Texas to host 4-star OT Stephan Zabie on Thursday official visit

Following an official visit with the UCLA Bruins over the weekend, former Westlake offensive tackle Stephan Zabie will take an official visit to see the Texas Longhorns on Thursday:

The 6’6, 290-pounder picked up an offer from the Bruins just before his visit to add to the Longhorns offer he received last week.

Zabie’s hometown school jumping into the mix shot Texas to the top of his list in the eyes of the industry, in part because he has visited campus before and is close with early enrollee quarterback Sam Ehlinger, his former high school teammate.

However, since the ‘Horns did enter his recruitment relatively late, head coach Tom Herman and his staff will have to make a strong impression on Zabie during his visit. Fortunately, Herman recruited the big offensive tackle while at Houston, so there is a prior relationship.

And since the visit is occurring in the middle of the week when there are no other visitors around, the staff will have the opportunity to give Zabie a lot of personal attention, much more so than on a big visit weekend.

With Under Armour All-American offensive tackle Grant Polley sticking with Colorado, Zabie is the only offensive tackle currently on the Texas radar. With commit Derek Kerstetter looking more like an interior player after starting at guard in the US Army All-American game, the former Westlake standout represents the last chance to land an offensive tackle in the 2017 class.

Time for the hard sell.