingram said things went very well.
“It was awesome. We had a family bond, got to know a little about them, asked questions that needed to be asked,” Ingram said. “I felt like they answered some questions and we had a good time.
“I didn’t really have questions. My grandparents had questions - how they feel about academics, schooling, lifestyle, asked about church as well. My family is big on church. They mentioned the churches they have on campus.”
Other schools, like Oklahoma State, LSU, USC, Baylor and Michigan continue to work Ingram. The standout back said he’s “pretty solid” with his Texas commitment, and as of right now he’s unsure if he’ll take any other visits.
“I still don’t know (about visits), to be honest with you. I’m still so solid right now,” Ingram said.
The 6-0, 190-pounder said he’s considering signing in December, but he’s not certain if he’ll do that or wait until February. I did ask him if A&M might be a school he’d consider if the Aggies reached out.
“That doesn’t have too much of an impact. I did have an FSU offer, but they weren’t on me too hard,” Ingram said. “I’m really not too worried about that right now.” (Suchomel)
