TexAgs Top 118: Final Texas Class of 2018 Recruiting Rankings
With National Signing Day less than 24 hours away, the TexAgs recruiting team releases the final iteration of its 2018 in-state prospect rankings. Manvel wide receiver maintains the top spot, but the top 10 experiences a shake-up.
Under Armour All American Game preview
Players have begun arriving in Orlando for this year's version of the Under Armour All American game. Practice will start tomorrow at Disney's Wide World of Sports and will be aired on ESPNU. The actual game kicks off on January 4th Here's a quick rundown of the prospects to watch:Team HighlightManvel WR Jalen Preston - Texas A&MKaty K/P Seth Small - Texas A&MHouston Lamar WR Al'vonte Woodard - TexasAngleton S Billy 'BJ' Foster - TexasBishop Dunne DT Calvin Avery - IllinoisArp S DeMarvion Overshown - TexasHouston Lamar DB D'Shawn Jamison - TexasCarthage RB Keaontay Ingram - TexasSpring Westfield DT Keondre Coburn - TexasSpring Dekaney TE Malcolm Epps - TexasParkway (LA) WR Terrace Marshall - LSUSchertz Clemens WR Tommy Bush Team SpotlightDesoto ATH Byron Hanspard - BaylorYoakum WR Joshua Moore Ft Bend Ridge Point TE Mustapha Muhammad - MichiganTexarkana WR Tevailance Hunt - TCURecruiting storylines:-Can Texas or Arkansas convince Jalen Preston to visit? There's a heavy Horn influence out there.Update - 1:55Preston says he's hearing a lot from Florida, Arkansas, and Texas. He may visit the Gators and Hogs, but nothing is set up. His only official scheduled is A&M. He did admit to his phone blowing up after his big state championship game performance.-What are Ingram's visit plans? Will he let the Aggies get an official and came in home?-Keondre Coburn's upcoming officials will surely include TCU and A&M. The Frogs may be more of a threat than many think.-Josh Moore's official visit to A&M.
On Waddle, O'Neal, Ossai and more (Tuesday lunch)
I've talked to several folks now about the visits last weekend of Bellaire Episcopal WR Jaylen Waddle and CySprings S Leon O'Neal, and here's what I've got...For Waddle, the trip was a slam dunk, grand slam, touchdown. In other words, it couldn't have gone any better. A couple of times throughout the visit, he made it apparent to those in his inner circle and those around him that he felt like A&M was the place for him. He was hosted by Christian Kirk, a savvy move that paid off. Waddle got to pick Kirk's brain and see how he lived as a student-athlete at A&M. A source close to Waddle said he didn't know if he had ever heard him so excited, and that same source also pointed out that Waddle has now taken two official visits to Jimbo Fisher...that should say quite a bit about his affinity for the new head man in College Station. I'll also add that there's a lot of buzz amongst the group of commits about Waddle joining the fold. I was also told that Texas tried to push Waddle for a last official to which Jaylen amicably declined. Added: Waddle has pushed his signing day back to February. I'm told it's just to make sure he's given himself enough time to examine everything. Can't fault a kid or his leadership group for that.That same momentum can be attributed to the Aggies when it comes to getting Leon O'Neal back into the fold. While Leon has been a little more low key, I've been told a decision could be made sooner than previously anticipated. This coming weekend would be his last chance to official elsewhere before the oncoming Dead Period. Remember, Leon's plans are currently to sign in February. While it's not a done deal as of around noon today, there's talk that Leon could be back in Aggieland this weekend. Georgia, Clemson, and Oklahoma are still on the radar, but this feels like the M&W are pulling away and comfortably in the driver's seat to get Leon back in the fold. Then, there's this from Fast Houston...https://twitter.com/fast7v7/status/940655388546027520Terry Price and Jimbo Fisher are expected to meet with Oak Ridge DE Joseph Ossai tomorrow. With the buzz about Terry Price's retention, do not be surprised if Ossai is made privy to the future of his guy TP at that meeting. If/when that info is relayed, I was told the Ossai decision would happen "very soon". Therefore, barring a bizarre and unforeseen change of events, I wouldn't rule out the second commitment of the Jimbo Fisher era happening before you go to bed tomorrow night. I spoke briefly yesterday about the impact of the Darrell Dickey hire in terms of Grant Gunnell. Dickey has a very strong relationship with St Pius Head Coach Stephen Hill. Coach Dickey is in College Station today and is expected to be at St Pius tomorrow. Gunnell and his camp really like what Dickey has done at Memphis with Riley Ferguson and Paxton Lynch. The Houston Touchdown Club Player of the Year event happens tomorrow at the JW Marriott. The list of nominees should be well known names for those of you that follow recruiting. Here are a few...Offensive CyRanch OL Colten Blanton - A&MClear Brook WR - Caleb Chapman - A&MFt Bend Elkins OL Luke Matthews - A&MManvel WR Jalen Preston - A&MFt Bend Ridge Point TE Mustapha Muhammad - MichiganCrosby RB Craig Williams - BaylorDefensiveOak Ridge DE Joseph Ossai Ft Bend Ridge Point LB Chad Bailey - MissouriSpring Westfield DT Keondre Coburn - TexasKaty DT Moro Ojomo ...I think you'll see some members of the Aggie staff in attendance as well. It's very common for college coaches to attend the event.
Old name re-emerging?
Working on verification, but I've been getting word tonight that a trip to Ft Bend Ridge Point has been scheduled by Coach Fisher, maybe as early as tomorrow. Ridge Point is home to top TE prospect Mustapha Muhammad, head hunting LB Chad Bailey, and one of 2019's top DE's Nelson Ceasar.
More Monday night notes
I know there's been a lot of different recruiting threads, but that's the nature of the beast right now. We are getting stuff coming in right and left. Here's the latest...Chase Lane tells me Coach Fisher is coming by to see the St Pius guys on Wednesday.We've heard top WR target Terrace Marshall has had a couple of conversations with the Aggies new head man came away feeling good about what's happening in College Station. I still feel like LSU's the play here, but the gap has certainly narrowed. Seems like Marshall and Jaylen Waddle are both much more realistic than they were a week ago.Spoke to a source with knowledge of how things went between Leon O'Neal and Coach Fisher tonight. Fisher made sure Leon knew he was wanted in Aggieland. I'm hearing Leon plans to be in College Station the weekend of Jan 13-15th. That's also the same weekend the early enrollees move in. In terms of QBs, there's stuff circulating about long time commit Cade Fortin looking around at other schools. Fortin wasn't recruited by Fisher at Florida St. There's also been some talk about highly rated Georgia QB commit Justin Fields, and he is a guy that took a liking to Jimbo while he was at Florida St. With Bulldog freshman QB Jake Fromm having an outstanding first campaign in Athens, there could be mutual interest between Fields, Fisher, and the Aggies. It'll be interesting to watch the QB situation unfold as Coach Fisher begins to work. 9:55 update Cade Fortin has decommittedWe've also heard that while he remains firmly committed to Michigan, the Aggies are likely to kick the tires on Mustapha Muhammad again as the search for a TE continues. Some more names that could fit into that role are Boling big man Vernon Jackson and a pair of JUCO guys in Dominick Wood-Anderson and Jace Sternberger from Northeast Oklahoma JC. Edited to add Luke Ford to the TE list. See Jason's note.