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Following three official visits, California Golden Bears graduate transfer running back Tre Watson is closing in on a decision, he revealed on Sunday:
I want to thank all the coaches for an incredible opportunity to go to grad school and play my last season of eligibility. I am truly blessed to be in this position and I will be making my final decision very soon pic.twitter.com/qrHedHyE78
— Tre Watson (@tre1watson) April 30, 2018
The 5’10, 190-pounder announced his decision to become a graduate transfer back in January after his senior season was cut short in the second game due to a lower leg injury. Watson finished his career at Cal with 1,390 total rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns, along with five receiving touchdowns and 657 kickoff return yards.
Watson took his first visit to Texas Tech in mid-April. The Red Raiders lost leading rusher Justin Stockton, but return a handful of experienced running backs, including Tre King and Desmond Nisby. The leading rusher from 2016, Da’Leon Ward, is now back with the team and turned in an impressive spring to seemingly take the lead in the competition for the starting spot.
The following week, Watson visited Austin for the Orange-White game, where he bonded with fellow graduate transfer Calvin Anderson:
What’s understood doesn’t need to be explained....
— Calvin Anderson (@THE_CONDA25) April 22, 2018
#HookEm pic.twitter.com/muGrHvS6so
Watson watched a scrimmage in which neither of the healthy scholarship running backs, Daniel Young and Toneil Carter, did anything to secure the starting job. Star recruit Keaontay Ingram will join the program this summer, but the Orange-White game certainly illustrated that Watson could have an impact on the Longhorns running game if he picks Texas.
The final visit for Watson was to LSU over the weekend. Head coach Ed Orgeron and running backs coach Tommie Robinson recruited Watson while at USC, but opted not to offer the former consensus three-star prospect. The Tigers have arguably the biggest need among the three programs, as the team’s two leading rushers at the position are both gone and Nick Brossette is still relatively unproven entering his senior season. In the 2018 recruiting class, LSU landed the nation’s No. 15 running back, Chris Curry, and an Alabama athlete, Tae Provens, who will likely play running back.
With Anderson helping Texas recruit, this one looks good for the Longhorns, but the decisions of graduate transfers are often much more difficult to predict than those of high school recruits.