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The flurry of Friday offers from the Texas Longhorns continued into the early afternoon, as Mississippi Gulf Coast CC defensive end Isaiah Buggs joined the ranks of 2017 prospects with an offer from the Longhorns:
God is good im very Blessed to say that I just received an offer from the University of Texas pic.twitter.com/u01mr2EoQk
— Isaiah Buggs (@BigPooh_91) February 26, 2016
A native of Ruston, LA, Buggs failed to qualify as a member of the 2015 class after a decorated prep career -- not only did he record 102 tackles, 19 tackles for loss, six sacks, and three forced fumbles as a senior in 2014, he was a highly-effective basketball player, averaging 17 points and 11 rebounds per game.
After making the move to Mississippi for junior college, Buggs continued producing, notching 59 tackles and four sacks last season. As a result, 247Sports ranks him as the No. 2 junior college prospect nationally, the No. 1 strongside defensive end, and the No. 2 junior college player in Mississippi.
And given that junior college recruiting works on a slower timeframe than high school recruiting, the quality of his offer list is highly unusual, featuring Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Baylor, Florida, Miami, Mississippi State, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, and Texas A&M, among others.
Home-state LSU is considered the favorite in the early going, holding all seven 247Sports Crystal Ball predictions for the 6'4, 265-pounder.
"LSU is a great place: great school to be at and play football," Buggs told NOLA.com after receiving his offer. "Their fan base is all behind their football players, and LSU has great coaching staff ... And they are on the rise this upcoming season."
Since he only held one offer from Auburn coming out of high school, it's difficult to tell how familiar he is with Texas defensive line coach Brick Haley, but it's likely that Haley was at least familiar with Buggs when he was coaching at LSU.
And it's often the case that junior college prospects became much less geographically tied to their home state, in part because of limited eligibility and the subsequent need for early playing time, which could help the Longhorns in his recruitment.