Kevin Shorter recruit updates: 2014 athlete

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.”

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.

A surprising last-second push by the Texas Longhorns resulted in the commitment of Newton (Texas) all-purpose back Kevin Shorter on Saturday afternoon, representing the first significant coup for new Longhorn running back coach Larry Porter since he arrived on campus back in January.

A consensus four-star prospect, Shorter had been down to the Razorbacks and Aggies, but a visit to Austin for the Texas Stampede recruiting event put the Longhorns seriously in the mix for the first time and gave him something to think about. A subsequent trip several days later may have been enough to put the Longhorns in the driver’s seat. In the days leading up to his pledge, the Crystal Ball predictions for Shorter started trending in favor of the Longhorns after leaning heavily to the Aggies earlier in the month.