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Gilbert (Az.) Williams Field safety Noa Pola-Gates trimmed some of the fat in his recruitment on Friday evening, as the four-star prospect announced his top 10 schools.
The Texas Longhorns are among those still in the mix, alongside Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Michigan State, Nebraska, Oregon, Oregon State, Penn State, and USC.
This recruiting journey has been a trip but I’m thankful for all the love. God has guided all of my footsteps and I’m excited to see His plans for me. As awkward as this feels, I am publicly announcing my Top 10 pic.twitter.com/9Yo6tCMllY
— SlickBack++• (@NoaPola) July 7, 2018
Washington, Iowa State, and Memphis have each extended offers, as well, but were left on the outside looking in.
Of the 10 teams still being considered, Alabama stands as the overwhelming favorite. Along with each of his nine Crystal ball projections favoring the Crimson Tide, Pola-Gates named Nick Saban’s program as his outright leader in February following a junior day visit.
In the months since then, Pola-Gates has also unofficially visited Arizona, Oregon, and Alabama again. The next step will be to begin taking his official visits, and thus far, only one is scheduled to Penn State on Sept. 29. It could go without saying that for Texas to have a legitimate say in Pola-Gates’ recruitment going forward, securing one of those official tours will be essential.
A 6’2, 180-pound prospect, Pola-Gates is ranked as the nation’s No. 292 player, No. 21 safety, and as the No. 7 player in Arizona, per the 247Sports Composite.
The Longhorns currently hold one safety pledge from four-star California product Chris Adimora, who announced his commitment just days ago, as well as two four-star commits from Arizona in wide receiver Jake Smith and tight end Brayden Leibrock.