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Texas Recruiting Notes 2020


Reese Bennett

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By: @Justin Wells 

LV BUNKLEY-SHELTON 

Texas and Bunkley-Shelton met on the campus at Cal Lutheran, coach Tom Herman's alma mater, during UT's California satellite camp. Both were taken with the other, as Bunkley-Shelton put on a show and really hit it off with the UT staff. It was at that point that Bunkley-Shelton knew he had to visit Austin.

Fast forward to this past weekend. The dead period ends and Bunkley-Shelton shows up to Stars at Night in the ATX.

“This is my last unofficial," said Bunkley-Shelton. "I'm going to talk with the staff about setting up my official to Texas. Arizona State, Washington, USC, and Michigan are some other schools I’m interested in. But from here on out, I’m taking officials.”

The 6-foot, 180-pound four-star has an official visit set for Ohio State in November already. He has 22 offers including Notre Dame, OU, Michigan, and Oregon. But what type of player would Bunkley-Shelton bring to the Forty Acres?

“Man, I would always bring a smile, hard working, route running, high energy guy who loves football and is about his team winning first," Bunkley-Shelton explained. "Don’t get me wrong, I want score and strike the band up to “Texas Fight” as much as possible, but if my teammates hit that end zone, I’m going to be the first to meet him there for a back bump. Basically I’m bringing the Cali Joker."

He's undecided which game he'll attend for his Texas OV, but admits watching the Red River Shootout would be his ideal choice. That likely won't happen because of official visiting rules, but it's instructive that he understands the scope of the game.

We know UT loves what the Cali-bred receiver would bring to Austin, and it appears the feeling is mutual.

“I just figured out today that UT is just different," Bunkley-Shelton said. "I’m really high on Texas. How could you not be? It’s Texas Football!!!”

BIJAN ROBINSON 

A new twist in the Bijan Robinson sweepstakes dropped early Sunday morning. Yesterday, Ohio State mods leaked that they no longer felt confident in landing the Salpointe Catholic (AZ) five-star tailback. A report said he actually told OSU he wouldn't be attending their school. The recruiting world flipped.

From all angles, it appears Robinson gave Ohio State a silent and then changed his mind over the weekend. He’s still set to announce on Friday (8/2), though with his apparent indecision I wouldn’t be surprised if he pushed his decision date back.

As of today, it looks like a Texas-USC battle. While the Trojan side has mixed reviews on their chances, along with some moderators offering revisionism over their optimism (they weren't optimistic a month ago), there is some confidence on UT’s side of the field. I believe the family will have a lot of input on this decision this week.

What we're making sure not to do is assume Robinson is destined for Texas simply because we had him at near-lock status at one point. It's a whole new ballgame.

One data point that might be bigger now than ever was one Texas target who was at USC with Robinson during Bijan's OV stated the five-star told him he loved Texas. That player definitely felt Robinson was UT bound. It's a good sign if Robinson was saying that on his USC official.

The ideal 2020 RB haul would be Robinson and Ty Jordan (West Mesquite) with Texas needing to top USC for each. We'll keep digging on Robinson this week and hopefully will be able to offer the board a deeper understanding of what is going on

NOTABLE NOTES

Lakeview Centennial's Camar Wheaton and Alvin Shadow Creek's Xavion Alford made appearances in Austin over the weekend. Wheaton, the top 2021 running back, is a quiet kid who doesn't tip his hand. Getting him back on campus after the dead period was a priority for the Texas staff. Wheaton continues to hold UT in the highest regard, and I believe the Horns still look good here, but losing Ra'Shaad Samples - one of Wheaton's main contacts - to SMU doesn't necessarily help Texas. At the end of the day, I don't feel like it'll hurt them either. After flirting with a summer decision, it appears he'll take more time in his recruitment, which he should. A nice season from Keaontay Ingram could go a long way in this pursuit.

As for Alford, Texas is still pushing for the four-star 2020 safety. There are rumblings that Alabama leads, and that a decision could be coming. I've got no timeline on Alford, I just know Texas is still on his mind, and coach Naivar will continue to recruit him, even if a spot fills up soon.

Right now, there are three verbal announcements set for this week; Denton Ryan junior Billy Bowman Jr (7/31), Duncanville's Chris Thompson (8/1), and Bijan Robinson (8/2).

Bowman and Thompson look like the safe bets in burnt orange. We'll know more on Robinson as the date approaches. This could be another fun week as July wraps up. Then on Friday, it's football time. Texas begins its 2019 campaign on Friday at 10am.


By: @josephcook

2020 Bastrop Cedar Creek DL ALFRED COLLINS

This was Collins' third visit to UT this summer and second of the camp variety. After seeing the school down the road from Bastrop several times, Collins is starting to see a recurring message from the Longhorns.

"It was good," Collins said Friday. "They're still consistent with the family vibe."

Collins was one of the attendees who participated in the dunk contest. He definitely was the largest of the main participants at 6-foot-5, 284 pounds.

Although this was yet another trip to his mother's alma mater, Collins remains consistent that he will take his five official visits to his five finalists of Texas, Texas A&M, LSU, Oklahoma, and Alabama before making his decision.

"There's not really any order right now," Collins said. 'I'm still open and still trying to go on my other visits and see how I fit."

Collins said he plans to take his official to Texas in December after the season.

He said Friday he was told the Longhorns have one remaining spot available in the class on the defensive line, and that recent commit Vernon Broughton was in his ear trying to get him to join the fold.

"He's trying to get me up here with him to play with great players," Collins said.

2020 Temple WR QUENTIN JOHNSTON

The high-jumping wide receiver from Temple put his explosiveness on display during the dunk contest at Stars at Night, first with a between-the-legs dunk followed by a behind-both-legs dunk to take home the title.

The dunk contest as part of Stars at Night was another opportunity for the receiver just up the road to see the program several other Wildcats, like Jared Wiley and Ta'Quon Graham, are a part of.

"When I come back here, it’s the same thing I said last time, it’s like a good, homey feel," Johnston said Friday. "It’s an electrifying atmosphere."

The summer has allowed Johnston to learn more about what he said were the four main schools in contention for his signature: Texas, Baylor, TCU, and Oklahoma.

He said Friday he has tripped to TCU, Baylor, and UT this summer, but he's seen Texas multiple times.

All of those places aren't far from Temple, which is something important to Johnston's family.

"They like being able to drive up for the games, for practices, and if I needed anything they could just shoot up the road real quick," Johnston said.

Johnston said Texas was "in pretty good shape," and noted the quality of QB not only in his class with Hudson Card and Ja'Quinden Jackson, but also in the class after him with Jalen Milroe.

"That's amazing," Johnston said. "That makes a receiver's day knowing he has a good quarterback to throw it to him."

In addition, he maintains steady contact with the aforementioned Wiley saying they text back and forth every day.

Johnston didn't want to tip his hand as to whether he had a leader, calling it a "dead heat" between the four schools he mentioned. He barely tips his hand for anything as he doesn't publicly announce every offer he receives.

He plans to make a commitment "very soon," which he qualified as toward the end of the summer.

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32 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

It was apparent long before then when he said he wanted to see Texas score against a good defense like Oklahoma, after we beat tcu. 

It's not his fault you can't follow his brilliant, yet unconventional train of thought. #footballsavant #recruitingjujitsu

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Just now, justhookit said:

They wanted me to play basketball there but I declined in favor of drinking beer with the ugly UT co-Ed’s /csb 

It is the highest rated Liberal Arts college in the country. The dean is a family friend.

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9 minutes ago, Bevo said:

It is the highest rated Liberal Arts college in the country. The dean is a family friend.

Yeah it’s definitely a great school. I was down to deciding between there and UT. Went on a visit out there and one of the players picked me up at the airport and told me I came in on the perfect weekend because the biggest party of the year was the next night. I had been to plenty of UT fraternity parties already so was expecting a lot. Turned out the party was at LBGT student union (not that there is anything wrong with that) and it sucked. I went to round-up a few weeks later and watched a frat dude throw a motorcycle off the FIJI house. Naturally, I chose Texas.

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Bryce Brown 2.0.  Nobody, except I guess maybe Lawrence Taylor, has actually proven to be too talented to give the boot no matter what shenanigans they pull.  Even Randy Moss was a waste for Notre Dame and Florida State.

This feels like a challenge.

Johnny Football could have burned down Kyle Field and they wouldn’t have gotten rid of him.
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Just now, Pato del Muerto said:

No further mention of jerrin Johnson visiting this week?  He said he would in post offer interviews, and I was hoping he would visit and commit this week. But with 3 other commitments happening this week plus this renewed Alford push talk, I guess that isn’t likely. 

He's visiting today or tomorrow.

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2 hours ago, victory88 said:

his mom has yet to visit any school.  his brother no longer goes on visits with him.  his mom said she would be shocked if he stayed in state.  good luck to whatever school he chooses.  he will be a nightmare player to deal with for those coaches.  even fucking bama's RB coach told him he's too immature to start for them.  except aggy.... they will do whatever to sign him.  they'll tell him he doesn't need to go to class, show up to meetings, etc as long as he signs.  

This was exactly the impression I got after reading that article.  They will make him the "Chose One"

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23 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Is flowe a dirty recruitment or did they just win him clean?

 

Ha. What do you think? Who is he visiting and who is he talking up? He's only visiting places that pay upfront for the visit without any strings attached. Prices escalate for OVs, repeats, etc. He's going to the highest bidder in this cycle. Clemson doesn't buy everybody, but they're as capable of making the payroll as anyone else. 

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The idea that Clemson and maybe other teams selectively pay is interesting. There must be talk amongst the players as to who got paid what. 

Is it a good job getting yours situation?  Seems ripe for jealousy and animosity. 

If it works, it wouldn’t hurt my feelings one bit if Texas bought a couple of 5 stars every cycle to supplement recruiting, especially at need positions like lb is currently. 

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9 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

The idea that Clemson and maybe other teams selectively pay is interesting. There must be talk amongst the players as to who got paid what. 

Is it a good job getting yours situation?  Seems ripe for jealousy and animosity. 

If it works, it wouldn’t hurt my feelings one bit if Texas bought a couple of 5 stars every cycle to supplement recruiting, especially at need positions like lb is currently. 

I don't know how that part works. I don't even know how much the players usually know about their deal. I'm guessing it's vetted out pretty aggressively and isn't a thing that is acceptable to discuss at all. I also doubt there's real shock to a 3 star from Greenville or Columbia that the top rated players in the country get paid to attend the shithole backwater that is Clemson, South Carolina.

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46 minutes ago, ClubWhatever said:

I visited Clemson recently for a conference.  Unless you have a boat, there is literally nothing to do there outside of the university.   My friend's daughter went there on an athletic scholarship and got so bored she transferred back to UH.

She didn't like to slide?

Image result for Clemson slide

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5 minutes ago, BigBenBamboozle said:

What I don’t understand: if all of these recruits are privately discussing payments for visits, why isn’t there ever a social media whistle-blower who got jilted by a major program? How does that never happen with these otherwise-volatile recruitments? 

The kid that went to Miss State and outed Ole Miss and, inadvertently, MSU, did something like that.

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5 minutes ago, BigBenBamboozle said:

What I don’t understand: if all of these recruits are privately discussing payments for visits, why isn’t there ever a social media whistle-blower who got jilted by a major program? How does that never happen with these otherwise-volatile recruitments? 

Snitches and talkers get stitches and walkers.

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Just now, BigBenBamboozle said:

What I don’t understand: if all of these recruits are privately discussing payments for visits, why isn’t there ever a social media whistle-blower who got jilted by a major program? How does that never happen with these otherwise-volatile recruitments? 

There's been plenty of smoke after the recruiting cycles end.  Remember the allegations from A&M player Marchiol when he transferred to AZ (among them, improper cash payments from Jimbo).  Problem is if you in the midst of trying to land at a school, you're damn sure not going to start throwing hand grenades at coaches (especially without proof).  Once in, you need to play and stay in the good graces of the staff.  

You can leave and go completely scorched earth, but again where is the proof?  Often this is handled in the shadows, giving the staff plausible deniability.  

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4 minutes ago, BigBenBamboozle said:

What I don’t understand: if all of these recruits are privately discussing payments for visits, why isn’t there ever a social media whistle-blower who got jilted by a major program? How does that never happen with these otherwise-volatile recruitments? 

It does happen from time to time, they just usually get swept under the rug. Remember Santino Marchiol? He happened to be a world-class shithead, so everyone just moved on.

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42 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

The idea that Clemson and maybe other teams selectively pay is interesting. There must be talk amongst the players as to who got paid what. 

Is it a good job getting yours situation?  Seems ripe for jealousy and animosity. 

If it works, it wouldn’t hurt my feelings one bit if Texas bought a couple of 5 stars every cycle to supplement recruiting, especially at need positions like lb is currently. 

It would hurt my feelings if Texas were NOT buying a few five star players in every class. 

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Someone posted this earlier - but I'm listening to it now and wanted to make sure others see it.  This podcast/interview with Bryan Carrington is fantastic.  Nearly an hour of Carrington talking about his life, how he got into recruiting (volunteering at UH for two years), and making a name for himself nationally.  Give it a listen:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-101-the-recruiter-bryan-carrington/id1157493210?i=1000441920575

 

The OU/Norman shade is a nice bonus.

 

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