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 and transfer portal trail surrounding Texas A&M.

Key notes from Recruiting Country

• Connor Carty‍’s commitment means a lot. It’s a kid who has been a highly prioritized target as an interior offensive lineman for this staff since they've got here and since they’ve dived into this 2025 recruiting class.
   
• We talk about the tackles in this class, and A&M has got to make some hay in that tackle market, and I think they will. Carty, they circled him as their premier guard prospect in the state of Texas.
   
• When you look at Marcus Garcia‍, who is committed, he can play anywhere on the offensive line. I actually think they look at him as a center prospect down the road.
   
• Carty is as premier of a guard prospect that you have in this class. Just by looking at his stature, I don’t think people understand his overall athletic profile, then you see videos of him dunking a basketball, and you see his shuttle time. The power and the leverage he plays with, that pop he has... I think this is a super get.
   
• A&M continues to establish a footing in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. They’ve done it. The games are ultimately what’s going to matter, no question. Mike Elko’s tenure at Texas A&M will be defined by the wins and losses, but up until this point, where is his misstep? He’s going to have some. Every coach does. No one is immune to it.
   
• They had to have a new presence in Dallas, and they’ve done that. They’ve had to continue to recruit Houston, and they’ve done that. The visitor list on these unofficial visit weekends has been outstanding. When you go back and look, the only month they haven’t added players in 2024 was March.
   
• There were a lot of people ready to crucify Elko if he lost Terry Bussey‍. You need to give him that much credit for signing him. Signing Bussey was a massive deal. They signed Robert Bourdon‍ from Duke. You signed Ashton Bethel-Roman‍ after flipping him from Arkansas. Then you start adding Deyjhon Pettaway‍, Deondrae Riden‍, Landon Rink‍ and Husan Longstreet‍.
   
• All of these new additions to the program, whether it is high school ranks or the transfer portal, the player acquisition part of the current landscape of college athletics. I think player and talent acquisition might be at the very, very top of a head coach's responsibilities right now because of how fluid it is and how much it can come and go. If there are good players out there, you better be able to go get them, and he has. 
   
• Jonte Newman‍ is a kid who can play tackle but is also powerful enough to play guard. What stands out about Jonte is that he’s gotten himself in outstanding shape. He looks awesome. He looks like a real high-end SEC O-linemen. He plays with great power. He loves finishing blocks. I think what gets slept on with Jonte is how light he is and how nimble he is on his feet. You don’t see that very often.
   
• Because Newman’s feet work so well, I think he’s got a chance to stick at tackle, but he plays with the power and tenacity of an interior guy, so he’s a swing guy in this class. I would Marcus Garcia there as well, but I do think Marcus is going to settle on the interior, but if you told me in three years, Jonte Newman is the starting right tackle at Texas A&M, I’d have no issue with it. 
   
• Jonah Williams‍ was one of these kids that was in last weekend. By design, the spring game wasn’t a massive visiting weekend, but Jonah was one of the massive visitors that did come in. He is one of the best overall players in the country, maybe the best overall athlete in the state of Texas in this recruiting cycle. 
   
• Williams has really started to get some MLB Draft buzz because of the spring he had on the diamond. What I’ve been able to gather since that visit is that A&M made up a ton of ground. I think A&M was kind of on the peripheral coming into last weekend, and I think the unofficial visit to A&M really accelerated things. I’m not ready to say they’re a leader. 
   
• As things stand right now, I think that if Williams was going to stay in the state of Texas. I'm comfortable saying it would be Texas A&M. Now, he may choose to go out of state. Oregon is big-time in there. Ohio State is big-time in there. Oklahoma is big-time in there. Oregon, Oklahoma and Ohio State are very much in the picture, and Jonah would have to say those are my top four for me to really believe it, but you kind of piece the information together. 
   
• What helps A&M’s pitch with Williams, I know Mike Elko has fielded high-level defenses with safeties that look like him. Demani Richardson is not as long and as big as Jonah, but Demani weighs about the same. Then there’s Antonio Johnson. I think that’s the perfect comparison for the staff. “Jonah, look at what we did with Antonio Johnson. Look at the role he played in our defense. Now, he was one of the best young players in the AFC last year on the defensive side.” I think they’ve got that to sell.
   
• There’s a lot of talk about Jonah spinning down to linebacker. I don’t know if those other schools have those examples because Jonah is not interested in playing linebacker. He’s such a rare breed of athlete that I think if he doesn’t factor in at safety, he has a better chance at factoring in on the offensive side of the ball ever before he plays linebacker. 
   
• Noah Mikhail‍ is one to watch in terms of A&M momentum, and the Aggies have done a nice job with their linebacker targets outside the state of Texas. They landed Kelvion Riggins‍, which was big for them in Dallas.
   
• But you’re looking at Mikhail and Mason Posa‍, I think A&M is in an outstanding spot. Both of them have visits planned across the country, but I really like the Aggies’ chances there right now. I would think that A&M, going into the summer, has as good of a chance as anybody to get Noah Mikhail. 
   
• DJ Sanders‍ wasn’t here. He was at Texas last weekend for their spring game. He doesn’t give much away. He is a very quiet kid by nature and plays things close to the chest. After checking around, I still really like where A&M is at, even after his trip to Austin. I wonder if a kid from Bellville has trouble going to a big city like Austin and ingesting everything, which can be a little more overwhelming, whereas College Station is closer to home and feels more small-townish.
   
• There’s still too much left on the table for Elko to show. It’s a completely different world that he’s living in, even from three years ago in terms of player acquisition. What you can say about Elko’s process is what has been consistent since he’s been here: He is organized, thorough and efficient.
   
• When we talk to players, coaches and parents, they all talk about how this coach is calling me on this day, at this time, and it’s consistent. When they come here, their visits are very well ironed out. I know for a fact that in some of A&M’s recruiting rivals, kids have waited hours to talk to the head coach when their schedule is completely off. That can be problematic because word of mouth starts getting around, and if it’s getting around to me, then it’s getting around to everybody.
   
• Samuel Brown arrived today on an official visit. All indications say KeAndre Lambert-Smith is going to head to Auburn. It's pointed in that direction.
   
• Brown ratchets up the must-get factor. When you look at his career at Houston, it's hard not to say he wouldn't be an impact play in a wide receiver core that I think A. Needs help in terms of depth. B. Needs another down-the-field catch-and-run threat.
   
• Brown will be here for 48 hours, and they will roll out the red carpet for him. It would be a massive get for Texas A&M. He started his career at West Virginia. He has familairlty with the state of Texas.
   
• I am excited about what they have done so far. When you look at how quickly things have come out and been shut down in favor of A&M with Joshua Celiscar, Shane Calhoun, Solomon DeShields and Kolinu'u Faaiu. Can A&M get, what I would call their top portal target, wrapped up where by Friday or Saturday we are looking at a commitment?
   
• Do not freak out in December about the high school signing class. You have time to right any wrongs in the recruiting process. 
   
• Elijhah Badger is a kid they could have an interest in. One of the national folks mentioned his name as an A&M target. If you trust the scouting department to bring in the right kind of players, it doesn't matter where they come from. 
   
• We are finding out that this coaching staff, if they believe you can help them win football games or pass/push the current guys on campus, there will not be any hesitation to take you because they are not worried about feelings.