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St. Louis University WR Ryan Wingo
1. Texas is set for its first of two monster recruiting weekends
Through the first two weekends of the incredibly active recruiting month of June, the Longhorns have hosted a total of one official visitor when Ryner Swanson was on campus two weekends ago. Other programs have loaded up on official visitors in the first half of the month, whereas the Texas staff has decided to load things up on the third and fourth weekends.
Things heat up this weekend in what will be the single largest visit weekend for the Texas program in the 20+ year history of Rivals.com, with the 23 confirmed official visitors set to make their way to Austin. Prior to this weekend, the largest number of visitors the program had hosted was 22 back in 2006, but that had a much different feel because it was in December, and every single player that was brought in was already committed to Texas.
This weekend, you’ll have a group that includes the following …
- One commitment (punter Michael Kern)
- Two players who are committed elsewhere (DT Isaia Faga and WR Jojo Stone)
- 16 players from outside of the Lone Star State
- Three Rivals100 members (WR Ryan Wingo, OL Brandon Baker, DL D'antre Robinson)
To some degree, college football recruiting is a cookie-cutter business. All schools are going to showcase their facilities. They’re all going to serve good food. All recruits are going to go through photo shoots, hang out with current team members and generally be treated like kings over the course of the weekend. No program is really reinventing the wheel at this point, but the Texas staff does as good of a job as anyone in the country in showcasing its program and connecting with recruits and their families during these on-campus visits. I expect this weekend will be more of the same and the reviews coming out of the official visits will almost certainly be unanimously positive.
2. There was a lot of visit action taking place last weekend from Texas targets
With last weekend being an “off” weekend for Texas in terms of official visits, I was doing a bit of scoreboard-watching on some of the Longhorns’ targets that were spending time on other campuses. Here’s some of the buzz from those visits …
DE Colin Simmons – He was at Miami last weekend and as expected, seemed to come away impressed. The Hurricanes do have a good staff of recruiters and Simmons has now visited there multiple times, but I don’t get the sense that they’re a primary threat in this race.
WR Gekyle Baker – The Brownsboro product was at Oklahoma State last weekend for his first official visit. You’re never going to get much from Baker in the way of comments, but there’s some chatter that the Longhorns may not be pushing as hard as other programs so Oklahoma State could be a potential destination.
CB Selman Bridges – While all eyes will be on his teammate Micah Hudson this weekend when Hudson visits Texas Tech, Bridges was at TCU last weekend and while I’m sure the Horned Frogs made a strong impression, Bridges isn’t expected to make a decision anytime soon so I wouldn’t expect any fireworks coming out of his visits. He’ll be at Arkansas this weekend before hitting Texas on the 23rd.
ATH Aeryn Hampton – He’s down to Texas and Alabama and the Tide had its chance to move the needle last weekend with his official visit. In talking to a source on Sunday who had communicated with Hampton, the responses to the inquiries on the visit were pretty vanilla, but that’s pretty much the norm for Hampton. Texas gets its shot to impress this weekend before an expected decision in early July.
RB Jerrick Gibson – He’s been to Georgia and last weekend was at Miami. Texas is set for June 23. Texas still looks good here but Miami did move the needle after last weekend and elevated its standing, according to Gibson himself. Considering that the ‘Canes were probably UT’s biggest threat before the visit, this one definitely got a bit more interesting.
TE Ryner Swanson – One weekend after telling OB that Texas had moved into the pole position, Swanson was at Oregon and the Ducks made a strong impression of their own. Interestingly, Swanson was not joined on the visit by his parents, with his brother and best friend accompanying him to Eugene. His BYU visit is ongoing and that one still feels like the much bigger threat to Texas’s chances.
TE Elija Lofton – Miami is the perceived leader here and Lofton gave the ‘Canes a visit last weekend. Lofton is pretty tight-lipped but there’s no reason to change the thinking that Miami is the team to beat. Texas will host him this weekend and try to close the gap.
OL Daniel Cruz – He was at A&M last weekend and Ohio State the weekend prior to that. Visits to Oklahoma and Texas are forthcoming. There’s been very little buzz on Cruz coming out of his time in College Station, which is probably a good thing for Texas.
DL Zina Umeozulu – He’s really gone underground lately so it’s tough to tell what he’s thinking, but he was at Texas A&M last weekend and the Aggies are one of UT’s biggest threats in this one, in addition to Oklahoma.
DL Isaia Faga – The Utah commitment was in Alabama last weekend and while I haven’t heard from him directly on the visit, you have to figure the in-state Crimson Tide probably impressed. He’ll be in Austin this weekend for his official visit and has been to UT a couple of other times as an unofficial visitor.
3. Texas is a strong player for 2025 WR Jadyn Robinson
Long Beach (CA) Poly wide receiver Jadyn Robinson was in Austin earlier this month for the Longhorns’ Elite Camp, and things couldn’t have gone much better. The Rivals250 wideout has been on campus before but this was his first time working with new UT receivers coach Chris Jackson, and Robinson came away impressed.
“He’s been at every level, from youth to NFL. I don’t think there’s anything better than that,” Robinson said. “He knows what he’s talking about, for sure. He doesn’t just tell you to do something and then you go do it. He explains it, ‘I need you to do this and this is how it needs to be done. If not, I’m going to walk you through it.’ He doesn’t just throw something at you and let you go do it. His coaching style to me is perfect.”
Robinson said he also has an early connection with Steve Sarkisian.
“I’ve talked to (Sark) a few times. He knows my family very well, knows me very well,” Robinson said. “I’ve known him for a while and that’s my guy.”
The last time Robinson visited UT was for Texas Relays in 2022 and there was still a lot of construction going on with the football facilities. This time, he got an inside view of everything Texas has put in place.
“The new stuff they’ve got, I don’t think a lot of colleges have what they have,” he said.
With close to 20 scholarship offers already, Robinson has plenty of options but the Longhorns’ chances are as strong as anyone.
“In my book, where they stand on my list, it’s up there at the top of my list. It’s up there with the top schools with me,” Robinson said. “They’ve been on top of my list and they’re going to stay up there.”
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2025 WR Dez Jones
TWO QUESTIONS
1. Who is new 2025 wide receiver offer Dez Jones?
Wide receiver De’zie Jones was another attendee at UT’s recent Elite Camp, and Jones may have traveled as far as anyone in attendance. The 2025 pass-catcher is from Wayne (NJ) De Paul Catholic and said he simply wanted to get down to the Forty Acres to get a first-hand look at Texas.
“Texas is a good college. I just want to be part of a good program, so I just wanted to come down and see it for myself,” Jones said.
It was worth the effort, with Jones picking up an offer from the Longhorns a couple days after the camp ended.
“The camp was fun. I liked the pool party. The food was good,” Jones said of the highlights of the visit. “The weather was hot but it’s better than where we live at, so I’m loving it over here.
“I just felt like it was going to be a great place for me to seek out and see.”
The 6-0, 175-pound Jones holds close to 20 scholarship offers. Along with Texas, he listed Penn State and Maryland as schools that are standing out, but he said he’s had an affinity for UT for a while.
“I’ve liked them for a couple years. It wasn’t my favorite school, but it’s always been like top three or top five,” Jones said.
2. What’s the over/under on commitments from players visiting this weekend?
I mentioned above that I would expect a good portion of UT’s 2024 class to come from players that visited Texas either this weekend or next weekend (see the full list of confirmed visitors here). If that’s the case, let’s take a guess at just how many of this weekend’s visitors will wind up in the Texas class …
Punter Michael Kern is already in the books, so that makes one. Give me six others from this weekend’s visitors to eventually commit to Texas (hint ... four on offense, two on defense).
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Lake Belton WR Micah Hudson
ONE PREDICTION – Texas lands at least one of the current Rivals.com 5-stars
Rivals.com released its updated list of 5-star prospects on Monday, with 20 players making the cut (that number will eventually go up to 32 as the 5-star tier expands). From a Texas perspective, four players made the cut - Colin Simmons (No. 5), Micah Hudson (No. 6), Justin Williams (No. 12) and Ryan Wingo (No. 18).
If we’re taking each one of those recruitments individually, I’d have a hard time labeling the Longhorns as the outright leader in any of them. If I’m looking at them collectively, the guess here is that Texas finds a way to bring in at least one of that foursome. Ryan Wingo seems like an extreme longshot. Justin Williams is a possibility if he wants to stay closer to home, but most signs point towards Oregon or maybe Georgia for the talented linebacker. Most feel that Texas Tech has a slight lead for Hudson as things stand now, and Simmons is a bit of a wildcard (I still personally favor LSU). All that being said, I just have a hard time believing that this UT recruiting staff, and the resources the Texas program has at its disposal, are going to allow the Longhorns to go 0-fer with the current group of 5-star prospects.
