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(Ketch)
* I've mentioned throughout the last few weeks that the internal hype on Texas wide receiver AD Mitchell is at levels that has people inside the program believing that Mitchell will be drafted ahead of Xavier Worthy in the 2024 NFL Draft. In talking with Max Olsen of TheAthletic.com today, he confirmed that a Texas staff member essentially told him the same thing I've been reporting, but even taking it a step further by mentioning that a Texas staff member told him that Mitchell reminds him of NFL star DeAndre Hopkins.
* Multiple sources described the back-up quarterback job as "even" going into the season.
* Don't be surprised if you see Gavin Holmes playing a lot at cornerback. One person told me this week that he's been arguably the best defensive back on the team for the last two weeks. "We didn't bring him in to sit. He and Trill Carter are not the same. (Holmes) has finally settled in, he knows what is being asked of him and the coaches have more confidence in him than at any point he's been here."
* A source inside the program said this about starting safety Jalen Catalon: "We needed a man back there in the back end of our defense and he's given us that. WE've got some talented kids, but that dude is all man."
* One source on Anthony Hill: "He's what we thought we were getting. Don't be shocked if he's our best defensive player by November. He's our secret weapon on defense. Teams know we have him, but they don't know what we'll do with him. I don't think we're turning him fully loose against Rice because he will be turned loose against Alabama. No need for anyone at Alabama to know anything."
* Although he hasn't been one of the most talked about names in camp, a source this week raved about Ryan Niblett. "He has a chance to be special for us. He needs to be a little more consistent, but his best stuff is right up there with anyone we've got. He'll break out at some point this season and never look back."
* One source mentioned this week that his biggest concern going into the season is the interior of the offensive line. "I'm a little worried that Alabama is going to push us around inside. I know everyone is excited about DJ Campbell, but he still has some consistency issues. There are days when he looks like the five-star we recruited and there are times when I think he's going to get someone killed. I feel the same way about everyone we had at guard and center. Don't mistake m comments as an alarm bell for Campbell because I worry about them all. Campbell might even be our best interior guy, which should tell you about the others when I have those concerns with him."
* Ethen Burke has pretty much run away with the starting Edge position opposite Barryn Sorrell.
* Had an Alabama contact tell me that there's anticipation that Alabama head coach Nick Saban will not release a depth chart before the Middle Tennessee State game next week and that there might not be one announced to the public/media before the Texas game in 16 days.
* Amid all of the growing speculation that the Longhorns are emerging as the team to beat for Lafayette (La.) Acadiana defensive tackle Dominick McKinley, I checked in with an OU source this week to get a reading of the pulse from their side of the recruitment. From what I gathered, the Sooners are much, much more confident in their positioning for Bradenton (Fl.) IMG Academy David Stone than they are for McKInley. In fact, There seems to be a coolness to where the Sooners believe they are positioned in McKinley's recruitment, as opposed to a number of other prospects on their recruiting board.
* One interesting thing about McKinley is that his recruitment isn't quite as focused on NIL as those of OL Brandon Baker and WR Ryan Wingo. With McKinley set to decide soon, NIL just hasn't been at the forefront of things.
(Suchomel)
* With college coaches knee-deep in their season preparations and most high school football players getting ready for their season-openers this week, it wasn’t the busiest week of recruiting news. As such, we decide to check around with a few of the Rivals.com national and regional recruiting analysts to get their thoughts on some of the Texas targets in their region.
* RB Jerrick Gibson (UT commitment) – “He told me he kind of had a light bulb moment this offseason. He was getting a little chubby. He said he had to shed some weight. Fall camp in Florida will naturally do it. He’s down to about 205 now, feels comfortable there. He had a huge game one, rushing for 170 yards and a couple scores. He feels as good as he has in a while. Others are calling, but he says the right things about Texas. That’s where he wants to be. Florida and Miami are trying to push the in-state narrative, but there’s not much traction there.” (Southeast analyst John Garcia)
* RB Jordon Davison (2025 Rivals100) – “He’s a kid where relationships are going to be super important. Tashard Choice does as good of a job as anybody at developing relationships. I’m not comparing him to Bijan, but he is similar in a lot of ways. He’s very friendly, very affable. Texas would be a good fit for him. He’s kind of idolized Ezekiel Elliott, so Ohio State is selling that. Playing in the SEC is a big thing for him, so that would benefit Texas. Alabama is coming on strong. He’s trying to get to Bama for the Texas game. Georgia is involved there. I think it’s those four.” (West Coast/national analyst Adam Gorney)
* WR Micah Hudson – “I still don’t know why he hasn’t announced anything yet. He was supposed to commit right after the state 7-on-7 tournament. Everything I’ve heard, it’s still Texas Tech. It think it’s a matter of when, not if. I think he was kind of frustrated that everyone new where he was going, so he dragged it out a little later. A&M made a big push for him. There was some thought that he might go back there at the end of July, but he wound up back in Lubbock. Had he ended up back in College Station, that might have put a big twist on things. But I still think it’s going to be Texas Tech.” (Rivals Southwest analyst Cole Patterson)
* WR Marcus Harris (2025 Rivals100) – “I think he’s still pretty wide open. He like his Oklahoma visit a lot, liked the Texas visit a lot. The sense I get from him, he’s still sort of feeling out the whole thing.” (Gorney)
* OL DeAndre Carter – “My full belief is that Auburn is way ahead. I would be shocked if that wasn’t the school he picks on September 3. Texas is in there and he definitely has liked them. He has taken a bunch of visits to Michigan State and hit it off with those guys. He was back at Auburn for Big Cat weekend and they might have wrapped it up then. I would be shocked if he doesn’t go there.” (Gorney)
* OL Brandon Baker – “The rumor was that he had sort of made a silent commit to Texas. That would be a little bit of a surprise, just because of how he’s handled the recruitment and been very deliberate with it. My sense is it’s Texas and Oregon. There’s talk about Florida State, Tennessee and Nebraska but I just don’t see that happening. I think Texas is in front, Oregon is right there, and he’s kind of juggling those two schools right now.” (Gorney)
* DT Dominick McKinley – “From what I know about him, Texas and Oklahoma have taken the lead over LSU. There was a lot of thought back in spring that LSU would be tough to beat. Bo Davis and the staff at Texas did a great job there. I think it’s a Texas-Oklahoma battle and I think Texas has the edge. Being able to possibly pull another guy out of Louisiana – to beat LSU for another guys after Arch, Derek Williams - that’s big. I like him a lot. If Texas wins out, I think they will, I think that says a lot about Texas. I would give Texas the edge at this point.” (Patterson)
* DL Nigel Smith – “I think it’s A&M or Oklahoma from everything I’ve heard. I know he likes Penn State a lot. One day I think it’s going to be A&M, the next day I’m thinking OU. I think OU has to land him since they’ve kind of missed out on some top guys.” (Patterson)
* DE Zina Umeozulu – “He’s another guy we’ve heard could commit at any point and still hasn’t. I’ve always kind of liked where Texas stood in his recruitment with Neto down there. I still think it’s the same top three with A&M and OU rounding out top three. I’ll stick with Texas until I hear anything different. I know Texas likes Danny Okoye from Oklahoma, so I’m not sure how many spots they have left. If Texas will take him, I think he winds up at Texas.” (Patterson)
* DE Daniel Okoye – “I haven’t talked to him directly too much but I’ve talked to someone who knows him who fills me in. He really liked his Bama visit. Oklahoma is trying to keep him in state. Texas made a really good push for him. He’s going to be back to Austin again (for the Wyoming game), so that’s pretty telling. How many guys do they take with Colin (Simmons) in the boat? I like where Texas stands, but Oklahoma and Bama are worth watching.” (Patterson)
* DT D'antre Robinson (UT commitment) – “When you talk about upside DTs, there aren’t many more intriguing in the country than D’antre. He has that switch that when it’s flipped on, he can be as dominant of a force as there is in the class. That’s from both run and pass rush scenarios. He can get after the passer better than you think at 295. He has really worked on his frame, looks really good. He’s just under 300 pounds, which is where he needs to be going into college. He’s really rock solid to Texas. I know going into the commitment, there was confidence in Florida, which has recruited Orlando well, but he was steadfast with Texas. He wants to follow his boy Ced Baxter, who by all indications is doing really well and loving it at Texas.” (Garcia)
* LB/EDGE Solomon Williams – “It seems like Solomon is taking his time. He hasn’t told me as much, but he seems like he’s still relatively far off from locking things down. I think it’s a combination of taking more visits, or seeing what additional opportunities come into play. He took some key visits in the offseason - Texas, Texas A&M, Central Florida. UCF has been on a bit of a run. If he does all of a sudden make a decision, I think they’d be in a good position. He’s a bit of a tweener so I’m curious to see where he sits on some of these recruiting boards. He’s a 15-sack guy (last year), can play off the ball. He has some versatility with that tweener frame but his calling card is definitely at rushing the passer.” (Garcia)
* LB Nasir Wyatt (2025 Rivals100) – “I talked to him the other night at his game. He wants to get to Ohio State this season. Ohio State, Georgia Texas and USC - I think those four are the main ones. At Texas, they talked to him about using him in an Overshown kind of way, kind of middle linebacker/rover type. He’s not that big, if he’s going to be a straight edge rusher in the SEC he’s going to have to get a lot bigger. So that would make sense to be a guy who plays in space, comes off the edge and also drops in coverage. It’s a pretty smart move by Texas.” (Gorney)
* DB Kobe Black – “Everything that I know about him, and I’ll have an update this weekend after I talk to him, I think Texas is the team to beat. I know you’ve had your FutureCast on him for a while. I put one in right after you. Nothing I’ve heard makes me want to change that. It’s more important now than ever to land him with other DBs off the board like Wardell Mack and Selman Bridges. Texas has to lock down Kobe Black. Texas always been towards the top of his recruitment, he always brings up UT. Texas is in a really good spot. A&M is worth paying attention to. From everything I’ve heard, talking to people around him, I think Texas is definitely the team to beat.” (Patterson)
* CB Daryus Dixson (2025 Rivals100) – “When I talked to him in the summer, he said Texas, Penn State and Ohio State. He’s a kid that’s super big into how much attention he’s getting paid by coaches. I asked about USC, and he was kind of feeling he’s not loved by those guys. I would think he’s sort of looking outside of what used to be the Pac 12 or Southern California. Texas, Penn State, Ohio State would be the three main ones.” (Gorney)
* S DJ Pickett (2025 five-star) – “He’s a kid who is going to have every offer. For him to be high on any program at any time is a pretty big deal. He’s a legit 6-4, 6-5 frame who can play both ways. Everybody wants the kid. He’s been talking about going away from the state (of Florida). I think Miami, Florida, FSU will be in it. But he’s already ahead of time in taking trips. He’s been to Oregon, been to Michigan. He’s a pretty well-traveled kid. He’s going to be wide open, probably going to last long. So to be within striking distance, that’s about as good as you can be for a kid like him right now.” (Garcia)
(Zach/Aaron)
* Former Longhorn great Huston Street will be a student assistant for Texas in 2024.
* 2024 LHP Cooper Powell committed to Texas earlier this week. Powell told OB that he chose Texas due to the pitching development and weight room, he loves UT strength coach Matt Couch. Texas beat out Miami, Ole Miss and OU for Powell.
* Here are some newcomers that have impressed so far -- FR INF Dee Kennedy, FR INF Lane Allen, FR catcher Nik Sanders and Notre Dame transfer LHP Will Mercer.
* The 2024 class has really started to come together. Coach Steve Rodriguez was instrumental in helping land RHP Kaimi Kahalekai, while Coach Longley has been a monster on the road in helping land big-name guys like Matt Scott, Ryan Schwartz, Tyler Walton and Sam Richardson. This staff has had a much different feel from a recruiting perspective.
* Two freshmen have been added to the fall roster -- LHP Brandon Bertsch and OF Corbin Gunter.
(Keenan)
* Not a ton to report this week on the basketball side of things. The roster and coaching staff are complete for the upcoming season. There hasn't been a new scholarship offer since August 2nd, to SG Billy Richmond. I will update as soon as more info about the upcoming season comes out, or any recruiting news.
