4-star WR Ryan Newsome flips to Texas from UCLA

The Texas Longhorns offense was finally able to add an explosive playmaker in Aledo wide receiver Ryan Newsome when he flipped from the UCLA Bruins on Wednesday morning, according to Horns247.

Newsome initially denied the news:

Don't believe everything u hear!!!

— Ryan Newsome (@NewBoi17) February 4, 2015

However, he's expected to make it official at a National Signing Day ceremony at the International Bowl later on Wednesday. Several other reports that Newsome will ink with the Horns followed, including from Orangebloods and Inside Texas just as the school was apparently making it official. The school then deleted the tweet shortly thereafter.

Right around 9:00 a.m. the news officially became official after a wild several hours:

"First and foremost I would like to honor and thank coach Jim Mora, coach Eric Yarber and the UCLA family for sticking with me through this entire process," he said. "That program and those people are as good as it gets and it is truly a special place. However after a lot of prayer and tireless consulting with my family I decided that I will start my collegiate journey at the University of Texas. It has by far been the toughest process of my life especially deciding between these final two schools but I feel that it came down to my family and friends being able to see me play and getting to share these precious moments right along with me. My heart is where my family is and my family is in Texas."
Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/jimmy-burch/article9193346.html#storylink=cpy

Aledo's Ryan Newsome poses with his family shortly after commiting to Texas. #hookem pic.twitter.com/msITmMGtPQ

— WFAA Sports (@wfaasports) February 4, 2015

The news comes almost two weeks after Newsome made a clearly tortured decision to commit to the Bruins in a ceremony at his high school.

Before that, Newsome had cut his list to two, eliminating Tennessee from the mix a month after having the Volunteers in his final three.

Texas was long considered the favorite for Newsome, but he told Bleacher Report before his decision that he was "still torn" between the two schools. What made it so difficult for the Horns to close in January despite a number of advantages? The relationship that Bruins head coach Jim Mora Jr. built with Newsome as the lead recruiter for the dynamic return man.

When Newsome originally committed, it seemed that he was still torn:

Ryan Newsome is really struggling with this decision between Texas and UCLA. He briefly called it off last night. Very emotional now

— Clarence Hill (@clarencehilljr) January 23, 2015

Newsome is not smiling. Breathing heavy. He is really struggling with this announcement

— Clarence Hill (@clarencehilljr) January 23, 2015

Newsome's longtime relationship with running backs coach Tommie Robinson and the hire of wide receivers coach Jay Norvell were not enough to counteract the appeal of playing for Mora at the time.

The Bruins staff initially did a better job of recruiting Newsome:

"The relationship I have with those coaches went far beyond the relationship I had with any others," Newsome said of the Bruins. "They always made me a priority in their class and they told me they were going to make me a priority ever since they offered me in my junior year. So it meant a lot to me for them to stick to it. They never wavered one bit and that really meant a lot to me."

But Robinson and Norvell and the rest of the staff didn't give up on Newsome, continuing to recruit him until the last minute. Those efforts eventually paid off.

The 5'8, 170-pounder is a consensus four-star prospect ranked as the No. 227 player in the country, No. 28 wide receiver, and No. 33 player in the state of Texas. In addition to the offers from Tennessee, Texas, and UCLA, he also held offers from Alabama, Arizona State, Arkansas, California, Clemson, Florida State, Kansas State, Louisville, Missouri, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Oregon State, TCU, Texas Tech and USC, among others.

What type of person are the Longhorns getting in Newsome? Take a look:

Basically, Texas isn't getting a talented player, they are getting a young man who wouldn't have had any problems upholding head coach Charlie Strong's five core values.

Newsome's pledge gives Texas 29 commits in the 2015 class, many of which have already signed.