After practice on Sunday in preparation for the Under Armour All-American game on Thursday, 2012 Texas commit Thomas Johnson finally substantiated weeks of rumors when he revealed that he'll take at least one official visit ($) when he travels to Oregon on January 201th, as reported by 247's Gerry Hamilton.
A late-night Twitter exchange with teammate Peter Jinkens last week strongly hinted at a visit to Oregon and was quickly deleted by Johnson in the morning. Given the persistence of rumors despite some token indications by Johnson to media outlets that his commitment to Texas was firm, the public exchange with Jinkens was hardly a surprise.
The reports out of both Texas and Skyline have been favorable for the Longhorns for some time, but it's hard to attest to the veracity of that support with Johnson visiting a school featuring a high-octane offense, the Texas connections there (this hardly seems like the wrong time to bring up Baron Flenory again, or at least Anthony Wallace), and the type of visibility few programs achieve with their ever-changing uniforms from benefactor Phil Knight and Nike and ever-improving facilities. Given that offense and how well Chip Kelly features his playmakers in the run and passing games, the Ducks might just be a better fit for Johnson than Texas, no?
So even if there is confidence within the Texas coaching staff about Johnson, the timing of the visit hardly bodes when re-considering the odds that the Longhorns do receive a signature from the Skyline star in early February. January 20th is the same weekend when the rest of the 2012 commits come to town after missing the banquet weekend because of playoff games. At this point, it's not clear when Johnson will take that official to Austin.
Frankly, comments from Johnson about being committed to Texas mean little, especially given his previous comments attempting to shoot down rumors all while making other plans to visit Eugene. Not to criticize Johnson, but that's the dance that prospects dance. No hard feelings, but let's call this for what it is. He's still committed to Texas, but he's hardly a solid commit if he's going to take the trip to Oregon.
As much as Johnson may want to see the world (according to him), and as unfortunate it is that to do so causes this great tempest throughout the Texas recruiting world, the fact is that the odds of Texas signing Johnson are now officially much lower than they were for so much of 2011.
Even if the trip to Eugene is truly of the pleasure-seeing variety only, affording the greatest benefit of the doubt possible to Johnson, it just doesn't seem very Texas Gang or Die, does it?