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After taking in an Oklahoma Junior Day, there were questions entering the first Texas Longhorns Junior Day about how 2014 Fort Worth All Saints offensive lineman Demetrius Knox would feel about the no-visit policy for commits recently instituted by head coach Mack Brown and panned by many in the industry as unsustainable.
The early returns are mostly positive -- Knox has been actively recruiting for Texas on Twitter in the days since and went out of his way to point out the quality of the 2014 class already:
Ummm y'all did know that UT 2014 commits are ranked #1 in the country as the best class so far right? Ok just checking
— BIG MEECH(@meechy77) February 13, 2013
@sollythomas90 when are u going to be a longhorn with us bro?
— BIG MEECH(@meechy77) February 12, 2013
As positive as all that seems for Texas, the comments from Knox to ESPN's Horns Nation about the no-visit policy weren't quite as heartening ($):
I feel like, regardless, if you are committed or not, you should be allowed to take visits and official visits to other colleges because, what happens your freshman and sophomore year if you are at a university and you didn't take those visits? You might have second thoughts or whatever. If you went on those visits you get to decide what school is best for you so you can never have second thoughts.
Knox is seemingly walking the fine line between being totally committed and still making sure that he's properly planning for the future. The balance may surely strike some Texas fans the wrong way (and perhaps the coaches as well, at some point), but, interestingly enough, Knox's interest in his future is one of the major reasons why he decided to commit to become a Longhorn -- he feels that it's the school that will best position him for life after football.
It remains to be seen how Knox and the Texas coaches will strike that balance moving forward and whether the top-rated commit in the class gives up that extra little bit of "make-sure" ability to remain committed to the same school to which his best friend and teammate, running back/fullback Daniel Gresham, is pledged.
Which brings up the other important point -- though Gresham also took a visit with teammates, in his case to Oxford to visit Ole Miss, he seemed much more accepting of the new terms put forth by Brown, and the fates of the two at this point continue to be tied together.
As long as Gresham is solidly committed, it would be a surprise for Knox to decommit just to make absolutely sure that Texas will provide the on-field and post-football benefits he wants.
Not to mention the fact that he seems to be dialed-in to being all about Texas on Twitter.