It's worth noting that DB Justin Thomas of West Orange-Stark did not make it to Austin today because his ride fell through. He should be at J12 next weekend with the 2013 recruits from his school.
A huge curveball today...per Hook 'Em 24/7, ATH Daniel Brooks of Rockdale followed up on his invitation to J5 and did make it campus today where the staff officially offered him a scholarship. There's not any specific information right now as to what position he's being offered for, but Darrell Wyatt has been working his ass off since around Easter to make this one happen. His father mentioned Texas is a school he's always dreamed of playing for since he was a little kid. Brooks has maintained that he wouldn't look at the Longhorns without an offer in place, so we'll see if he ends up switching to the good guys before all is said and done now that an offer has come his way.
It's worth noting that DB Justin Thomas of West Orange-Stark did not make it to Austin today because his ride fell through. He should be at J12 next weekend with the 2013 recruits from his school.
Well it actually looks like Borque showed up at A&M today instead of LSU
TexAgs TexAgs.com
Bourque's commitment staying strong to the Ags - Video interview | TexAgs v4.texags.com/Stories/2276 via @texags
So much for that.
Designated T-
I'll add to that. 2013 QB Kohl Stewart of Houston St. Pius X was offered by Texas A&M today. He was also offered by Ole Miss earlier in the week. I'd say he's likely going to commit to the Ags later on down the road should he decide to not make baseball his future. He has family ties to A&M so they will have a leg up on everyone else.
I go to a graduation, and Kennedy Estelle pulls the trigger for Texas. Excellent news. The linchpin, the foundation, the cornerstone, whatever, Estelle is huge get by any description.
The OU folks seem to think that Daniel Brooks is all but gone. Stoops has a similar policy as Mack, visit another school and your scholarship is off the table. The Texas staff must like their chance with Brooks better than Sanders, they feel that Brooks will actually end up at corner, or they feel that Brooks will be a better corner.
There were some assumptions that there was a true ATH spot in the class, and it obviously exists with an offer going out to Brooks. Credit to Brooks and his father for defying Stoops and attending J5. High risk, high reward.
With an offer to Brooks, in addition to the pursuit of Agholor, Smith and Collins, it's reasonable to think that any possibility of Justin Thomas to Texas is over unless something changes. Colin Blake should be next in line for a Texas offer if it doesn't work out with any of the OOS DBs.
I'm very happy that Brantley and Seaver Myers, especially Myers weren't offered today. Coach Searels is showing the patience and diligence that Other Mac so sorely lacked.
One would think that Armstead will need to have an excellent J12 to get a Texas offer. Armstead has athleticism in spades, but he's a project. With Estelle in the fold, I'd be ok with Texas waiting out Peat and Theus.
TFloss how many more DBs will Texas take in this class? How many more OTs? If Texas wants to take 2 more OTs, offer Armstead.
Danielle Hunter and Tre'von Armstead, if you want a Texas offer, you better make it J12.
Well its obvious that Kendall Sanders does not want to play DB now. Brooks in a of an athlete, but I'm not sold on him at corner. I sure hope we can land Geno Smith.
Here's a recap of the weekend with everything I can think of:
*OL Kennedy Estelle of Pearland Dawson is officially #17...finally! Sure enough being around QB Connor Brewer and some of the other commitments gave him that nudge he needed to go ahead and pull the trigger. Sounds like the 2012 class is filled with guys who are going all out to recruit for UT. Speaking of which, UT now has NINE players participating in the 2012 Under Armour All-American Game; that's a lot of recruiting firepower. Estelle and his father had the opportunity to meet with Mack Brown, Sally Brown, Major Applewhite and Stacy Searels for a conversation before heading home to Pearland. Interestingly enough, Estelle has made no mention of those out-of-state trips (that he wanted to take so badly) since he committed. See some quotes from him below:
"I committed," Estelle said prior to leaving campus. "I made my decision today as I was going through and having fun. That's when I made my decision."
"Being with all the players and around the coaches and the running backs - we have two of the best running backs in the country - and a good quarterback coming," Estelle said when asked what made him commit on Sunday. "We're going to be a championship team."
Brewer had a nice tweet after the camp:
"Long day at #UT camp! Got another #longhorn congrats Kennedy estelle! Were gunna have a great class"
*ATH Daniel Brooks is the latest prospect to receive an offer from UT. He decided to make the drive to campus yesterday morning but didn't work out with the other prospects. Bob Stoops is much like Mack Brown in the sense that he's intolerant of committed players making visits to other schools, so we'll see if he decides to pull his offer somewhere down the road. I believe Brooks has an unofficial visit to Norman scheduled for this upcoming weekend, so it'll be interesting to see if he makes the trip now that he's likely rubbed the OU staff the wrong way. Brooks' father mentioned that UT has always been Daniel's dream school, but UT has a lot of catching up to do in his recruitment because the family is very comfortable with what OU has to offer. The Brooks family has yet to meet with the UT staff and I imagine momentum will start to shift in Texas' direction once that happens. FWIW...I think Brooks ends up switching to UT regardless of what OU decides to do. Stoops may make this an easy decision for him.
Now, does this offer have any bearing on what the staff thinks of ATH Kendall Sanders? I could be completely wrong, but I don't think an offer to Brooks is a total reflection of Sanders' current situation. We all know the staff wants Sanders at DB and thinks he has a million dollar future at that position. They also think he's good enough to play WR at Texas but it's possible he's buried on the depth chart trying to get touches over more pure WRs like Jaxon Shipley, Cayleb Jones, Thomas Johnson, etc. The staff may have offered Brooks hoping that he eventually lands at DB, but I think they offered him with the idea that he can be a true utility guy on the offensive side of the ball as well as on special teams. They may think he has more potential in that area and that's why he got the offer instead of Sanders. With that said, I still think UT takes Sanders if he comes around on the idea of playing DB.
*2013 OL Jake Raulerson of Celina was likely the camp MVP yesterday if they were to give out an award. To tell you what kind of compe or this kid is, he came to J5 purposely with the intent of competing against the older guys and using that as a measuring stick in his own development. He worked both sides of the ball yesterday and apparently more than held his own. Even Mack Brown came over to the group and asked if anyone was going to stop this guy. The only prospect that was able to hold him on either side of the ball was 2013 OL/DL Darius James of Killeen Harker Heights. The staff's mancrush on Raulerson has reached new heights and they told him he could play on either side of the ball at Texas. You can pencil him in for an offer at the first Junior Day next February. Searels will do everything he can to keep him on the offensive side of the ball, but he could end up making one great defensive lineman. Here's a quote from Raulerson about the camp:
"All I have to say is that it's Texas. I love Texas. I love the coaches. I love the environment."
Raulerson's family moved to Texas a while back after living in Gainseville, FL. There are family ties to the University of Florida, but it's worth mentioning that his father was all decked out in UT gear yesterday.
*Some other names worth mentioning are 2013 DB Antwuan Davis of Bastrop (just transferred from Del Valle) and 2013 WR Chevoski Collins of Livingston. Davis will be an important recruit for the next class as he has the ideal size for a DB that the coaching staff is looking for (he's about 6'0"/180 right now) and he was either the fastest or second fastest prospect at the camp yesterday. He also performed really well in 1 on 1s and he's a name that the older guys kept mentioning throughout the day. I like that he's transferred to Bastrop as he could help in the recruitment of 2013 LB Paul Whitmill. Collins was a guy that got Darrell Wyatt all hyped up because of his speed and quickness off of the line. He was apparently making all of the DBs look silly yesterday. Make a mental note of both of those guys.
Last edited by TFloss32; 06-06-2011 at 12:00 PM.
More stuff that's relevant to the upcoming J12 camp:
*WR Derrick Griffin of Rosenberg Terry may not camp at Texas after all due to basketball obligations. In fact, he may not make a football camp at all this summer. I'm sure we'll know more about his plans as the week goes on. I'm not getting my hopes up on Griffin because I think he ends up going straight basketball.
*DT Ben Hughes of Waco University was not in attendance this weekend because of family plans, but he wil be at J12 and he'll remain in Austin until the following Wednesday to participate in UT's overnight camp. DT A'Shawn Robinson of FW Arlington Heights will be doing the same thing. Robinson is another guy, along with Raulerson, who I think gets a first Junior Day offer.
*WR Jake Oliver of Dallas Jesuit is another big confirmation for J12. Kid is almost up to double digit offers as a sop re with Michigan being the latest enter the picture. He's an Aggie legacy so the staff will have a recruiting battle on their hands.
Just a quick reminder that DE Torshiro Davis of Shreveport, LA will be on campus today and Tuesday. ATH Nelson Agholor of Tampa, FL will also be in town on Tuesday. Definitely an important recruiting week.
*DB Justin Thomas is scheduled to make the trip to Austin for J12 with fellow West Orange-Stark teammates, 2013 DB Colin Jance and 2013 LB Travon Blanchard.
*Forgot to mention that DE Caleb Bluiett of Beaumont West Brook worked out at TE a little bit yesterday. The staff loves his versatility and soft hands. Being a baseball player as well, he has a few skills that the other big guys don't possess.
Badass picture from camp yesterday.
Very nice TFloss. The Monday morning write up is about as thorough as an airport pat down.
The combination of Connor Brewer and Sally "The Closer" Brown was simply too much for Estelle. It makes me feel better about Texas and Peat with Connor Brewer working on Andrus from his end. If football doesn't work out for Connor he could always be the next Tim Brewster. I really like Estelle's quotes, it sounds like J5 removed all doubt.
Again welcome to 40 Acres Kennedy. Get ready for immediate playing time.
Brooks offer makes you wonder how many DB spots there are. I'd love to be a fly on the wall during Wyatt and Akina's strategy sessions. I think Brooks commits to Texas soon and plays the position with the greatest need.
Raulerson sounds damn impressive. I'm not surprised at all that he outperformed the 2012 players and gave Darius James a run for his money. The talent and compe ive nature have always been there with Raulerson, you just pray the weight comes and he fills out well.
Antwuan Daivs and Paul Whitmill, I'm pretty sure TexAgs has already dubbed them the Bastrop Brothers. They love their nicknames over there. Davis should be a priority at DB along with Will Barrows and of course Marcell Harris. Whitmill is quietly becoming the best linebacker in Texas for 2013. Should be a big time priority for Texas as Bastrop is 30 minutes from Austin. The depth at LB is pretty good in 2013, but there's a drop off after Whitmill.
Chevoski Collins is on the all name and game list. You wonder what Texas does at WR next year given the current numbers. I'd assume Texas won't take more than 3 WRs next year. Collins or Ra'Shaad Samples could be the slot receiver, while Gary Moore and possibly Dannon Cavil or Prentavious Moorehead could be the outside receivers. Love Gary Moore's frame and the film is very good.
Some might decry Cavil as another Lake Travis softie, but the kid can play. Excellent film and an ideal frame. A Cavil offer at one of the junior days wouldn't surprise me. Cavil is Kwame Cavil's nephew. Legacy.
I'm none too impressed with Jake Oliver. Don't get me wrong, the stats and film are impressive, but Oliver's speed is a concern. Rivals lists his 40 time at 4.7. Ouch. I hope Oliver works hard with a speed coach this summer. you can't walk around Frisco without tripping over one.
Derrick Griffin is sounding decidedly more basketball than football right now. If Griffin doesn't attend a single football camp this summer, it makes you wonder if his heart is even in football. Unlike Seals Jones, Griffin could be dominant in both sports. Regardless I hope Griffin comes to Texas.
Good to hear that Justin Thomas is still coming to J12, even after the Brooks offer. Thomas likely needs a jaw dropping performance at J12 to warrant further consideration from Texas.
Colin Jance is afflicted with great talent and lack of height that afflicts so many West Orange Stark DBs. Jance's game is going to have to do the talking, because his frame won't.
Aggie loves Ben Hughes as a 3-4 NT. While I would love to see Texas dash Aggie's NT hopes, again, there are better DTs in front of Hughes.
The red carpet should be out for Torshiro Davis and Agholor. Again, great news that Davis is spending 2 days in Austin. Bo Davis can make up a lot of ground in 2 days. I don't think Davis will commit to Texas on Tuesday, but it's certainly plausible. Credit to Mack for pursuing committed players. Thank goodness for outside consultants.
The Agholor quotes after his visit will be fascinating. You'd like to Agholor leave Austin with Texas in his top 3. Over at the 'Cosm there's been some talk of the staff quietly gaining confidence on Agholor. Let's hope that's accurate.
Agreed. This picture is bad ass. Jinkens continues to rock the star socks given to him by Anthony Wallace. Awesome.Badass picture from camp yesterday.
Do you guys think if we offered Brooks as an athlete and not a CB, that the staff feels pretty good about Geno Smith or maybe they have their sights set on Justin Thomas since they know he will commit no questions asked.
Shayne that's the million dollar question. I think the first big test on Brooks will be if Stoops pulls his offer this week, and if Brooks makes the scheduled unofficial visit to OU this weekend. Rockdale is about an hour from Austin. I think Texas is in the driver's seat on this one. The resident OU expert at the 'Cosm thinks OU will offer Justin Thomas very quickly if Brooks commits to Texas. The general consensus on Thomas is that he is waiting out an offer from Texas, LSU or OU and the first to offer will get his commitment.
Geno Smith could be had. Smith has shown very little interest in staying in or near Georgia. My biggest concern with Smith is Auburn. Smith's close friend Josh Holsey committed to Auburn recently, and yes Smith did make the Big Cat Weekend. As always with OOS recruits, get them on campus and see what happens.
Ya I hear you. I just read the chat transcript with Geno Smith on Rivals and he's made it clear he wants out of the state of Georgia. I will be pissed if Justin Thomas ends up at Oklahoma that kid is a straight badass.
I'm pretty sure Brooks is ours, and I wouldnt want to make a trip all the way to Norman knowing that a pissed off Stoops is waiting for me, especially if he already has an offer in hand.
I just hope we can get one of these badass corners, really hoping for Sanders but thats my personal opinion.
The 'Cosm staff keeps saying that Sanders will be offered if he agrees to play DB. It seems like a staring contest between Texas and Sanders right now. Recruits seem to be more and more stubborn these days, see Starts, Michael. I think Sanders has it set in his mind that he's a WR, period end of sentence.
I don't think Texas should move on, but I don't see the validity in diverting time and resources away from other targets to stay in Sanders' good graces.
For those that are a little down about OL Andrus Peat not making J5, here are some encouraging quotes from QB Connor Brewer about he and Peat's relationship courtesy of Hook 'Em 24/7. Sounds like Peat is working on getting to Austin by the end of June.
“I talk with him three or four times per week on average and I try and talk with him daily,” Brewer said. “I think he really likes Texas. He couldn't make it down this time but he's looking at getting here before the end of the month."
“If he makes it down I think we've got a good chance to get him,” Brewer added. “I know we're probably going to take one more tackle and I know the coaches like him a lot.”
“When Texas started recruiting me that was one of my concerns because you hear that you'll be treated differently if you're not from Texas, but that assumption isn't the case at all,” Brewer said. “Since I first came down here everyone has been so nice and nobody has said anything about me being from Arizona. I tell Andrus that Texas is a good place. I don't think any out of state player can have a bad experience at Texas because of the place it is and how they treat you.”
Last edited by TFloss32; 06-06-2011 at 05:23 PM.
Good stuff TFloss. If Peat makes it down in June, the quotes post visit should be interesting. Haven't heard much about Texas directly from Peat or his father. It seems like all the positive Texas quotes have come from Peat's head coach.
Van LB Dalton Santos has reportedly decommitted from Oklahoma State as well joining Kenneth Marshall in that regard. 2 big blows for OSU.
Didn't see it posted anywhere.
Ketch's thoughts from J5. Free article : http://texas.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1228762
Bill-
Sorry I took a while to get to these questions. You're a smart guy and probably know as much as I do when it comes to these scenarios. The fact that Texas just offered ATH Daniel Brooks of Rockdale because of his multi-faceted game and RB DJ Monroe being the name that Harsin/Applewhite have mentioned multiple times this offseason tells me that RB Dontre Wilson will be getting an offer in February. He's capable of doing mutiple things for a football team and he's a DeSoto product. Those guys come out of the birth canal flashing the "Hook 'Em."
As far as a pure RB, I'm confident saying RB James White of Pearland Dawson is #1 on the recruiting board right now and the staff surely scored some points yesterday with the commitment of OL Kennedy Estelle, but you never know who will pop on the scene at any given time (much like RB Trey Williams did last summer). I take comfort in the fact Major Applewhite lives to evaluate and Bryan Harsin knows what he wants for his offense, so you can be assured that they will have covered everyone once it comes to time to make an offer.
I don't think there's a definitive answer for either position because the staff's course of action will depend on the decisions of certain prospects. For example, we all knew that the staff was targeting one QB and one RB for the 2012 class; nothing more and nothing less. Once they got commitments from their targets, things were shut down at those respective positions. It was pretty clear cut. For OL and DB, timing will obviously be a huge factor in determining what the numbers look like in the end.
To elaborate...I think this weekend is big for the OL. If OL Tre'Von Armstead of Port Arthur Memorial shows up to J12 like he plans, it's very possible he gets offered. He's been the Michael Starts back-up plan for a few weeks now. If he gets offered and farts around for a while or ends up being a no-show this weekend, the staff could say "screw it" and decide to go balls out for OL Andrus Peat and OL John Theus until the very end hoping that they land one of the two. If they're getting negative vibes by the time the season starts then they can revisit the lower hanging fruit at that time. What happens with Armstead will determine the final number on the OL, IMO. I don't think Searels likes Brantley or Myers enough to offer. More contact with a guy like OL Kyle Fuller of Wylie could really change things as well, but he'll hurt his chances if he doesn't make it to campus this summer.
For the DBs, I think UT is looking for two more. If you get a commitment from a guy like DB Geno Smith before the season starts, that number could change. Another scenario is UT misses on Smith, offers DB Justin Thomas and he commits on the spot. What if ATH Kendall Sanders finally comes around on the idea of playing DB and wants to punch his ticket as well? Are you going to tell him no? That's two right there. What if ATH Nelson Agholor is still on the table at that time? You simply can't stop recruiting a game-changing five-star like that. If by some divine intervention he picks Texas, that bumps you up to three. I know I'm rambling but as you can see it can go about umpteen different ways right now as every prospect has their own timetable and decisions to make which will ultimately affect everyone else (see Westerman vs. Hegarty, 2011).
Another gut punch to Okie State. I count three decommits in Addison, Santos and Marshall. I'd trade DLT for Santos in a heart beat, but Texas' interest would depend on a decommitment or attrition at linebacker. Patrick Nkwopara is buried on the depth chart, it would behoove Patrick to transfer. Maybe Texas gets in on Santos at that point. Steve Edmond followed by Dalton Santos at MLB would be nasty. Thumpers.
I think Santos ends up at Alabama, and Marshall ends up at Aggie unless OU gets involved. Marshall has sitting on an OU offer for years.
Yep. I think Santos had his eyes set on A&M until the SEC schools came calling. He was offered by Alabama a few weeks ago and has a tour of the Southeast set up this summer. Look for him to pick a school in that area of the country.
I want Sanders as badly as the next guy because I think he's a special prospect. I agree that Texas should stay in the hunt, but they shouldn't blink an eye when it comes to what they're offering him (a chance to play at DB U). If Duane Akina says you have all the makings of a stud DB on the collegiate level, you should probably listen to the man even if your heart is set on playing WR. If UT ends up having to pass on Sanders in the end, I'm ok with that even though I like him a lot because Mack Brown can't and won't let these kids dictate depth chart decisions to him. Everything is right in this recruitment except for Sanders' desire to play WR. There's a mutual love between both parties and everyone wants Sanders at UT. I believe the ball has been in his court for quite some time now and hopefully he'll come around before it's too late.
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