No. 1 LB Anthony Hill Jr. is down to Texas and Texas A&M

Hours after the commitment of DeSoto wide receiver Johntay Cook II to the Texas Longhorns, Denton Ryan linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. announced his finalists — the Longhorns and the Texas A&M Aggies, setting up a head-to-head battle between the old rivals down the stretch of Hill’s recruitment.

Hill has also taken official visits to Alabama, Oklahoma, and USC, schools that are no longer in contention for his services. Texas A&M has not hosted Hill on an official visit yet, as Texas did last weekend, a trip that afforded Hill the opportunity to reconnect with some of his high school teammates — sophomore tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders and freshman defensive back Austin Jordan.

So the Horns have something of an advantage with those connections, and Hill is also close with Cook, who could take his recruiting efforts public on Wednesday following his announcement.

The recent recruiting momentum for head coach Steve Sarkisian’s program, which developed in earnest with last Thursday’s commitment from Arch Manning and has continued with nine pledges since then, may be enough to put Texas in the lead or at least even with Texas A&M, which landed two 247Sports Crystal Ball predictions for Hill during the spring.

There are two Rivals FutureCast predictions from the last three days in favor of the Longhorns.

But with no current timetable for Hill to make a decision, it’s difficult to predict how the 6’2, 225-pounder’s official visit to College Station scheduled for late July could impact his recruitment.

What does seem clear with the recent developments on the Forty Acres is that Texas will be in until the end and has plenty of reason for optimism.

A consensus five-star prospect, Hill is ranked as the No. 14 player nationally and the No. 1 linebacker, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.