Texas Recruiting: Tracking The Longhorns Until Signing Day

The visit from Wilson wasn’t planned until the news broke during the middle of last week that the Longhorns were going to get his final official visit instead of Oklahoma State. A consensus four-star prospect ranked among the top all-purpose backs in the country, Wilson has remained committed to Oregon despite the departure of Chip Kelly to the NFL. Wilson also visited Ohio State last weekend. His father said afterwards that he was 50/50 between the Ducks and Buckeyes, but the Texas coaches managed to convince him to trip down to Austin.

Of the three, the biggest surprise visitor is the five-star defensive end Herron, an Army All-American and top-100 player nationally who was recruited by new Texas running back coach Larry Porter when Porter was the head coach at Memphis. News didn’t break about his visit until he was already on campus.

The other supposed finalists were Baylor, Oklahoma, and TCU, but there was little drama in the final decision. A former Oklahoma State pledge, the 6-5, 320-pound Hammad had committed to Baylor in November before seeing his stock explode with a strong performance at the Semper Fi All-American Bowl in early January.

Among his 15 new suitors were the Longhorns and Sooners. Hammad had intended to take trips to Oklahoma and TCU while still committed to Baylor, ending up instead at Texas last weekend. The newly minted four-star prospect then decommitted from the Bears on Sunday afternoon after leaving Austin and set his announcement date for Wednesday.

The Texas Longhorns added to an already strong 2013 offensive line class on Monday with the commitment of Contra Costa CC offensive tackle Desmond Harrison.

Ranked as the top junior college offensive tackle by 247Sports, Harrison held offers from 13 total schools, including Arkansas, California, North Carolina State, and Washington. 247Sports has him as a four-star prospect, while the other services consider him a three-star recruit.

Then, following the completion of his senior season, Robinson will take his official visit to Texas for the team’s banquet in early December before flying out to Los Angeles.

A few days ago, the Trojans didn’t look like an overly serious threat to the Longhorns, as the 18-man class was full, but with the decommitment of California safety Max Redfield, there is now a spot for Robinson in the class.

“I did dream about playing for Texas when I was growing up, and I would probably be playing for the Longhorns if I knew they could be a consistent contender for the national championship every season. But the more that I started to look at things, the more my dream started to change. I started having thoughts about playing at Oklahoma and for coach Stoops.”

-- Superstar recruit Adrian Peterson after committing to Oklahoma ($) in early 2004.

Following the Texas A&M-Florida game back in September, Benenoch had dropped his long-time leaders from their perch atop his list.

The 6-6, 320-pounder had a glowing review of his experience ($):

Here’s why and how he chose Texas:

Now the 15th commitment in the 2013 class (including grayshirt candidate Naashon Hughes), Collins provides some good news for a program that has been severely lacking in that regard for the group that will sign in February. The Livingston product is the first pledge since fellow defensive back Erik Huhn committed after a summer camp back in early June.

That shouldn’t be a problem for any of the high school stars who will watch the game from the stands.

It’s not clear at this time whether Robinson will make it to Austin for the game, but there has been some talk about him coming down from Fort Worth for it. Robinson recently visited Florida State for the Clemson game and plans on taking official visits to Alabama and USC, making it a critical time to get him back on campus. Despite the planned trips, Robinson has not decommitted.

It’s been a wild ride over the last few months for 2013 Katy (TX) Seven Lakes offensive lineman Caleb Benenoch.

Back in the spring, he was committed to Michigan State and his recruitment seemed over. Then, his stock began to explode, the offers started pouring in, and the 6-5, 321-pounder who projects as an interior lineman at the next level decided to open up his recruitment.

Last Thursday, in front of a national television audience tuned in to ESPNU, 2013 Sealy (TX) athlete Ricky Seals-Jones was wowing recruitniks across the country with his work on offense and defense, breaking off several long touchdowns runs virtually untouched by Houston (TX) St. Pius X defenders.

After suffering a cramp that forced him to the sideline for several plays, Seals-Jones tracked down a defender and attempted to spin his opponent down. It worked, but not before the prospect known as RSJ torqued his left knee. At the time, it looked like a possible ACL injury, but his parents revealed after the game that the diagnosis was a dislocated kneecap.

After the Texas recruiting juggernaut managed to survive the Great Coaching Purge following the 2010 season with only one 2011 prospect decommitting, the revamped staff had to turn quickly to the recruiting trail already behind on evaluations for the upcoming class, all while beginning to forge a slightly different staff take on how to handle the process.

The first obvious change came with the commitment of Scottsdale Chaparral (AZ) quarterback Connor Brewer before the first Junior Day, a rarity given that Texas hasn’t officially offered before the Junior Days in years. More traumatic was the following change -- Texas received only three committments at the first Junior Day in February, normally a recruiting bonanza for the Longhorns. It netted 13 pledges in 2010, with six more by the end of February. It was shocking enough to spark concerns about a potential sea change in recruiting, perhaps as a result of 5-7.

Johnson is 5’9, 185 pounds, and has excellent athleticism. He’ll likely contribute as an all-purpose back at Texas.

SB Nation’s excellent Texas site, Burnt Orange Nation, has more on Johnson:

The 5’11”, 175 pound Johnson is all about speed. He’s extremely elusive in the open field and his quickness off the lines makes it very difficult to play press coverage against him.

Texas recruiting expert Wescott Eberts on the story:

Entering all-star season, let’s take a look at the best recruiting classes in college football.

It’s very difficult to declare a winner so far between Texas and Alabama. While other schools have a shot at finishing with the top class, Texas and Alabama are far and away the top two at the moment.