Heading into first SEC season, Texas struggling to close elite targets
Second place is no place in recruiting and lately, Texas has been the bridesmaid in a lot of recruitments.
The latest example of the Longhorns missing out on a top target came Wednesday when Lewisville, Texas, five-star offensive tackle Michael Fasusi chose Oklahoma over Texas and Texas A&M.
He’s just one of many.
Seven of the top eight prospects in the Texas state rankings are committed, none to the Longhorns. To be fair, none are committed to the Aggies, either, but this would be an historic miss for Texas after coming off a run to the College Football Playoff.
Texas landed five-star defensive end Colin Simmons last recruiting cycle. Five-star linebacker Anthony Cook and five-star receiver Johntay Cook were in the 2023 class. Five-star Devon Campbell came in 2022.
It has never really been the case since the Mack Brown glory days that Texas owned in-state recruiting but this would be the first year since 2020 that the Longhorns didn’t land at least one prospect in the top eight in the state. That was a recruiting cycle marked by five-star talents Zachary Evans and Demond Demas, and neither lived up to expectations.
There is still hope as five-star Jonah Williams from Galveston (Texas) Ball commits this weekend and it’s a three-team race among Texas, LSU and Texas A&M.
It’s also about four months until National Signing Day when the real work starts happening in recruiting and flip season officially opens up.
But still, this has been one headache after another.
Five-star Dakorien Moore looked like a lock to Texas after his LSU decommitment only to take a late visit to Oregon and pick the Ducks. Could the Longhorns circle back later to flip the Duncanville standout, especially since he’s so close with his family and staying close to home might become more appealing? It will be one to watch.
There have been some other head-scratchers surrounding the Longhorns and the top Lone Star State talent in this recruiting cycle.
Texas took an early commitment from four-star quarterback KJ Lacey so Moore’s teammate, five-star Keelon Russell, chose SMU and later flipped to Alabama.
Five-star linebacker Riley Pettijohn said during a recent interview that if he didn’t pick Ohio State it would have been USC or Texas A&M, with the Longhorns seemingly fourth. That came as a surprise since Texas felt like the leader for a long time.
Not one specific thing can be pointed to as to why the Longhorns, who are ranked still a respectable No. 16 overall in the team rankings, are struggling after making a playoff run. NIL is OK. Coach Steve Sarkisian is an active recruiter who’s on the road a lot. The assistants are strong recruiters.
There is a long way to go until signing day and in those final weeks is when recruiting really starts. But Texas is playing from behind with in-state recruits and that’s never a great place to be.
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