5-star WR Garrett Wilson commits to Ohio State over Texas

Another must-have target for the Texas Longhorns in the 2019 recruiting class is headed elsewhere, as Lake Travis wide receiver committed to the Ohio State Buckeyes via social media on Sunday evening:

A consensus five-star prospect, Wilson narrowed to list to those two schools in recent weeks and took official visits to both. Ultimately he decided to return to his birth place instead of remaining in his adopted city — Wilson was born in a Columbus suburb before moving to the Austin area in middle school.

Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes certainly had plenty else to sell, too, including a much better history of recent success, a more stable offense, and the presence of Wilson’s high school quarterback, 2018 signee Matthew Baldwin. There are also a handful of other Texans on the roster, including rising running back JK Dobbins.

The news is certainly painful for the Longhorns, as Wilson was one of the top overall targets in the class. And though his decision was less surprising than Converse Judson defensive lineman DeMarvin Leal choosing Texas A&M in recent weeks, it was another big recruiting loss.

There could be also be some fallout from Wilson’s decision, as he’s close with Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy running back Noah Cain, who is high on both school, and Austin Bowie wide receiver Elijah Higgins. Wilson and Higgins had talked about playing at Texas together, but now Higgins may be more inclined

Losing out on Wilson is one thing, but if the Horns end up missing out on Cain and Higgins, too, the odds of putting together a top-10 class would decrease substantially. Missing on Leal and Wilson has already hurt those efforts fairly significantly.

All the normal caveats still apply about how early it is in the process, but Wilson is a top-30 prospect in the nation, plays his high school football right outside of Austin, and is one of the few players in the class who is likely to impact other top recruits.

Sunday was not an ideal day on the Forty Acres.