Recruiting Country: The latest recruiting news surrounding the Maroon & White

TexAgs' recruiting analyst Ryan Brauninger joined TexAgs Radio on Wednesday morning for another edition of Recruiting Country, highlighting the latest news and notes from the recruiting trail surrounding Texas A&M.

Key notes from Recruiting Country

• What we do week in and week out is going across the state of Texas to promote high school games and high school players through our platform. Some school districts make it more difficult than others. With the reputation that we’ve built, it’s somewhat crazy to me that it’s tough for us to get credentialed to some games in greater Houston.
   
• Last Monday, Jason Howell and I were in “see it to believe it” mode with Dominick McKinley‍. As the week went on, A&M was the consistent player. It was always “A&M and somebody else.” Come Friday, he picked the Aggies. On Friday morning, I was only at 65-75 percent sure he was picking A&M, but that was up from 20 percent on Monday. With McKinley and Blake Ivy‍, they play it so close to the vest, and you get stuff through the grapevine that is never tangible evidence. If I had to put my job on the line to make a prediction for A&M, I wouldn’t have done that until like 30 minutes before his announcement. With kids that don’t do media, you have to rely on sources and keep diving deeper and deeper to find out who has real intel.
   
• What a great job by Elijah Robinson, D.J. Durkin, Mason Smith and the staff. You add the No. 1 recruit in the state, and you add him to a defensive line class that is looking better and better with how Dealyn Evans‍ and Gabriel Reliford‍ are playing now.
   
• You feel good about what you have at certain positions, and now you can add guys at the top of your board. You don’t have to take a guy just to take a guy. That has never been Jimbo Fisher’s strategy anyway, and I like that about him. They don’t take guys just to fill the depth chart.
   
• Texas A&M is in a good spot in terms of their overall number of commits now that we’re playing football.
   
• The TCU-Colorado performance probably moves the needle for Colorado, a program that now has some substance to all the hype. Deion Sanders will recruit well if things keep going well. He answered a lot of critics. What does his recruiting strategy look like moving forward? Will he continue to fill his roster with transfers because he had success with it, or will he focus on high school prospects? That was a shot at TCU because they were the show in the state. Nobody is talking about TCU anymore.
   
• Evans was in Fort Worth. Some of the chatter around him is coming from social media, which makes me hesitant to even talk about it. Florida continues to make a push. Evans seems locked in with A&M, and he has been a lead guy in helping the Aggies add to this class. Florida has a good class, and the pressure is probably coming from their coaching staff. DJ Lagway‍ is helping Florida with Evans. At this point, I am not worried about Evans leaving A&M’s class. Part of this is just the recruiting game and trying to stir stuff up. I’m not saying Florida is not making a pursuit, but the effectiveness could be overestimated because of social media. As far as we can tell, he is locked in with Texas A&M.
   
• Devin Sanchez‍ was probably the premier visitor on Saturday. Drelon Miller‍ was here, and he’s a superstar. Texas A&M had two star 2025 corners here in Sanchez and Deyjhon Pettaway‍. Sanchez has told me that what has happened between A&M and Northshore in the past has nothing to do with him and his recruitment. A&M is in a good spot right now, but their biggest challenge right now is probably Ohio State. Sanchez liked A&M and spent time with the players. A&M is a real player for one of the top players in 2025, and it seems like A&M has Sanchez near the top of their board in that class.
   
• With the 2022 class, maybe they tried to assemble the most talent that they could. That has changed to finding the best talent available that fits with what they’re doing. That run in the summer of the Southeast Texas kids was big. Myles Davis‍ was big to that point as well. They have commitments and camaraderie among them. I’ve talked to Ashton Funk‍ about that too. It will take some “getting to know you” done with how many out-of-state kids they have. It’s going to take some effort to build that closeness, and I think they’re doing that.
   
• What the receiver room could look like? How many guys are going to lose? Ainias Smith is the only one you know you’re going to lose. How are you adding? Cameron Coleman‍, who has been as-advertised. Miller is the best football player in the state. Ernest Campbell‍ can really run. Debron Gatling‍ is just as good as any. The 2024 receiver room is incredible. The pure, raw athletic talent on the A&M roster right now is probably as good as we’ve ever seen. They have an incredible group of prospects over there that need to turn into players. Could any top the 2012 receiver group in terms of players? We think Evan Stewart and Noah Thomas are elite players. They’re trending in that direction.
   
• Micah Hudson‍ is another one. When I said they could stand pat at certain position groups, receiver was one of them. If they add anybody, it would be someone like Hudson or Ryan Wingo‍. I am going to see Hudson this week. Texas Tech has been the perceived leader, so you have to wonder if losing to Wyoming will hinder what they’re doing. I know A&M has made a huge move up over the summer. With Tech playing Oregon this week, it could get late early for Joey McGuire. It ain’t a good look for the Red Raiders, especially with a guy you’ve been in the lead for. Other schools are going to be circling like sharks that smell blood in the water.
   
• I think Miles O'Neill‍ starts this week, which is way later than anybody else. They just went into preseason camp a week ago, so they might even have another week of practice before starting up.
   
• Running back is the position that has the biggest question mark. They went national and after some guys in the state. They’re looking at the in-state crop again after a couple of weeks of film come out to look at Kewan Lacy‍, Derrick McFall‍ or Kedren Young‍. They’re not going anywhere on Taylor Tatum‍. We’re in a holding pattern on running backs. You could probably portal one if you needed one. You could have Amari Daniels, Le’Veon Moss and Rueben Owens come back. You probably want a high school guy behind them. They can be thorough with their evals. I’d imagine you’ll see a name pop up for the next home game or the one after. We’ll hear by the middle of the year about who they have started to focus on.
   
• Xavier Atkins‍ is committing next week. I still think A&M is in a good spot. He was tuned in to the LSU game on Sunday. Depending on where you look, he’s either committed or softly committed to LSU. I feel good about where A&M is at with him, and I’ve made some calls to check back in. This is one that the Aggies have really been on since the pool party. If he makes his decision and it’s A&M, that would be another one where you point back to the pool party.
   
• Nothing has changed in terms of A&M’s pursuit of Terry Bussey‍ and Kobe Black‍. I have the feeling Bussey will not stick to his decision date. I think that will be moved back. He will take some visits. Black looks like it’s coming down to A&M and Texas, but LSU is in that one as well. The Aggies have really zeroed in on Black and Bussey being their guys in 2024.