Texas OT target Grayson Reed commits to Texas A&M

When Cypress Creek offensive tackle Grayson Reed committed to the Texas A&M Aggies on Saturday at the spring game in College Station over the Texas Longhorns and others, the decision was hardly a surprise after days of speculation that he would end his recruitment.

ITS OFFICIAL! #Gigemgang17 pic.twitter.com/63IgF0gjDA

— Grayson Reed#⃣7⃣7⃣ (@gray_reed77) April 10, 2016

Reed is a consensus four-star prospect ranked as the No. 231 prospect overall, the No. 23 offensive tackle, and the No. 32 player in Texas, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. Close to 30 schools have offered him, including Arizona State, Auburn, Cal, Florida, Miami, Michigan State, Missouri, Nebraska, TCU, and UCLA.

At the Houston The Opening Regional camp last weekend, Reed told Burnt Orange Nation that he was nearing a decision and had the Oklahoma Sooners, Tennessee Volunteers at the top of his list along with the Longhorns and Aggies. Not so long ago, Texas was the leader in late February following a Junior Day visit, but Texas A&M was able to narrow the gap in recent weeks even though Reed was in Austin last weekend. In Houston, Reed described all those schools as tied.

The latest visit to Texas was the first time that Reed had a chance to see new offensive line coach Matt Mattox work with his players and practice and see how he interacted with them. Despite Reed's commitment to A&M on Saturday, he said he has a strong relationship with Mattox.

"We talk every single day," Reed said. "He hits me up a lot and he's a really cool guy -- we talk about everything, not just football."

Reed said he's looking for a community that he feels he can fit into and must be impressed with new Texas A&M offensive line coach Jim Turner, who is back in College Station after serving in that same position under former head coach Mike Sherman from 2008 to 2011. During that time, Turner was responsible for helping recruit and develop a number of current NFL players, so his resume is difficult for a young coach like Mattox to match.

Don't expect Mattox to give up, however, as Reed is an important target for Texas. Since most SEC schools are recruiting him to play offensive guard, there are some questions about his ultimate projection in college, which decreases his value slightly, but given his ties to Texas -- his cousin is former defensive end Cedric Reed -- and his feelings about Mattox, this is a recruitment that probably has another chapter or two pending in regards to the Longhorns.