Houston Dekaney cornerback Marcus Banks arrived in Baton Rouge (La.) for his official visit as a Texas A&M lean and left as an LSU commit.
C O M M I T T E D #RIPDAD pic.twitter.com/966MCT3XJu
— Marcus Banks ¹ (@MarcusBanks1k) June 10, 2018
Once considered a priority prospect for Texas, Banks’ recruitment is one that seemed to get away from the Longhorns throughout the past several weeks. Banks originally had a commitment date set for March 3, and entering the month, the Longhorns appeared to have a slight edge over LSU. However, the Tigers began surging during a March 3 Junior Day visit, and rather than announcing his commitment, Banks extended his decision timeline.
In the weeks since, Banks has made a pair of visits to Texas A&M — one unofficially and another on an official basis on April 27. Texas was scheduled to receive an official visit the following weekend on May 4, but Banks was unable to attend, and consequently, what momentum remained between Texas and the three-star in-state prospect has largely died down.
Meanwhile, it was the Aggies who began to surge in his recruitment, with 79 percent of Banks’ Crystal Ball projections favoring Texas A&M entering his LSU official visit. It was the other 21 percent that favored the Tigers, however, that proved correct, and with Banks shutting his recruitment down entirely, the Longhorns will have to continue to look elsewhere to add cornerback talent this cycle.
The Longhorns currently hold one cornerback pledge from hyper-athletic four-star Loganville (Ga.) Grayson product Kenyatta Watson II, and remain in the mix with top targets such as four-star California native Chris Steele, four-star Mansfield Legacy standout Jeffery Carter, and three-star Oregon commit Marques Caldwell. The Longhorns are also a finalist for top-ranked cornerback Derek Stingley, but the Baton Rouge (La.) Dunham School product is widely projected to remain home and commit to LSU.