4-star QB Casey Thompson commits to Texas over UNC, Miami, others

The first quarterback commit of the Tom Herman era is now on board as Southmoore (Okla.) quarterback Casey Thompson announced his commitment to the Texas Longhorns over North Carolina, Miami and others on Thursday afternoon.

Thompson’s pledge during a ceremony at Southmoore high school wasn’t without suspense, though.

The event began with a handful of hats on the table, though Texas and North Carolina — the two favorites in his recruitment — were noticeably missing. Then, after a period of thanking numerous members of the coaching staff at Southmoore, friends, family and more, Thompson reached for and put on the Miami hat ... took it off and set it down, then pulled a North Carolina hat out from underneath the table and did the same before ultimately placing a hat of the burnt orange variety on his head and wrapping the event up with a “Hook ‘Em.”

By many accounts, Thompson’s pledge to Herman and the ‘Horns has been in the making for some time now. Aside from a push from North Carolina and some buzz following his March 4 visit to Chapel Hill, the Longhorns have remained the favorite in his recruitment since offering Thompson on January 19, and it’s possible he may have committed much sooner if his Texas offer was ‘committable’ at the time, as the staff wanted to see him throw in practice first.

The two sides waited things out and once Thompson’s offer became committable, the four-star dual-threat passer announced a commitment date and today, Thompson became a Longhorn.

To date, Thompson holds 21 total offers and along with invitations to play for Texas, North Carolina, Miami, Tennessee and Ohio State, the intriguing offer here is Oklahoma.

An Oklahoma legacy, Thompson’s father Charles Thompson was a former Sooners quarterback and his brother Kendal Thompson briefly played in Norman, as well, before transferring to Utah. Oklahoma jumped into the Casey’s recruitment last May with an offer and has hosted him for numerous unofficial visits, but the Sooners favored California product Cameron Rising and left Thompson for their Red River rivals.

Thompson’s pledge now gives Herman’s 2018 class it’s second addition in the past week after three-star Fort Worth Eastern Hills outside linebacker Byron Hobbs committed to Texas last Friday. Thomson and Hobbs join Justin Watkins, the nation’s top-ranked athlete, who flipped from Florida State following his junior day visit to Texas.

As a junior Thompson passed for 2,730 yards and 28 touchdowns and added another 586 yards and 14 scores with his legs.

At 6’1, 184 pounds, Thompson ranks as the nation’s No. 157 player, No. 7 dual-threat quarterback and the No. 4 player in Oklahoma, per 247Sports Composite.