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New Texas Longhorns offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert hit the recruiting trail before the start of the recruiting dead period and made an in-home visit with Coffeyville CC quarterback Riley Ferguson, according to multiple reports.
The 6'3, 180-pounder who went to Matthews (N.C.) Butler during his prep days described the visit as "great" to Horns247, but he doesn't yet hold an offer from the Longhorns and the logistics of recruiting him are more difficult because he plans on enrolling for the spring, but would need to wait until after the dead period ends to take an official visit to Austin.
So far, the former Tennessee Volunteers signee hasn't seen his recruitment take off after joining the junior college ranks -- he just took an official visit to Arkansas State and currently reports offers from Iowa State, Temple, and Troy, so there isn't much significant competition for him yet. However, he was highly pursued out of high school, picking up offers from Alabama, Clemson, Louisville, LSU, and Michigan as a member of the 2013 recruiting class.
After spending two years at Tennessee, he will have two years to play two seasons.
It's a little bit surprising that Ferguson doesn't have more offers considering that he initially signed with a high-profile program and is currently ranked as a consensus three-star prospect, the No. 21 junior college prospect and the No. 1 pro-style quarterback prospect in junior college, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.
At Coffeyville, Ferguson completed 225-of-332 passes (67.8 percent) for 2,942 yards and 35 touchdowns with only six interceptions. He was able to post three runs of 17 yards or more, but does not project as a significant running threat -- hence his pro-style classification.
Texas made a late run at Montana State graduate transfer quarterback Dakota Prukop in recent days, but those efforts were ultimately to no avail, so the pursuit of Ferguson is merely continuing the trend of evaluating all available options, despite the fact that the Horns will have five scholarship quarterbacks on campus this spring.
So far, Ferguson is the first junior college quarterback to receive significant interest, but it's possible he may not be the final target, even with the dead period forbidding in-person contact.