Texas A&M, LSU and the 4 others with big recruiting wins Thursday

Kevin Sumlin got the biggest win of the day by virtue of things not changing. Five-star quarterback Kyler Murray announced he would be sticking with the Aggies, spurning late pushes from Oregon and rival Texas. The top dual-threat quarterback in the country, Murray originally committed to A&M back in May and is one of two five-star players in their class (Arizona wide receiver Christian Kirk is the other).

In other exciting non-commit commit news, four-star Florida State quarterback commit Deondre Francois tweeted he had decommitted from the school before re-affirming his commitment and saying his Twitter had been hacked. Francois is by far the highest rated of the Seminoles’ three quarterback commitments in the class.

The biggest true commitment of the day popped to LSU, as massive offensive tackle Chidi Valentine-Okeke made a surprise pledge to the Tigers. The 6’6, 305-pound Georgia prospect is considered a four-star prospect and ranks as the fifth-best offensive tackle in the nation. He chose LSU over offers from Alabama, Auburn and Georgia, among others.

LSU fans at And the Valley Shook are very pleased.

This is a major blast to the 2015 class that looked to be winding down. This kid has top 10 NFL draft pick potential. He’s massive, athletic, with long arms and can bend at the waist. In short, your ideal LT type.

Third-year head coach Butch Jones has recruited remarkably well in his time with the Volunteers, bringing in a top-25 class in his first year and a top-10 haul last class. This year, Tennessee’s group looks even better, and they currently rank No. 4 in 247Sports Composite after the commitment of four-star Georgia outside linebacker Quart’e Sapp Thursday. Sapp picked the Volunteers over offers from Michigan State, Florida State, Clemson and Ole Miss, among others.

Rocky Top Talk expects him to compete for playing time right away:

Expect Sapp to come in and compete for the backup weak side linebacker position behind Jalen Reeves-Maybin with an immediate opportunity to earn a spot on special teams.

Steve Spurrier’s squad may have had a disappointing 2014, but they’ve added a massive interior lineman who could help shore up that offensive line. Three-star Georgia offensive guard Trey Derouen, listed at 6’3.5 and 325 pounds, committed to the Gamecocks, giving them their fifth commitment along the line in this class. He chose South Carolina over offers from Louisville and Florida, and was previously committed to South Carolina.

New head coach Mike Riley has hit the trail hard to try and make this transitional class an acceptable one, and he picked up some notable defensive help Thursday. Three-star Georgia outside linebacker Mohamed Barry flipped from Kansas State and pledged to Nebraska over offers from Miami and Wisconsin, among others. He’s the Huskers’ 16th commitment in the class, and the second linebacker in the haul -- a position of need for the program.

Nebraska went on a big, big linebacker search around the end of the dead period when the bowl games were finishing, and Barry was one of the bigger targets. He got his Nebraska offer back on January 7th, and has been hit hard by the staff. He visited last weekend after visiting Miami, and the Husker coaching staff made one big push to get him in the fold.

It wasn’t all bad for Bill Snyder’s program. The Wildcats may have lost Barry to the Huskers, but they also picked up three-star Dallas quarterback/safety Kylan Johnson. Standing at 6’3 and 202 pounds, Johnson committed to the Wildcats over offers from Arkansas, UCLA, Texas Tech and Washington State.