Some of the recruiting momentum in the 2015 class for the Texas Longhorns bled over into the 2014 group on Monday night when Marble Falls wide receiver Garrett Gray ended his recruitment in favor of the Longhorns a day after receiving his offer.
Interestingly enough, Gray's cousin broke the news on Twitter some 30 minutes before the news trickled out to the services:
My cousin Garrett Gray has officially committed to Texas for football! Excited to watch him play! #proud
— shelbs (@ShelbieWitt) June 11, 2013
A consensus three-star prospect, the 6'5, 205-pounder is ranked as the no. 99 player in the state of Texas and the no. 100 wide receiver in the 247Sports rankings. Gray's offer list is more impressive than his rankings, as Cal, Iowa, Oklahoma State, Oregon State, and UCLA all coveted the Marble Falls product with excellent speed for his size (reported 4.45 in the 40 at the Texas camp).
The question with Gray is where his body will take him -- there's some thought out there right now that he could end up as a flex tight end, but he told ESPN's Max Olson on Monday night that he doesn't see himself putting on the 30 or more pounds it would take to play the position. However, it's hard to rule him out as a possible flex tight end down the road.
With the new Texas offense placing a huge emphasis on perimeter blocking, the addition of Gray and possibly former TCU commit Emanuel Porter would make a nice pairing with Lorenzo Joe as physical presences on the outside capable of winning battles against smaller defensive backs.
What really sets Gray apart is his speed, however. The 40 times at Texas camps are often the result of coaches wanting prospects to feel like they had their fastest day in Austin, but on film Gray does look like a 4.5 athlete. Throw in exceptional ball skills to make plays on jump balls in the redzone and it's a bit hard to see why Gray isn't at least closing in on four-star status.
Gray is now the 15th pledge in the 2014 Texas recruiting class and the third wide receiver, joining Abilene Cooper's Lorenzo Joe and Sharpstown's Roderick Bernard.