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The recruitment of Beaumont Central running back Devwah Whaley took another turn on Monday evening when the state's top running back announced that he has decommitted from the Georgia Bulldogs:
@HamiltonESPN pic.twitter.com/GXnsiE2jaP
— Devwah Whaley (@devwah_whaley) December 8, 2015
His decision caps a rather odd stretch during which he announced the Arkansas Razorbacks as his leader after taking an official visit to Fayetteville, then went public with his longtime commitment to Georgia only days later. Just before that, he named Arkansas, Georgia, and Texas as his top three.
So, yeah.
Right now, it seems that the termination of head coach Mark Richt at Georgia is the key factor in his recruitment. But is he still considering the Bulldogs? And are the Razorbacks once again in the lead?
A consensus four-star prospect ranked as the No. 132 player nationally, Whaley is the No. 4 running back in the country and the No. 13 player in Texas, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. The three finalists came from a list of more than 20 schools to offer Whaley a scholarship, including Alabama, Arizona State, Baylor, Houston, Mississippi State, Missouri, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Ole Miss, Stanford, TCU, Tennessee, Texas Tech, and others.
Other than Katy's Kyle Porter, whose mysterious recruitment has mostly flown under the radar because he doesn't give interviews, Whaley is currently the only uncommitted true running back offered by the Longhorns. Southlake Carroll athlete Lil'Jordan Humphrey is often listed as a running back, his primary high school position, and Texas is in a strong position with him, but he projects as a wide receiver or potentially even an H-back in college.
There are two keys in Whaley's recruitment right now for Texas. First of all, will Whaley follow through with his original plan of joining a multitude of highly-ranked prospects this weekend in Austin on his official visit? And will the flip of Temple wide receiver Davion Curtis from Georgia to Texas impact Whaley, as long suspected before Curtis picked up his offer and made his decision?
The answer to the first question will find quick resolution in the next several days, but the latter will most likely take a little bit longer to play out.
[Update]: Whaley is taking the SAT this weekend, which will push back his official visit to Texas. -- Wescott