Texas Card House is the official sponsor of The War Room.
* Texas Card House is now open at noon every day!
* Tournament of Champions: Last Sunday of Every Month! Begins Sunday October 28th @ 1pm- Win a TCH HTX tournament throughout the month or play 50 total cash hours during the month to qualify. All others: Buy-In $100 + $15 for the chance to be a champion!
* Follow @TexasCardHouse on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for all the details!
**********
Arkansas commitment Kelvontay Dixon has been drawn a lot of discussion of late, and he again made news last week when he attended the Texas-OU game as a guest of the Longhorns’. It was Dixon’s second time at the game (he went two years ago when Texas was the home team) and he said it was another positive experience, despite the Longhorns suffering the loss.
“It was a really good environment. It was louder than I expected,” Dixon said. “It was really energized. Actually, I can see myself (playing) in that. It should be fun if I do.”
Dixon said the last time he talked to the Texas coaches was last week, before the game, and the staff expressed to him “that they really want me.”
This is clearly one to watch closely, especially with his ties to the program (Keaontay Ingram is his brother) but Arkansas isn’t going to just roll over. Dixon is heading to Arkansas this weekend for an unofficial visit.
If you’re looking for more signs in this one, Dixon’s Carthage teammate, OL Ty’Kieast Crawford, decommitted from Arkansas over the weekend. Dixon was non-committal on how Crawford’s decision impacts him.
“It kind of does but then again it kind of doesn’t. It’s hard to explain,” Dixon said.
The Longhorns are talking to Dixon about coming in as a slot receiver. With Texas no longer putting the full-court press on LV Bunkley-Shelton, Dixon to Texas makes perfect sense. He does plan on visiting UT at some point, but doesn’t have a date set up yet.
From what I’ve been told, there’s been some confidence behind the scenes that Arkansas could hang on to Dixon, but that confidence probably waned some after he made the trip to Dallas last weekend. One person relayed to me that there’s a feeling that Dixon wants to make his own path, and he has a strong relationship with Arkansas assistant Jeff Traylor. The Razorbacks will have their chance to tighten things up a bit this weekend, but Dixon will almost certainly remain in regular contact with the UT staff and if he does make it in to Austin for a visit at some point, it may be too much for Arkansas to overcome. We’ll see.
******
Speaking of recruitments that just make sense, the Longhorns put an offer on the table for linebacker Jaquondis Burns a couple weeks ago. Burns, who plays at IMG Academy in Florida, is a Texan who transferred to IMG in the summer. He’s committed to Ole Miss but has been in contact with Todd Orlando for a while and said the UT offer was a real eye-opener.
“I’m very grateful to have another opportunity to stay in my home state. That’s big for me,” Burns said about the UT offer. I’m just really thankful they believe in my talent. They have for about a year now. Just to get (the offer) is a relief. They don’t offer everybody in the state of Texas, so for them to offer me means a lot and goes a long way. We’ll see how it goes.”
Burns said he met Orlando at an SMU camp that Orlando was at, and the two have built a good relationship since then.
“He’s a straight-forward dude and an honest guy. Throughout this whole process, he’s kept it real,” Burns said. “That goes a long way knowing I can trust him when it comes to stuff like this. He’s an honest guy, a straight-forward dude, a hard-nosed coach who will coach his ass off and that’s what I like about him.”
With IMG Academy ranked as one of the nation’s top programs by USA Today, Burns said his focus is on helping his team compete for a high school national championship more than it is recruiting. But that will change soon, with IMG’s season set to end in a few weeks and Burns being a December graduate. He says he’s still solid with Ole Miss, but also admits he has very strong feelings for Texas. Those two programs will definitely get official visits, Burns said.
“I’m still solid with Ole Miss. But every opportunity I have, I have to consider. The feelings are still mutual with Ole Miss and the same with Texas,” Burns said. “I’ll really know after I take my official visits.”
As of right now, the only visits Burns knows he takes will be Ole Miss and Texas. Others could also figure into the mix, but for all intents and purposes, this one feels like it’s a two-team race.
Of note, Burns is close friends with former high school teammate Keithian “Bear” Alexander, a top 2022 defensive tackle who already holds a Texas offer. The two played together at Terrell and briefly attended Skyline together before Burns transferred to IMG.
“We’re from the same city, played on the same team. He’s like a brother of mine,” Burns said. “I wouldn’t say we’re a lock to play together in college. It’s whatever he chooses and whatever I choose. If it happens it happens, but I’m not focused on if he goes here, I’ll go there and if I go somewhere he’ll for sure go there.”
This one should begin to sort itself out in about a month, but if Texas continues to push, I like the Longhorns’ chances of flipping Burns from Ole Miss.
******
A quick note on wide receiver Loic Fouonji, who will be in Austin this weekend on his official visit ...
The Midland Lee product is a terrific student and he’s one of those guys who actually means it when he says academics will play a big part in his decision. Fouonji told me this week he wants to study computer engineering, and it just so happens that UT is very strong in that department. Texas’ Electrical and Computer Engineering program regularly ranks in the top-10 nationally and was ranked No. 8 by US News and World Report in the most recent ranking I saw.
The Longhorns should be able to put their best foot forward this weekend for Fouonji and his family in showing all the athletic and academic resources Texas has to provide, and one would think UT’s engineering program could greatly impact Fouonji’s decision. That being said, he said he could also get a good education at Texas Tech if he went that route.
“They (Texas) have one of the best engineering programs. Texas Tech has a good one as well,” Fouonji said.
******
Hutto athlete Dajon Harrison was at last week’s Texas-OU game as a guest of UT’s and said it was a great experience overall.
“I loved it. Being out there watching them go at it was an eye-opening experience for me,” Harrison said.
Harrison said he talks to the Texas coaches (Jason Washington) pretty regularly and communicates with Bryan Carrington pretty much every day. He hasn’t picked up an offer yet, but is hopeful one will come soon.
“Hopefully I get it. It’s definitely in the conversation. I’m just waiting for the call,” Harrison said.
The 5-10, 178-pound Harrison is being looked at by Texas as wide receiver/athlete. He was a one-time TCU commitment and has been looking closely at Kansas State and Arizona in recent weeks. If the Longhorns do offer, Harrison said Texas would make a quick move up his list and be in the top spot.
******
Top 2021 offensive line target Donovan Jackson making it to Dallas for the Texas-OU game would seem to be a good sign for the Longhorns, especially considering the travel home to College Station would have been easier and expecting him to watch the Aggies host Alabama.
Instead, the Rivals100 member was at the Cotton Bowl, but here was a bit of good fortune for Texas that helped make that stop happen. Jackson and his Houston Episcopal team had a game Friday night in Dallas, so he stayed over and then hit the Texas-OU game in the morning.
“It was a great environment, obviously, because of the importance of the game,” Jackson said. “I had a great time there.”
Jackson is good friends with a lot of the Houston-area prospects in his class, including a couple Longhorn commitments who were in his ear during the Red River Rivalry game.
“I was sitting with Hayden Conner and Jalen Milroe. They were just pushing the whole Texas is home narrative,” Jackson said. “But my recruitment is wide open. I’m looking at schools outside the state as well as in. I’m just taking my time.”
“I’ve been playing with Jalen I was in eighth grade. I know what type of leader he is and what he brings. I’ve seen Hayden a lot. Having a possibility of playing with those guys is cool, but at the end of the day I have to do what’s best for myself,” Jackson said.
Jackson said he’s mostly focused on a group of schools that includes Texas, Texas A&M, Georgia, Stanford, Ohio State and Notre Dame. If you’re a Texas fan, you have to hope that proximity plays a factor as he works through the process but Jackson said he’s open to playing anywhere that provides him a good opportunity, and his family will support any decision he makes.
“I have singled it down, shaved most of my list down. I’m only really looking at five or six, but there’s nothing holding me down to the state of Texas. Both my parents are from out of Texas. It’s really what I fit best home with.
“My parents said wherever I fell comfortable, they’ll come see me, which I appreciate.”
Jackson hasn’t formulated a pecking order among the schools he’s watching, but there’s a growing buzz behind the scenes that the Longhorns might be the team to beat. Jackson does admit he likes what Texas is building under the current staff.
“It’s just the massive steps they’ve taken every year, how they’re trying to strive for Big 12 Championships, then College Football Playoffs,” Jackson said. “Coach (Tom) Herman and coach (Herb) Hand, I just love what they’re doing over there.”
Jackson speaks to Hand “every other week” and said it’s the perfect amount. Whereas some schools bombard him non-stop, Jackson said Hand understands his schedule “tries not to bother me too much.”
Next up, Jackson will be in Columbus, Ohio to watch Ohio State host Penn State next month.
It sounds like the picture is coming into focus a bit for Jackson, but he wants to make absolutely sure he chooses the right school and he also wants to enjoy the process a bit.
“In my head, I’m singling it down every day. So I have an idea of what I want, but you only get recruited once, so I want to take my officials,” Jackson said. “Once I make my decision, it’s going to be final. I’m not going to be decommitting or anything like that.”
*****
(Ketchum)
With the Longhorns up to 13 offers to in-state prospects in the 2022 class, I thought this week would make a good time to go a quick overview of the early names to know and what the early outlook in each recruitment looks like.
So, here we go.
Quarterback
Top offers: Arkansas, Florida, Michigan, Ohio State, Texas A&M and Texas
The Lowdown: Received his offer from the Longhorns last month and before it is all said and done, Ewers will likely have an offer from any and every school he wants an offer from. Ewers has already been on the camp circuit over the last few years (camped at Ohio State in 2018), so there's going to be nothing naive about his recruitment. From the looks of it, he's been preparing for this very moment for quite a while. The good news for the Longhorns is that he's been to Austin on a few occasions and it's expected that Tom Herman and Co. will have a prominent role in his recruitment.
Running Back
Top offers: Arizona State, Arkansas, Oklahoma State and Texas
The Lowdown: Blue seems to be in the infancy stage of his recruitment, but the Longhorns (camped in Austin in June) have been on him as much as anyone recruiting him, as evidenced by the fact that the Longhorns were the second school to offer him (behind Arizona State). In an interview with Suchomel last month following the Texas offer, Blue admitted that the Longhorns were his current No.2 behind long-time love LSU.
Top offers: Arkansas, Baylor, Florida, LSU, Michigan, Ohio State, Texas and Texas A&M.
The Lowdown: Consider this recruitment completely wide open, as he's visited Texas, Texas A&M, Alabama and Georgia in the last few months alone. He's a national prospect and seems open to quite a few big time schools.
Key Quotes: These are from a Rivals interview in August:
On Texas A&M: "Coach (Jay) Graham is a real good coach over there. I just want to learn more from him."
On Texas: "That was crazy for me. I didn't see that offer coming. Coach (Jason) Washington is (recruiting me). I've talked to Coach (Stan) Drayton, too. It's a really good school for academics and I'm excited about it, too."
On Alabama: "I just like how it is over there, just all the winning and everything. I want to be a part of that, too, and be a part of a winning team."
On Penn State: "That's an offer that for sure caught my attention. They told me I'm a great player, so I liked that about it."
On Georgia: "I visited on July 27 (and was offered). Coach (Dell) McGee wanted to get me up there to camp and to talk a little bit. I don't know too much (about Georgia), but I know they've produced a lot (of running backs)."
Top offers: Arkansas, Baylor, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, SMU, TCU, Texas and USC
The Lowdown: One of the very first offers that the Texas staff made in the 2022 class back in May. Took in the Texas/OU game last weekend and seemed pretty excited about it all.
Wide Receivers
Top offers: Arizona State, Arkansas, LSU, Oklahoma and Texas
The Lowdown: Despite the fact that Burton lives 20 minutes from the 40 Acres, he hasn't actually spent a lot of time on the Texas campus. The Longhorns will have some work to do because it doesn't feel like this will be a total lay-up.
Top offers: Alabama, Florida, LSU, Oklahoma, Texas and Texas A&M.
The Lowdown: Winfield is another prospect that write his ow ticket and the early favorite has to be Oklahoma, which has historically been winning kids in the Lewisville area at infinitely higher rates than any other elite program over the last 15-16 years. The Longhorns and Aggies will also take center stage in this recruitment, but... Oklahoma is always going to be the favorite with a kid from Lewisville.
Tight End
Top offers: Georgia, Oklahoma, Texas and Texas A&M
The Lowdown: Green has already taken visits to Texas A&M (last weekend) and Oklahoma this fall. He seems pretty open-minded, but the Longhorns and Sooners were probably the top two going into last weekend's visit in College State for the A&M/Alabama game.
Offensive Linemen
Top offers: Arizona State, Florida State, Houston, Oklahoma State, Texas and Utah
The Lowdown: Bank shockingly committed to Oklahoma State last month while on a visit to Stillwater. At this point, he's obviously very high on the Cowboys, but everything I know about the recruiting world tells me that his recruitment is likely just beginning and I'll be very surprised if he signs with the Cowboys when the dust settles.
Top offers: Alabama, Arkansas, LSU, Oklahoma, Texas and Texas A&M
The Lowdown: It's too soon to draw any firm conclusions, but LSU and Texas are definitely two schools to keep a close eye on in this recruitment.
Key Quotes: From a Rivals interview three days ago:
On Texas: "I'm expecting big things out of them this year with the quarterback and most of their offensive line back. He (Herb Hand) is a great guy that cares about his players and wants them to really succeed. You can see he cares about these people."
On Texas A&M: "Coach (Josh) Henson is great. We get along and he's a great guy. He's a good person and he also wants his players to succeed. He's been to a lot of schools but cares about individuals even after they're done playing for him. That's something I like to see."
On LSU: "Coach O is a great guy. LSU, with Bryce (Anderson) committed, he's trying to get me over there. HE's been talking to me a lot about what they're building over there, so I've been keeping up with that and I know I want to get another visit over there. I've been trying to get up to LSU, so that's what I've been thinking about lately besides working and trying to get better for my team. I was up there during camp, so I didn't get to talk or interact as much as I want to. I want to see the campus, get a more in-depth tour and seeing the campus and school."
On Alabama: "At 'Bama, it's crazy. As a sophomore, to see it's really just built by them. It's like what they say. They send players to the league and they develop them into great young men."
On Oklahoma: "He (Bill Bedenbaugh) is a good guy like a lot of the rest of the coaches. I'm trying to really develop a relationship there. They develop their players and I'm trying to get up there after the season. We haven't talked too much, but that's because I didn't know I got the offer. I'm excited to go up there and meet those guys because all I've heard from everyone is that Oklahoma is great."
Defensive Linemen
Top offers: Alabama, Baylor, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Texas and Texas A&M.
The Lowdown: The Longhorns have emerged as a favorite in his recruitment after getting him on campus a few times this year and giving him as much attention as any school recruiting him. Oscar Giles has made a positive early impression.
Top offers: Texas and Colorado
The Lowdown: The Longhorns were the first to offer the young pass rusher and have been on him stronger than anyone recruiting him.
Defensive Backs
Top offers: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Oklahoma and Texas
The Lowdown: It's still early in his recruitment, but the general vibe is that the Aggies might be the frontrunner in his recruitment with the recent in-roads that have been made inside the North Shore program.
Top offers: LSU, Alabama, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Oklahoma, Texas and Texas A&M
The Lowdown: This looks like an LSU, Texas and Texas A&M battle that could favor the Tigers early on.
*****
Texas will host Matt Murrell, Micah Peavy, and Kerwin Walton this weekend for official visits. With Walton coming in, top 2021 prospect Langston Love, who originally planned to take a visit this weekend, will take an official visit on another date. A quick take on all three prospects:
--- Murrell is planning to decide soon, and right now most of the conversation is focused on Ole Miss and Texas, although Murrell is keeping colleges guessing after many expected him to pick Vanderbilt. Texas could win him over with a great visit this weekend, but will have to work against Ole Miss’s appealing location close to home.
--- Peavy will likely decide in December. There was some buzz that TCU was gaining steam, but I still think Texas Tech is the team to beat. Where does Texas stand? For a while, it seemed like a Texas Tech and Texas battle with Texas trailing. This weekend will tell us more.
--- Walton has been on the radar for many major programs, like UNC and Arizona, but it doesn’t seem any top program has gone all-in for the skilled guard, who can shoot the rock. Perhaps Texas is that team after this weekend. The Longhorns have shown interest consistently, but increased that interest, obviously, and clearly want to add a guard to this 2020 class.
******
With recruiting covered, let’s move to some team notes. Since we’ve been unable to see any workouts leading up to the season, these are a collection of notes from a few sources. It should go without saying that Texas should be viewed as a wait-and-see team after missing the NCAA Tournament this past season, and we’ll ultimately find out what the 2019-20 Longhorns look like when they take the floor.
In random order:
--- We reported this summer Shaka Smart would take more of a, for lack of a better phrase, CEO-type of role with this coaching staff after the hire of Luke Yaklich. That hasn’t changed. While Texas does have a defensive coordinator (Yaklich) and offensive coordinator (Neill Berry), and the three assistant coaches still do have responsibility for one position group, this is very much a collaborative approach. For example, new assistant coach Luke Yaklich, who is great on footwork, could point out something in a ball screen offense that can be improved. Everyone works together with input in all areas.
Speaking of Yaklich, he’s a tactician that’s always coaching and talking on the floor. He builds his defense around its personnel, specifically what it can do against ball screens, and through the use of very specific details and calls for actions and situations on the floor, Yaklich wants to generate a lot of defensive possessions that result in a contested two and a rebound. For example, Yaklich, who views successful defensive rebounding as grabbing 75% or more of misses, doesn’t just teach blocking out in a traditional sense; it’s taught with a “face, fight, find” technique that is built to generate results instead of just putting a body on a guy.
--- The word “urgency” was used by one source about the players understanding this year needed to be different, and the word “positivity” was used about coaches in their practice interactions. From the sounds of things, the energy has a more positive tone behind it; this is a group that loves to get to the gym each day and stay there even after practice is over. I’m not sure that was always the case last season.
--- Smart mentioned this when he recently met with the media, but Texas is, as it does every season, putting in its pressure defense and more specifically, its diamond press. How much will Texas use it? We’ll see. It’ll depend how it looks in these final weeks of practice and then in early games.
--- I don’t know how much of a quicker pace Texas will play with in terms of amount of possessions per game and getting up-and-down the floor. However, there’s been a clear emphasis on the pace the basketball moves around the floor in the half-court, and that includes switching sides of the floor quickly to spread out a defense and skipping the ball out of ball screen situations. Every team discusses the ball sticking and moving the basketball, but the Longhorns have especially emphasized ball movement on offense.
--- It’s no secret Texas will go as Matt Coleman and Courtney Ramey go, and the two have been asked and are taking it upon themselves to lead more. There were some nervous moments as Ramey awaiting his wrist injury results, but a recent Instagram post showed he wasn’t wearing a brace. Specifically, Coleman seems to be emerging as the central player voice of the program. With no scholarship seniors on the roster and familiar faces like Kerwin Roach and Dylan Osetkowski no longer around, Coleman is the main player in charge and has created a tight bond with many players on the roster. Along with those two guards, Jase Febres surer of himself and confident as he heads into year three with experience.
Texas tracks so many stats during its practice periods, and one of them is wins (if your group beats the other group in the drill or scrimmage period). Coleman, who is noticeably more explosive and stronger, is easily the leader in that category and has even been instructed at times to do some of the teaching with selected groups.
--- I usually don’t put a lot of stock into hearing this from just one person, but more than a few people have stated this roster gets along better and is more basketball-focused than last year. Will that show, and will that still be the case when playing time is a real thing and results start happening? We’ll see.
--- Last summer, Jericho Sims was the man. Then early last fall, it was becoming obvious he was not the man and Jaxson Hayes was. Sims never recovered and endured a sophomore slump in the type of way that will forever make me hesitant when hearing positive predictions about him. That said, it sounds like Sims is reacting to and accepting coaching better while also connecting more with bigs coach Yaklich.
“He’s in a great place mentally,” a source said. “He has put in a lot of work this summer, and I’m expecting it to pay off.” Sims is known for being as quiet as a basketball player can be, but that’s changed some this preseason as he’s doing more talking on and off the court as his confidence grows.
The big question is can he find consistency and sustain his confidence? I’ll believe it when I see it.
--- In the summer, one well-placed source suggested any list of breakout players for Texas should start with sophomore Gerald Liddell. After checking around, that hasn’t changed. In fact, there is even more smoke associated with that fire as Liddell was labeled by one person as the best player in practice thus far. Liddell ended last season on a high note as he began to show his physical tools could allow him to impact the game in so many ways, especially at 6-8. Seems he’s continued building off that strong finish. While Kamaka Hepa’s shooting and intelligence pair nicely with anyone, especially as he enters year two, it sounds like Liddell would have a starting spot if the season started tomorrow.
--- As for the freshmen, there hasn’t been a ton of conversation good or bad. Maybe that’s a product of so many returning players making the need for a freshman to start not as high as usual. People are excited about what all three could become.
When Will Baker is on the floor, Texas will try to feature his skill and shooting, and you’ll likely see some things schematically (like a five-out offense) in the half-court that Texas hasn’t done before or at least I can’t recall it doing it. But I do think he’s not going to be the no-doubt starter, instant impact-type of big that Jarrett Allen and Mohamed Bamba were when they arrived. Like any young big, it’s going to take some time to adjust to the speed, physicality, and getting the body in a place to be able to play as hard as required consistently. But he’s super skilled and talented. His shooting and ability to facilitate offense will help.
Kai Jones could play both on the wing or in the frontcourt, and might have the highest ceiling of any freshmen. That will show in flashes, but so will his youthful basketball experience. His motor and passion have translated, though. The progress Donovan Williams has already made since he arrived has excited those around the program, but he’s likely a guy that looks way different in February than November.
--- Unlike previous seasons when the rotation often wasn’t very deep, this could be a year, especially early on, when everyone gets a crack, including Andrew Jones. I think everyone is cautiously optimistic about Jones, who continues to make progress. But he is a guy that hasn’t truly played a game in a long, long time. There will undoubtedly be a process for Jones to get game reps, continue to build back up physically, and to see how his body responds. But he’s going to play.
Royce Hamm, Jr. was regarded as a player that improved over the summer doing the little things, like catching the ball and quickly making a move. He put in the work on his own, and it shows. While Sims is in a good place right now, it seems there are frontcourt minutes available. I don’t know how Brock Cunningham fits into the equation, but he often brings extreme effort and toughness it in practice and has a knack for coming down with trough rebounds. Plus, he might have the highest hoops IQ on the roster, and has underrated skill.
--- In this type of second-hand reporting, you’re not going to find many people waiving red flags and voicing concerns; so, the sunshine almost always radiates. That said, I think the one concern Texas will have heading into the season is getting the roster to understand it must bring it each and every night and respect each and every opponent and situation; basically, trying to create a carryover from the NIT.
Many Texas fans will roll their eyes forever at UT’s NIT championship, but there was a noticeable difference in the way the team interacted and played during that part of the season and the rest of the season. Can Texas replicate that? We’ll find out in a few weeks and then over the next few months. (McComas)
