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THREE THINGS WE LEARNED
1. A good chunk of UT’s class will come from players who visited last weekend
The Longhorns hosted 20 prospects on official visits over the weekend, and if we split the middle and set the over/under at 10 on how many of those players will be Longhorns, I’m taking the over. Let’s take a look.
IN
Trey Owens – Already locked in with his commitment.
Nate Kibble – Committed on Sunday before he left town.
Jerrick Gibson – This one was trending UT’s way for a while and he made it official on Saturday.
Parker Livingstone – We’ll have our answer this weekend and I’m fully expecting Texas to be the choice.
Selman Bridges – By no means a slam dunk, but I’m predicting Texas.
Makai Saina – Texas feels confident in its chances, so I'll pencil him in, although he's been impossible to reach to pick his brain.
Kobe Black – Other recruits feel he’s UT bound, and I agree.
Corian Gipson – A source says it’s close to 50/50 between Texas and Clemson, but I think he stays closer to home with the Longhorns.
Jordon Johnson-Rubell – Heavy hitters are involved in this one, but my money is on Texas.
Daniel Cruz – I’m expecting him to commit to Texas, probably sometime soon.
Zina Umeozulu – A tough one to predict, but I’ll go with the family relationships in Austin winning out.
Alex January – By no means a done deal but Texas feels like the smart play.
TJ Lindsey – Another tough one to predict, but there’s some pro-Texas buzz behind the scenes after this visit.
Colin Simmons – The one you all have been waiting for … still a lot of fight left but give me Texas over LSU for right now.
OUT
Dominick McKinley – A bit of a wildcard recruitment, but I’ll take the field over Texas … barely.
Terrance Hibbler – I expect he’ll stick with his Mississippi State commitment.
Daniel Calhoun – Texas is in the mix but I’m expecting Georgia or Alabama.
Wardell Mack – Still feels like this one will be a tough pull in the end.
Terry Bussey – Texas helped its chances but still feels like the Horns are behind.
Jayden Jackson – Another tough one to read but I’ll pick the field over Texas.
2. Trey Owens is about as solid as a commitment can get
When Trey Owens first committed, there were some questions from fans and media on whether or not he’d see the commitment through, or if there might be a time when Owens decided to look around. Nearly six months later, Owens is as locked in as ever and a case can easily be made that he’s the most solid pledge on the UT commitment list.
Last weekend, Owens was among the official visitors that were in Austin, and it was another opportunity to build bonds with the coaches and the other recruits that were in town.
“Obviously getting to spend a ton of time with the recruits (was a highlight),” Owens said. “I have a good relationship with them. We got to kind of explore the city a little bit with my host and other recruits. I wouldn’t exchange it for anything else.”
Owens was hosted by fellow quarterback Arch Manning. Those two spent a lot of time together and Owens said he spent a lot of time with other recruits like Parker Livingstone, Daniel Cruz and Daniel Calhoun. According to Owens, the uncommitted prospects that were in attendance all had positive experiences.
“I think all the coaches did a really good job recruiting other players. Also getting Jerrick (Gibson) this weekend was a big step forward,” Owens said. “I feel like the connections and relationships built this weekend will help us moving forward.”
Not that there was any doubt about Owens’ commitment status, but the Cy-Fair product said the weekend visit only solidified his standing.
“I guess I could say it’s reassuring. I never doubted if I was going to go anywhere else,” Owens said. “Just being able to go up there and spend time with everyone was reassuring.”
3. Texas helped its position with Terry Bussey over the weekend
Timpson School athlete Terry Bussey is one of the country’s most sought-after prospects, with about 30 offers from programs from coast to coast. The Rivals100 member was in Oklahoma earlier this month and last weekend he was in Austin for his official visit, and Bussey said Texas definitely hit the mark.
“It was a great visit. It was a great experience to come and my family to get out there and see Texas, see what it’s all about,” Bussey said. “I got to see everything for myself, take it in, build relationships with the players and coaches.”
Bussey was hosted by tight end Juan Davis on the visit. He said he spent time talking to several coaches, but spent the most time with Steve Sarkisian, Chris Jackson, Blake Gideon and Terry Joseph.
“(Jackson) let me know I’m a priority for them, they want me on the team, I can help them in a dynamic way,” Bussey said. “They just want to get me there and help the Texas program.”
Texas is primarily recruiting Bussey on offense, but there’s still a possibility that he could line up on defense at the next level. As far as his recruitment, he says he’s still wide open and will release a top five in July and look to have a commitment in October or November. Florida, TCU, A&M and LSU are among the programs he wants to take visits to once the dead period lifts. When it comes time to ultimately decide, Bussey said it’s largely come down to a gut feel.
“The main thing is my relationship with players, coaches and staff,” Bussey said. “That’ll be the main thing. Just whatever feels right for me in my heart.”
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TWO QUESTIONS
1. What are UT’s chances with Corian Gipson?
The recruitment of Corian Gipson has been a tough one to pin down. For the longest time, it felt like the Longhorns were the clear team to beat. That changed suddenly when Gipson visited Clemson in the spring and picked up an offer from the Tigers.
In talking to Gipson shortly after securing that Clemson offer, it was pretty clear that Dabo Swinney and Co. had taken a commanding lead. Gipson even mentioned that he might go ahead and commit before taking any official visits.
Fast forward a couple of months and Gipson remains uncommitted. The Longhorns have managed to hold Clemson off for the time being, and Texas did a good job of impressing Gipson and his family on their official visit last weekend.
“It was a great visit. One of the biggest things his family was looking at, they had a player panel,” a source close to Gipson told OB. “They were telling the truth, how Teas does things, how they treat their players. Players are going to tell the truth so that was a big thing. Development, nutrition, all the things important to get him to his dream. And Education too. They hit on all the points. They gave him all the answers he needed.”
I’ve heard there are members of Gipson’s family that would prefer him in Austin, but they’re certainly not opposed to him going off to Clemson if that’s what Gipson desires. Per the source I spoke with on Sunday night, a decision should come down in mid-July. Coming out of the weekend, the source said he feels Gipson is truly undecided and it’s close to 50/50 at this point. The plan is for Gipson and his family to sit down soon and try to hash things out so the Rivals100 member can come to a decision.
Best guess … if Gipson was going to commit to Clemson, he would have done it already, but something has kept him from pulling the trigger. The lure of playing close to home with close friends like Jordon Johnson-Rubell has me thinking the pendulum has swung back in UT’s favor.
2. How did Wardell Mack’s visit go?
Rivals100 cornerback Wardell Mack made his way to Austin for his official visit over the weekend and the Marrerro (LA) John Ehret standout said it was a good experience overall, especially the time spent with the UT coaches.
“It was great. One of the best parts was the meeting with coach Sark,” Mack said. “I talked coach Sark, coach Terry (Joseph). We got to chop it up two or three times.”
Mack was hosted by Gavin Holmes but said he also spent a lot of time with Derek Williams and Arch Manning.
The in-state LSU Tigers might be tough to beat in the end. Florida’s another that will be a factor, with Mack having taken an OV to see the Gators earlier this month and planning to return to Gainesville in late July.
Mack said he doesn’t have any formal leaders, but that should change soon.
“I feel good about a lot of schools. I’m going to drop a (list of favorites) this week or next week,” he said.
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ONE PREDICTION – I’ll be working from the beach this weekend
Back in March, I was notified by JetBlue that a flight voucher I had been sitting on forever was about to expire. I basically had a few days to get a flight booked, or I was going to be flushing a couple hundred bucks down the toilet. I really didn’t have anywhere I wanted to go and didn’t really have much time to go anywhere, so I tried to give the damn thing away. None of my friends took me up on the offer. My parents didn’t want it (is that a reflection of JetBlue?).
Since I couldn’t get rid of it, I started checking to see where they flew for that was cheap. Weirdly, I could barely find any destinations that JetBlue flew to from Austin, much less ones with cheap tickets. One of the spots they did have service to was Fort Lauderdale. So later this week, my wife will be flying to Fort Lauderdale and I’ll be meeting her down there after I spend a couple days in Atlanta for work.
As luck would have it, I’m expecting at least one commitment to go down while I’m throwing back some Silver Bullets on the beach, so it looks like this will be a bit of a working trip. You all behave while I’m (somewhat) gone for a couple of days!
