The Longhorn coaches had already put together a very good recruiting
class for next year, and it got a whole lot better when OL Mason Walters
committed Sunday after DE Alex Okafor committed a week earlier.
Walters, 6-5, 280, 5.0, of Wolfforth Frenship, is the best offensive
lineman in the state and one of the best in the country.
He said he had about 16 offers and narrowed his choices to Texas and
Texas Tech at the end.
He said he talked to former UT TE David Thomas, who also is from
Frenship, "and he told me the way they treat you when they are
recruiting you is the way they treat you after you get here."
Walters also said Texas has "great academics, so I can play football for
one of the top teams in the country and get an education from one of the
best universities in the country."
Okafor, 6-4, 230, 4.6, of Pflugerville,is the state's top junior
defensive end and is one of the best pass rushers in the country. He had
scholarship offers from several other schools, including Stanford,
Oklahoma, LSU, Auburn, Minnesota, Texas Tech, Nebraska and Boston
College.
He told me he narrowed his choices to Texas, Stanford, LSU an d Oklahoma
very early and took unofficial visits to all four schools.
"After I visited all four of them, I knew Texas was the school for me,"
he
said. "Texas has a great athletic program and it is a great university,
and my parents and friends can see me play."
He had 72 tackles and 7 sacks last year and really had a breakout
playoff season, helping lead Pflugerville to the Class 5A state finals.
The two pledges gave Texas 17 commitments for next year, and the
remaining spots are being held for DTs Jamarkus McFarland of Lufkin and
Calvin Howell of San Antonio Warren, and DE Devon Kennard of Desert
Vista HS in Phoenix, Arizona.
McFarland and Kennard are the top junior recruits in the country at
their respective positions, but Howell has as much potential as any DT
in the country because of his huge frame and great quickness, and he
says he plans to commit to Texas very soon.
The two newest pledges give Texas 13 of my list of the top 30 juniors,
and it gives the Horns five of the top 10, This is already a national
top 10 recruiting class and it will get a whole lot better when Howell
commits and even better if McFarland and/or Kennard join it.
The Longhorns have commitments from the state's best QB, RB, WR, OL, DE,
LB
Recruiting has always been one of MB's strong points, although I have been starting to question that the last few years. I think MB is taking a different approach to freshman than in the past where he brought them along slowly. They might be able to make an impact fairly quickly, but these guys are a couple of years away.
Actually, I'm hoping Muschamp makes the biggest impact. I'm hoping Muschamp can bring the defense back next year. Especially the pass defense. I know that's a lot to ask in a DC when it's his first year on the job, but there really isn't anywhere to go but up. Next year is definitely going to be interesting.
Please correct me godly if i am wrong (if you read this), but after learning of GJ Kinne transferring, i believe that gives us at the moment 70 scholarship players. With an additional 11 coming in the fall.
Calculating our senior class and who will be leaving, not including Jordan Shipley who will probably get an NCAA waiver, i think we will have 16 scholarship slots available, so if we get both McFarland and Kennard, we should only have to dump 4 scholarships next year. Does that sound right? unless i'm missing some player/s.
And i guess we can't rule out Harris transferring as well, although i want him to stay because he is a better passer than Chiles, and I think can still outplay him to be the backup this season.
