In a decision that shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, four-star cornerback Kary Vincent announced his commitment to the LSU Tigers via Twitter on Sunday evening.
The other five programs that held out hope of a surprising pledge from the Port Arthur Memorial defensive back were Texas, TCU, Florida State, Florida and Ohio State.
Texas was been always in the mix, but never a favorite throughout Vincent's recruitment. The Longhorns were the standout corner's 13th offer, but as Vincent's list expanded to over 30 teams, head coach Charlie Strong’s program became lost on the outside looking in. Vincent is the most highly-touted target on Strong's radar for corner, but he is undersized at only 5'11, 155 pounds.
For Strong, a 2017 cornerback is a need for the class, but not an urgent or crucial one. Texas has already landed rising three-star prospect Kobe Boyce, and they will only be losing Sheroid Evans to graduation next year as the pursuit of TCU commit Josh Thompson heated up on Sunday with his long-awaited offer from the ‘Horns.
Though not every couch can be painted burnt orange, there has been some frustration for DBU’s recruiting in the past few weeks. After missing out on four-star Baylor defectee Parrish Cobb, Texas also unexpectedly missed the top six cut for five-star safety Jeffery Okudah.
While this is certainly an unfortunate miss on a key target for the ‘Horns, along with the others left on the outside looking in, it’s quite unlikely Vincent’s recruitment dies unless the No. 17 cornerback goes all in to LSU and shuts his recruitment down entirely. Until then, Strong and others are likely going to continue pursuing the Port Arthur (Texas) product.
Even if he does shut things down, Strong and his staff will keeping pursuing Vincent, though it is important to note the difficulty of flipping commits from the Tigers, especially defensive backs.
Vincent ranks as the No. 18 player in Texas and the No. 122 player nationally.