AUSTIN, Texas -- Sitting in Mack Brown’s lavish Texas office in February 2013, D’Onta Foreman felt crushed.

At the time, he was a high school junior. He’d come up to Austin with his father, grandmother and twin brother Armanti, a highly touted receiver committed to Oklahoma, and he was hoping for good news.

But this was Armanti’s day. Texas wanted Armanti and offered him a scholarship. Texas was not ready to offer D’Onta.

Three and a half years later, one of college football’s best running backs says he never forgot the explanation he received that day.

His father Derrick Foreman recalls it like this: “I just remember Mack saying: ‘D’Onta, we feel like you’re a good player. But Armanti is a game-changing type of player.’”

Derrick can still see the look on D’Onta’s face.

“I felt like, for the first time, I could see through my son’s soul,” he said. “I could see the hurt in him. Because he felt like, ‘Wow, they don’t think I’m worthy enough.’ He was very respectful and happy for his brother, but I knew that crushed him. And it lit a fire up under him.”

Thanks to moments like that, a kid driven by feeling underestimated has never run low on fuel for his fire. The path that eventually brought him to Texas was full of hurdles and doubt.

Charlie Strong was asked Monday if he ever honestly expected D’Onta to be this good: the leading rusher in the Big 12 and No. 2 in the nation at 146 yards per game, a powerful 249-pound force with breakaway speed and seven straight 100-yard performances.

Strong answered honestly: He really didn’t. And then the head coach was more honest.

“He is our best football player,” Strong said.

Foreman’s opportunity to play at Texas had to be earned at a summer camp, where he ran a sub-4.5 40-yard dash. Brown extended an offer after that June 2013 camp and, to his credit, Texas was ultimately one of just seven schools to offer the three-star recruit.

“At times, I still feel like they didn’t want me here -- like they just really wanted my brother so they took me along,” D’Onta said. “But I knew all along if I got my opportunity here, I could make a name for myself.”

When he called to officially commit soon after the offer, D’Onta was told Brown was on vacation and would call when he gets back. And then a week later, Armanti decided he was ready to pick Texas.

“The day my brother decided to commit,” D’Onta says with a laugh, “that’s the day Mack decided to answer the phone and call us.”

He still felt he needed to prove himself. He ran for 2,000 yards in his senior year at Texas City High but never shook the three-star label. In fact, when the twins went to the Semper-Fidelis All-American Bowl in California after the season, the coaches there had D’Onta play linebacker.

Still, it was clear at the time he had talent. It was unclear whether he’d get his grades in order to even make it to Texas. Foreman says he was a procrastinator when it came to schoolwork, always waiting until the last minute.

Armanti and D'Onta are now Texas' leading receiver and rusher. John Rivera/Icon Sportswire

When Armanti left for Texas in June 2014, D’Onta stayed behind in Texas City. He had to take a class on government at a local community college, College of the Mainlands. To get into Texas, he needed an A.

He needed a lot of encouragement to pull that off, too. D’Onta and Armanti would talk on the phone for hours. Armanti texted pictures of D’Onta’s locker at Texas and reminded him everybody’s waiting for him. D’Onta asked about the coaches, the workouts, the playbook. He wanted to be ready.

“He worked extremely hard,” Armanti said. “I just kept pushing him and talking to him every day to keep him motivated.”

D’Onta made the grade and finally enrolled at Texas on August 18, two weeks into fall practice. He was supposed to redshirt, but instead he played in the season opener. On his very first carry, Foreman began his surprising college career with a 34-yard run.

“You watched him come in and his whole work ethic was just like he wanted to prove that he deserved to be here,” Strong said.

His true breakout came in 2015, even though he never started a single game. Over his last seven games, going back to late last season, Foreman has rushed for 1,035 yards and 11 touchdowns. He’s averaging 7 yards per carry during that stretch, and 3 of those 7 yards have come after contact. He’s picking up 5 yards or more on 50 percent of his runs.

And he gets to share this success with Armanti, who leads the Longhorns in receptions. When one twin scores, the other is never far behind celebrating. They so cherish this that they got matching upper-back tattoos after beating Oklahoma last season.

First-year offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert believes D’Onta has yet to approach his ceiling. Quarterback Shane Buechele thinks he should be a Heisman contender. Strong swears Foreman could get 40 carries in a game and be just fine.

And yet, Foreman still think he’s being underrated nationally. He doesn’t feel much different than he did as a snubbed 16-year-old.

“I feel like I’ll always have something to prove to people,” he said. “But I am blessed to be here. I don’t care what happened before. I’m here now.”