Or, it's hard to de-commit from Texas at a Texas camp. Rejoice, Longhorn fans -- the worst thing that can happen at the Texas camp on Sunday is that a couple of 2010 targets don't show up. While that certainly would be disappointing, especially in the cases of Darius White, Lache Seastrunk, and Trovon Reed, at least no one is likely to de-commit. All of the 2010 commits left (all 19 of them) are expected in town for their first major opportunity to bond as Longhorn teammates. The summer camps are a major recruiting time for the Longhorns, falling only behind the two Junior Days, the spring game, and Signing Day in terms of importance. Several important remaining targets for 2010 will be in town this weekend, probably providing the last chance for the coaching staff to make a significant impact on each recruit -- most, if not all, will not make another trip down to Austin this summer.
Here are the players expected to attend the camp ($) this weekend (note: these are only the current confirmations, any of the players listed may not show up):
- Trey Franks, West Orange-Stark, cornerback/receiver: Of all the players attending, Franks has the most to prove to the Longhorns. While every other player attending in the 2010 class has an offer besides teammate James Haynes, Franks may be able to show the Longhorn coaches enough to earn an offer, particularly since Ross Apo's de-commitment leaves an open receiver scholarship, where some observes think Franks will end up in college. Unless the Longhorns make a strong move with him this weekend, probably including an offer, Franks will probably commit to Oklahoma after receiving an offer this week.
- JW Walsh, Denton Guyer, quarterback: After watching his sophomore film, I named Walsh as my favorite 2011 quarterback and news that Walsh battled through a growth plate torn off by a tendon ($) on a throw early in the year only served to increase my man-crush. Add toughness to his list of attributes. Walsh might be unable to make the second camp, but his invite to the first may be an indication that the Longhorns are going to seriously target the Denton Guyer signal-caller as the quarterback they go after in the 2011 class. Count me as someone who would be happy to hear that.
- James Haynes, West Orange-Stark, safety/receiver: Besides his high school teammate, Haynes also has a lot to prove, both in terms of his interest in the Longhorns (last week it was reported that he would attend the LSU camp instead). Haynes will camp at LSU before possibly making the trip to Austin, so there is a possibility that he commits to LSU if he receivers an offer at their camp -- the Tigers are currently the leader.
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Mark Roberts, West Orange-Stark, 2011 wide receiver: Roberts is a tall receiver (6-3, 185) with excellent speed for his size (4.5 40) and may end up being a national recruit ($), though he hasn't yet received the same amount of attention as Miles Onyegbule or Trey Metoyer. Like Metoyer, Roberts needs to work on his explosiveness off the line of scrimmage.
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Justin Thomas, West Orange-Stark, 2012 cornerback/receiver: Roberts and Thomas would probably be making the trip for the second camp with the rest of the younger players, but are likely travelling with their teammates for convenience -- the Longhorns don't seem to be specifically targeting either player by inviting them before the rest of their classmates. At 5-8, 160 pounds, Thomas is a smaller player like Trey Franks with the explosiveness and cutting ability expected in smaller players. Like Franks, his best position in college may end up being as a slot receiver where his height is not be as much of a liability as it is at corner.
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Darius White, Forth Worth Dunbar, wide receiver: The top-ranked receiver by Rivals has been a confirmed attendee for some time, but it now seems as if he may not make the trip -- another move that may end up being a major blow to his Texas recruitment. White needs to make it to Austin this weekend so the staff can give him some love and help remind him why he liked Texas so much early in the process. It might also be beneficial for White to catch passes from Connor Wood and Case McCoy -- establishing the always-important comfort level between receiver and quarterback. A similar bond caused Ross Apo to follow Jake Heaps to BYU.
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Lache Seastrunk, Temple, running back: After White, Seastrunk is the most important visitor for the camp. After positively gushing about Auburn after his last two visits to the plains, Longhorn fans will be waiting with bated breath for Seastrunk to say something positive about the Longhorns. Can the Texas coaching staff help him believe that he would be featured in the offense to the same extent that Gus Malzahn can? At some point in the next year and a half, Seastrunk will have to realize that even though he wants to win the Heisman as a freshman, that's just not going to happen -- he's not going to be enough touches anywhere because he's not an every-down back.
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Trovon Reed, Thibodaux (La.), wide receiver: Even though Reed attended the first Junior Day, the Texas coaching staff and the speedy receiver both believed that the other party was simply not particularly interested. In a similar manner to the situation with DeMarco Cobbs, that represtented either a miscommunication on the part of the Texas staff or the position filling up on a time table that did not match up with the target. Was Reed really being honest when he said more than a month ago that Texas still stuck out to him?
Notable absences:
- Jake Matthews, Fort Bend Elkins, offensive lineman: The last update out of the Matthews camp had Jake planning on making it down to Austin during the summer for an unofficial visit. Apparently, that won't occur during any of the Texas camps. If Matthews doesn't manage to make it back to Austin to esablish some of the comfort level currently lacking, there are overwhelming odds suggesting that he will become an Aggie.
- Corey Nelson, Dallas Skyline, linebacker: With Nelson, the situation is much less dire, despite popular perception of Nelson as a kid looking to extend the process simply to get as much attention as possible. Due to prior commitments, Nelson won't be able to make it this weekend ($), but will make an unofficial visit to Austin around the same time as DeMarco Cobbs -- the last several days of the overnight camp (June 16th and 17th), during which Will Mushcamp will undoubtedly pay him a lot of attention, as Muschamp has personally involved himself heavily in the recruitment of Nelson and Jordan Hicks.
- DeMarco Cobbs, Tulsa Central, wide receiver: As mentioned when Ross Apo de-committed, the major positive of the situation was that Cobbs now has an open spot in the class that did not appear to be there last week, the same week during which Cobbs contacted the Texas coaching staff to express his renewed interest. After missing both Junior Days, it seems that Cobbs will finally make it down to Austin. Unlike previous promises, there appear to be no hold-ups -- if Cobbs doesn't make it down on the 16th or 17th as expected, the Longhorn staff will surely move on.
- Jordan Hicks, Lakota West, linebacker: It's not a surprise that Hicks won't be able to make it down, as he is probably going to put off another visit likely until he begins to firm up his plans for official visits in the fall, when the Longhorns will likely get the highly-touted linebacker back to Austin. No particular cause for concern here.
- Other receivers not previously on the radar: The Longhorns have not contacted DeAndrew White, Nate Askew, or Mike Davis about making it down for a camp -- it appears the Longhorns will focus on the receivers who already have offers instead of offering anyone new. Bad news for those DeAndrew White fans out there.
Metoyer already with three favorites. Even though it's still extremely early in the process for players in the class of 2011, Whitehouse receiver Trey Metoyer, one of the best early bets for top receiver in the state, has already narrowed his focus ($) down to three schools: Texas, Oklahoma, and Texas A&M. Metoyer wants to stay close to home and make an early commitment, as well as compete for playing time right away. However, with three receivers in the current 2010 class and the possibility of adding two extremely talented players, that might not play out with Metoyer. Ultimately, he might be willing to compete, but playing time could be a major factor in his recruitment as it plays out. So too might be his loyalty to Oklahoma, as Metoyer says that he has "always been an OU fan."
Onyegbule, as well. Another top 2011 receiver has also indicated his three favorites: Arlington receiver Miles Onyegbule says that Texas, Texas A&M, and Oklahoma State are his early favorites ($). Part of the reason that Texas is in the top three is the early attention paid to Onyegbule by receivers coach Bruce Chambers, whom Onyegbule said is paying him the most attention of any school. With excellent size at 6-4, Onyegbule has drawn some serious early attention, receiving verbal offers from Oklahoma State, Nebraska, and Tulsa. However, A&M has the benefit of commitments from two of Onyegbule's teammates -- 2010 prospects Matt and Luke Joeckel, the former being Onyegbule's quarterback.
Katz thinks James needs to head back to school. After talking to various sources at the group workout in Oakland on Tuesday, Andy Katz says that if James is listening to what the scouts are saying, he needs to head back to school. Katz says that James was dominated by Sam Young in individual workouts on Monday and that scouts didn't like seeing James rely on the three-point shot, an unsurprising revelation given James', um, inconsistent handles. As I speculated the other day, this one will come down to the wire with James, so stay tuned.