3-star ATH Lil'Jordan Humphrey commits to the Texas Longhorns

In an announcement on Dallas-area television, Southlake Carroll athlete Lil'Jordan Humphrey pledged to the Texas Longhorns over the Wisconsin Badgers on Saturday evening.

via KXAS TV

I'm a longhorn baby #Hookem #Believe #LetsRide pic.twitter.com/QWMMzCDe8z

— Lil'Jordan Humphrey (@LJ_Humphrey23) January 31, 2016

#LetsRide!

— Texas Football (@TexasFB) January 31, 2016

Humphrey explained to Horns247 why he made the decision:

"I committed to Texas because it's the place to be," Humphrey said. "They've been recruiting me hard ever since they offered. They've been interested in me like no other school. They just showed the most love.

"It's overall a great place, and there is nothing like the fans in Texas. It's crazy how much support I can have for my family and me. And of course, Austin is amazing."

"The official visit helped a lot," Humphrey said. "I knew I was going there already, but the visit made me realize that it was definitely the right place for me. It made it real that I'm going to be spending my next four or five years there."

It was the second pledge in three days for the Longhorns, as Waco cornerback Eric Cuffee announced for Texas on Thursday evening. There are still 16 recruits targeted by the Horns who have yet to make final decisions.

The Badgers and Texas Tech Red Raiders were late additions to Humphrey's list after the Cal Golden Bears initially represented the other school among his two finalists, with Wisconsin even receiving an official visit last weekend. After offering in early December of 2014, Texas Tech had been in the mix for a while with the 6'5, 199-pounder, but Humphrey never made it to Lubbock at any point during his recruitment, according to his 247Sports profile.

In addition to the official visit to Austin in mid-January, Humphrey took multiple trips to Texas, including two unofficial visits between the beginning of August and the middle of September.

Put it all together and the Longhorns seemed like an overwhelming favorite to commit to the Longhorns over the last several weeks. Prior to his commitment, Texas held all 11 predictions for Humphrey in the 247Sports Crystal Ball:

So, the trip to Madison ultimately wasn't enough, as expected, to overcome late Texas momentum that head coach Charlie Strong solidified on Humphrey's official visit with all the commits and key targets in mid-January, along with an in-home visit on Friday evening after appearing at a Southlake Carroll basketball game.

A consensus three-star prospect, Humphrey is the No. 393 player overall, the No. 19 athlete, and the No. 59 player in Texas, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. During his recruitment, Colorado, Duke, Iowa, Kansas, Ole Miss, Oregon State, Purdue, UCF, and Washington were among the other schools to offer him scholarships.

A running back in high school, Humphrey is expected to make the transition to wide receiver or H-back in college, depending on how much weight he can put on his lean frame. During his senior season, he carried the ball 184 times for 1,292 yards and 14 touchdowns, while adding 57 catches for 876 yards and eight touchdowns.

Humphrey possesses a lanky, lean build -- he looks like the basketball player that he is. However, what makes him an intriguing prospect is that despite his size, he has the short-area quickness and change-of-direction ability of a smaller player, running a 4.14 shuttle at the Dallas The Opening regional in 2015.  So that explains how a tall running back could find so much success at a major Texas high school football powerhouse like Carroll.

Combined with a lack of a 40 time from the Nike event, his height makes his top-end speed a little bit difficult to decipher, but he does have an impressive spin move and shows some physicality as a running back -- though it's not easy for someone of his height to run behind his pads, he can flash a thumping style at times, keeping his legs churning through contact.

With Texas already adding a big, athletic outside threat in early enrollee Collin Johnson to combine with John Burt and DeAndre McNeal, there may not be a lot of early playing time in new offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert's attack unless Humphrey can prove that he's a dynamic playmaker who can block in the perimeter passing game. Instead, Humphrey is likely a multi-year project who could eventually occupy a versatile role for the Longhorns in the future.

Strong and his staff now hold pledges from 14 prospects in the 2016 class with 16 targets still on the board. The group ranks No. 33 nationally and No. 4 in the Big 12, according to the 247Sports Composite team rankings.