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A relatively calm Wednesday afternoon got a major shot of adrenaline when Texas A&M quarterback commit Kyler Murray and former Texas A&M wide receiver peldge DaMarkus Lodge almost simultaneously sent out pictures of Texas Longhorns jerseys:
Top QB Kyler Murray RT @TheKylerMurray: pic.twitter.com/SvSHmw8rJ1
— Horns247 (@Horns247) January 21, 2015
— DaMarkus Lodge (@DaMarkusLodge18) January 21, 2015
Confirmation quickly came in from TexAgs that the two Metroplex stars are in Austin for a surprise unofficial visit with the Longhorns.
To call the development surprising would be to undersell it -- Murray never seriously considered Texas during any point in the recruiting process and categorically dismissed any potential to end up there when asked about the Longhorns last summer.
As shocking as it is to get Murray on campus, in all likelihood, Murray still isn't strongly considering Texas and will follow in his father's footsteps to College Station, as planned. But maybe he'll see something on his visit that will change his mind.
So, just for a second, in the euphoria of this visit news it's worth considering the meltdown that result at Texas A&M if Murray were to flip his pledge to Texas.
The bigger potential development for head coach Charlie Strong and his staff is getting Lodge on campus. The top-50 prospect and No. 6 wide receiver had talked about taking an official visit to Austin, but hadn't ever set a date, so he seemed like a long shot to make it to campus in recent days.
When Darrell Wyatt was the wide receivers coach, Lodge was considered a Texas lean and was ready to commit before the Mack Brown express derailed in the fall of 2013 and Wyatt wasn't retained by the current staff. Oklahoma hasn't been thought to be a major contender for Lodge at any point, but he did visit Norman back in 2013 and was being recruited by new wide receivers coach Jay Norvell.
How did the two players end up on the visit? It might have something to do with the person who sent out this tweet at a conspicuous time:
No place like Texas ...
— Malik Jefferson 4⃣6⃣ (@Official_MalikJ) January 21, 2015
Jefferson, who enrolled early at Texas, is close friends with Murray and Lodge.
In all likelihood, neither prospect will end up playing with Jefferson in college, but that doesn't make the unexpected visit any more compelling at the moment.