It may be time to change the commitment status of Newton (Texas) all-purpose back Kevin Shorter from “solid verbal” to “soft commit” after the consensus four-star prospect told Bleacher Report in a recent interivew that his recruitment is “wide open.”
Texas RB commit Kevin Shorter’s recruitment now “wide open”
The Longhorns may be on the verge of losing another running back commit in the 2014 class.
An early August pledge to the Longhorns over approximately 25 other offers, the 6’0, 185-pound Shorter chose Texas over finalists Arkansas and Texas A&M. Shorter’s decision to choose Texas was rather surprising -- the Longhorns had been thought to trail both the Aggies and Razorbacks during the summer after there was some confusion about whether Texas had actually offered Shorter when they jumped into his recruitment rather late in the game.
Still, the efforts of running back coach Larry Porter were enough to get Shorter on board, but the instability at Texas has now convinced the track star who is rated as the No. 24 athlete in the nation to consider his options once again.
Shorter is preparing for the eventuality that head coach Mack Brown could resign or be fired this season as pressure mounts for a change while the Longhorns search for a new athletic director.
If a coaching change does happen, it sounds like there is only one way that Texas could keep Shorter’s commitment:
It depends on which coach is coming in. If Coach Brown leaves and they bring in another coach who I know and already offered me at another school, then I’d probably stay with Texas.
Among the names that have been thrown about as potential replacements for Brown at Texas, only Baylor and head coach Art Briles have offered Shorter, though conventional wisdom holds that Briles is happy in Waco and wouldn’t leave for the Texas job if offered it.
So, which schools would be in the mix for Shorter if or when he officially decommits? He told Bleacher Report that his two other finalists, Texas A&M and Arkansas, would receive his consideration, as well as Georgia and Baylor, and has an official visit to UCLA planned for January, a visit that could endanger his commitment to Texas if he hasn’t decided to decommit by that point, as Brown instituted a strict no-visit policy on Signing Day 2013 after suffering five decommitments in the 2013 class.
Texas already lost the commitment of four-star running back/fullback Daniel Gresham of Fort Worth (Texas) All Saints in the 2014 class, but still has pledges from Houston (Texas) Eisenhower’s Donald Catalon and D’Onta Foreman of Texas City (Texas) among the 24 current pledges in the class.
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