With the coaches knee-deep in preseason practices, recruiting is somewhat on the back burner, but there have been a few interesting developments over the past few days, with one more coming up tomorrow.
Some quick-hitter notes ...
--- Missouri City Elkins LB Kenneth Murray will make his commitment tomorrow morning. He's down to Texas, Texas A&M and Oklahoma. Tough one to read, honestly.
A couple weeks ago, I was hearing that all three programs were somewhat optimistic that they were in good standing. Over the last week or so, most of the buzz has been around Oklahoma. Honestly, the Texas chatter has been pretty quiet ... I've checked around and haven't been able to get much (going to continue to work on that today).
One person I spoke with last week who had just talked to Murray said there seemed to be a slight vibe favoring the Sooners, so that's where I'm cautiously placing my bet as of right now. I've heard that Newman has told people close to him where he'll be going, but everyone is doing a good job of keeping things quiet. It's kind of refreshing, honestly.
--- With Oklahoma flipping the commitment of Creed Humphrey from A&M on Monday, that only helps Texas' chances of holding on to current commitment Xavier Newman.
About a month ago, it was a pretty safe bet to peg Newman for a flip to OU, even before the Sooners offered. I was told by a dialed in source at DeSoto that Newman had been telling some friends that he was probably going to change his commitment when Oklahoma offered, and he had been seen around off-season workouts wearing OU gear.
The Oklahoma offer eventually came in, but a couple scheduled trips to Norman didn't pan out, so Newman has held onto his Texas commitment and even swung back in UT's direction. Humphrey's commitment most likely pushed things much further in UT's direction.
I was told by someone today that Newman hasn't been wearing the OU gear of late, and "as of yesterday, I'm not sure that option (committing to OU) is available to him anymore now."
The UT coaches have done a good job over the last month of getting Newman to slow things down and thoroughly evaluate all his options, and it just might have played out perfectly for Texas.
--- In case you missed it on Monday, A&M lost more than just the commitment of Creed Humphrey. Dallas Lincoln LB/S Devodrick Johnson also decommitted from the Aggies. Tough day in College Station and I can sense the board's compassion as I type this.
Johnson took an unofficial visit to Texas on Friday. The Longhorns didn't offer, but if Murray falls through tomorrow, that could change.
In talking to a source close to Johnson, he said Johnson's plan right now is to slow things down a bit, focus on his senior season and not put too much time worrying about recruiting. That could certainly change if Texas picks up its interest, but Johnson did play it pretty cool following the UT visit last week.
"He kept it low key," said my source, who talked to Johnson after the visit. "He didn't really give me anything. I don't think it was some big eye-opening experience. He just said he liked everything, he was impressed."
Johnson came on the visit with 2018 cornerback prospect Dayven Coleman (Coleman is on the left in the pic below). I'm scheduled to speak to Coleman later today.
Some quick-hitter notes ...
--- Missouri City Elkins LB Kenneth Murray will make his commitment tomorrow morning. He's down to Texas, Texas A&M and Oklahoma. Tough one to read, honestly.
A couple weeks ago, I was hearing that all three programs were somewhat optimistic that they were in good standing. Over the last week or so, most of the buzz has been around Oklahoma. Honestly, the Texas chatter has been pretty quiet ... I've checked around and haven't been able to get much (going to continue to work on that today).
One person I spoke with last week who had just talked to Murray said there seemed to be a slight vibe favoring the Sooners, so that's where I'm cautiously placing my bet as of right now. I've heard that Newman has told people close to him where he'll be going, but everyone is doing a good job of keeping things quiet. It's kind of refreshing, honestly.
--- With Oklahoma flipping the commitment of Creed Humphrey from A&M on Monday, that only helps Texas' chances of holding on to current commitment Xavier Newman.
About a month ago, it was a pretty safe bet to peg Newman for a flip to OU, even before the Sooners offered. I was told by a dialed in source at DeSoto that Newman had been telling some friends that he was probably going to change his commitment when Oklahoma offered, and he had been seen around off-season workouts wearing OU gear.
The Oklahoma offer eventually came in, but a couple scheduled trips to Norman didn't pan out, so Newman has held onto his Texas commitment and even swung back in UT's direction. Humphrey's commitment most likely pushed things much further in UT's direction.
I was told by someone today that Newman hasn't been wearing the OU gear of late, and "as of yesterday, I'm not sure that option (committing to OU) is available to him anymore now."
The UT coaches have done a good job over the last month of getting Newman to slow things down and thoroughly evaluate all his options, and it just might have played out perfectly for Texas.
--- In case you missed it on Monday, A&M lost more than just the commitment of Creed Humphrey. Dallas Lincoln LB/S Devodrick Johnson also decommitted from the Aggies. Tough day in College Station and I can sense the board's compassion as I type this.
Johnson took an unofficial visit to Texas on Friday. The Longhorns didn't offer, but if Murray falls through tomorrow, that could change.
In talking to a source close to Johnson, he said Johnson's plan right now is to slow things down a bit, focus on his senior season and not put too much time worrying about recruiting. That could certainly change if Texas picks up its interest, but Johnson did play it pretty cool following the UT visit last week.
"He kept it low key," said my source, who talked to Johnson after the visit. "He didn't really give me anything. I don't think it was some big eye-opening experience. He just said he liked everything, he was impressed."
Johnson came on the visit with 2018 cornerback prospect Dayven Coleman (Coleman is on the left in the pic below). I'm scheduled to speak to Coleman later today.
