Texas makes impression on official visitors

Over the weekend, the new Texas Longhorns head coach Tom Herman and his staff hosted a large group of official visitors, including key targets like K’Lavon Chaisson, Jordan Pouncey, and surprise visitor Kary Vincent.

While the weekend didn’t produce any new offers and didn’t result in any commitments from visitors on campus, it does seem like it was a success for the Longhorns.

Texas makes a move with Pouncey

The Florida wide receiver was vocal on Twitter all weekend about how much he wanted to visit Austin and how much he enjoyed his time in the Lone Star State:

Most notable in Pouncey’s statements is just how much affinity he had for the university and its mascot growing up, which seems to make up a significant portion of the reasoning behind his trip since the Longhorns entered his recruitment late.

How much of a difference did the visit make for him?

There aren’t yet any flip predictions in Pouncey’s 247Sports Crystal Ball, but Texas now looks like a contender with Miami for Pouncey’s services. However, the ‘Horns will have to overcome the lure of proximity, numerous visits to campus, and a longer relationship with the coaching staff.

Chaisson enjoys visit

The notoriously-quiet Galena Park North Shore product went back and deleted all of his tweets from the weekend — a rather unusual practice of his — but appeared to be enjoying his time in Austin based on the tweets he did send.

Chaisson also told Scout that his visit ranked 8.9 out of 10 and said that the coaching staff sold him on playing the same role as Tyus Bowser did at Houston as a stand-up edge rusher.

"They told me the positions and told me that I could be like the next Tyus Bowser," Chaisson told Scout.

"I think Tyus is actually a good player. I guess he was overlooked I guess because of the conference and the competition he was in, but I really liked him a lot and I want to be just like him probably."

The newly-minted five-star prospect by 247Sports is currently on an official visit to Colorado and plans on tripping to USC next weekend. His top two schools are Texas and LSU, with the ‘Horns still heavily favored.

No commitment from Guidry

Heading into the weekend, Murrieta (Calif.) Vista Murrieta cornerback Javelin Guidry was the leading contender to commit during his visit. However, that didn’t happen, as the former Houston commit plans on making his decision public on National Signing Day.

The move makes sense from the staff’s standpoint — Texas is still pursuing more highly-rated players at the position like Under Armour All-Americans Chevin Calloway and Kary Vincent, and would probably like to find out if either of those players will commit before taking Guidry.

The track star certainly enjoyed his visit to Texas, though.

"I had a great time out there," Guidry said. "I've only been there one other time, I camped at UT my sophomore year so this was my first chance really touring the campus and seeing the school up close.

"I got to see the facilities and spent a lot of time with the players and coaches. I have a great comfort level with the coaches. I think the thing that stood out most about the visit was how energetic the staff was the whole visit, it was great to reconnect with them."

According to Guidry, he also connected with the players on a visit that ultimately was “better than I expected it to be.”

Guidry’s last trip before National Signing Day will be to Arizona State.

Longhorns may have a chance with Vincent

Despite consistent public proclamations of being completely solid to LSU, Kary Vincent’s surprise visit to Texas over the weekend, reportedly with his mother, was a sign that he was at least willing to listen to Herman’s recruiting pitch.

The results of that pitch aren’t yet apparent, but the ‘Horns may have an outside chance of flipping the Port Arthur Memorial product from his longtime pledge to the Tigers.

No offer for Henderson

The only prospect on campus over the weekend without an offer was Georgia Military College defensive end Brandon Henderson, who was also a commitment candidate if he did pick up that offer.

Henderson remains an option for the Longhorns as the staff continues to do its due diligence in recruiting him.