Four-star DL Nigel Smith reveals top eight schools

As we inch closer and closer to the summer, we continue to see more and more recruitments continuing to narrow things down as recruits look to finalize and lock in official visit plans.

The Texas Longhorns have found themselves in the middle of a lot of recruitments to this point in the cycle, and that remains the case with one of the state’s top defensive prospects.

Four-star Melissa defensive line prospect Nigel Smith announced on Monday that he has trimmed his list of schools down to eight programs, and the Longhorns are among those still in consideration for his services.

Along with Texas, Arkansas, Georgia, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn State, Rutgers, and Texas A&M also made the cut for Smith.

Smith has been incredibly productive over the past couple of seasons for Melissa, as he has tallied 169 tackles (37 TFLs), 21 sacks, and has forced five fumbles and recovered two on his way to earning 5A First-Team All-State honors. The 247Sports Composite rankings have Smith as the No. 73 player nationally and the No. 10 defensive lineman.

Players with Smith’s measurables and production typically end up playing Power Five college football and that certainly looks to be the direction this recruitment is heading as we head towards the summer.

Steve Sarkisian and his staff have cast a pretty wide net along the defensive line so far this cycle, so it will be interesting to see how Sarkisian and Bo Davis navigate their big board as things continue to progress.